Armand’s First Letter. Amelia’s First Letter.

Mont-Havre, Armorica
30 November 1017

Dear Amelia,

Please do take notice of the date on this letter; you should be reading it at about the beginning of January. Yes, just one month after I sent it!
(Which means, I am afraid, that at least one of my earlier letters is still in transit.)

Tuppenny Wagons has sold a packet to the Courier’s Guild! They took delivery in Mont-Havre two weeks ago. We had it ready for them, of course—someone was going to undertake the packet trade using our vessels eventually, whether the Courier’s Guild chose to or not, so we did not wait for the first order.

It is just the one packet at present. She is a sweet vessel we christened the  Séraphine—which, would you believe it, is Madame Truc’s given name. She is not quite the same as the Amelie, having more room allocated to packages and mail and less to passengers and comfort, but she should meet the Courier’s Guild’s needs quite perfectly.

Since they have just the one, you won’t be able to reply to me so swiftly—not until they have purchased more of our packets. Nevertheless, it is a sign of great things to come; and her sister ship, the Jane Marie, is already on the ways.

In my last, which you will not yet have received, I wrote about how I brought more people with me to stay with us than my Amelie was expecting. I shan’t go into all of that again, but I shall instead tell you about the resulting changes to our household.

First, Madame Truc was powerfully distressed that there was no better place for Mama to sleep than the girls’ room. “It is not fitting,” she said to me, “that ton mére must make do while we sleep soundly. But where else shall we go?”

It was no use to tell her that Mama will not be with us in Bois-de-Bas indefinitely. Moreover, I rejoice to tell you that Amelie is increasing again—so we will need to extend our house in any event.

Part of that extension will be a small cottage for Madame Truc and her Jacques. It will be attached to our house by a covered walkway, so that the two of them need not be inconvenienced during the winter.

I had worried that there might be some friction between Mama and Madame Truc—between the grand-mére-in-residence and the grand-mére-in-truth—but you know how willing to be pleased Mama is, and between that and Madame Truc’s strong sense of what is fitting they have gotten along quite well.

I was worried that my two young ladies might be a bit standoffish with Mama, but no fear! It has helped that Mama and Madame have two laps between them. Those laps are seldom empty.

You will want to know about Jérôme. There was no room for him here, I am afraid, so he spent several nights sleeping aboard the Amelie before we found him lodging with Madame Pelletier, who runs a boarding house here in Bois-de-Bas. Yes, we have boarding-houses now! You’ll remember that we had quite an influx of young men during the war, and many of them are still here, working at the wagon-works or at various other needful tasks. I might add that Madame Truc has no good opinion of Madame Pelletier, and is quite sure that Jérôme will not be fed properly—that Madama Pelletier does not honor him as he deserves. This was a point Madame Truc always insisted upon when I was boarding with her before the war. However, I may say that Jérôme seems perfectly content.

He has begun his training with me. It develops that he has some small talent for forming, which is a good thing given his future plans, and he is learning rapidly—but also slowly, for having learned one technique he wishes to go on to the next, without taking the time to practice and master it first. That, of course, I cannot allow in good conscience: each builds on the last, and the foundation must be sound.

I do not take up all of his time, of course. He has been spending his afternoons examining my warming blocks, to see whether there might be any link with your Stream of Johannes. If he has discovered anything one way or another, he has not divulged it.

I see that is time. I must seal this and hand it to the Séraphine’s new captain, for it is time for her to begin her maiden voyage. Oh, Amelia, I am so happy to see the Séraphine in use, I can hardly stand it!

Your vindicated cousin,

Armand

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