Should I side with Nicholas or Hanekin Hare?

[Vizebrator]

In regards to Hare's innocence regarding the murder, it does seem like Hare really is innocent. However, it does seem like Nicholas and his wife had no other choice but to accuse Hare of the crime. From what I gathered it seems like Nicholas' wife was really in love with Nicholas and not Hare; but, she was being forced to marry some rich prick she didn't want to be with while Nicholas would have lost the woman he loved. Really the accusation seems like the only thing the two could have done to be together which is understandable. I ended up siding with Hare but when Sir Divish says he would have Nicholas arrested, Hare says that Nicholas is already gone. Was Hare implying that he killed Nicholas or was he implying that Nicholas ran off with his wife?

[PafunaMT]

Spoilers:

In my humblest opinion, Nicholas and his wife did have a choice, in that they did not have to accuse an innocent man of murder, whether he was a noble or not. That could have cost Hare his life, and it was by luck Divish was the merciful and pragmatic lord who let Hare go. If it was Hanush, Hare almost certainly would have lost his head, noble or not.

Nicholas and Margaret did have other options; they could have run away together, or accepted the situation as it was. They could have had an affair together that ended in a pregnancy, thereby removing Margaret from consideration as Hare's future wife. None of these choices would have been easy, and I can't see that they were any more difficult than deciding to frame Hare for a murder, but there were other options. All choices have consequences.

I certainly can empathize with Margaret's plight a little, since she apparently did not want to marry Hare, but I'm not sure her story holds up under scrutiny - she met with Hare near Talmberg very recently, she certainly had some flirtatious dalliance going with Hare before the incident according to some Talmbergers. And she was with Hare the night Henry of Leipa's man was supposedly killed, but no one for sure ever found out what happened to that guy, which Margaret and Hare clearly say in the story. She was Hare's alibi. For all we know, Nicholas could have killed the other guy, or he could have fallen in a ditch and broke his neck. We'll never know. But according to Margaret herself, it certainly wasn't Hare.

As for Nicholas, his motives certainly weren't noble - he stood to gain a valuable position as Huntsman in the deal, and marriage to Margaret which certainly came with a dowry. Nicholas was of limited means and birth, so the marriage and the Huntsman's job was a significant step up for him. It's probable that Nicholas had genuine affection for Margaret, as he demonstrated by signing the confession (if that was your outcome), but he clearly has much to lose in signing it, so giving up his job and reputation for Margaret does seem to indicate he has some affection for her. It's possible to do much in the name of love, I suppose, but there was also a decidedly fiduciary interest for Nicholas, too.

In the end, Hare indicates Nicholas and Margaret get a head start to flee Talmberg before Hare gives the confession to Divish. By the time Henry and Hare present the confession to Divish the following day, it's assumed that Nicholas and Margaret have already fled to parts unknown.

Anyway, I liked your thoughts on it, wanted to offer some other viewpoint in response.

Cheers.

[Vilab]

You can add the fact Nicholas doesn't do his job seriously at all, he is very - too - nicely dressed ( =/= Berthold at Rattay ), he let you do the investigation, and if you go an alternative way ( in wich you find the "bad guys" 's camp and tell Nicholas ), he won't even join you and the soldiers to arrest them