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

7 August 1019
Mont-Havre, Former’s Guild House

My dear sister,

I thank you for writing to tell me that I am shortly to be vindicated in court—though I had already received word from His Lordship by way of Admiral Austen. I am delighted to hear it, of course; and yet I think I shall remain in Mont-Havre for some time to come.

I have no doubt that Lord Doncaster will do his best to clear my name and mend my reputation; but I am also aware that a good name, once blackened, can be remarkably difficult to scrub clean. I believe I shall wait on the event, rather than on the expectation.

But more than that, my A Gentleman’s Guide to Mont-Havre has become the talk of the town! Messieurs Fournier and Tétrault kept their heads down and their presses working during the recent unpleasantness; and now there is not a single Cumbrian officer in Mont-Havre who does not have my guide in his pocket. It is even finding its way into the pockets of some of the citizens!

This has been a great blessing. I have coin in my pocket for the first time in many months, and shall soon be able to repay Cousin Armand for his generosity during the past lean times.

M. Fournier’s plans for the Guide are unchanged; he wishes to see it updated each quarter, if possible, and that means that I must spend much of my time on scouting missions. He even dreams of a guide to the towns and villages of Armorica. This would not be a guide for gentlemen, as such, for not even Bois-de-Bas has anything one might call a café or a haberdashery—though I feel sure that Armand has plans to change that in time—but a guide for those enterprising fellows who might wish to settle here.

Thus, I expect to be doing much traveling about.

As for my reputation here in Mont-Havre, I find that it is much improved—or, at least, excused. You will recall that all my Cumbrian friends here in Mont-Havre dropped me at once when word of my supposed perfidy came to be known, and their Armorican cronies among the government types did the same, as did the citizens of Mont-Havre who had come to love Lord Doncaster as their rescuer from Le Maréchal.

But much has changed after the downfall of Sabot’s Rebellion (as the broadsheets have taken to calling it). The Cumbrian population of the Governor’s palace has changed completely; my former friends there either fled with Lord Winthrop or have returned to Cumbria. What’s more, their Armorican cronies lost all power and influence in the wreckage of the Grand Parlement.

One of the latter even had the gall to ask me for aid! I gave it to him, of course, the better to pour hot coals on his head; but you see how it is.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Mont-Havre are delighted with Admiral Austen and his men; Lord Doncaster is no longer as much in mind; and so they have nothing for which to reproach me. And as I am well in with Admiral Austen, his officers are willing to give me the benefit of the doubt.

My authorship of the Guide remains a secret, of course. It would ruin the Guide if establishments began to seek my patronage in the hopes of a favorable mention.

And so I am become comfortable here. I have occupation; I have made new acquaintance during the interim, and am making more every day; and I have grown closer to those true friends, like Messieurs Fournier, Tétrault, and Suprenant, who stood staunchly by me throughout.

Mont-Havre is set to begin growing, by all appearances, and so there is greater need for my work than ever. Austen’s officers are growing fond of the town, and any number of the men have told me they might wish to come and stay here when their terms of service are up. Indeed, I may need to hire a scout or two.

So, yes, I believe I shall remain here for some time to come. In times to come, who can say? One might travel farther afield, and produce guides to the major cities of Malague, or Hanondorf, or even, should peace return, to Toulouse! (In deference to your much esteemed husband, I shall refrain from asking why a gentleman might wish to visit Toulouse.)

Do give my best wishes to Armand when you see him.

Your no longer quite so lean-and-hungry brother,

Jack

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