Armand’s First Letter. Amelia’s First Letter.
13 May 1019
Madrigal Place, Yorke, Cumbria
Amelia sent this letter from Cumbria to Armorica just two days after her brother Jack sent her a letter from Mont-Havre concerning Armand’s arrest. Transit time is currently just about a month by a Tuppenny packet. — Ed.
My dearest cousin Armand,
Toulouse has exploded with bloodshed, and I am overwrought with worry that the same may hold in Mont-Havre—that you, my beloved cousin, may once again be in danger.
I will tell you everything I know, but in truth I know very little; and none of it firsthand, or even secondhand. I bless the wisdom of Ambassador Ellesmere and Alec Gainsborough in counseling us to flee Toulouse, for otherwise we should be in the midst of it all—but it frustrates my view of events.
We have returned to Yorke from Edenford, as you can see from my direction, the better to follow what little firm news there is. Even here, facts are scarce. We know that barricades have risen in Toulouse, and that there is fighting throughout the city. One report suggests that Royalist mobs have stormed the Palais de Montserrat, where the Provençese Parlement meets, and killed or imprisoned many of members.
All shipping to Toulouse has stopped; incoming vessels are being met by sloops of war and made to turn back. The excuse is that “The regions around Toulouse are unsafe.” The crewmen wear the uniform of the Navy of Le Deuxième Republique, but it is not clear to whom they answer.
Meanwhile, ill-founded conjecture and rumor are everywhere. As I have been unable to speak with anyone in government who might know, Lord Doncaster being “unavailable” as his man tells me, here is my own fund of ill-founded conjecture.
In my view—and Maximilian agrees—the skirmishes among Royalist factions in the Provençese countryside amount to a masterful display of sleight-of-hand—a tragicomic sight meant to draw attention away from the center and simultaneously allay fears while directing them to the wrong targets. In the meantime, the Royalists have been assembling quietly in Toulouse and getting organized for this big push.
But, you cry, the Royalists were divided into many powerless factions! And to that, I have no answer. Perhaps that was sleight-of-hand as well. Perhaps one of the factions was always much more powerful than the rest. Perhaps it has all been theater. Or perhaps the factions have just recently rallied around a single pretender.
Whatever the truth of the matter, it is manifest that the rebellion in Toulouse was well planned, well executed, and well supported by many erstwhile supporters of le Republique, including many in her armed forces.
As yet we have heard no word of the Armée du Republique taking sides or dissolving into factions, but the absence of Republican forces from the battles in Toulouse tells a story all its own.
The Times of Yorke reported this morning that the Prime Minister has received a request for military aid from the premier of the Provençese Parlement. If things are proceeding in Toulouse as it seems they are, I’ve no doubt it will soon be followed by a similar request from whichever Royalist faction is presently in ascendance; or, at least, a request that Cumbrian forces stay home.
Oh, I am afraid for so many people! My friends at L’École, though they at least have the means to enforce their neutrality; our friends in the Albertine; and most especially our friends at the Embassy. I long to be there, to keep them safe, even though Dr. Laguerre might disapprove of my using my powers so.
Maximilian tells me not to worry: so long as both sides are hopeful of gaining Cumbrian aid, the Ambassador and his staff are safe.
And yet, I still worry. The mob has no friends, Armand. The mob has no friends.
And then there are you and Jack, in Armorica, where the Royalists have been fishing for support. I fear for you two, and for your family as well, Armand; and I pray for you daily.
May this find you in peaceful circumstances!
Your worried cousin,
Amelia
____
Photo by M.T ElGassier on Unsplash
Zymurgia House 