Episode 18: Suddenly, Like Icarus

Fersen's sudden arrival causes the assassins to retreat. Oscar is taken back to her manor to recover, and correctly suspects Polignac as the mastermind of the plot. Charlotte is horrified at her mother's attempt at murder due to her admiration for Oscar. Fersen tells Oscar that he came to France for business---and due to his father's desire to find him a wife. Fersen has a prospective candidate in mind, but has never met her before, and he desperately asks Oscar if people should only marry for love. Antoinette is ecstatic at Fersen's return, but breaks down in tears when he tells her of his marriage plans. Oscar angrily asks Fersen why he told her this, and he says that he is wrongly in love with the Queen, and wants to break away from his feelings in order to do the right thing. Oscar spends the next few hours in emotional pain, and goes to an opera alone because Fersen is too saddened to attend. Antoinette, late for the concert, accidentally meets Fersen in the woods, and one thing leads to another.