![Aiden Turner as Poldark - windswept hair, open collared shirt above high buttoned vest, the works]()
Previously: D settles into her new married life and is now pregnant. Ross admitted he loved her, they struck copper, everything it JUST GREAT
In the mine, miners mine, tap tap tap. It looks like the worst job ever, honestly. A man rides towards Wheal Leisure, and it’s a buddy of Ross’ from the war, Dr. Enys, aka the guy that fixed Ross’ face. He’s there to study diseases of the miners. Ross takes Enys to meet a VERY pregnant Demelza.
Later, Ross and D walk to a traveling stage show. Everyone is there, including Francis and Elizabeth and Verity. Francis glums that Ross and D are “the picture of conjugal bliss” and that it won’t last (which says rather more about Francis and Elizabeth). Elizabeth and Verity walk with D, being friendly- Elizabeth says that D looks well, and D does not feel it: “a month to go and I’m already fatter than Prudie.”
Elsewhere in the crowd, the doctor that treated dead Uncle Charles is intoning about purges and how they’re just the best thing for pretty much everything. “Healing is a science, few comprehend it’s mysteries.” Enys tries to break in with the idea that not everyone can afford expensive treatments, so maybe it would be better to work with nature’s remedies sometimes? The doctor stalks off, affronted.
Ross asks Francis how Grambler is going. “Mortgaged to the hilt.” Anyone who’s played Monopoly knows how that will go. “Running out of ore, price of copper tumbling…”
An actress eyes one of the miners- Mark- while he beats someone at arm wrestling. She delivers a monologue about the object of her affection being above her. During this, D grimaces, and tells Ross that it’s just an ache, and she’ll go stretch her legs. At Nampara, D is clearly in actual labor, and Verity is distressed to see her in so much pain. D’s like, I hate to see YOU in pain, but the remedy to your pain lives not far away and captains a ship. Verity is not amused by this turn, and D’s like look, I need something to distract myself from the fact that I’m about to pop out a kid, so you take what I’m dishing out.
Back at the play, the actress is delivering the closing monologue, and the dude she was eyeing is the first to stand up. Ross sidles over to him and asks if they may expect an announcement, and Ennis girns, “You may have an announcement of your own soon!” It takes Ross a few to catch up with what he’s saying, and he rides home at speed as D writhes and screams in labor (also crashing waves).
It’s a baby! “How did we make something so perfect?” “I am afeared, Ross, that I love her too much.” Ross promises that he’ll make the world a better place for her sake, and be a better man for her. Hey now, D says. What about for me? “I’m already a better man for your sake.” D’awwww.
Ross holds the baby on the cliff, and it’s adorable.
At Trenwith, Elizabeth is reading when Francis brings the letter that announces that Ross and D have a girl. “I wish them well,” Elizabeth says, “because she may find all of this messy and difficult.” She’s trying. The next day, D is embroidering a small ribbon with the baby’s name- Julia- when Elizabeth comes to call. Ross is gone, and the baby is asleep, but… “It’s you I came to see,” Elizabeth says. D can’t quite believe it, but offers refreshment. Elizabeth compliments the ribbon, “It’s just a fancy I had…it’s not made of gold, or silver…or copper…” Yeah, but it’s from her mama, it’s made of something more precious. “It’s a love that surpases all other loves, is it not?”
D isn’t sure that Ross would care to hear that, and Elizabeth knows Francis would not, but men don’t get it. Elizabeth really needs a good friend. She and D are friendly, but there’s so much awkwardness between them.
Julia Grace Poldark is baptized with the ribbon tied around her wrist. She’s a very cute baby (but not as cute as my nephew who is the CUTEST BABY.) (I just need to make sure everyone knows that.) At Nampara, the guests of all classes are there congratulating Ross and D, and D is fretting with Verity that she wanted two christenings- “one for his sort and one for mine.” “And where do I fit in?” asks Verity, pointedly. “Oh, you’re like Ross. You fit in everywhere.” Ruth and her hen-pecked husband strut in, and snark about the riff-raff in the house, but OBVIOUSLY Ross has been “obliged to lower his standards..” D’s like, see. SEE.
Ross and Francis drink, and Francis is still telling Ross that a child changes everything, and there won’t be much sleep. And Ross is like children and mines cannot be ignored. “Much as one tries” says Francis and yeah, it’s totally great that he inherited a mine. D goes to talk to Elizabeth. “My wife is perfection, is she not? God knows what I’ve done to deserve her.” Francis walks away, leaving Ross to contemplate D and Elizabeth.
Verity joins him. “The curse of the Poldarks. Once given, our hearts are not easily withdrawn. They’re very different.” “Yes, each has something the other lacks.” Verity jokes that perhaps Ross would like them both. “Perhaps I would.” Verity and I give him identical looks of “what the fuck just fell out of your mouth?”
Outside, Enys tells Ross that he does envy Ross’ life- “my charmed life?” Ross asks sarcastically. House, home, occupation, wife that adores you and adorable baby? Yeah, you don’t have it so bad. Before Ross can make a cases for his (legitimately) stressful life, one of his partners comes over and announces that Choate sold his shares in Wheal Leisure. To George Warleggan. Shit. George slimes in, and Ross snarks that clearly George knows a good investment when he sees it. George slimes off.
Ross asks about the other investors. Some are worried. “Then we must buy them out.” “How?” “…no idea.”
In the kitchen, D is just post-feeding (Or it’s implied that she is), when Verity comes in. D says that she wishes Verity could have all this, too. Verity tries to say “don’t worry about it” but D DOES worry about it. Bigger worries are on their way up the walk, though, as Prudie spies D’s father and dour looking woman dressed in black. Family, man.
Ross greets Mr. Carne with courtesy but wariness, while Ennis and Hardcastle watch interestedly. “I’m glad you were able to join us.” In the house, Carne calls the house a place of filth and an abomination, and calls shame on D’s head for “…mix[ing] with such damnable folk, when your own flesh and blood should take precedence.” Well, with that speech, no wonder she doesn’t want to deal with you. Ross smoothly begins introductions, beginning with the baby. (D looks like she might be sick.)
Ross introduces Carne to Francis, John and Ruth, and Enys. Carne immediately tells Ruth to cover her boobs, as it is her duty to be modest, not “laying out wares.” Francis takes a drink like this is the most entertaining thing he’s seen in months. Ruth tells John to call out the “impudent swine” and Ross is like you are all guests here, so no brawling please. Or dueling, that was three episodes ago. Ross apologizes for Carne, and Ruth accepts it in true passive aggressive fashion. I’m a little proud, actually.
As Carne and his wife leave, the actress comes striding across the field. Ross is standing with the dude she was making eyes at, and it seems the players had moved on, but she stayed. “She did tell me she’d come back, but I didn’t think she would.” Turns out her name is Keren.
In the kitchen, Ross announces that they’ve gone, and everyone is all “GOD FINALLY” and D wonders why they knew to come. Oh, Ross invited them, of course. Idiot. “They meant to shame and disgrace me.” The boys says that in a week it will be forgotten, but the women know better.
Mark and Keren sit on a wall and discuss love- he scarely could eat with how much he missed her. “I can’t stay here long.” She might not return. But why not? “well what’s to keep me here?”
Turns out she wants a house, and she’ll stay, if they marry and he has a house for her. D’s like this shit seems shady, does she love him? “She says so.” Verity asks if Mark loves her. “Besotted” smiles Ross. “They should marry…love should conquer all, even if it needs a ltttle help.” “On the contrary” Ross responds, “some obstacles cannot be overcome.” Verity walks away sadly. Turd.
At Trenwith, Elizabeth and Francis regard the portrait of dead uncle Charles. He would have enjoyed the day, they agree. “Great patriarch and leader of men.” “Is that to be disdained?” Elizabeth asks. “To be lived up to” sighs Francis. “Can you not?” Francis pouts off. “it was a question, not a judgment.”
On the cliffs, Verity watches the waves and looks at the sketch of a sailing ship and the rigging she and Blamey did at the assembly. Once home, she goes into the parlor where Elizabeth is reading to her baby, and Francis announces that he must go into town. Elizabeth knows it isn’t for business.
At Nampara, Ross is riding out to hunt up new investors, and will be out as long as it takes. D watches him leave, and she and Jud leave the house on a secret errand that Ross must not know about. “We must be back by 5 or Julia will suffer.” That’s enough to keep Jud on the right side.
On the road to town, Ross gives money to a starving family, and once in town, he eats with Enys in the public room of the tavern, who asks if Ross had heard of the riots in another town. “People can only starve for so long.” “In France they make their point with hatches and pikes.” Ross expects that things may go to shit there soon- the price of copper has fallen, and he isn’t sure when Grambler last paid full wages. “What’s to be done?” “Sit tight and wait for the price to rise.” That always works.
In a boarding house in a coastal town, D waits in a sitting room, anxious.
Back at the tavern, Ross says that all the mines are committed to the short term- mines need to sell cheap to make loan repayments, and can’t afford to not sell unless the price rises. (A man in the next table listens to them with ill-disguised interest.) “Of course if the smelting companies were honestly run…” “Are they not?” Enys asks with perfect amount of if disinterested interest. “It’s a ring. They don’t bid against each other and keep the prices low.” Ross says that the only thing that might work is if the mines band together and form their OWN smelting company. Well, that is interesting. The eves dropper is like I couldn’t help but overhear… (whatever dude you about sprained something to make sure you caught all of that) “but you intend to form your own company?” “I intend nothing, sir.” Ross is just talking here!
D paces the room, and then Blamey walks in! He’s confused. “My name is Poldark.” D tells him, and his face goes through this very subtle “Poldarks have been a thorn in my ass for way too fucking long” before he asks if Verity sent her. No, Verity doesn’t know she’s there. Blamey claims that he’s moved on. He’s married to his ship and his profession. “I NEVER THINK OF HER NOW” (lies) “I’m sorry you’ve had a wasted journey.” D curtseys and leaves.
Ross asks his banker’s advice- if Ross needs the money to buy out the other shaky investors, he needs to get a mortgage on Nampara. Given that he’s got people who depend on him, his banker doesn’t suggest that course of action. Ross sighs.
At home, D is snuggling the baby, and brightly asks if Ross had a good day. “Frustrating day.” He kisses her hello. Ross worries that D might feel too confined, and before that conversation can go much further, Jud announces that Mark is asking for Ross. “It seems to be catching” Ross smiles. “What?” “Recklessness.”
Mark and the other boys are working on fixing up one of Ross’ cottages. She’s a fortunate girl to get such a house, but is Mark really set on this girl? Mark calls her his heart’s desire. Ross hopes that she deserves Mark, and take off his gloves to help.
The wedding procession with Keren in teal marches to the house, and D mutters to Ross that “they don’t like her.” Well, they like Mark they’ll grow to like her, she’s a stranger. D points out that she (Demelza) is a stranger to Ross’ miners. “They like ME, they make allowances for you.”
Keren sees the cottage and is like “what the fuck, Mark, I asked for a HOUSE what the fuck is this?” Woman, it’s got levels and windows and garlands. “We’ll soon make it fit, Keren, it’ll be a place, you’ll see.” Keren is dubious.
As people dance, Ross tells Enys that he’s found lodgings for him- he’s going to be in a nearby cottage. Keren dances over and wants to know how her cute new neighbor is going to be. She’ll introduce herself, if he dances with her. So that’ll go well. Even Ross can see impending doom. Mark comes over and asks Ross if he might get extra work in the mine, but it all depends on how the auction goes in the morning.
Ross tells D the idea to mortgage the house to buy out the investors. She’s listening, and he expresses the idea that she must regret her marriage to such a destitute rogue. She’s like “must I? Have you raised me so high that I could never be okay with being poor? Shut up.” He laughs, that women are all different (WHAAAAAT) and that some are never satisfied, and some thumb their nose at adversity and roll up their sleeves. “Do you wish you married a rich lady?” “I am quite aware of my good fortune.”
In the morning at Trenwith, Elizabeth uses baby Geoffrey to ask Francis how much copper was sent to auction. “Shall we ask Papa how many parcels we sent? I hope we get a good price!” Francis is dismissive as always- “we shan’t get a good price, and soon we’ll have to start pawning the family jewels.” Elizabeth drops the pretense of just talking to the baby. What a dick. Elizabeth could manage that mine just fine on her own.
At the auction, things go very very VERY badly. Ross and Francis wait with stoney faces, and leave saying that it was disastrous and a disgrace. “We’ll soon be paying them to take it off our hands.” Francis opines that Ross has become dour in his father hood, and offers an invitation to George Warleggan’s house party as a remedy (“the ultimate house party”). Yeah, that’s a great idea.
The dude who eavesdropped on Ross and Enys’ conversation about the hypothetical miner’s collective invites Ross and Francis over to a conversation.
D gets a letter, and tells Prudie that she’s going to walk out with the baby to meet Ross.
They want to make this company happen, because no one can afford to keep going on as they do. They stress the need for total secrecy. Francis is dubious about the amount of shit people are willing take on- the Warleggans are going to back the current smelters. It needs to be everyone. “It was your cousin that first suggested it.” Francis is flabbergasted. “We can’t go as we are.” Francis says his finances are “somewhat complicated” and can’t help them. He wishes them well, though. They want to do this thing, but somebody needs to run it- that somebody should be Ross.
D is walking with Julia in a baby sling, with her little naked legs dangling. She’s received the invite to George Warleggan’s houseparty, “just think of that, my little lamb! You’re mother’s a lady and father a gentleman with a name that goes back hundreds of years.” Blamey surprises her, and begs to speak to her. He was unmannerly, and begs her forgiveness. Since her visit, he’s been in turmoil- turns out that he’s not actually over Verity at all. He wonders if there might be hope, what with Charles being dead. “May I see her? How? When?” Whoa there, cowboy. D’s like look, I didn’t really have a plan with this nonsense, and Ross can’t see him. “Is he against me too?” “He’s against me stirring things up.” But she’ll send word to Blamey if she can arrange something.
D meets Ross riding home, and he asks if she’s excitable for some reason. She tells him that she’s excited about the house party. “I’ll show them that I can wear fine clothes and be genteel” and she’ll make up for the disaster of a christening. Ross tells her that it won’t be that kind of party, it’ll just be gaming. D: “Oh.” “Don’t look so sorry for yourself.” He’ll go, though, to throw George off the scent of the new venture and to keep Francis from being Francis. Good luck with that. (Through this scene, D is playing with the baby’s feet and it’s so cute.)
At her desk, D looks at the invitation, then pulls out a piece of paper and a quill, and carefully writes “Dear Captain Blamey.” In the morning, D has her cloak on, and Ross asks if she’s going somewhere. “Mmm. Town. URGENT business. I must have a new cloak and Verity MUST help me choose.” Ross is like oh, the problems of women. “Don’t delay me, I’ve got a houseparty to attend!”
In town, Francis places a necklace around the neck of his prostitute. She’s pleased. “You spoil me.” She likes being appreciated. “Who doesn’t?” The prostitute asks if Elizabeth doesn’t appreciate him. No, Elizabeth’s sin is that she wants him to be a better man. Francis does what he wants, dammit! He will never be that man.
At Trenwith, D hunts down Verity, while Ross waits. Elizabeth finds him, and he asks if she’s joining this urgent trip. “Because dressing is the only thing that matters to women?” “Not at all!” “They are of course, but I hesitate to buy ribbon when our copper can scarce be given away.” Also she knows where her money goes- Francis spends it on himself and his woman, not her or the workers. “They are scare entertained.” Ross wishes he could help, but… she knows there’s nothing for it.
On the road, Ross, Verity, and D pass another group of poor, starving…. The only word that describes them is refugees. They look at our trio with barely disguised rage. Verity asks D if she was not afraid, “the look in their eyes!”, and D says she’s seen such looks- at home, when there was no corn. “Empty bellies make for such looks.”
At George’s, Ross chats with Enys, and asks how it’s possible for the Warleggans to leap from being butchers to having an insane amount of money in two generations (a timely question). Enys agrees, especially during a slump, and when men like Ross and Francis are forced into genteel poverty. “We have different ways of doing business.” Francis is at a card table with an unknown man, and Ross sidles over to the prostitute (who is there, of course, wearing the necklace Francis gave her) to ask who he is. He’s basically a professional card player, of course.
He’s infamous, and has George’s endorsement to fleece anyone under his roof. He is not, however, generous. Ross eyes the necklace as she fondles it. “Was not that collar a gift of his him?” No, the giver was “a man of taste.” Ross side-eyes her and Francis.
In the dressmakers, D is looking over fabric, and Verity tries to beg off, but D makes her stay to help her choose. The Door opens, and Blamey enters. “Miss Verity?” Verity turns around and goes pale.
Back at the Ultimate House Party (which seems super tame, to be quite honest), George wanders over to Enys, and talks about boredom. Not something Enys is familiar with. George tells Enys that he’ll have ample opportunity to study it, and Enys is like no, most the people I treat don’t “suffer from that affliction.” George literally has no idea what he’s talking about.
Ross watches Francis fretfully play cards and drink heavily, and the prostitute tells Ross that it’s a pity Francis doesn’t have his skill with cards. He’ll ruin himself soon, and then “you’ll be done with him?” “As his wife is done with him.” The lies men tell to women (and to themselves) to get sex and sympathy.
Blamey says that he had never dared hope, but- Verity stops him to introduce Demelza. Blamey gamely tries again, to ask Verity to coffee or a cordial, but she says no good can come if it, and runs out. Demelza looks apologetically at Blamey, and runs out after Verity. Poor Blamey.
At the Warleggans, Francis continues to play, and Ross finally asks what the stakes are. “You wouldn’t wish to know.” Oh, I think he does. “You’ll find out soon enough.” Francis is near tears. The Card Shark gets a message, and excuses himself. It was a pleasure. Francis can barely stand, but won’t take Ross’ help.
In Truro, D chases after Verity, asking if it would have been so bad to hear him out. Verity really thinks it would have, but before she can elaborate, a riot of miners come running down the street, angry. The girls clutch each other as the wave of anger and desperation breaks around them. A hand grabs them.
Ross prepares to leave the Ultimate House Party, and George slimes that he takes no pleasure in Francis’ ruin. Ross is like whatever, dude. “It’s not my business to bankrupt a friend.” So you get someone else to do it.
The hand belonged to Blamey, and he hustles the ladies to a sheltering stairwell, and begs again for Verity to hear him out. NOT THE TIME OR PLACE DUDE. Verity runs. Blamey runs after her, and finds her hiding behind a hay cart. She tells him that she can’t bear it over again. The parting and the heartache! “No, not the heartache! Never the parting!” He promises he won’t be driven away from her. D finally drags them both away as the miners grab food bags of grain.
At Trenwith, Elizabeth is with Geoffrey at a window, where there’s a butterfly. They let the butterfly out the window, and Francis is riding up the drive. He looks like a beaten man.
“I don’t imagine we’ve seen the last of the unrest” Ross says in his kitchen as D cuddles Julia. “I wonder how Verity and I missed it” D asks, all innocence. Ross says that Verity seemed to be in high spirits, and D’s like she deserve it. Ross says that Verity should enjoy it while she can. Her life is about to make a major change “and not for the better.”
At Trenwith, Verity tries to casually breeze in, saying there was just so crowded in Truro, and there was talk of riot? Francis dours that there will be a riot closer to home. Aunt Agatha crabs that the mine opened 200 years ago, and Elizabeth chimes in with, “not that long ago it was yielding thousands!” Verity’s like, what are you people on? Elizabeth offers Francis the chance to tell Verity, and he’s all no no, you go. Coward. “For months now, you know Grambler has been failing-“ “You mean Francis has been failing.” This is not about your man-pain, Francis. They couldn’t afford the repayments on the loans, since Francis was spending all the money on gambling and whores, so he decided to stake the mine in the card game. He lost.
“What does this mean?” D asks. “For Francis, loss of income. Loss of pride. Loss of family inheritance. For Verity and Elizabeth, a sharp decline in their standard of living. For the Warleggans, a chance to tighten their hold by closing a rival mine. For the poor souls that work there, unimaginable hardship. All because one man was weak and others were greedy.” D: “To think that I once envied Elizabeth?” Ross: “Why?” D: “Why did you envy Francis?” Touche.
Elizabeth walks out the front door to Trenwith, head high, Francis behind her. “There’s no need for you to come!” Elizabeth turns and just stares at him. “What I did was unforgivable. But my love for you, my love will always…” she just looks at him, and turns back to the road. Verity follows, and gives Francis what is for Verity a look of extreme censure.
At the mine, Francis gives a speech- this has been a Poldark mine for generations, and it was his hope that his son would inherit, but time and circumstance has ruined that. Maybe in the future they’ll meet again, but for now…. He rings the bell, marking the end of the last shift, and with a bit of chalk, writes “Resurgam” on the bell supports. He walks away, and after a beat, Verity follows. Elizabeth following later. Ross and D watch her go, then Ross looks at D, and she gives the barest, tiniest nod at him. Ross goes after Elizabeth. “What can I do?” Elizabeth stiff-upper-lips it: “Not once has Francis asked me that question.” “He’s afraid to.” Ross excuses Francis by saying that sure this was not his intention. “Yet this is how it is. We shall weather it, make economies, there are many worse off than we. But Francis feels sorry for himself. I will not do so.” Elizabeth nods at D, who has come up behind Ross, and strides off, dignity intact.
Mark and Keren are with the crowd leaving Grambler, and Keren smirks at Ross. “He’ll need to watch his step.” D’s like, dude, he’s young, handsome, and free. “Do you envy him?” “Sometimes.” Ross gets serious: “The world is a harder place now, thanks to Julia. The stakes are higher, the losses are greater.” He would not change places with Mark or anything.
“What does it mean, ‘Resurgam’?” We shall rise again. “Will we?” Yes. We will.
RHG:
Carrie’s theory was that after last week, everything would go to shit and people would make bad choices and ruin their lives. Not everyone did, just one man, and he’s taking multiple other people down with him. Verity, there’s a life raft for you in the form of Blamey, so you at least have a choice.
Ross’ plan for getting people all into the idea of a miner’s collective was brilliant. Let someone else do the talking, then pull a Jeff Winger and reluctantly accept leadership when it is thrust upon him.
Oh, Francis, what can I say? You’re going to destroy your family, and all the people who depend on you for a job and a livelihood just to prove that you don’t have to do what daddy says? Fuck you. FUCK YOU. We live in a society where people are inter-dependent on each other, and this is not about YOU, you fucking turd.
It’s time to discuss everything you’re reading and then we’ll all go buy books.
Previously: D settles into her new married life and is now pregnant. Ross admitted he loved her, they struck copper, everything it JUST GREAT
This HaBO request is from Jordan, who is looking for a Harlequin from her college days: