Armand’s First Letter. Amelia’s First Letter.
17 January 1021, L’École du Sorciers
My dearest cousin Armand,
Your cousin Jane is now six or seven weeks old, and increasingly demanding; and Mama and Papa, who have returned to Yorke but insist that I write daily, consider that it is time for Maximilian and I to hire a nurse.
Maximilian is inclined to agree, though for different reasons. “You need to resume your research into the Iturians, and the reasons they might have for constructing the Ley Line network.”
“But I’ve exhausted everything worth reading at the Bibliothèque d’Université!”
“No,” he told me sternly, “You have exhausted the resources of Dr. Nicollier and the other scholars at the Université, most of whom regard Kaisaras Augoustos and the Iturians to be a trivial historical footnote at best and a pious fraud at worst.”
I grimaced, for he was not mistaken. What little remains of the principles of the rebellion that started the Troubles here in Provençe are to be found at the Université, and those principles are notoriously opposed to religion, old or new. But I rallied!
“But all that remains are the non-scholarly sources!” I declared firmly. “The romancers and the charlatans, and all that!”
Maximilian dared to grin at me. “And once again we hear Dr. Nicollier’s prejudices speaking. You need merely start with the oldest, and see what you find. At the very least it should be entertaining.”
I counted to five, schooling my countenance with difficulty, and said, “But the oldest non-scholarly sources are in Old Provençese!”
“Would you prefer Hanonese? I’m sure the university in Hammsch must have something for you.” And he regarded me quizzically.
I shall have to investigate the Hanonese sources in time, I am sure, and so I was forced to subside.
What I should truly like to do, Armand, is voyage out to trace ley lines in our caravan. But it is bitterly cold, and I am untroubled by that I have Maximilian and little Jane to think of. And so it seems that I must learn to read Old Provençese in order to read what Dr. Nicollier calls a “ farrago de bêtises et de contes de fées“, that is, a farrago of nonsense and fairytales.
So be it.
But in order to do that I shall require a nurse, and that presents other difficulties. Dr. Guisman is sympathetic, but is reluctant to add a wet nurse to the staff of L’École; for that is what hiring one to live with us here would amount to. “For we should have to welcome her child as well, and L’École has never been a place for children.”
I glanced pointedly at Jane, swaddled in my arms, and Dr. Guisman smiled broadly. “You are an exception in all ways, mon chere Mme Archer.”
Our other choice would be to seek lodgings in the Bois d’Albertine, outside the gates of L’École. Dr. Guisman is just as reluctant to allow that, though he says that I am progressing well; and I would agree, for here I can safely visit the chapel at any hour, in any weather.
I have spoken with the friar who leads the community at L’église Saint-Albert, Pêre Vincent, who tells me that the church is locked at night, due to the recent unrest. He would willingly give me access, for Pêre Martin has spoken for me; but a lady simply cannot go out at night unescorted, even in a quiet neighborhood like the Albertine. I should have to drag Maximilian along with me, and then we should both be tired and out of sorts.
I have just now observed that I have not praised Maximilian to you as I ought. He has been stalwart and imperturbable throughout the months of my confinement here at L’École; he knows just how to soothe me when my ire threatens to run too hot. But his patience is not without end, and if he is to keep me in balance—and fulfill his duties at the Embassy—he must have his rest.
And so I have acquired a text on the peculiarities of Old Provençese, and have with Dr. Laguerre’s aid made the acquaintance of one Dr. L’Auberge, an authority on the evolution of the language; and I am beginning to learn to read Florissant’s Annals of the Salians, an ancient tome about a kingdom from which the modern Kingdom of Provençe traces its history. The Annals are regarded with much suspicion by present day scholars; but being part of the foundation of Provençese history they are frequently studied and so are not considered part of the farrago of nonsense, etc., of which I have spoken. (I should not wish to incur Dr. L’Auberge’s disdain before I even begin.)
How much progress I shall be able to make with a babe in arms, I cannot tell; but at least Jane is not yet walking!
Your studious cousin,
Amelia
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