1795
Ma Cherie Minnette,
I have met the men that shall accompany my dearest husband across to your shores. My dearest shall head the English armies, Le Generale LaCreole and that damnable Marquis shall lead the French, and who do you think is leading the naval men on shore? Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower (the very same esteemed leader) and none other than my own Lieutenant Archibald Kennedy!
I am of course most shocked. As manners dictated he approached me and asked after my health. I feel ashamed to say I begged for him to ask to be transferred from this mission as I knew there would be few survivors. He assured me he would not, and we shared one last time together that very afternoon.
He shall die. I am sure of it. And so shall Courtenay and then I shall be a rich seventeen-year-old widow, of all things.
Only one month
Morgan
Chere Minnette,
This month shall be the month. The villagers know little about the invasion, only that it is happening. Oh, Minnette, what a state I am in! What if it does not work out as we have planned? God knows I want to be brave, but I can't face the idea of death amongst the children of Moucouton. My poor children may be hurt, oh God, will they be spared! Oh, I wish I had your courage or Miss Morgan's optimism about this matter, however I fear for the people, and as for seeing that damnable Marquis again...
Dearest Minn, I shall console myself with thoughts of you, Pierre and our soeur caddette. Maybe this will see me through.
Respondez-vous
Mariette
Chere Minnette
It is done. The forces have left. I watched my dearest boy leave from a distance, and then I must admit I indulged in a tearful farewell from my dear Courtenay. He knows now the mission is almost certain suicide, and there will be little or no survivors. We worked this out as there are five ships taking the armies, and only two that shall await in case of retreat. I will miss him severely... you never know, maybe I shall journey to France if he dies? we could all be together, together as we have nerve been, without our foes. I shall surely be pardoned by La Republique when they see the service I have done for our beloved France.
The forces will arrive in a matter of days from the time you receive this letter. Tell Marie to be on her guard.
Morgiannette
My Dearest Morgan,
Please excuse the writing in this letter, but I have less than moments to write this. Oh my dearest sister, I have betrayed you!
The forces landed as expected, but they separated into two divisions. LaCreole took to the west of the bay, and Le Marquis came to the village. The republican armies were forced to battle the west bay first, leaving Le Marquis to wreak havoc on us once more. Oh, Morgianette, it was terrible! sixteen men of the village were killed within a day. He murdered La Mayor and took charge of the village, forcing me to wait on him whilst he served his commanding officers, one of which was the Earl, your husband. A sweet man yes, but of little help to me.
There was however one who took notice of my plight. A Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower. He made me feel so special, Morgan. I wrote to you as I knew you would understand! I was wrong to tell you to abandon your Archie, for love is the most perfect thing!
He is taking me to England to wed me, Morgan. I will leave as a prisoner, but arrive a lady, like you. There is but one thing I regret in this business. To save the life of the man I loved I had to tell him of the position of the republican army. It will be of no matter, they will not retreat and they are vastly outnumbered, but I have saved my love and any who will leave with him.
It seemed so easy to judge this war before. It seemed easy to judge your position as well, but now I understand your pain. But I truly believe that he will make a good life for me.
I shall meet you at Portsmouth!
Love
Mariette
Marie,
Oh God, please stop what you are doing! This letter is unlikely to reach you on time, but I felt I had to try!
What you are doing is madness! You were not wrong when you said I should chose Courtenay over Archie. True, I felt strong feelings for Archie, but he would not care for me in time, he would not try to give me the world! Courtenay does, and that is real love. Feelings change. the Lieutenant will not marry you when you arrive here. He will have his way with you then send you to become a prisoner of war. And by betraying our army you have endangered the campaign, the town and the lives of Minnette and I. If we are linked to the information you gave Lieutenant Hornblower Minnette shall be killed and I shall be disgraced and imprisoned. We were doing this for us, Marie! I sent both Archie and Courtenay to their deaths just so I could be with you and Minn! We are DePaviel's; in times like this nothing else matters except us. I would kill our father too if it meant we could be together once more. I am sacrificing everything. Do not you realise? If Courtenay shall perish and it is found that I am a republican I shall have nothing!
Oh, Marie! I do hope you get this before it is too late!
Morgiannette
Morgan,
It is too late. Mariette is dead.
I was sent your letter after they found the body. The army told me she was caught in the crossfire as she attempted escape from Moucouton. The Lieutenant left her for dead in the first instant and did not look back.
The Marquis is also amongst the fallen. Killed by the people, how poetic. I am finally free of him....If only Marie had seen.
My God, Morgan! I did not think it would come to this. Of all the people to die, her! She was so innocent in this war... I am sure to die for my actions against men, you yourself have betrayed your own kin, but her! She was content to live away from this whole cursed thing. Yet we dragged her in. We thought she would cope well. Oh, Morgan, we have killed our sister!
It is only just sinking in that she is gone. Oh, and how she died! Placing her trust in the enemy, I always thought she was above such trivialities. She fell for a false love, oh the shame! And now we will never see her again!
I am far too distraught to write more.
Respond soon
Minnette