"Hey, remember Arthur's genius plan to win the election by buying a bunch of votes using a low-tech system involving used train tickets? This may shock you, but it did not work. Sure, Arthur won the election. But six months later, as the opening title informs us, that win has come back to haunt him. A trial for voting fraud has, thankfully, not found Arthur directly guilty of the crime. But the same can't be said for others in his circle, voiding the win."
"That means subbing Rafferty in for her usual violin instructor for a private lesson with the doors closed after the pair discuss their plans via a lot of extremely thinly veiled double entendres concerning crying and the proper handling of elegant violins. When Arthur returns home, Potter tries to tattle on the pair, an attempt Arthur shuts down by essentially telling the servant it's none of his business."
"Anne gets a much less pleasant reaction to the trial's outcome than Rafferty when she visits Reverend Grattan. Still peeved about being shut out of the will (and, of course, the limits it places on his ministry), Grattan likens Arthur to an "eel from the River Liffey slipping out of the grasp of justice." Grattan threatens blackmail, claiming to know the real truth about the election fraud. It's frankly a lot to lay on any pregnant woman, much less one of Anne's delicate constitution."
Arthur secured an election through a scheme involving purchased votes and used train tickets, but associates' culpability in a later voting-fraud trial voids the victory. The trial spares Arthur direct guilt yet collapses the political win and sparks immediate social fallout. James reacts with vandalistic anger. Olivia privately celebrates with Rafferty in a closed-door violin lesson loaded with double entendres, prompting Arthur to rebuke a tattling servant and privately advise Olivia to be discreet. Anne, visibly pregnant, faces Reverend Grattan's anger and blackmail threats over exclusion from the will. Adelaide unexpectedly visits Edward and wipes paint from his face.
Read at Vulture
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