Armand’s First Letter. Amelia’s First Letter.
20 September 1019
3 Madrigal Place, Yorke
Dearest Brother,
By remaining stuck in Mont-Havre you have contrived to miss the two biggest social events of the current season: Armand’s knighting by the King, and Aunt Jane’s wedding to John Netherington-Coates. Shame on you!
The duck-pond set are all quacking loudly about the former—I know this because I have received social calls from many old acquaintances eager to extract any nuggets of gossip that may be going. I have had a delightful time asking them for news about old friends and telling them all about ley lines and cartography, a flamboyantly cheerful smile on my countenance all the while.
Regarding our cousin Sir Armand, I simply noted the facts shared by the royal proclamation: having become aware of attempts to provoke rebellion in His Majesty’s realm of Armorica, and having received no aid from His Majesty’s governor, Armand went to such lengths to ensure that word got to Yorke that he was taken captive by the rebels; and as a result the rebellion was put down with little loss of life.
“For we would not want His Majesty’s subjects to suffer from the Provençese troubles, no would we?” I said.
I refrained from pointing out that as Armand now belongs to an Armorican order of knighthood, the whole affair is no concern of theirs.
The onslaught soon passed, and many a titter Maximilian and I shared afterwards.
I know that Armand has written to you regarding the dubbing, so I shan’t describe it in detail; but I will say that Armand and Amelie were adorable in their court attire. He looked nervous, as well he might, through trying mightily not to show it—one of the duck-pond set described him as offensively confident. Cousin Amelie, for her part, looked serenely joyful, and utterly undismayed by the elevated setting. “Bah!” she said to me afterwards. “No one mattered but Armand and Le Roi, and Le Roi was of the most delightful.”
Aunt Jane and Grandmaster Netherington-Coates—or, as I must now call him, Uncle John—were of course married in the church of St. Joseph the Craftsman, that being the church most closely associated with the Former’s Guild. Guests included the masters of the Former’s Guild, along with a sprinkling of journeymen, as well as Mama, Papa, Armand, Amelie, their daughters, and Maximilian and I.
The minister was Mr. Havisham, a man who had received the rough side of Uncle Burlington’s tongue on numerous occasions—and, I greatly expect, numerous confidences from Aunt Jane. At all events Mr. Havisham spoke joyfully about the blessings of marriage, especially the marriage of two who had known each other for so long and so well; and he prayed that as Simeon was rewarded with the sight of his Lord after so many patient years, they might be rewarded with many years of married bliss.
I find that I cannot speak of the tender looks that Aunt Jane and Uncle John gave to each other during the ceremony, as after the first I could no longer see them clearly, and had to have recourse to my handkerchief. I am ashamed to say it, for one ought not speak ill of the dead, but am I so pleased that Uncle Burlington is no longer with us.
The wedding breakfast was held at the Guild Hall, and there was great rejoicing and jollity. It is clear to me that Uncle John is both greatly respected and well liked by the guild members; and I do believe they find him restful compared with Uncle Burlington.
Aunt Jane’s wedding, though of great significance to us, was, blessedly, of no interest to the duck-pond set. One round of quacking was sufficient.
I do not know how long Armand and Amelie plan to remain here in Yorke; I gather our knightly cousin has a number of business dealings to attend to. Maximilian and I shall remain in Madrigal Place until they go, and while Armand is engaging in trade, as his quacking critics would say, Maximilian and I will show Amelie and the girls around Yorke. We might even take them on a country outing in our caravan.
Your most familial sister,
Amelia
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Zymurgia House 