Amelie's Advice
Lumiere was waiting in the hallway when Belle and Adam returned, his hands clasped in front of him. "Welcome back Master, Mistress. I tr- I hope that you had a safe journey to ze palace and back?"
"You hope correctly, Lumiere," Belle replied, not without a little relief in her voice. "It seems that the morning's unpleasantness isn't going to be repeated."
"We can only hope, Mistress," Lumiere replied dryly. "Speaking for myself, Master..." Lumiere's voice dropped, and became a little more hoarse than it had been. "Having already buried your parents, I would much rather you bury me than the other way around."
"Let's not have any talk of burying anyone for a good while yet," Adam declared. "I see that the Armorican soldiers are still here. I hope you've been taking care of them."
"Indeed, Master, I sent sone fresh coffee out to them just before you returned," Lumiere said. "Speaking of which, would either of you care for a little refreshment?"
"Not yet, thank you, Lumiere," Belle said. "Could you find Amelie and ask her to meet us in the sitting room, please?"
"Already?" Adam asked.
"I feel as though we could do with her advice," said Belle. "Neither of us know Maria Theresa's mind as well as she does, and not knowing is the reason we made so little progress today."
"That and certain revelations," Adam muttered.
"Is it really so surprising?" asked Belle. "The only thing that really shocks me is that Cinderella seemed caught so much by surprise. Do you think it's possible that Eugene just didn't tell her any of this? I find it hard to believe that a man could treat his wife that way."
"I'm glad I've set the standard for husbands so high," Adam said, a trace of a smile playing across his features. He paused for a moment, and his smile underwent a slight fade as he added. "I was surprised by it. I didn't think the peacemakers would also be preparing for war?"
"War?" interjected Lumiere with a gasp.
"Only as a last resort," Belle assured him. "Armorique doesn't want the Holy Roman Empire to grow any more powerful. Frankly, I'm not sure that I want the Empire to become more powerful and I'm a part of it! But if we want to avoid that then we need to speak to Amelie and find out what she knows or thinks she knows about Maria Theresa's wants. And I want to get this over with so that we can relax fir the rest of the day." She placed a hand on Adam's elbow. "Do you really want this hanging over us, waiting no matter what else we might do for the rest of the day?"
"Put like that..." Adam muttered. "Bring her in, Lumiere; but only Amelie, leave Avenant out of it."
"With pleasure, Master," Lumiere said with a bow. He must have been referring to excluding Avenant, because Belle couldn't believe that the prospect of inviting Amelie into the sitting room would so excited him.
But, whatever bought Lumiere such joy, he turned away - moving his hands from in front of his body to behind as he made his way with a unflappable steady tread in the direction of the back of the house, and the way into the stables.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Adam. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"It's not as though I'm proposing to consult Avenant," Belle replied. "Amelie is... fine."
"Fine?" Adam repeated sceptically. "She's a hunter."
"And you are no one's prey," Belle assure him, "not anymore." She paused. Her brow furrowed. "Does she unsettle you?"
"No," Adam said quickly. "But Avenant's presence is such an obvious ploy to unsettled us it almost makes me wonder if it's meant to blind us to the fact that Amelie is the real danger."
"Oh, I'm absolutely certain she is," Belle answered. "She's the one who has Maria Theresa's favour - to hear her tell it, anyway, and I believe her - she's the one I'm certain is in charge out of the two of them. Avenant is just... just muscle, and as you say a distraction."
"But you still trust her?" Adam asked.
"I trust her to be loyal to Maria Theresa, and to King Maximillian," Belle answered. "I don't think there's anything she wouldn't do for them-"
"That's encouraging," Adam muttered.
"Including telling us the truth," Belle went on, ignoring Adam's statement not because it was a bad point - it wasn't - but because acknowledging it would have been a distraction from her point, which she might not have much time to make before Amelie showed herself. It was for that reason that Belle began to move in the direction of the sitting room, the blue sash around her waist fluttering back and forth as she walked. She glanced back at Adam, even as he began to follow her. "I don't know if she wants the peace congress to go ahead, I don't think she has an opinion one way or the other separate from what her queen has told her, but I don't believe that she'd intentionally sabotage our work here. The fact that we are even here shows that Maria Theresa is at least somewhat open to the possibility of this peace conference going ahead, and that means that Amelie is too." She took another pause, lingering in the doorway to the sitting room to let Adam catch up with her. "All of which being said we should keep this business of..." she lowered her volume, until she was half-whispering, "of Armorique assembling a coalition to ourselves."
"Yes, I wasn't actually planning to bring it up," Adam reassured her, a smile pricking at one corner of his mouth.
Belle let out a slight chuckle as they walked into the sitting room together, sitting down on one of the settees, on the side of the room where Cinderella had sat on her visit yesterday.
And not before time, too, because scarcely sooner had they sat down then Lumiere returned, with Amelie in tow.
"I'm told you wished to see me," Amelie said as she walked behind the other sofa, as though it was a barricade to protect her from Belle and Adam as she looked down on them from beyond it.
"Yes," Belle said. "We did. Would you like a cup of tea?"
"No, thank you, I'm fine," Amelie replied.
"Alright," Adam said. "Thank you, Lumiere, that will be all."
"Very well, Master," Lumiere said, and retreated out of the room.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather sit down?" asked Belle, as she gestured towards the settee.
"No," Amelie replied. "Were you alright on your way to the palace? No one else was waiting to take a shot at you?"
"No," Adam said.
"Good," Amelie replied. "You could thank Avenant for saving your life and your husband, you know; you could think me, too, but Avenant did most of the work."
"I will... consider it," Adam said, in a tone that sounded none too sincere.
Amelie snorted. "Anyway, what is it that I can do for you, your highness?"
"We met with the Prince and Princess of Armorique today," Belle said. "Along with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, to discuss how we could give M- give Her Majesty Queen Maria Theresa the surety that she requires when it comes to the proposed peace Congress."
Amelie nodded. "Do you think they're on the level?"
"I think that they genuinely want peace, yes," Belle said.
Amelie glanced at Adam. "Your Highness?"
Adam nodded. "I agree with Belle. The desire of Armorique to end the war is genuine."
"End the war on what grounds?" Amelie asked.
"That's to be hammered out at the congress, no?" asked Belle. "Or do you expect Armorique to have a peace proposal ready and waiting?"
"They must have some ideas," Amelie replied. "They must have some idea what they'd like the map of Europe to look like."
"I think they'd like the map if Europe to look like it did before the war began," Belle said. "But, if it helps, they have affirmed their support for the hereditary principle, meaning that-"
"I know what the hereditary principle means," Amelie said sharply. She paused, as an almost scowl settled upon her face. "It's not about finding the right words to reassure Her Majesty."
"Isn't it?" asked Belle.
"No," insisted Amelie. "Not if they're false words, not if they're not meant, not if they're just said to get Her Majesty on a room where all the gains of all he victories can be stripped away from her."
"Armorique's commitment to the hereditary principle is genuine," Belle said. "Cinderella and Eugene - Princess Cinderella and Prince Eugene - have two daughters, so it's not in their interest to... to support the idea that a daughter can be disinherited by a cousin, no matter the reason."
"Good, that's a start," Amelie said, nodding vigorously. "It's about the least they could think, but it's a start. What else?"
"That is as far as we got today," Adam admitted. "That's why we asked you-"
"It's not about what Her Majesty wants to hear!" Amelie snapped. "I'm not going to stand here and tell you what sweet nothings to pour in Her Majesty's ear like she's some Munich tart you're trying to coax to bed. And you aren't here to collude with the prince and princess of Armorique to get Her Majesty here against her best interests. You're here to find out what they think, what they actually believe."
"They believe that this war is a tragedy and that it should be stopped," Belle said. "And they believe that Princess Mary-"
"Queen Mary," Amelie interjected.
"Surely that is for the peace to decide?" Belle asked.
"Her Majesty will not concede that, and it sounds as though your Armorican friends won't ask her to."
"But do you expect M- Her Majesty to take our word for any of this?" Belle asked. "Surely there is some proof that she requires, a statement of intent, a-"
"That could be a lie, anything like that could be... there'd be no way of holding Armorique to anything that they said beforehand, once the congress got under way, would there? If Her Majesty wanted a letter from Armorique she could have asked for one. Instead she sent you."
"Because she trusts our judgement so implicitly?" Adam asked in disbelief.
Belle could understand the scepticism in his voice. Maria Theresa had never seemed so fond of them.
"Because you have no reason to deceive her, you both want something that only she can provide," Amelie said. "You've got no reason to lie to her, since when she finds out - and she will - then you can bid farewell to the idea of Madame Belle becoming Princess Belle, and your true wife."
Adam glanced at her, at Belle. He did more than glance, he looked for a few seconds, his blue eyes softening. "Yes " he murmured. "Yes, you're right. Candour us not only our duty but in our interest."
Belle's eyes widened. Surely he wasn't about to-"
"There's something else," Adam said. "Armorique will not allow either the Empire or Aquitaine to win this war decisively. If the Empire does not come to the table willingly then Armorique will force it."
"Adam!" Belle exclaimed, wondering what had possessed him to speak put thus, to break the confidence of Cinderella and the other representatives of Armorique.
She knew the answer, of course: it was for her sake, that she might wear a crown and bear the style of princess and be forever elevated beyond the malice of the archduchesses and all the rest.
All these things Belle, too, desired; she just wasn't sure that it was worth the price Adam seemed prepared to pay.
"You were going to hide this?" Amelie demanded. "You were going to conceal this from Her Majesty? Both of you?"
Belle said nothing. Adam replied, "We feared that Queen Maria Theresa would not respond well to a threat."
"So you admit that it's a threat?" Amelie said.
"No," Belle said quickly. "No, it's not a threat, it's... they do not want war, they genuinely do not want war-"
"They've got a funny way of showing it," Amelie growled.
"Did you or Maria Theresa-"
"You'll call her Majesty."
"She isn't here right now, I'll call her whatever I like!" Belle yelled as she got to her feet. She might have no choice but to cringe and bow and be silent in the face of provocations from the queen's sisters, but Amelie Saint Clare was no Austrian Archduchess, and Belle would not meekly this tone from her in her own home, no matter how temporary that home might be.
Amelie seemed caught off guard by Belle's anger; she retreated a step, backing away from the settee as though that barricade no longer offered her enough protection.
Her hands clenched and unclenched into fists.
"Did either of you," Belle went on, "think that the motives of Armorique would be entirely disinterested? Did either of you think that we would find that nobody at all cared about the outcome of the war who won, and what outcome? That they were proposing to hold a peace congress for the fun of it? Well, the funny thing is that you weren't entirely wrong, because Princess Cinderella genuinely does want the fighting to end, she wants the Aquitiainian refugees outside to be able to go home, she wants the threat of war to be lifted from this land. Is that what Maria Theresa was hoping for, because if so she found it! If Prince Eugene and King Louis are less altruistic in their motives then who had a right to expect anything more? Rather, you should be thankful that you were given so much more in the princess."
Belle took a breath as quickly as she could, that she might carry on before Amelie or Adam could interrupt her.
"Armorique doesn't want to see the Holy Roman Empire acquire power here in Gallia. It also doesn't want to see Aquitaine become the dominant state in Gallia either. And so they'll try and bring this war to and end with a peace that-"
"Doesn't satisfy either side," Amelie muttered.
"Isn't that fair?" asked Belle. "Isn't that the essence of fairness?"
"And yet you were going to lie about it," Amelie declared. "You were going to hide the truth and say the right things to make Armorique seem impartial... I don't think you deserve to be a princess after this, but since your highness told the truth... I won't say aught of it to Her Majesty." She put one hand upon her hip. "If you want to know what I think? Write to Her Majesty, tell her that you think Armorique will deal fairly, but also tell her that they threaten war if she doesn't come along to this conference and submit to its judgement. Tell her everything." Her mismatched eyes narrowed. "There's something else, isn't there? It's not just Armorique, it's a coalition."
"They are gathering friends and allies," Adam admitted.
"Just as Her Majesty feared," Amelie muttered. "Tell her that too, tell her everything. Tell her what you believe but tell her the truth. Her Majesty may decide to risk war or she may decide to come and try to win through negotiations, but either way you've done your duty. You've done your duty and I dare say Her Majesty will reward you for it." She glanced away, falling silent for a moment. "Tell her everything, that's my advice," she repeated. "If that's everything, your highness, may I need excused."
"Uh... yes, yes, you can go," Adam said.
"Thank you, your highness," Amelie said, although she did not bow to him, but simply turned on her heel and veritable marched out of the sitting room, with her boots squeaking on the floor.
Belle watched her, making sure that Amelie was gone before she turned her attention to Adam.
"You told her?" she asked. "You... why?" She knew the answer, or thought she did, but she wanted to hear him say it.
"For you," Adam said. "For our marriage."
"We have a marriage."
"You know what I mean," Adam said.
"Yes," Belle murmured. "Yes, I do. But we agreed with Cinderella and Eugene-"
"This isn't about Cinderella, or any of the rest of them," Adam cut her off. "Cinderella is already a princess, a full wife, she doesn't have to..." He trailed off. "When Cinderella sat us together, at dinner last night, I... I'd always wanted it, but actually having it, I... I don't want to go back to staring at you from the other end of the table, I don't want to lose this chance, maybe our only chance. I won't throw it away."
"I'm not worth it," Belle whispered.
"You are to me," Adam insisted, whispering right back at her.
Belle frowned. "It's very sweet... but I don't like it."
"We can't take it back now," Adam said. "If we don't write to Maria Theresa and tell her everything then Amelie certainly will and... and it will all be for nothing."
Belle sighed, and as she sighed she closed her eyes and her head sagged forwards. "Alright," she conceded. "But since we're being honest, then we must tell Cinderella, tell Armorique, what we have done."
Adam nodded. "That's fair," he agreed. "Eugene may not want to go fishing any longer but-"
"But the lie would eat at the whole time," Belle said. "And I wouldn't enjoy it anyway."
Adam nodded. "We'll call on them again tomorrow to confess what I, not you, habe said and done, and today... today I will write to Queen Maria Theresa, and tell her what Armorique is... and tell her that Armorique is willing to threaten war for the sake of peace."
Amelie stomped back into the stables with her feet heavy and her thoughts awhirl.
A coalition. A coalition assembled... assembled against them, assembled to pressure them, assembled for some purpose. Her Majesty's worst fear or... or not so.
The call to action... or not.
A cause for violence, or else to act now would be precipitate.
She did not know. She did not know how she was to know and in the lack of knowing... Amelie felt as though she had fallen into a river in spate and the raging torrential waters carried her off and buffered her this way and that and the foam was too thick for her to see which way to swim to reach the shore.
And yet Her Majesty's safety and security and the throne of her sweet little king might test upon the choice she made while blind and deaf and lost in fog.
Avenant was sitting on a stool in the stable, sharpening a knife.
They might be glad of sharp knives in the days ahead.
But when he saw her come in, Avenant put his knife away and got to his feet. "You've a grim look about you, Amelie; what happened?" He ventured a smile. "I didn't realise the prince and his wife could be so fearsome."
Amelie didn't laugh, or even smile. She wasn't in the mood for such, Avenant's jests were swallowed in the gloom of her uncertainty.
"If Her Majesty does not agree to submit our war to Armorique's arbitration then Armorique will go to war against Her Majesty," Amelie said softly, for the sentiment was too heavy to be raised to a loud volume.
Avenant stared at her for a moment. Then he made a brisk scoffing sound as he pushed his crumpled top hat back a little on his head, then his scoff turned into a full blown bark if laughter that struck the stable roof beams as he bent backwards.
"Armorique will..." his words trailed off amongst a peal of laughter. "So we are to take up and lay down our arms at Armorique's discretion? Instead of God judging our actions and sanctifying our treaties we are to have Armorique!"
"This is serious," Amelie snapped.
"As serious as a kitten roaring at a lion," Avenant replied. "Let them make their demands, we'll see what happens when Her Majesty calls their bluff. We can handle Armorique, Amelie, have no fear. Two corps of Austrians could reduce this kingdom to submission in one summer."
"Alone, maybe," Amelie admitted. In truth, she wasn't so sure of that, Her Majesty had admitted of no such bravado, but she wasn't going to get into an argument with Avenant on the quality of Austrian soldiery - not least because the Austrians were very good soldiers, second only to the Bavarians in valour and their ability to withstand fire without flinching. The Armoricans boasted that they could fire three rounds a minute in any weather, but what was that when those you fired at could weather that fire and keep on coming?
"But they won't be alone," she added. "It won't just be Armorique, they're assembling a coalition to threaten the Empire with."
Avenant was not so quick to boast now, nor to dismiss her concerns. "Who?"
"Prince Adam didn't say. Perhaps he doesn't know, but Normandie will be part of it, I'm sure." Armorique and Normandie had already fought together once, after all, and Princess Frederica had threatened Amelie already. It made no sense, unless they were in league together. "The others... Albion, maybe, the Scots, Hispanic kingdoms, I don't know. But it's what Her Majesty was afraid of... or was she, I don't know."
Her Majesty, after all, had told Amelie that she was not averse to a negotiated peace, provided that Mary was Queen of Burgundy and betrothed to King Maximillian. It seemed, if what Prince Adam and Belle said was true, that Armorique was in agreement on at least the succession part, of not the betrothal, assuming that what they had told her could be trusted.
Prince Adam had confessed the truth to her, and without too much pressure either, so Amelie's instinct was to say that yes, he was trustworthy up to a point, thar he could be believed.
Belle she was not at all sure of - Her Majesty's suspicions had not been unfounded, there - but Prince Adam knew which side his toast was buttered on. The royal family of Armorique could not make his wife a princess.
When he said that they were in favour of the rightful queen inheriting the throne as a point of principle, Amelie believed him.
That was half of what Her Majesty had to have, although there had been no mention if the betrothal.
Her Majesty was not averse to negotiation, she wasn't a warmonger, if she had been then she wouldn't have sent Prince Adam here.
But if she hadn't sensed danger then she wouldn't have sent Amelie.
Her Majesty had feared that this congress would be an excuse to form a coalition against the Empire, but it seemed that coalition might be taking shape even before the congress.
Or was it? Was it a coalition aimed at the Empire, or aimed at both parties on this war?
According to Prince Adam and Belle then Armorique meant only to force peace, not to destroy the Empire, and that had...
"What will you do?" Avenant asked.
"I don't know!" Amelie yelled, bristling like a cat as spittle flew out of her mouth. "I don't..."
She turned away, slamming her right fist into the palm of her left hand.
Her Majesty trusted her. She trusted Amelie to know her mind, to know what was in the best interests of the Empire, to act accordingly.
She trusted Amelie to know and do what was necessary.
But Amelie did not know, and in not knowing she could not do.
Was this a threat? Well, yes, they were threatening Her Majesty with war if she did not bend to their will, but was it a true threat? Was it a dangerous threat? Was it a threat to her little king and the ancient thrones that he was heir to?
Was it a threat that demanded that she spill blood in Armorique?
In the face of a nascent coalition, Her Majesty had suggested that the deaths of the king and the prince would nip it in the bud; the princess would be regent for her daughters, and she was a gentle soul unlikely to go to war.
Amelie was genuinely uncertain whether they had reached that point, and even if she had been more sure, Princess Frederica of Normandie had threatened blood-curdling consequences - consequences worse than the outcome of doing nothing.
If Amelie had been sure of the danger to the Empire then the Norman Princess' threats would only have made her Amelie's first target: kill her first and eliminate the threat of her revenge. But Amelie was not so certain. A coalition to force Her Majesty to negotiate was not the same as an excuse to gather together all those who could be persuaded to oppose the Empire.
And Her Majesty was not wholly opposed to a negotiated peace.
She did not know what to do.
She did not have enough information to know what to do.
And just like that, her course was, if not clear, then at least clearer than it had been a little while earlier.
"How's your burglary?" she asked Avenant.
Avenant's eyebrows rose. "What?"
"We need more information about their intentions before I start..." Amelie didn't bother to say what she might have to start doing because she didn't to. "If it comes to it we'll kidnap someone - make it look like the carbonari did it - and interrogate them as to what's going on, but I'd rather be more subtle than if we can. There must be some documents - a secret treaty, a war plan, a letter - that proves what they're really up to. All we have to do is find it, wherever it is, that's why you need to be prepared to break into places to get it. But once we have something in our hands, once we know what they really mean, then... then we'll know if we need to stop them."
Adam put down his pen and picked up the sheet of paper he'd been writing in in both hands. He blew on it for a moment, and then said, "Can I read you what I have so far?"
Belle, sitting by the side of Adam's writing desk, and so unable to read Adam's letter except backwards while it was on the desk, which was a bit awkward, especially since Adam's handwriting was rather poor even when viewed from the right angle, nodded. She rested her head on one hand, and her elbow upon the desk. "By all means."
Adam smiled briefly, and then cleared his throat. "To her Most Catholic Majesty Maria Theresa von Hapsburg-Wittelsbach, Queen Regent of Bavaria, Archduchess Regent of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, greetings."
"The introduction is a letter's length in itself," Belle remarked.
"Mmm," Adam murmured. "I trust that you, your father and your son are well; if you are well then I am well also."
"That's rather Roman," Belle pointed out. "If your families are well then I am well, I and the legions are well."
"That's probably where the idea came from that this was the proper form," Adam murmured. He paused for a moment, then continued in a stronger tone that made it clear that he was once more reading aloud. "I- I'm afraid I don't mention you at all, I hope you don't mind?"
Belle smiled. "Not mention me at all? How dare you?" She chuckled. "It's quite alright? Why would you mention me. I'm only your wife, after all."
"For now," Adam remarked.
"Perhaps," Belle murmured. "But at what price?"
Adam didn't respond to that, but read some more, his gaze falling once again upon the letter. "I have arrived on Armorique and been warmly welcomed by His Imperial Majesty King Louis, his family and his court."
"Will she care?" asked Belle.
Adam hesitated a moment before he said, "Possibly not, but she shouldn't object to being told, and it might explain why we've been taken into their confidence the way we have." He cleared his throat. "From conversations that I have had I am of the form opinion that the Armorican royal family and government earnestly desire to bring an end to this war and it's attendant bloodshed, however..." He frowned. "Now we come to it. However... I must tell Your Most Catholic Majesty-"
"Do you need to call her that again?" asked Belle.
"I'm afraid so," Adam replied. "I must tell Your Most Catholic Majesty-"
"I would say inform instead of tell," Belle said. "I must inform Your Most Catholic Majesty."
Adam considered it for a moment, before he put down the paper and picked up his pen, crossing put a word and scribbling another on top of it.
"I must inform Your Most Catholic Majesty that the motives of Armorique are not completely disinterested." He picked up the paper again. "In Armorique they are worried by the idea of... this bits terribly worded , even I can see that."
Belle considered for a brief moment, and then for another moment more getting the words straight in her head. "In Armorique," she said, "they are concerned that the balance of power in Gallia will be upset to their detriment by-"
"Slow down," Adam implored. "I can't write so fast."
"Since I'll be writing this up for you anyway, why don't you just leave it to me?" asked Belle.
Adam had, in the course of his transformation, lost the ability to read and write, his descent onto illiteracy both a marker of the dwindling amount of time he had to break the curse and another layer of imprisonment as even escape into the worlds found within books was denied to him. Belle had begun teaching him how to read again even before the curse was broken, but though the ability to write was coming back to him, his actual writing remained a childish scrawl scarcely more legible than Chip's. Belle, who had, if she said so herself, a very fine hand, wrote up all of his correspondence to be sent abroad.
"I'd like to at least write the first draft, it's good practice for me," Adam said.
"Alright," Belle said. "Where did you get to?"
"Balance of power."
"In Gallia," Belle said, speaking more slowly.
Adam's pen scratched across the paper. "In Gallia."
"Will be upset to their detriment," Belle went on, speaking slower and pausing to let Adam catch up, "by a compete victory by either the Empire-"
"The Holy Roman Empire," Adam corrected her.
Belle nodded. "Or Aquitaine in this war." She frowned. "Do you think that the mention of the succession ought to come first?"
Adam was silent for a moment, mouth open but no words emerging. He winced. "Yes. Yes! You're right. Gah!" He scrawled an arrow from his current place in the page up to an earlier point, probably - it was hard for Belle to be sure from here - after the Armorican desire for peace.
"There is a belief," Adam murmured. "In the... the proper succession? Or the hereditary principle?"
"The hereditary principle," Belle replied. "And Princess Mary's rights."
"Rights to succeed to the throne," Adam added, scribbling away. "There is no desire to see the throne of Burgundy pass to Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. And I think we're back, aren't we?"
Belle considered for a moment. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I think we have. We're back to... Or Aquitaine in this war, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Adam said. "As a result? No, and so."
"Yes," Belle agreed. "And so will work just fine. And so, any refusal by either side to join this peace congress and submit to its decision will lead to Armorique and its allies... taking steps, what do you think?"
"It sounds like a very polite euphemism," Adam said.
"It is a polite euphemism," Belle agreed. "But at the same time, since the steps will take against Aquitaine and the Empire are different, it's also true." She paused. "I really don't think that we should mention that Armorique will go to war against the Empire but only embargo Aquitaine and cut off its money. Maria Theresa might not take it as very even-handed."
"It isn't particularly even handed, is it?" Adam asked.
"It's a difference of scale," Belle said. "If Armorique attacked Aquitaine now it could collapse and they might end up worse off than they are now - Armorique, I mean, not Aquitaine. A declaration of war on the Empire might drive it back but isn't likely to bring it down." Although she couldn't help but wonder if some in Armorique hoped that it might. Lord St Cyr, in particular, had not seemed particularly displeased by the prospect of war.
She kept that to herself.
Adam considered briefly. "I suppose that is fair," Adam accepted. "Alright then, they'll take steps." He scribbled upon the piece of paper. "I'm sure she can imagine what those steps might be. Is there anything else?"
"I don't think we should end on that note," Belle said. "Something about... about how we're convinced that this isn't a ploy aimed at the Empire, and that the negotiations will be conducted fairly and in good faith."
Adam nodded. "Do you have any words in mind?"
There was a knock at the study door, a moment before it was opened by Babette. "Excusez moi, Master, Mistress, but the General from before is back again, asking to speak to you."
"Thank you, Babette, we'll be right down," Adam said. "Is he in the sitting room?"
"Yes, Master, I understand not to leave them in the hallway now."
Adam smiled. "It seems we'll have to finish this another time," he said, as he put down the pen once more. He stood up, and offered Belle his hand. "Do you think he's found something out?"
Belle placed her hand in his, his large fingers closing around her slender wrist as she got to her feet. "I think he must have done, or why would he be back here so soon?"
The two of the descended down the stairs and back into the sitting room, where they found General Gerard, hat off and tucked beneath his arm, standing as still ad a statue before the cold fireplace.
"General," Adam said, in greeting. "It's good to see you again, I hope the circumstances are a little better than our last meeting."
General Gerard turned on his toes to face them both. He essayed a bow. "Your highness, madame. Thinks are a little improved, yes. We've had good luck identifying the man outside your residence."
"You know who he is?" Belle asked.
"An Aquitainian sailor, Madame, aboard a merchant ship fairly recently docked," General Gerard answered. "He seems to have be rather... distressed by the fate of his country, violently so, and in your presence he seems to have seen an opportunity to strike back against the enemies of Aquitaine.
Neither Belle nor Adam protested that they were not amongst the enemies of Aquitaine. What would have been the point? General Gerard didn't need to be convinced on this point, and anyone who did need convincing probably wouldn't believe them.
"So... he wasn't part of a conspiracy?" Adam ventured.
"I'm continuing to investigate, of course, but I don't believe so," answered General Gerard. "Which means that you don't need to jump at every shadow, but at the same time I advise you not to let down your guard. I can't guarantee there aren't other Aquitainians in the city who won't be driven to a rage by the news of the war. For that reason, with your permission, I'll leave the guards outside this house, as a deterrent."
"Very well, General," Adam said. "It's a pity that you can't tell us it's all over, but I suppose this is good news of a kind. We'll be careful."
General Gerard nodded. "I will continue my investigation and return with more news in due course, when I have it. In the meantime, I bid you both good day."
"General," Belle said. "Before you go, could you please have word sent to the palace, asking Prince Eugene and Princess Cinderella if we might call on them tomorrow morning, at ten o'clock?"