How lovely she is.
So much of her mother.
Do not be afraid.
I am here to take you to a good life.
A life that you were born to.
Here.
(CHUCKLES)
(PEOPLE CHATTING INDISTINCTLY)
Elizabeth Murray! Bring yourself back here this very moment!
(HORSES NEIGHING)
Her mother is dead.
I beg you, Uncle...love her, as I would were I here...
...and ensure that she is in receipt
of all that is due to her as a child of mine.
That is simply impossible.
What is right...can never be impossible.
She is black.
She is my blood.
But she is black.
A detail you chose not to share with us.
In a few hours I am to captain a voyage to the Indies on a longitude experiment.
After that, who knows?
It is not in my gift to question the King and his Royal Navy.
Do you have in mind my position, my reputation?
Sir. lam the Lord Chief Justice.
Have some sense of propriety, boy, and understand what it is you are asking.
She is a mulatto.
What has she been named?
She is Belle. After her mother.
Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay.
She takes your name?
I am not ashamed.
We will call her Dido.
Good Lord, she is thin.
Mary, find her some food.
LINDSAY: Sweet child.
Aship is...
...no place for one so precious as you.
In these walls...
...yours will be a life equal to my blood.
And you will not understand in this moment...
...but know in your heart you are loved.
Just as I loved your mother.
Are you what they call a 'negro'? I heard them talking.
Questions, Elizabeth. A most irritating trait you share with your father.
Papa M?
No! Your birth papa, Sir David Murray.
You should not always insist on speaking your mind, you know.
You'll end up an old maid, with only your own company as entertainment.
Like you, Aunt Mary? That's what the maids say.
Oh, you little...
(ELIZABETH LAUGHS) Just wait till I catch you.
Elizabeth, come back here this moment!
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
There's one of me, too. Would you like to see it?
William Murray. 1st Earl of Mansfield.
Now...
...this is my nephew. Do you understand?
It's your uncle... Sir David Murray.
Elizabeth's papa?
Yes, that's right. You're very sharp.
(CHUCKLES)
7th Viscount Stormont who will inherit...
...everything we are standing on... when I am gone.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
LADY MANSFIELD: Born on English soil.
LORD MANSFIELD: Indeed.
He discovered her mother aboard a captured Spanish slave ship.
So...now we have 2 nieces in our guardianship.
Well, Elizabeth was in much need of a companion.
And that is what we shall say when questions are asked.
We shall say that, in accordance with her birthright...
...she is entitled to live beneath this roof.
That is the nature of order.
And where in that order should her color be placed?
Above or below her Murray bloodline?
Marriage? Impossible.
Any match her 'other origins' would attract would...
...surely disgrace her and the family's rank.
And when we are no longer here?
No husband... who will take care of her then?
(SINGING) Ring a ring 0' roses A pocket full of posies
Atishoo, atishoo We all fall down!
(BOTH SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
(BOTH LAUGHING)
Girls!
Will you refrain from shrieking! Like the blessed French!
(LAUGHING CONTINUES)
I have no experience in the ways of breaking grave news to you.
I had thought I should one day...
...have the opportunity to make his better acquaintance.
Yes.
Yes, I know.
£2,000 a year?
Then you are an heiress. He has left you your fortune.
My father's new wife wishes him to leave me not a thing...
...and he obliges her.
I think he might have loved me more if mama had not died.
I think...love must be a very complicated thing.
With such a dowry,
you may marry into any good family you wish.
We shall be receiving visitors for dinner.
Visitors? Whoever bothers to visit us here?
Or leave, except the dead.
(GIGGLING) Once again, Dido?
Beds...Aunt Mary.
We should prepare some extra beds in case our visitors are to stay.
May we wear the new silk? I will do your hair, Bette.
Say we may wear them, Aunt Mary.
You will not be dining with us, Dido.
Of course.
But I mayjoin after dinner, may I not?
Yes. Such are the rules and you know them well.
Papa, how may I be too high in rank to dine with the servants...
...and too low to dine with my family?
Dinner with guests is a formal proceeding, Dido.
We simply can't impose upon visitors our disregard of those formalities.
But...am I not wealthy now?
An heiress? Surely that changes matters.
Oh, my dear. If it were so simple.
Finance may go some way but...
...society has a habit of disregarding even one of its own...
...when opportunity provides.
But after dinner,
when formality is of less consequence...
...well...
your presence can raise no defendable objections.
As you wish...sir.
I would rather dine with Dido.
What a great pity. Our young gentlemen guests will miss you, Elizabeth.
BOTH: Young gentlemen?
Very good connections.
And most agreeable by all accounts.
Now close your mouth and understand.
There shall be no discussion tonight in any language but English.
No whispering in gentlemen's ears, not in Latin, Italian...
...and certainly not in French.
(CHATTING INDISTINCTLY)
I must say, the entire country barely breathes...
...awaiting yourjudgment on the Zong appeal.
Terrified you will destroy England, no doubt. (CHUCKLES)
I know Lord Ashford is.
He does wonder, however, what might be taking you so long.
The law, Lady Ashford, it is to be interpreted not merely administered.
Your husband, of all people, knows this.
Oh, what a lot of fuss over dead cargo.
It is a fuss over the bread and butter of...
...a great many people in this country, Lady Ashford.
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
Why, what wonderful French.
Though I have not an idea of what you said.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
(GASPING)
BELLE: Wimbridge. Miss Lindsay?
There are poachers wandering. (DOORBELL RINGING)
Good evening to you. Uh... My name is John Davinier.
I believe I may have disturbed a lady of this house. Ah! There she is.
Please, forgive me, though you barely...
Sir, I do not believe we have been introduced.
Indeed.
Please inform the lady of my apologies for startling her.
I took a shortcut to deliver this to Lord Mansfield. From my father.
Sir?
Reverend...Davinier.
WIMBRIDGE: I will see that he gets it immediately...
BELLE: You shall not interrupt him at dinner.
Immediately after dinner, sir.
Goodnight. Goodnight, sir.
(DOOR OPENING)
(PEOPLE CHATTING INDISTINCTLY)
LORD MANSFIELD: Dido, my dear.
Papa?
Good Lord, it's the negro. She really is...
A lady. Capital.
I had no idea she would be so...black.
Did you not listen to the rumors when you were spreading them, Mama?
May I present the second of my two nieces: Miss Dido Lindsay.
A pleasure, Miss Lindsay.
ELIZABETH: James is the eldest.
To inherit the entire Ashford fortune.
He's also to inherit from his uncle...
...a healthy man, who shows little sign of departure.
OLIVER: She is intriguing, is she not?
I find her repulsive.
Well, I suppose she is... if you find a most rare and exotic flower so.
He has much to recommend him.
And a second fortune in life should please any wife.
Dido. You are not to be a coquette with him.
You already have your fortune.
One does not make a wife of the rare and exotic, Oliver.
One samples it on the cotton fields of the Indies. (CHUCKLES)
Why so far when it is right at my door?
Good Lord, they are appraising me.
Then find a pure English rose to decorate one's home.
(PIANO PLAYING)
(SINGING) Britain hail O hail to thee
Fairest island in the sea
Though my favorite land shalt be
Is she 'out'?
Not quite.
Any day now.
Though my favorite land shalt be
Britain hail All hail to thee
Fairest island in the sea?
You will refrain from any intercourse with the negro.
They may find it fascinating to have a Lady mulatto running around in their house...
...but I will not have one running around in mine.
She is an heiress. Although exceptions can be made.
It is said her father left her a rather vast fortune.
I mean to say, if that is your incfinafion.
She is rather soft on the eye. I have thought no further of it, Mama.
LADY ASHFORD: Where do you get your information?
Her sister-cousin has a rather fast tongue.
(ALL APPLAUDING)
JAMES: And what of you, Miss Lindsay?
Are we to hear you play tonight?
BELLE: Well...
Papa?
Oh, do not be selfish with your good fortune, m'Lord.
This will be most interesting.
She's never played in company.
She is...most accomplished.
Hers was a most diligent governess.
His family name will no doubt induce her to take him seriously.
She must not delude herself. Such decisions are not hers to make.
Well, then spell it out to her...
...before she renders herself sport to some 'gent' of cruel promises.
LORD MANSFIELD: She has no reason. Her inheritance leaves her free to marry.
That at least is true.
It is Elizabeth who must secure her bread and butter.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(TAPPING)
ELIZABETH: A portrait? Are you sure?
Yes. Aunt Mary has confirmed it.
Good Lord, how truly wonderful.
But... But what?
Papa, should he not have wished to see me before deciding?
Sorry, I did not know you...
LORD MANSFIELD: Mr. Davinier, I believe you've already had the pleasure.
In some way, yes. Miss Lindsay.
Decide what?
If he should... should want to paint me.
The man is to be paid a fortune. What is there to decide?
You are simply to sit still, Dido. Not a very challenging task.
Next to Elizabeth?
As you always are, right beside each other.
Should not any lady be flattered to be such a subject?
How should any male know the ways of a lady
when he has not even mastered the ways of a gentleman?
Quite. Though one should be forgiven for thinking...
...he is in the presence of a lady
when she is, in fact, still a juvenile.
Papa! May we do this in private? No, not now.
You may take the books back to the library.
LORD MANSFIELD: Upon the death of her husband, a widow may receive...
...her marriage portion and her inheritance at once.
She has 40 days to leave her husband's home.
Mr. Davinier, what is the purpose of the law, in your eyes?
To provide certainty where there otherwise might be none.
Example?
The Zong ship and those drowned.
The law is one of the few trades acceptable to a gentleman.
JOHN: I have little...
...but where my father relies on the Bible,
I wish to rely on the law courts.
And you aspire to the judiciary?
One day, yes, my Lord.
I wish to make the laws, for that is how I may truly change this world.
That is I... I mean to say...
...make it a better place.
LORD MANSFIELD: You have grand ambitions.
A country lawyer you may make if you pay attention to what you are taught.
But you have neither the rank nor the finances for any more.
Well if I may, my Lord, neither did you.
I beg your pardon?
Well...
...as a fourth son...
...you had rank but not the income
to pay for your quafificafion to the Inns.
Without the sponsorship of Lord Foley and William Hamilton...
...the English courts might not have benefited from your brilliance...
...and the title Lord Chief Justice could not be yours today...my Lord.
And you think you are worthy of such considerations?
Of that I do not know, my Lord,
but I do know that a country life does not suit me.
LORD MANSFIELD: Dido...
...the Reverend Davinier has asked me to take his son under my tutelage.
What do you think?
Thank you for your gracious support.
I neither spoke for or against you since neither is my place.
Silence speaks volumes.
ELIZABETH: Papa's new student.
Mr. Davinier... my cousin, Elizabeth.
A pleasure.
Papa has never taken a pupil, you realize?
Someone to keep you company while you take papa's dictation, Dido.
Truth is, there have been more men here this week than I've seen in my entire life.
Hopefully we have not disappointed.
On the contrary.
Mr. Davinier, what...
...what is the importance of the Zong?
Why is the case before papa's court, the Supreme Court?
Well...
...it is a ship.
I am aware of that.
It is...a human cargo ship.
Oh.
It...it lost most of its slaves before arriving at its destination.
Drowned by the crew, on the captain's orders.
But...why?
Miss, your supper is served now in the ladies' parlor.
Thank you.
Will you be joining us for dinner, Mr. Davinier?
Uh... Thank you, madam, but I am promised to
the company of my aunt this evening.
Very well, as you wish.
Permit me to ask, but...
...why do you not dine with your family ever?
That is not correct.
Forgive me but twice now I have seen you separated from the gathering.
I am confounded.
And well you might be...
...when the son of clergy is permitted to the table before a lady of the house.
Is that a reminder of my place?
No. it is a statement of mine.
(EXHALES)
(SOBBING)
(NEIGHING)
JOHN: 132 drowned en route from Africa to the West Indies.
Your ruling could bring the slave trade to its knees...
...entirely destroying an economic foundation of this land.
Is that pressure not maddening, my Lord?
"Justitia fiat, ruat coelum, " Mr Davinier.
"Letjustice be done, though the heavens may fall."
The insurance claim states
the slaves were thrown overboard for the safety of the ship.
That there wasn't sufficient water to survive the rest of the voyage.
It does. Then, if I'm correct, the case hangs on...
it hangs on 'absolute necessity'.
If the killing of the negroes was truly necessary...
...to save the ship, as the captain contends.
But is that where it hinges?
No man happily disposes of his cargo.
Let me ask you: were you to enter a port...
...with barely one piece of merchandise left to trade, what would you do?
Swallow financial ruin or seek recompense from your insurer?
With due respect...
...I should question whether human life should be insurable as cargo at all.
A gentleman rather like him once showed me great interest.
Mr. Davinier?
Really, Mary?
Well, don't look at me like that.
It was my mama who intervened.
I thought he had a very great sense of duty.
A little over-kind at times but...
LADY MANSFIELD: He is engaged, you know?
ELIZABETH: Is he? Engaged.
LADY MANSFIELD: Mr. Beresford's daughter.
The carriage-maker? He might have set his sights a little higher.
ELIZABETH: I do love roses.
LADY MANSFIELD: Everything's a little late this year.
For it is the power of God unto salvation...
...so sayeth Christ the Lord. Amen.
Hymn number 76.
Mr. Davinier.
Wait.
I was curious.
Quite a task... to sit for so many hours.
Of course.
I appear the only one to have just learned of the Zong case.
Perhaps yours is a life less concerned with such matters.
Why do you judge me so?
It is a fact that I have contemplated on the matter for many hours and I...
...I do not think the slaves could have been
drowned in the way that you say.
(SCOFFS)
Are you at utter disconnect from everything?
Mr. Davinier, please.
(SIGHS)
Tell me what you know.
Tell me.
Do not render me your amusement.
I can only tell you what I believe.
And what...what is that?
The slaves were thrown into the waters...
...chained together as one.
They were diseased...
...worth more as dead insured merchandise, than as alive spoiled goods.
Miss Lindsay...
But the insurers are appealing?
They are refusing to pay for murdered slaves.
Thank you.
You told her they were wantonly drowned?
They were diseased, but it was essential that they die on the journey...
...or they would not come under the insurance consideration.
Neither, too, if they had expired of their diseases. That is why they were killed.
You have taken advantage ofconfidenfial matters afforded you.
These 'matters' have been for public consumption for months.
Miss Lindsay is no child...no fool.
Her precious care is in my hands...
...and I will decide when she is ready for such realities...
...not the son of a vicar!
I will gather my belongings.
Do so.
Your Lordship, a question.
Well?
As the mere son of a vicar...
...I wonder whether the value you extend to your very precious mulatto niece...
...amounts to the £30 insurance
the traders are asking for each life they murdered?
Good day, my Lord.
Mr. Davinier...
...find yourself in her vicinity again...
...and I will make you rue the day you ever set eyes on me.
(DOOR CLOSES)
ELIZABETH: John Davinier is leaving very early today.
(DOOR OPENING)
(DOOR CLOSING)
There you are. We are requested.
You: drawing room. I relegated to the ladies' parlor.
We are to attend London for the season.
(GASPS)
We are to finally 'come out'?
Elizabeth is to come out.
Dido is not.
But...why?
LORD MANSFIELD: You understand the ways of the world for a female, Dido.
Elizabeth has no income.
You are to meet as many gentlemen as possible before we make the match.
When all this has gone to her father, there'll be nothing left for her.
And...me?
LADY MANSFIELD: Any gentleman of good breeding...
...would be unlikely to form a serious attachment to Dido.
And a man without would lower her position in society.
ELIZABETH: She's not merely my cousin, Mama.
Papa, please. She is my sister.
These are the keys of the house.
I cannot attend London without her.
They have hung at your aunt's waist for 30 years.
I am not Lady Mary. lam not an unwanted maid.
Lady Mary is too old to continue in charge of the house.
You may take up your duties on your return.
Lord knows I'll need the two of you to keep each other out of trouble.
Are you punishing me?
LORD MANSFIELD: Punishing you?
You are most cherished.
Most loved.
I'm so very sorry.
ELIZABETH: Do you think I may see Mr. James in town?
Perhaps.
I could fall in love with such a man, Dido.
Love?
Hmm.
Bette, you shall feel no such sentiment...
...for you shall either end poor or broken-hearted.
(PEOPLE CHATTING INDISTINCTLY)
ELIZABETH: Aren't you quietly relieved...
...that you shan't be at the caprice
of some silly Sir and his fortune?
The rest of us haven't the choice.
Not a chance of inheritance if we have brothers...
...and forbidden from any activity that allows us to support ourselves.
We are but their property.
LADY MANSFIELD: Girls! Come along now.
Light the fires for dinner, will you, Thomas?
THOMAS: Certainly, ma'am.
LADY MANSFIELD: Thank you.
Some bed-socks for you, Miss Murray.
MABEL: Miss Lindsay.
ELIZABETH: Thank you, Mabel. How kind.
MABEL: It's not as warm as we'd hoped tonight.
Can I help you with that, Miss Lindsay?
You must start from the ends, miss.
My mam taught me.
See?
(HORSES SNORTING)
Promise me you will do something about that vulgar teal paint...
...if you ever become lady of this house.
It is positively wanting, Elizabeth.
Lady Mansfield, Lady Mary and their nieces, madam.
Ladies. Lady Ashford.
And the gentlemen? Mr. James?
Here, of course.
Nothing could have prevented him knowing that Miss Murray was visiting today.
OLIVER: Papa.
LORD ASHFORD: Lord Mansfield's infamous mulatto.
No wonder our Lord Chief Justice knows not whether he's coming or going.
Well she cannot know your thoughts unless you offer them to her.
LORD ASHFORD: Ah, the Ladies Mansfield.
JAMES: Come here. (CHUCKLES)
Careful.
Oh, Dido, look, Mr. James has made me a boat and it has capsized.
(ELIZABETH CHUCKLES) What a dreadful shame.
For you.
(CHUCKLES)
Miss Lindsay, would you do me the honor of taking some air with me...sometime?
Don't you care what people will say?
What is that to mean, Mr. James?
What should anyone say?
That he would compromise a lady's reputation...
...by stepping out with her scarcely having made her acquaintance.
(CHUCKLING) I think you are a great deal too anxious, brother.
We should merely take a turn around Vauxhall.
I should be delighted, Mr. Oliver.
Most delighted.
(HORSES NEIGHING)
Are you really to defy papa?
I did not think I would ever find a lady
who was not to be conquered or ignored...
.“unﬂlyou. (CHUCKLES)
LADY MANSFIELD: lam not at ease with this. Lord Mansfield would be most aggrieved.
LADY ASHFORD: Oh... it can do no harm.
We are just two families spending some time together.
Although, if a desirable match
were a possibility... (BELLE CHUCKLING)
.“yourdearhusband could have no objection, could he?
Oh, they've disappeared. People will think she has no family.
People will think they are courting.
See how my heart beats?
I am utterly taken with you, Miss Lindsay.
Despite such pronounced protestations from your brother?
(CHUCKLES)
He cannot overlook your mother's origins as I do.
Foohsh.
Why should anyone even pay her regard...
...when your better half has equipped you so well with...
...with loveliness and privilege?
(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)
What a lovely sound.
You are unrelentingly cultured. (CHUCKLES) Come, let's find it.
I do hope you know how well I think of you.
As I do you.
I might have only dreamed of these moments, at one time.
Really?
Then I hope you plan to honor your attentions...
...as not to would leave me looking quite foolish.
And I should not call myself a gentleman.
You are much of the conqueror, Mr. Oliver.
Mr. Davinier. Miss Lindsay.
How...
...how nice to see you.
And you, Miss Lindsay.
Forgive me. Uh...
Mr. Ashford, may I present to you...
...Mr. Davinier. He is the son of our vicar at Hampstead.
A clergyman. (CHUCKLES)
Good evening to you, sir.
Sir.
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
(ALL EXCLAIMING)
(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
(PEOPLE CHATTING INDISTINCTLY)
Miss Lindsay. You are alone.
I did not have the chance to see you before you left to convey my apologies.
Apologies? Your pupillage.
Father would never have ended it, you never would have had to leave Kenwood...
He would make mine a living hell were he to know of us speaking.
I have tried to keep up with the Zong...
Forgive me.
I have tried to keep up...with the Zong.
'Tis pitiful. Suchinabﬂfiy to simply know
what value to put on another's life.
What price a worthless negro?
You utterly misunderstand me.
I am saying that no man may have the value of cargo.
Human beings cannot be priced since we are priceless. Freemen and slaves alike.
I am with others here. All students in law...
...applying pressure on the insurance companies...
...to refuse from hereon to insure slaves on any ship.
But that would require a change in law.
How can we expect to be civilized when we live in such a barbaric world?
It is the utter injustice.
It is more than that.
It is the shame of a law that would uphold
a financial transaction upon that atrocity.
That is indeed the truth.
I have never heard anyone speak like you.
Nor I you, Miss Lindsay.
You should return. They will be anxious.
Goodbye, Miss Lindsay.
Goodbye...Mr. Davinier.
JOHN: Miss Lindsay...
...we commune at the coaching inn, Kentish Town...
...most evenings.
Quite.
LADY ASHFORD: Elizabeth is a determined spirit.
She will need a gentleman who can temper her.
Quite a task.
Do I sense that an address is finally to be made?
She is an exquisite girl.
And since there is no male heir...
...it will fall upon Elizabeth and her husband...
...eventually, to inherit Kenwood and all its lands.
I realize that there will be many worthy addresses to consider.
Lady Mansfield, what is it?
Pennﬂess?
Without an inch of property or a shilling to her name.
Do you hear that, James? A lady's good breeding alone will not do.
Your brother needs a wife who can bring him more land...
...if he is ever to exert more political influence than your father has!
But what of her own father?
The 7th Viscount Stormont is a scoundrel.
Ensconced in Vienna with that girl's vicious step-mama and his new offspring...
...who, lam told, is to inherit everything.
I must say, pen-ni-less!
Though, thankfully, her cousin is not.
Each time I set eyes on that girl she becomes more beautiful.
She has the coloring of a farmer.
James, you are my first boy - blessed by law to inherit your father's wealth.
Be sympathetic to your brother.
Like the unfortunate Miss Murray...
...good family name and empty pockets will only get him so far.
(CUTLERY CLATTERING)
(DOOR CREAKS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
ls Mabel a slave?
I beg your pardon?
Is Mabel a slave?
She is free and under our protection.
Oh, like me.
Hardly, Dido.
And paid a very respectable wage.
How is the fraud appeal, Papa?
Fraud?
The marine insurance. It is a fraud case, is it not?
It depends on who you speak to.
To cull your 'cargo'?
Solely to claim insurance...
...because it was too diseased to achieve a good price at market...
...if not fraud, then what?
Do you speak on my behalf?
Will you please stop!
This is a vulgar subject to discuss at breakfast.
I learned yesterday... Mr. Davinier is in town.
I'm not surprised Dido is beginning to sound very much like him.
Excuse me.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LORD ASHFORD: I had the pleasure of laying eyes on your adopted girl.
You have raised a lovely young lady and though I understand she is kept under...
...interesting rules, she raises questions.
Oh?
Her introduction to society comes at a key time in the insurance appeal.
Parliament is nervous that the situation
in your family will color your judgment.
I will not have pressure put on me,
either from the inside or the outside.
You are the highest judgeintheland.
In you they see a man who is of the persuasion and the power to bring down...
...the greatest trade of our time and the commercial health of this country.
Some will say that, next to our King,
you're the most powerful man in England.
And the same will ask how you, our Chief Justice, can be fair?
There are rules in place which dictate how we live.
If that were not the case...
...I would not have had the mandate
to give shelter to my nephew's daughter.
She is his blood and mine...
...and is rightfully entitled to be brought up on the family estate.
If the law supports the Zong slave owners...
...as strongly as Murray blood runs through the veins of Dido Belle...
...then make no mistake, the insurers will be forced to pay.
I believe you.
I, uh, have reason to speak with you on another matter.
Yes?
I have a wish to seal the bond between the Ashford and Mansfield names.
Whatever did happen in the end, Aunt Mary?
With your gentleman friend. (DOOR OPENS)
MARY: He never married.
(DOOR CLOSES)
He died last year...
...after a long illness.
Oh, Aunt Mary.
MABEL: Pardon me.
Mr. Ashford is here for you, miss.
BOTH: Which Mr. Ashford?
(DOOR CLOSES) (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
(WHISPERING) You need worry about nothing. Papa has been dealt with.
(DOOR CREAKING)
OLIVER: Miss Lindsay.
BELLE: Mr. Oliver.
I think...
...well, I know...
...that we make a rather good match.
Father has purchased me a commission in the Navy as Captain.
All that remains...
(CLOCK CHIMING)
Uh, I cannot offer you a title for the next Lady Ashford...
...well that title must fall to my brother's wife.
What I'm trying to say is, uh...
...is I can, without doubt...
...offer you all that is due to Mrs. Oliver Ashford...
...and trust that this will be acceptable to you...
...since it would very much be my privilege...
...my honor, if you would agree to become my wife.
(WHISPERING) lcannotsee! Shh!
Good Lord.
Mrs. Ashford.
L...
.HcannoLH
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
What are you doing? Quiet, Elizabeth.
...cannot think of anything...
...more wonderful.
(CHUCKLES)
Oh! She has agreed.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Mama, we are engaged.
Oh, my darling.
(KISSES)
BELLE: (WHISPERING) it is a good thing, is it not, Mama?
LADY MANSFIELD: Oh, it is a wonderful thing.
(WHISPERS) Dido.
Yes?
Was there any message for me?
No, Bette.
But I'm sure it won't be long.
What does it feel like, Dido?
To be engaged?
Perfect, Bette.
Perfect.
(CUTLERY CLATTERING)
(MOUTHING)
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
Papa?
Thank you.
(CUTLERY CLATTERING)
We are to make many calls today, Elizabeth.
Acquainting oneself with the most eligible gentlemen is not light business.
Should we not wait a day or two ...for Mr. James?
Elizabeth, a word of advice. Wait for no man, dear.
LADY MANSFIELD: Will you join us, Dido?
Dido?
Oh. lam terribly light-headed this morning, Mama.
I should like to take rest, if it would not displease you.
Oh, dear. Unwell? And just as we're about to announce your news.
Papa.
Let's see that smile. Come along.
(DOOR OPENS)
(HORSE NEIGHING)
(DOOR CLOSES)
Harry. Harry, I need your help.
I need you to take me somewhere. Alone, miss?
I shall not be alone. I shall be with you.
(MAN SHOUTING)
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JOHN: This is written anonymously.
I have a list of those who have not yet indicated their position.
HARRY: Mr. Davinier?
(DOOR OPENS)
Mr. Davinier.
Miss Lindsay. I...
it is said all of the ship's papers have been lost. But here...
...I found these in papa's library.
What are they?
Papa's notes on the ship's log.
It seems the first mate has come forward with it
- one Mr. Stubbs.
I could not find the log itself
but look at papa's markings.
See the map positions.
Captain Collingwood and his men directed the ship past no less than 8 ports...
...where there was every opportunity
to replenish the ship's water supplies.
Good Lord. And they did not.
They either ignored the possibilities or they were never in need.
This is remarkable.
Perhaps if you could
make these facts known, Mr. Davinier.
This places you in an impossible position
with Lord Mansfield.
What is the alternative?
Walk with me, Miss Lindsay.
The back of the inn is safe from anyone who may know you.
There's no-one but blind and crying drunks. (CHUCKLES)
BELLE: Papa would rather I see no ill, as though
by ignoring it, it somehow escapes me.
Perhaps by position but not...
...not by blood.
The fault was never with you.
Justasinlfie, we are no better in paintings.
You were afraid.
Afraid?
To be painted beside Miss Murray,
and I ridiculed you.
I feel ashamed.
Do not feel ashamed.
Elizabeth said something when we arrived in London.
"We women are but the property of gentlemen."
But it came into my head that I have been
blessed with freedom twice over.
As a negro and as a woman.
I suppose you have.
Or have I?
Must not a lady marry evenifsheis financially secure?
For who is she without a husband of consequence?
It seems silly - like a free negro
who begs for a master.
Well...
...unless... she marries her equal.
Her true equal. A man who respects her.
I remember my father's eyes.
They were kind, gentle.
A little like yours. Mine?
I mean...in color.
He showed me much love though I only knew him a few hours.
What of your own mother?
I know very little of her
other than the color
she has given me.
Well then, at least you know she was beautiful.
I am to marry...shortly.
Mr. Ashford.
Oh.
He is amiable and of good family.
Is it... what you want?
The alternative is to replace Lady Mary
in her responsibilities at Kenwood.
But she's a spinster.
Papa did not trust I could achieve a match
that would raise my rank or even equal it.
You are above reducing yourself for the sake of rank.
I pray he would marry you without a penny to your name...
...for that is a man who would truly treasure you.
Gsmnwxe)
What if I shall never find someone so incomparably suitable?
And wealthy?
What if he is suitable but you do not feel 'yourself' with him?
Oh, Dido. He understood me.
And whenever he looked at me I somehow felt better in this world.
I am convinced his affections are growing
and I feel certain of my own love.
Oh, stop it! It is not love.
You stop it.
You know no more of love than I myself, do you?
Do you, Dido?
No.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LADY ASHFORD: Oliver and Miss Lindsay make a blissful match.
Exactly when is she due to receive her inheritance?
And tell me, are you an only son?
I have 6 brothers, madam.
Six? Goodness. And...are they all...
Older, madam? Yes.
Oh, do look. Here comes the Baroness in her boat.
Oh, how dreadfully wonderful, Lady M.
Your girl is a picture. An utter picture. With her intended?
Indeed, Baroness Vernon.
And I see the other does not give up.
So terribly endearing.
You must meet the Mansfield girl. (CHUCKLES)
Still available.
ELIZABETH: Mama, Mr. Vaughn approaches.
LADY MANSFIELD: I have checked, he has no London home...
...but he achieves an income of no less than £4,000 a year.
Miss Murray. Lady Mansfield.
I trust your stay in London is proving pleasant, Miss Murray.
Oh, most certainly.
I wonder if you might permit me to call upon you at home...some time?
Oh.
With her Ladyship's permission?
I will make arrangements.
JAMES: Miss Lindsay.
Not husband hunting, are we?
Good Lord, I forgot...
...you have ensnared my brother.
Tell me, are you to share his dining room as well as his bed?
Oh, Mr. James, your manners are as poor as your brother's finances.
And you are foolish enough to marry him. I, on the other hand...
...have no further use for your impoverished cousin.
Though she does make for rather amusing sport.
(CHUCKLES)
That is painful, sir!
Have you never been manhandled?
It is not in my repertoire
to keep company with beasts.
(EXCLAIMS) (GRUNTS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(SOBBING) How dare you!
With ease.
(WHISPERING) You will destroy us.
You will destroy the entire order of our family.
JOHN: I'd never imagined myself to be married, but my aunt is determined.
If one were to count, I have not even been acquainted with Miss Beresford on...
...3 occasions.
Is she not terribly disappointed that you will not return to Hampstead?
My aunt? (BOTH CHUCKLING)
JOHN: Well, I doubt Miss Beresford has any more wish to marry me than I her.
I should rather make a nuisance of myself alone in London...
...than in an unwanted marriage in Hampstead. (LAUGHING)
Where is everyone, Mabel? All the carriages are gone.
The ladies and Miss Murray are out calling, Your Lordship.
Is Dido with them?
Um... (MOUTHING) Shh.
I believe so.
Were you a curious child? (CHUCKLES)
Completely. Elizabeth always asked the questions for me.
(BOTH CHUCKLE) Dear, dear Bette.
BELLE: Papa is to finally speak in a few days and...
JOHN: I fear, despite persuasive argument, your papa has not been moved.
I'm not certain he is ready to go against the traders.
They are some of the most powerful in these isles...
...and theirs are the finances that hold up England, after all.
The enemies of any man who stood against the trade would be vicious.
And yet, if he does...stand up...
...if he speaks the words and condemns the trade...
...the Lord Chief Justice of England, then it may be impossible...
...for the slave laws of England and its colonies to remain absolute.
That is a fact.
(HORSE NEIGHING)
(CAWING)
(PIANO PLAYING)
I've heard nothing from him since Vauxhall, Dido.
I was certain an announcement was to be made any day...that he meant it this time.
Then he is not a man of his word.
I will help you find the kindest, most wonderful of husbands.
(SOBBING)
And...
...I shall ask papa to use a portion of my inheritance for your dowry.
You would do that?
Bette...anything for you.
(SIGHS) Dido...
...I have been of the mind these last few days that...
...it is my little means that has delayed James in making his approach.
I think you may be right.
Then I cannot thank you enough.
Bette?
I will ask papa to write immediately to Lady Ashford.
No?
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
James Ashford is not kind. He is not appropriate.
Appropriate?
The brother of the man you are to marry is not appropriate for me?
He does not desire you, Bette!
Or at least, even if he does, you would regret such a mistake.
He...
...laid his hands on me, Bette...in the most ungentlemanly fashion.
Why should you say such a thing?
He hurt me.
You are a liar!
Why would I lie to you? I don't know.
Have you never been able to see? He would never touch you!
Bette... You are beneath him!
I am beneath him?
Yes.
Yes! You are... What?
Tell me what I am, Bette!
You are...
...you are illegitimate!
Have you never wondered why you were not permitted to eat with our guests?
My mother and father never married, you are correct.
But my father acknowledged me as his child.
It is yours who refuses to legitimize your position and that is why you are poor.
And that is why it is not me who is beneath Mr. James. It is not me.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(HORSE NEIGHING)
HARRY: Whoa.
(HORSE WHINNYING)
(DOOR CLOSES)
Papa. This man's ambition includes you.
You will endure shame and risk your position for a man without name...
...who will sully yours and drag your reputation into the gutter.
I take great offense at your summation of my character without even knowing me.
Where is your right? I have every right.
Not until you cease from judging the entire world
as those above and those below...
...and begin to see people as people.
Human beings who think
and feel no more or less than you do.
I know there is a lady in Belsize
who is waiting to be your wife.
No, I have an ambitious aunt in Belsize...
...who, like you, assumes that wealth and reputation...
...are all that life depends on...
...and despises love
as though it were
the devil's own creation!
You claim love... Yes! Yes...
...I love her!
I love her with every breath I breathe!
BELLE: Go, John.
You do not deserve this.
Captain Sir John Lindsay would never have behaved like this.
He would never have behaved like this because he was never here!
You are destroying your possibilities
with the only gentleman who will consider you.
Is that what you want?
Arrogant parasite!
FilIs her head with worthless ideals.
Wants to 'make the world a better place'.
And his childish campaign simply adds to the ridicule aimed at me...
...in those contemptible pamphlets.
And now, like some kind of saint, immune from reproach...
You said something idenficalonceu.
...that you wanted to change the world.
Quite some time before you entered your chambers, of course.
Defiant, principled...
...desperate to secure your position amongst the Establishment but...
...always a little too radical for them.
I never broke the rules.
You simply became powerful enough to make new ones.
(SIGHS)
I always felt that you already loved me...
...when I gave you my hand.
That we were a good match was never a doubt...
.“butldon% think I could have married a gentleman...
...without that light in his eye.
Without knowing, privately, that my heart stopped a moment...
...each time that he looked at me.
It is possible that even you...
.“cannotfightchange, my darling.
Sometimes you cannot fight it because you are a part of it.
Do you love her?
As though she were created of you and me.
(INHALES)
And that is why...
...I simply will not see her diminished.
The niece of the Marquis of Winchester.
Mr. James Ashford is to marry the niece of the Marquis of Winchester.
I'm reading it here.
Well, that will render your future mother-in-law ecstatic, Dido.
(SOBBING)
Shh.
Don't you dare say a word.
I won't.
(SNIFFLES)
(SOBBING) Why...
...why do they always do that?
Who, Bette?
Men.
They just leave and never come back.
(SNIFFLES)
(SOBBING CONTINUES)
ELIZABETH: I saw you with Mr. Davinier...
...at the pleasure garden.
You said nothing.
I wanted you to tell me.
To trust me.
I should have.
You know...
...if I had your choice...
...I would choose the man I loved.
I simply hope he's worth it.
I am not in the habit of requiring an explanation more than twice...
...but on this occasion you will have to forgive me.
There is little point in repetition.
Then let me be clear I understand.
Your charge, your mulatto charge...
That is enough! Is it not true, Your Ladyship?
...whose unfortunate circumstances,
at birth, we chose to forgive...
...has decided she no longer wishes the match with my son...
...a gentleman and an officer?
Why...
...Miss Lindsay?
Do you feel I have any lesser need to ensure my child's wellbeing and future than you?
Does she still have a tongue?
I have a tongue...madam.
Though yours explains well enough why I may not marry your son.
You view my circumstances as unfortunate...
...though I cannot claim even a portion of the misfortune...
...to those whom I most closely resemble.
My greatest misfortune would be to marry into a family...
...who would carry me as their shame...
...as I have been required to carry my own mother.
Her apparent crime to be born negro...
...and mine to be the evidence.
Since I wish to deny her no more than I wish to deny myself...
...you will pardon me for wanting a husband...
...who feels 'forgiveness' of my bloodline...
...is both unnecessary and without grace.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(MAN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LORD MANSFIELD: It will hang at Kenwood.
BELLE: Will it?
Why should that surprise you?
Why should it not?
LORD MANSFIELD: What are you reading?
BELLE: A gentleman named Thomas Day.
He speaks of a slave who agreed to marry an English lady.
A voice for people...
...people like my mother...
...who do not have one.
Do you find yourself in such writing?
I don't know that I find myself anywhere.
What do you want, Dido?
What precisely are you looking for?
I have enabled every rule of convention...
...so that you would know exactly where you belong...
...and yet little appears enough for you.
And what if there were not a rule, Papa?
What if the rule that allowed you to take me did not exist?
Would you have returned me to the slums?
You are courageous.
When it comes to the matters you believe in, society is inconsequential.
You break every rule when it matters enough, Papa. lam the evidence.
This painting is the evidence.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Look at them. For and Against at each other's throats.
How on earth did the damn Quakers find their way in here?
(CHUCKLES)
You are a brave man, negotiating these quarters on the eve of yourjudgment.
Finally you are to speak. If England is destroyed, we shall blame you.
...religion not being the only guardian of our morality.
Of course not. There is self-responsibility.
And failing that, does the law not have a duty?
Does the Bench and Parliament not have a duty to uphold and create the laws...
...that progress our morality not retard it?
If not to protect us from others then to protect us from ourselves.
Laws that allow us to diminish the humanity of anybody are not laws.
They are frameworks for crime.
I do not care if you, as an individual, are without character or conscience.
But a land whose laws sanction, not control...
...the barbarous among its citizens,
that is a country whose hope is lost.
(INAUDIBLE)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Why does it matter to you so much?
M'lord...l have seen your notes!
If they had wanted water, they could have had it.
Dido took them.
JOHN: M'lord! If you find for the traders...
...you will be formalizing in law the concept of insuring human cargo.
That's correct.
Drive.
Then know that when you are gone, your legacy will be to have left Miss Lindsay...
...in a world where she may be worth more dead than alive.
Miss Lindsay is not a slave.
By the very grace of God. (BANGING)
This is not about Miss Lindsay.
Of course it is.
It's about all of us.
It's about everything. Everything that's important.
Mr. Davinier...
...the world is a devastating place.
You must learn to protect your emotions...
...if you wish to prevent matters both of law...
.“andlove, from devastating you.
(HORSE NEIGHING)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(HORSE NEIGHING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Good to see you, John.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER CONTINUES)
Silence in the court! Silence!
The Appeal Court of the King's Bench
- case of Gregson versus Gilbert.
I am here today...
...to rule on certain matters...
...referred to me from the Lower Court...
...in the case of the slave ship Zong.
LADY MANSFIELD: How kind of you to come, Mr. Vaughn.
ELIZABETH: I have thought of nothing else but showing
you Aunt Mary's chrysanthemums.
What a pleasure, Miss Murray.
You too, Mama.
(DOOR CLOSES) (FOOTSTEPS RECEDING)
ELIZABETH: Aunt Mary?
LORD MANSFIELD: Whether the enslaved cargo was jettisoned in emergency...
...to save captain and crew from certain death...
...when the extended journey threatened shortage of drinking water.
No. Never again.
Then allow me to take the reins.
LORD MANSFIELD: Now let me be clear.--...
...the loss of water on a ship constitutes a singularly dangerous affair.
Insurrection of thirsty and hostile slaves...
...at its extreme, and an impossible task...
...to share diminished water reserve amongst all those living, at best.
Each implies a severe threat to the lives of the seamen.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And in such emergency circumstances...
...our law is transparent and unequivocal.
The jettisoning of enslaved cargo is legal!
(ALL CHEERING)
And it beholds the insurers to pay losses.
No! (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Silence in court!
Gentlemen, silence in court!
However...
...these were not the circumstances of the Zong.
Slaves were not jettisoned because water supplies ran low.
Indeed, evidence shows the ship sailed past 8 ports...
...without pausing to restore water supplies.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
My finding is that the slaves...
...were jettisoned, killed, because the Zong ship's owners...
...chose a tight packing fashion to transport their slaves.
They knew the risk since this fashion of transportation...
...is well-known to cause disease in slaves.
(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY) Disease that rendered the Zong slaves
impossible to sell.
Silence in the court! Gentlemen, silence!
It is not legal...
...to discharge lives from a ship into the waters...
...to facilitate insurance compensation.
Whether they be the lives of horses...
...or human beings, slaves or otherwise...
...it is not legal...
...neither is it right.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
it is clear that a fraud has been committed...
...in claiming insurance on slaves who were drowned...
...solely for financial gain.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
It is my opinion...
...that the state of slavery...
...is so odious a position...
...that nothing may support it.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Let justice be done...
...though the heavens may fall.
(SIGHS)
I find in favor of the insurers...
Ah! (JEERING)
...and overturn the decision of the Lower Court.
CLERK: All rise! (INDISTINCT YELLING)
You may not blame Mr. Davinier.
My attendance today is absolutely at my own volition.
I'm fully aware, Dido.
My Lord, lam inspired by your decision today.
We will not go backwards from here.
History will judge whether your optimism is warranted.
You're a man of conviction.
I'm trying to be.
I've not changed my mind. She is to marry a gentleman.
And Mr. Davinier is not a gentleman?
He is, indeed.
My affections are with him, Papa.
And that is why he should have an occupation befitting one.
I wish for nothing if not to be his wife.
Mr. Davinier, I would like you to attend my chambers in the morning.
There are some matters you can assist me with.
Your Lordship? And, if you think it's a good idea...
...I would like to facilitate your entry into the Inns of Court.
I think it is a very good idea, my Lord.
Can it be true?
Of course. He sees what I see. His words were as clear as...
No.
No, that your feelings for me are so?
That you would be my wife?
Because I cannot conceive of a life without you.
I love you...
...for all that you are...
...and with all...
...all that I am.
(HORSE NEIGHING)