A Proposition For Pierre-François
The morning after the supper with their longtime friend of the family, the Simonieux brothers Pierre-François and Jacques were back to work as usual in the candle shop. It was then that a portly man about town walked in. Pierre-François and his brother had never seen him before. He had a wooden cane, a snowy-white powdered wig and the smell of someone who frequently conducted business with seamen. He did not come to talk about candles.
"Bonjour, les jeunes messieurs. Je voudrais proposer quelque chose à vous. D'abord, connaissez-vous parler anglais?" ("Good morning, young sirs, I would like to propose something to you. First, do you speak English?")
Pierre-François gestured to himself quickly, then wiped his wax-caked fingers on his apron. He could tell by the man's accent that he was French, so it was apparent that the man was not asking the question for his own sake.
"Oui, monsieur. Pourquoi?" ("Yes, sir. Why?")
Pierre-François had a voice as buttery as any French sauce on food. It could never pass for any other nationality. Whatever this man wanted in regards to speaking English, Pierre-François was eager to find out.
"C'est mes affairs mais c'est aussi politique. À Paris on sais que les nouvelles à l'Àmerique du nord deviennent plus et plus interressantes. Pour la première fois, il y existe des colons qui veulent couper le règle brittanique complètement, et toute contre le roi George le troisième. Ils ont déclaré leur pays d'etre libre! Imaginez-ça! Bien sur, le roi d'Angleterre est terriblement en colère, et les Anglais veulent bloquer tous les routes de nos produits envoyés à travers le Mer Atlantique, tout pour détruire le marchet entre nous et les colons. Hèlas, les Brittaniques restent nos énnemies. Si seulement j'aurais pu voir le regard sur son visage quand il a vu la déclaration – une déclaration écrit à quitter sa controle des colons et les Colonies au meme temps. Quelle courage, les colons, là-bas! Alors, jeune messieur, ça signifie, pour moi et quelques autres ici en France qu'on a besoin de fournir des routes secrèts pour maintenir non affairs, et donc on a besoin aucuns gars qui peuvent parler anglais pour conduire les échanges secrèts."
("It's my business but it's also political. In Paris we know that the news in North America is becoming more and more interesting. For the first time there are colonials who want to cut the British rule completely, and all against King George the Third. They declared their country to be free! Imagine that! Of course, the king of England is terribly angry, and the English want to block all the trade routes of our goods sent across the Atlantic Ocean, all to destroy the market between us and the colonials. Alas, the British remain our enemies. If only I could have seen the look on his face when he saw the declaration – a written declaration to quit his control of the colonials and the colonies at the same time. What courage, those colonials over there! So, young sir, that means, for me and others here in France that we need to furnish some secret routes to maintain our business, and therefore we need any fellows who could speak English to conduct the secret exchanges.")
The man was obviously someone who wanted to facilitate the covert stretching of France's own market interests against England in light of what was happening in the American colonies. Pierre-François was quick to figure it out as the man asked if Jacques too could speak English, with him saying no. Just in case Pierre-François and his brother fit the image of the southerner who was less sophisticated and less well-informed than the notherners, the man added a little more.
"Les colons qui suivent leur but de la liberté, ils refusent à acheter les choses d'Angleterre, alors ils sont pretes à acheter les notres meme plus."
("The colonials who are following the goal of liberty, they refuse to buy things from England, so they are ready to buy ours all the more.")
"La liberté, monsieur?" ("Liberty, sir?") Pierre-François's eyebrows perched. Something inside him lit up at even the sound of the word.
"Oui, la liberté. C'est une terme utilisé dans la déclaration écrit que j'en dit."
("Yes, liberty. It's a term used in the written declaration that I told you about.")
The nearest seaport to Toulouse was Marseilles on the southernmost tip of France.
"Je ne vie assez près de la cote." ("I don't live near enough to the coast.")
The man explained that in order to help keep the trade route operation secret, the loading and shipping convoy employed occasional volunteers brought by carriage from neighboring towns and villages farther inland from the outermost ports, but not in the middle provinces. It was presumed that the middle regions of the country would be most likely to send up word of the secret operation to Paris by whatever political informers could tell the royal court, eventually reaching the king. Naturally, there was fear that the king would not approve, at least not yet. The man described how the undercover suppliers designated the secret trade routes so as to segment them away from the usual main established routes that went to continents other than North America. The branches, movement, and chain of authority, following purely French ways of organization were more tightly structured and vertically designed than any British commerce official could infiltrate successfully, or so it was intended.
If Pierre-François had the slightest interest in what the man was talking about, he was even more interested in the notion that there had to be some form of propaganda to instigate it all, and money to make it happen. French culture, even in the south, would not allow such and elaborate and exciting operation to stand alone. There had to be practical support of information, communication, and timetables, all in addition to the art of the social workings within who would do what, with whom, and how.
The man paused for a few silent minutes, allowing Pierre-François to ponder what he was proposing during a slow, careful dipping of a candle wick into a basin of piping hot wax. Pierre-François could just picture being a part of a late night crew of young Frenchmen speaking English as a second language to seamen loading and unloading crates on a dock. Such would be seaman not only braving the ravages of ocean voyage with costly French cargo but also braving the risk of mutiny and capture by British warships.
The man did not say what his name is, but offered to leave and return the next day for word of whether or not Pierre-François would be interested in accepting his proposition. The man had no intention of interfering with the candle maker's normal rate of work. Nonetheless, the proposition was not to be taken lightly. What the man was offering was young, fresh accompaniment in his own state of being a profiteer of the American colonial rebellion. In actual terms, he was asking Pierre-François if he would like to become a smuggler.