Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-17626299-20140813224311/@comment-4975807-20140814033846

No, I believe Cora's intent in marrying Leopold was to pass off Zelena as his child. This way, both she and her child could be provided for if Leopold believed that was his daughter. Clearly, Cora cared about her unborn child to some degree. After she discovered Jonathan's lies, she demanded that he provide enough money for herself and the child to live off of. The whole point of showing flashbacks in "Bleeding Through" was to demonstrate that Cora had unwillingly, at the end of her line of hope, abandoned Zelena because she had lost Leopold's trust. And without Leopold's trust, she couldn't see a way to keep her child and not have to worry about living; such as money, food, a home, etc. Plus, I doubt people looked highly on those who had children out of wedlock, so without Leopold's help, Cora would've likely struggled to feed/shelter both herself and Zelena.

Had Eva not ratted out Cora, I think Zelena could have passed as Leopold's daughter. It's not uncommon for women to sometimes deliver children early, and since Cora was already some months along in her pregnancy but not yet visibly showing, she could've just still claimed to be pregnant by Leopold and give birth "earlier" than her due date.