TEMPORAL AGENT by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 15 – AT THE

SPANISH COURT

 

22:55 (Paris Time)

Friday, March 07, 1659 ‘A’

Northern slopes of the Pyrenees

South of Tarbes, Province of Béarn

France

Nancy stopped her robotic horse for a moment to contemplate the chain of mountains now facing her. Attaining heights of well over 3,000 meters, the Pyrenees formed the natural border between France and Spain and were covered with snow and ice at this time of the year. They could be crossed only at a limited number of mountain passes or by hardy mountain climbers...or by her Pegasus. For this trip, done as both countries were still officially at war, Nancy intended to cross into Spain unseen by Spanish border guards and soldiers and to avoid scrutiny until she would be in Madrid, where she would team up with Hughes de Lionne, King Louis XIV’s diplomatic representative. With darkness having fallen and with herself being well away from known mountain passes, she was now well positioned to make a discrete crossing.

‘’Pegasus, go into flying mode. We will land near Jaca once on the other side of these mountains.’’

‘’Understood, Nancy.’’ replied verbally her robotic horse. ‘’Taking off now.’’

Solidly held in place on her saddle by both a safety belt and by a tiny tractor beam generator located near the titanium spine of her robotic horse, Nancy let Pegasus fly by itself, having full confidence in its programming and artificial intelligence judgment. After a rapid ascent to past the crests of the mountains facing her, Pegasus accelerated to a speed of 120 kilometers per hour and started overflying the summits, heading South-southwest towards the small Spanish border town of Jaca, situated along the main route towards Saragossa and Madrid. Pegasus could have flown much faster than this but kept its speed low, in order not to expose Nancy to frigid relative winds. Nancy could also have ordered it to simply jump space-time to a point near Madrid but she had rejected that option: she wanted to be able to accurately describe afterwards what she

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had seen during her trip, so to keep the story of her trip both believable and credible. Another reason to keep her trip mostly conventional was to be able to gauge the general public mood and living conditions of the Spanish people, a type of information that was always useful for a spy like her. In truth, despite its military power and widespread influence in Europe, Spain was still a fragmented country, with its various regions jealous of their local traditions, laws and administrative powers and fighting attempts by King Philip IV of Spain to impose his will. Portugal was also still defending its sovereignty, inflicting a number of severe military reverses to the Spanish royal army. For all those reasons, Nancy had judged that she needed to travel to Madrid on horseback while following existing roads. Her only concession to her mode of travel concerned the crossing of the Pyrenees, probably the most potentially dangerous portion of her trip. After some thirty minutes of air travel, Pegasus landed in an uninhabited forest near Jaca. Deciding to use another advantage provided by her robotic horse, Nancy then had Pegasus jump ahead in time by a few hours, so that she could ride into Jaca in plain sight the morning. After that, some 500 kilometers of roads would lead her to Madrid, the ultimate destination of her trip.

16:19 (Madrid Time)

Thursday, March 13, 1659 ‘A’

Southwest gate of the

protective walls around the

Alcazar Real22

Madrid, Spain

The Spanish officer who

commanded the guards at the

main southwest gate giving access

to the vast inner plaza of the

Spanish royal palace eyed Nancy

with suspicion the moment she

showed up at the gate on top of her horse. While Nancy had stowed away her weapons inside her bedroll, her height and built for a woman had instantly caught his attention.

22 Alcazar Real: Spanish royal palace.

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Her clothes were also covered with dust, indicating that she had been traveling for quite a while. Approaching Nancy to a mere pace of her, he then looked up at her and spoke to her in a barely polite tone.

‘’Who are you and where are you going, miss?’’

She then answered him in fluent Castillan.

‘’I am the Marquess of Saint-Laurent and I was sent by King Louis XIV of France to deliver a diplomatic letter to Sire Hughes de Lionne, France’s envoy to the court of King Philip IV of Spain.’’

Her answer, while direct and frank, still left the officer a bit perplex and suspicious.

‘’Your king uses a female rider to deliver a diplomatic letter?’’ Nancy didn’t take umbrage to the officer’s attitude and question, which was to be expected from any man of this time period when faced with a woman but looked straight into his eyes while answering him.

‘’Yes, he did in this case, Monsieur. The letter is concerning a marriage proposal between King Louis and the Infante Maria-Teresa.’’

The officer then understood at once that this was a matter of utmost importance and decided to show some additional respect towards that unusual French messenger.

‘’Monsieur de Lionne is lodged in an annex of the royal palace. I will guide you to it.’’

The officer then went to his horse, tied to a pole just inside the open air plaza, next to the gate, and mounted it before signaling to Nancy to follow him.

Nancy rode behind the officer’s horse to a medium-sized, two-story building separate from the royal palace proper but close to its southern entrance and next to the western fortified wall of the plaza. Its location actually made sense to Nancy, considering that France and Spain were still at war: while it provided adequate lodging facilities for visiting foreign diplomats, it also allowed the Spaniards to cordon it with a strong security and surveillance network while protecting the royal family from assassination attempts and spying activities. Most if not all any Spanish domestic staff working in this diplomatic annex were probably paid spies in the employ of the Spanish king. Nancy was thus going to have to work in the open from this moment on...unless she used her powers as a Time Patrol field agent. However, she was here on a purely diplomatic mission and she intended to using only her wits and charms in Madrid, unless the Spaniards decided to play dirty and rough, which was still a possibility. Dismounting

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in front of the entrance of the building, Nancy untied the two big bundles which had been attached behind her saddle and let a stable boy lead Pegasus inside the small stable attached to the building. Two more servants, alerted by the guards officer, then came at a run to help carry her things inside. Before entering the annex, Nancy bowed low to salute the guards officer, giving him an eyeful of her corsage’s wide opening in the process.

‘’Thank you for your assistance, Monsieur: you are a true gentleman.’’

‘’The pleasure was mine, Marquess.’’ said the officer while eyeing with delight her bust before riding back to the gate.

Nancy was greeted inside the entrance lobby of the annex by Hughes de Lionne, King Louis’ envoy to Madrid, who politely bowed to her in welcome. De Lionne actually knew well Nancy as he had met her many times in Paris when she had briefed him and Cardinal Mazarin on the outcomes of her various missions outside France.

‘’To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from you here in Madrid, my dear Marquess?’’

‘’To Cardinal Mazarin’s wish to send you this private letter, Monsieur de Lionne.’’ replied Nancy while taking out from her coat the sealed envelope given to her by Mazarin. Accepting the envelope, de Lionne looked for a few seconds at its red wax seal, bearing the coat of arms of King Louis XIV, then looked back at Nancy.

‘’Let’s go to my private office, Marquess. Two of my French servants will carry your luggage to an available room and will make sure that nobody forages through them while we talk.’’

‘’Sounds like a sensible thing to do, Monsieur.’’

‘’Then, follow me, Madame.’’

With two French men carrying away her bundles, Nancy followed de Lionne up to a small work office connecting with a bedroom on the upper floor. De Lionne closed the door behind Nancy before walking to his work desk and sitting down in order to open the sealed letter while speaking.

‘’One really has to be careful about what one says and where he says it in this place, Marquess. I could in fact swear that the walls of this building have ears.’’

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‘’Maybe they have, Monsieur.’’ said Nancy, only half-joking. She then stays quiet as the royal envoy read carefully the letter written by Cardinal Mazarin. What he read made de Lionne nod his head slowly.

‘’This could effectively work, my dear. It will now be up to us to make the Spaniards react correctly to this subterfuge. However, you just arrived from a long and arduous trip and must be anxious to wash up and freshen up, so I will let you time to go to your room. A maid will help you by showing you where things are here and will take care of washing your dirty clothes.’’

‘’A hot bath will certainly be called for, Monsieur. When do you intend to tell King Philip or one of his ministers about King Louis’ proposal?’’

‘’I intend to present the official letter signed by King Louis to Minister Luis de Haro, who is the most important minister of King Philip, in the hour to come. About de Haro, know that he is an uncommonly capable man, modest, honest, dedicated and highly competent. He is not to be underestimated.’’

‘’I will keep that in mind, Monsieur.’’

‘’Then, keep another piece of information in mind, Madame: the Prince of Condé is here in Madrid, where he took refuge after having been beaten by General Turenne near Dunkirk last June. I understand that you met him at least once during the Fronde, correct?’’

Nancy stiffened on hearing that: the Prince of Condé, aka Louis II de Bourbon, aka the Great Condé, was possibly the one man she did not wish to see here in Madrid.

‘’Yes, I did meet him once eight years ago, at the Palais-Royal. He then tried to have me arrested as an agent of Cardinal Mazarin but I knocked him out and escaped. If he sees me here, he is liable to denounce me to the Spaniards as a secret agent of Cardinal Mazarin.’’

‘’Hum, that would indeed be problematic for you to cross path with him here in Madrid.’’ said thoughtfully de Lionne. ‘’Unfortunately, I do need your talents of persuasion at the palace; in order to convince King Philip to let King Louis marry the Infanta. Hopefully he will not show his face at the palace during the next few days.’’ Nancy sighed in frustration then.

‘’I hate to rely on hopes while on a mission, Monsieur, but I have little choice but to take risks, now that I am here.’’

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‘’I understand, my dear. Well, I will now let you go refresh yourself. I will advise you when it will be time to go have supper and with whom. My servant will lead you to your quarters.’’

‘’Thank you, Monsieur de Lionne.’’

Following the French maid assigned to her by de Lionne, Nancy went to a relatively small but comfortable bedroom connecting to a small ablutions room, where she was able to undress and sit with relief in a wooden tub quickly filled with lukewarm water by the maid. The young woman however had a horrified look at the faint torture marks still visible on her torso and buttocks.

‘’My God! What happened to you, madame?’’

‘’I was tortured in Paris during the Fronde, as I was serving young King Louis. Please keep that information to yourself, Marie: many in this palace could interpret this badly, if you see what I mean.’’

‘’I will be mum, madame.’’ promised the young maid before starting to help her by soaping her back.

Half an hour later, Nancy was out of the tub and had dried herself with a towel before taking care of her long black hair. She was halfway in putting on a nice sky blue court gown when someone knocked on the door of her room.

‘’GIVE ME ONE MINUTE, PLEASE!’’ she shouted in

response. The maid helped her by tying the laces at the back of here gown, then went to open the door with her permission. Hughes de Lionne then entered and immediately smiled while admiring Nancy.

‘’My dear, you are a true delight for the eyes, as always.’’

‘’Thank you, Monsieur de Lionne. By the way, what was the reaction of Minister de Haro to the King’s letter?’’

‘’Uh, guarded would be the correct term, I believe. He however invited me and you to have supper with him this evening, in one hour. Do you have some jewels which would further embellish you for that supper, my dear?’’

‘’I do have a few pieces, monsieur. As you know, Cardinal Mazarin tends to be on the stingy side when it comes his employees. Thankfully, King Louis is a bit more generous with his gifts.’’

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‘’Then, come to my suite once you will be ready, Nancy.’’ De Lionne was about to leave when he seemingly thought about something and stopped to face Nancy.

‘’By the way, King Philip likes women...a lot!’’

On those loaded words, he then left the bedroom. Nancy giggled while trying to decide how far she should interpret de Lionne’s last words, then went to carefully comb her hair and apply some makeup. She did cheat a bit when applying a few drops of perfume on her, using modern Chanel Number 5 perfume contained in a small 17th Century anonymous glass bottle.

She arrived at de Lionne’s suite only a few minutes before a Spanish valet showed up to guide them to where they were supposed to have supper with Minister Luis de Haro. De Lionne gallantly then lent his arm to be held by Nancy and followed the valet out of the diplomatic annex and into the palace proper. As they were following a large hallway, de Lionne spoke in a low voice to Nancy.

‘’It seems that we are going towards the apartments of Minister de Haro. He thus may intend to discuss with me the details of King Louis’ proposition while we have supper with him. If that is the case, then let me do the talking, unless of course he will address you directly.’’

‘’So, I will have to follow the old male rule: be pretty and shut up.’’ thought Nancy. They were soon introduced into a medium-sized dining room where a man in his early sixties rose from his chair and bowed to salute the couple while eyeing Nancy with intense interest and speaking in Castillan.

‘’Thank you for accepting my invitation for supper, Monsieur de Lionne. And this must be the Marquess of Saint-Laurent. I must say that you severely underrepresented her beauty, Monsieur de Lionne.’’

‘’I wanted to let the good marquess advertise her beauty in person, Don Luis.’’ replied in zest de Lionne, making the Spaniard smile.

‘’And the marquess does it exquisitely well, I must say. She is also of surprising height.’’

‘’She also surprised many in France in that aspect when she first appeared in Paris eight years ago.’’

De Haro then looked back at Nancy questioningly.

‘’And where were you coming from then, madame, if I may ask?’’

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‘’From Scotland, where I was serving my mistress at the time, Don Luis. I am actually of mixed blood and was born in New France. My father was French and my mother was English, while my paternal grand-mother was of native Amerindian blood. You may be interested to know that the Amerindians of New France are in general taller than Europeans, while also being quite robust and athletic. I believe that I owe my physical built in large parts to the Amerindian blood in my veins.’’

‘’And it makes for an exotic kind of beauty in your case, Marquess.’’

‘’Please, call me simply Nancy, Don Luis.’’

‘’Nancy it will be then. But let us sit, so that supper could be served.’’

Once they had sat down, de Haro made a sign to the head servant, who then ordered the first service, a soup, to be brought in. As they waited for the first plates to arrive, de Haro looked soberly at Nancy.

‘’You were quite brave to make such a long and dangerous trip by yourself, without any escort, Lady Nancy. The royal army does its best to repress bandits and keep the roads safe but it can’t be everywhere. Were you threatened at any point during your trip from Paris?’’

‘’Thankfully, no, Don Luis. However, I was more than ready to defend myself if need be: I own a pair of fine pistols and know how to shoot them.’’

‘’A sensible precaution, Lady Nancy.’’

The plates of soup then arrived, along with fresh bread, and de Haro switched his attention to Hughes de Lionne as they started eating, discussing the official content of the letter delivered via Nancy, as the special directives from Mazarin had been written in a separate note kept by de Lionne. While not speaking herself, Nancy did pay close attention to that discussion, ready to provide her comments if asked by de Lionne.

The supper, along with the discussion between the two men, went on for nearly an hour, at the end of which de Haro gallantly kissed Nancy’s hand before she left with de Lionne. As they were walking down the hallway leading to the palace entrance, Nancy spoke in a near whisper to de Lionne.

‘’So, how do you think that we did with Don Luis, Monsieur de Lionne?’’

‘’I believe that we did well this evening, Nancy. However, the main one we need to convince is King Philip. I will need to secure an audience with the King as soon as possible in order to present our case in person.’’

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A small group of men then emerged from a side corridor, discussing between themselves while walking, and nearly collided with Nancy and de Lionne. Nancy stiffened at once when she recognized one of the men in that group as being the Prince of Condé. Condé also recognized her at once and threw a furious look at her while his right hand flew to the pommel of his sword.

‘’YOU? HERE?’’

As Nancy took one step back in order to take a defensive stance, Hughes de Lionne hurried to interpose himself between Nancy and Condé.

‘’Please, let us avoid violence: we are on a diplomatic mission for King Louis of France.’’

‘’Diplomatic mission my ass!’’ replied quite rudely the Prince of Condé, who kept his sword high and pointed at Nancy while speaking with the man he had been speaking with, an ecclesiastic judging by his robe and the large crucifix he was wearing suspended to his neck by a gold chain. ‘’Your Eminence, this woman is a dangerous spy and assassin in the employ of Cardinal Mazarin.’’

‘’Is she now?’’ said the ecclesiastic while eyeing sharply Nancy. De Lionne then hotly protested the description given of Nancy by Condé.

‘’Slander! The Marquess of Saint-Laurent just arrived a few hours ago from Paris to deliver a diplomatic letter addressed to King Philip. We just discussed that letter with Don Luis de Haro while having supper with him.’’

While surprised by the title de Lionne used to name Nancy, Condé still kept his sword pointed.

‘’A marquess? When I saw her eight years ago, she was a simple lady-in-waiting for a young English noble girl. I suppose that she fornicated her way to a nobility title with young King Louis.’’

While she could have let that personal insult pass, Nancy was not ready for Condé to insult at the same time King Louis and replied to him in a sharp tone.

‘’Betraying your king twice and France once was not enough for you, Condé? Now you have to insult the King of France as well through me?’’ Condé’s expression hardened further then as he spoke from the corner of his mouth to the ecclesiastic.

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‘’Don’t listen to her, Grand Inquisitor: this woman is a witch, on top of being a spy and an assassin.’’

Nancy gave a sharp, hostile look at the ecclesiastic on hearing his title: the Spanish Inquisition, with its blood-soaked history of torture and burning at the stake of tens of thousands of innocent women accused of witchcraft, was possibly the historical entity she despised and hated the most personally. King Louis XIV also hated the Spanish Inquisition about as much as she did. Hughes de Lionne, still interposing himself between Nancy and Condé, then did his best to defuse the tense situation.

‘’Don Diego, know that the Marquess of Saint-Laurent is serving as a personal messenger of the King of France. Touching or threatening her in any way will be interpreted as an insult and a hostile act by King Louis the Fourteenth, something that will sabotage the present attempts to end the unfortunate war between France and Spain.’’

Diego de Arce y Reinoso, while having very rigid religious outlooks, was nonetheless a politically astute man and understood at once how serious this would be if not handled properly. He thus gently pushed down Condé’s sword while speaking in a calm, cautious tone.

‘’Let’s not let hot spirits get the best of us, gentlemen. Let us all go in peace now.’’

While his words were meant to appear soothing ones, his thoughts were markedly darker. Nancy, who was an accomplished telepath thanks to her powers of Chosen of The One, was able to read his true intentions concerning her but feigned relaxing from her defensive stance.

‘’The Eminence is correct, Condé: reasons of State must count for more than our own personal enmities.’’

Louis II de Bourbon, repressing his urge to stab her with his sword, then sheeted back his blade before continuing on his way with the Grand Inquisitor. Hughes de Lionne watched them walk away for a moment before blowing air out in relief and look at Nancy.

‘’That was a close call indeed, Nancy: even the King of Spain normally defers to the Grand Inquisitor on questions of faith and internal security and justice. Hopefully, Don Diego will be able to rein in the Prince of Condé’s temper.’’

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‘’Monsieur de Lionne, I have no confidence in the apparent conciliatory attitude of the Grand Inquisitor: the man and the institution he directs equates to me with bigotry, misogyny, religious fanatism and sadism. I guess that I will be even more on my guards now than before.’’

A couple of hours later, as she was about to go to sleep in her bedroom, Nancy called her horse by radio, communicating via mental waves.

‘’Pegasus, this is Nancy. Be on your guards from now on while in Madrid: armed men may come to try to either capture me or kill me in the days to come. Signal me discretely if you see anyone or anything suspicious around you.’’

‘’I will be vigilant, Nancy, as always.’’ replied her robotic horse.

‘’Thanks, Pegasus: you are a real friend.’’

‘’Am I truly a friend to you rather than a simple tool, Nancy?’’ asked the artificial intelligence computer housed inside Pegasus. Nancy, who possessed a degree in robotics engineering, took a moment to debate her answer to that question.

‘’You are a lot more than a simple tool to me, Pegasus. You served Nancy ‘A’ for many years before you were assigned to me after her death. For me, you are like a close, dependable friend. I am now going to sleep. Have a good night, Pegasus.’’

‘’You too, Nancy.’’

Feeling more reassured now, Nancy then turned on her left side and went to sleep, wearing nothing under her bedsheet, sleeping naked as per her habit.

07:43 (Madrid Time)

Friday, March 14, 1659 ‘A’

Nancy’s bedroom, diplomatic annex of the Alcazar Real Madrid, Spain

Nancy woke up a bit later than she had wanted to, her long trip from Paris having tired her more than she had thought. Staying in bed for a while with her eyes opened, she thought for a few minutes about her missions: the one she was on in the name of King Louis XIV and the standing one she had from the Time Patrol to document and study History. However, right now the mission given by King Louis XIV had clear priority. Whatever documentation work she could do here in Madrid would have to wait until the diplomatic talks would be well started. The only urgent thing she would need to do

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outside of the royal palace would be to procure more court dresses to be used during her stay in Madrid: she had been strictly limited in terms of weight and volume in what she could bring along from Paris and thus presently had a grand total of two court gowns with her, one of which she had already worn for yesterday’s supper.

Getting out of bed but staying naked, Nancy then did her routine daily morning warming up and stretching exercises, spending over fifteen minutes on them before putting on her sky blue court gown and combing her hair in order to go have breakfast. She then left her room and went down to the small dining hall of the annex building, which was used by visitors and staff members not of ambassadorial rank. Since the building lodged other visiting delegations apart from the French one, Nancy found a fairly mixed crowd of various nationalities eating a rather frugal breakfast in the hall. She had to pay with a copper coin in order to gain entrance in the dining hall and went to sit at a small corner table, where a maid came to take her order. Nancy ended up eating an assortment of bread, cheese, hard-boiled eggs and cold cuts, the lot washed down with cider. As per her habit, she ate only moderately and left as soon as she had finished eating, going up to the apartments of Hughes de Lionne. She found the French royal envoy sitting at his work desk and writing down some sort of report or letter.

‘’Good morning, Monsieur de Lionne! What is on our agenda today?’’

‘’Nothing special, really. The letter to King Philip you brought in is now in the hands of Don Luis de Haro, who is supposed to pass it to the King today. We now have to wait for their first reactions to King Louis’ proposal. Did you want to do something specific today, Marquess?’’

‘’Well, I was thinking of possibly play some music and sing to the Infanta to entertain her. That would also allow me to judge what kind of girl she is, so that I could accurately describe her to King Louis on my return to Paris.’’

‘’Hmm, that’s not a bad idea, actually. Did you bring musical instruments with you from Paris?’’

‘’Er, no! The luggage I could bring with me on my long trip was strictly limited in both weight and volume. Would you by chance have a guitar or a harp? If the royal apartments would have a harpsichord, I could also play that.’’

‘’Well, my own diplomatic staff, which is quite limited in numbers, does not include musical amateurs, so I don’t have instruments which I could lend you. However, there is a harpsichord sitting in the royal ballroom. I am sure that the Infanta Maria

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Theresa would like to listen to your music and singing. She is a timid but sweet young woman of twenty who is quite devout and also superstitious. She is small in stature and quite plump, with pale skin of the kind favored in royal courts around Europe. In contrast to her, you are a near giant and your tanned skin and athletic body makes you look quite exotic.’’

Nancy couldn’t help roll her eyes at those words.

‘’I will never understand why male aristocrats like so much women who look like fat cows.’’

Hughes de Lionne shrugged his shoulders while smiling to her.

‘’It is what it is, my dear Marquess, although I would say that I personally find your kind of beauty quite attractive. With this said, let’s go pay a visit to the Infanta.’’

Following de Lionne at his side, Nancy left with him the diplomatic annex building and entered the royal palace after being briefly checked out by the Spanish soldiers guarding the main southern entrance. De Lionne guided her towards the royal apartments, to stop in front of a door guarded by two soldiers armed with halberds.

‘’I and Marquess de Saint-Laurent would like to see the Infanta.’’

‘’For what purpose, Senior?’’ asked one of the soldiers.

‘’The Marquess would like to play music and sing to the Infanta, to entertain her.’’

‘’Please wait here, Senior. I will go see if her Highness will receive you.’’ De Lionne and Nancy then waited for about a minute as the soldier went inside to pass on their request. When he returned, the soldier opened the door wide for them.

‘’Her Highness the Infanta will receive you now, Senior.’’

‘’Thank you!’’

While entering a large lounge with de Lionne, Nancy didn’t miss the fact that both soldiers then followed closely behind her, something she had expected: after all, France was still officially at war with Spain and, while de Leonne was well known at the Madrid court, she was still a mostly unknown French woman. De Leonne finally stopped a few steps in front of a small table at which sat a plump young woman and what appeared to be a priest with gray hair and beard. De Leonne then bowed deeply to the young woman, imitated by Nancy.

‘’Your Highness, I brought with me the Marquess de Saint-Laurent, who arrived yesterday from France while carrying a letter from King Louis the Fourteenth addressed

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to your father. The marquess is an accomplished musician and singer and would like to entertain you with her talents.’’

Maria Theresa eyed with some bemusement the uncommonly tall and athletic Nancy before answering de Lionne.

‘’I don’t see any musical instruments with the good Marquess de Saint-Laurent, Monsieur de Lionne. How is she to play for me then?’’

‘’The Marquess traveled from Paris on horseback, alone, so the amount of luggage she could carry with her was strictly limited, Your Highness. She however was hoping to use the harpsichord in the royal ballroom to entertain you with her music and singing.’’

‘’She traveled all the way from Paris without any escort?’’ asked the Infanta, surprise evident in her voice. De Lionne smiled to her while answering her.

‘’The Marquess de Saint-Laurent is an experienced traveler and messenger employed by King Louis for delicate missions. She has been serving King Louis in this quality for the last few years, Your Highness.’’

Now obviously interested, Maria Theresa, like the priest sitting with her at her table, detailed Nancy for a moment before speaking to her.

‘’Please come forward, Marquess.’’

Nancy did so, stopping three paces in front of the Infanta, who then got up from her chair as she made a curtsy. Despite the ridiculously thick high-heel shoes she wore, Maria Theresa found herself to be still a full head shorter than Nancy, who towered over her.

‘’My God! You must be the tallest woman I ever met, Marquess. You also appear to be quite strong and have a bit of a brown skin tone. How so?’’

‘’Your Highness, I am of mixed blood and was born in the forests of New France, where I was raised during my early years. My father was a French fur trapper, while my mother was an English noble of low lineage, which my father delivered from slavery at the hands of a local indigenous tribe. My paternal grandmother was herself an Amerindian and I spent years living in the wilderness of New France before my mother took a boat to return to England after my father died of a disease. Unfortunately, my mother died during our sea trip and I arrived alone in England. Thankfully, I then met a young Scottish aristocrat who took me as her lady-in-waiting and helped me complete my education.’’

‘’Then, if you have English blood, how did you end up serving the King of France, Marquess?’’

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‘’By accompanying my mistress to Paris during the Fronde Insurrection, where we brought letters and funds to Queen Henriette-Marie of England, who was at the time living in exile in France. I met young King Louis, who was then twelve years-old, while visiting Queen Anne at the Palais Royal. She and her young son were then held as virtual prisoners of the insurrectionists in Paris and I then became a secret messenger between Queen Anne and Cardinal Mazarin, who had taken refuge in Germany. That is how I started serving King Louis, Your Highness.’’

The priest, who had listened carefully to her story, then spoke up, using a polite tone.

‘’Marquess, I am Father Vasquez, in charge of the Infanta’s education. Your story is a most fascinating one indeed but your mission as a secret royal messenger must have been a most dangerous one. In fact, coming to Madrid must have been quite a dangerous trip. I am surprised to see that a lone woman succeeded in doing it.’’ As Maria Theresa listened closely to that exchange, Nancy bowed again while answering the priest.’’

‘’Father Vasquez, without wanting to brag, I am not your run-of-the-mill woman. I spent years living through the wilderness of New France, hunting, trapping and fishing. Once in Scotland, I then accompanied my mistress, defending her as she traveled numerous times across lands held by the Puritan armies of Oliver Cromwell in order to help and support the partisans of young King James. I know how to ride long and hard and how to fight. Yes, my mission was a dangerous one and in fact still is, but I know how to face adversity.’’

‘’So, you must know well King Louis, Marquess.’’ said Maria Theresa. ‘’Could you describe him to me?’’

‘’With pleasure, Your Highness. King Louis the Fourteenth is a fairly tall and quite robust man who can stay in the saddle for days without tiring. He is certainly most handsome and is now twenty-year-old, like you. He is of most noble character and is passionate about justice. He is also most courageous and generous.’’

‘’Did he fight in wars, Marquess, for you to call him ‘courageous’?’’

‘’I call him courageous because he once risked himself to rescue me, after I had been captured by Fronde Insurrectionists while carrying a letter from Queen Anne to Cardinal Mazarin. Despite being technically captive of the Insurrectionist in the Palais Royal, he rode to my rescue when he learned that I was being tortured at the Bastille fortress in Paris.’’

Maria Theresa opened wide her eyes on hearing that.

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‘’Oh! Please tell me about that, Marquess. How did he manage to save you if he was himself a captive of the Fronde?’’

‘’The how is a bit complicated, Your Highness. Please understand that the Insurrectionist were not opposed directly to King Louis but rather to the rule of Queen Anne and her prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin. While being under virtual house arrest at the Palais Royal, young Louis was still highly respected by most in Paris at the time. When he learned that I was being tortured at the Bastille, Louis convinced the captain of the guards at the Palais Royal to escort him with a troop of cavalrymen to the Bastille, where he delivered me and had my torturers shot, before riding back to the Palais Royal, with me sitting behind him on his horse. That is why I call him ‘courageous’, Your Highness.’’

While Maria Theresa appeared to be most impressed by her story, Father Vasquez was clearly more skeptical.

‘’Pardon me for saying so, Marquess, but your story is a most incredible one. What tells me that it is a true one?’’

Instead of getting angry at that question, Nancy replied by looking at Maria Theresa and speaking to her.

‘’I can prove my story by showing you the torture marks I still wear, Your Highness. Would you mind if I partly disrobe in order to do that?’’ The Infanta hesitated for a moment before nodding her head once.

‘’You may do so now, Marquess.’’

‘’Thank you, Your Highness. Monsieur de Lionne, could you please undo the back laces of my gown?’’

Without saying a word then, de Lionne obeyed her, a sober expression on his face. Once the laces were undone, Nancy let her gown slip down to her ankles, ending up topless and with only panties covering her groin and part of her buttocks, then slowly turned around to let Maria Theresa and Father Vasquez have a good look at the faint whip and branding marks on her torso and buttocks. She stayed half naked until a moved Maria Theresa spoke to her in a soft voice.

‘’Those Insurrectionists were indeed most cruel with you, Marquess. You may now put your gown back in place.’’

‘’Thank you, Your Highness!’’

Once her gown was back up and with de Lionne tying back its laces, Nancy faced again the Infanta as a now more understanding Vasquez asked her another question.

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‘’Did those Insurrectionists succeed in making you talk, Marquess?’’

‘’No! I would have died rather than betray the King and Queen of France. I have been a special messenger of King Louis ever since. So, here I am! May I play the harpsichord and sing for you now, Your Highness?’’

‘’I would be delighted to, Marquess. What instruments do you know how to play, apart from the harpsichord?’’

‘’I am good with a guitar, a lute, a bardic harp and a flute, Your Highness. I can also sing and dance, which I often do at the court of King Louis.’’ Nodding her head at that, Maria Theresa then looked at one of her lady-in-waiting, who had been sitting behind her.

‘’Carla, could you please get a guitar and a flute for the Marquess?’’

‘’Right away, Your Highness!’’

As the servant went away, Maria Theresa pointed to a set of double doors on one of the walls of the lounge.

‘’Let’s move to the ballroom, shall we?’’

Once in the royal ballroom, the group moved to a corner of the large room, where a harpsichord and a few chairs were set. While the others sat on chairs, surrounding the Infanta, Nancy sat at the harpsichord and studied its double keyboard, then pushed on a few keys to test their tones. Next, she closed her eyes while mentally selecting what tune to play. She ended up choosing to play a piece of music composed by a contemporary Frenchman.

‘’I will now play a piece composed by the great Jacques Champion de Chambonnières, who plays at the court of King Louis the Fourteenth.’’ Nancy then started playing her harpsichord, religiously listened to by the Infanta and Father Vasquez. Even de Lionne listened avidly to the piece composed by the one considered at the time as one of the greatest harpsichord player and composer of the century. Played with brio by Nancy, that piece got enthusiastic applauses from her audience.

‘’Well done, Marquess!’’ said Maria Theresa. ‘’You are truly talented with a harpsichord. Could you please play another piece for me?’’

‘’With pleasure, Your Highness! I will now play ‘Miserere Mei, Deus’, composed by the Italian priest and composer Gregorio Allegri.’’

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That piece of religious music also enthused Maria Theresa as well as Father Vasquez, attracting more applauses for Nancy. She followed up by a piece composed by a known Dutch harpsichord and organ composer, Jan Pieterszoon Sweekinck. By the time she finished to play that piece, the Infanta’s servant was back with a guitar and a flute. Getting up from her stool at the harpsichord, Nancy accepted the guitar offered by Maria Theresa and smiled to her as she held it at the ready.

‘’I will now play and sing a romantic piece in Spanish, titled ‘Dime, Senior’.’’ She then started playing her guitar while singing a song that she had adapted to the 17th Century and which had been created by the modern Spanish band ‘Mocedades’. By then, Maria Theresa was truly conquered by her music, while Father Vasquez could only sit and listen, truly impressed by her musical talent.

‘’That song was truly beautiful, Marquess.’’ exclaimed the Infante. ‘’Do you know many songs like it?’’

‘’Quite a few in fact, Your Highness. The next one will be in English, though.’’ Having spent many years adapting modern pieces of music and songs to what would fit audiences of the 17th and 19th Centuries, Nancy then started singing the theme song from the movie ‘Titanic’ by Céline Dion while playing in alternance her flute and guitar. Her performance attracted tears to the Infanta’s eyes, deeply moved by the words of the song.

‘’God, this was so beautiful and also melancholic, Marquess. Could I hope to enroll you permanently as a musician and singer at the royal court?’’ Nancy could only smile politely at that request.

‘’I am sorry, Your Highness, but I will continue serving King Louis the Fourteenth of France, although part of that service could be used to entertain you as the future Queen of France.’’

Hughes de Lionne hid his smile at that most subtle way to encourage a marriage between King Louis and the Infanta. The Infanta then said something that pleased him even more.

‘’The King and Queen must hear your music and singing, Marquess. I will petition them to have you come have supper with us, so that you could perform for the court afterwards.’’

Nancy curtsied to her in response, hiding her satisfaction.

‘’I would be honored to do so, Your Highness.’’

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‘’Then, I will have you advised about the response to this from my parents, Marquess. By the way, consider this guitar and flute as yours as of now.’’

‘’Thank you very much, Your Highness.’’ said Nancy while performing a curtsy. She then left with Hughes de Lionne, who broke into a wide grin once in the hallway.

‘’Nancy, you were fantastic! To gain an invitation to have supper with King Philip will allow me to gently pursue King Louis’ demand for the hand of the Infanta. Uh, about your torture marks, I am truly sorry about what you had to suffer while in the service of King Louis. Are your scars still sensitive?’’

Nancy then stopped abruptly and turned to face him while nearly gluing herself to him, giving him a plunging view down her wide cleavage. She then spoke to him in a very soft voice.

‘’I will let you judge about that, my good monsieur...by letting you lick my wounds all over my body. As you should know already, I can be a very bad girl when I want to...which is quite often.’’

20:02 (Madrid Time)

King’s banquet room, Alcazar Real

Madrid

King Philip IV and Queen Mariana, followed closely by the Infanta Maria Theresa, showed up in the royal banquet room at around eight in the evening, which was the

regular supper time in Spain23. Nancy, like Hughes de Lionne and the Spanish courtiers and ministers present, made a curtsy, as in the case of women, or bowed, in the case of men. She and the others sat back once the King and Queen had sat at the long banquet table. Nancy however knew that all the pomp and luxury shown at the Spanish court today hid the fact that Spain was a country in severe decline, militarily and economically, being near bankruptcy after nearly a century of wars and internal insurrections. Spain had suffered major military reverses at the hands of France in the last few years, while Portugal was fighting for its independence from Spain and was basically winning that

23 Regular supper time in Spain was around eight in the evening until the end of the Second World War, when Spain’s time zone moved east by one hour. However, the Spaniards then kept eating at the times made customary to them by the position of the Sun, thus around nine in the evening for supper today.

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fight. Nancy also knew that Spain would lose even more within a year, losing territories at its northern border with France and around the Spanish Netherlands as a result of signing the Pyrenees’ Peace Treaty with France in the coming December...a treaty which she was actually helping to make happen by her mission in Madrid. She thus was very conscious of how delicate her mission was in terms of effects on known History.

As servants started bringing in various plates of food and filled cups with wine, Nancy threw a look at the harpsichord which she had played in the morning and which was now positioned in a corner of the banquet room, near her own position close to one end of the banquet table. The King was probably going to ask her to play some soft music during the supper, so she resolved herself to drink only moderately and to eat in small, well-spaced portions while waiting to be solicited by King Philip to entertain the court during the meal.

The King’s first request for her to play music came in about one hour later, brought to her by Minister de Haro.

‘’Marquess, could you please play a soft composition or two on the harpsichord for His Majesty?’’

‘’Does he want me to sing as well, Don Luis?’’

‘’If you know songs which would fit with your harpsichord music, then yes!’’

‘’I will do my best, Don Luis.’’

Nancy then got up from her chair and walked to the harpsichord after grabbing her guitar and flute, which she had laid on a small table set against the wall behind her chair. When she sat behind the keyboard, she ended up facing one end of the long banquet table, with King Philip sitting at the far end and having a direct view of her and of the harpsichord. Conscious that her choice of music she was going to play could be judged along political or religious lines, she chose to first play ‘Miserere Mei, Deus’, from the Italian composer and priest Gregorio Allegri, during which she didn’t sing. That piece got her approving comments and applauses, after which she played in succession three compositions from one Dutch, one German and one French keyboard music composer. She started singing only once at her fifth piece, which she chose to be her contemporary adaptation of the theme song from the movie ‘Titanic’, sung in Italian. While all her pieces were warmly received, her fifth one moved her audience the most, her melancholic singing attracting emotional tears from most women present, including the

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Queen and the Infanta, on top of gaining her enthusiastic applauses. King Philip then signaled her to come to him, which Nancy did, stopping three steps from him and then performing a curtsy. The King had a chair placed next to his at the table and invited her to sit. As she did so, Nancy didn’t miss the way King Philip nearly devoured her with his eyes as he spoke to her.

‘’Please remind me of your name, my dear.’’

‘’I am Nancy Sommers-Laplante, Marquess of Saint-Laurent, Your Majesty.’’

‘’Well, both your harpsichord playing and your singing were marvelous, Marquess. I couldn’t recognize some of the compositions and songs you sang. Did you learn them at the court of King Louis the Fourteenth?’’

‘’In truth, I learned those songs and compositions from places all over Europe, but mostly from the courts in Paris, England and Italy. I also learned exclusive pieces of music and songs from individual artists I met.’’

‘’And you play and sing often for King Louis, Marquess?’’

‘’I do, Your Majesty. King Louis loves to be entertained by me.’’ answered Nancy, who discretely winked to King Charles as Queen Mariana couldn’t see it from her place at the table. The Spanish monarch smiled at those words, having understood her meaning. He then spoke loud enough for his wife to hear him clearly.

‘’Your knowledge of King Louis’ character would prove most useful to me in order to formulate an answer to his request for the hand of my daughter, Marquess. I would thus like to speak with you after supper. A servant will now guide you to my private office. I will go to it shortly after declaring this supper over.’’ King Philip then signaled a lady-in-waiting to approach him, then gave her an order.

‘’Isabella, please guide the Marquess of Saint-Laurent to my private office.’’ The woman, who was in her mid-twenties and was quite pretty, curtsied to him before looking at Nancy.

‘’If you would go first recuperate your guitar and flute, Marquess, I will then lead you to the King’s office.’’

Doing a last curtsy to the King, Nancy then went to pick up her guitar and flute, which she had left near the harpsichord, and followed the Spanish woman out of the banquet room and along a large hallway, to climb a flight of stairs to the next floor. The woman finally entered a bedroom where a work desk sat next to a large window, closing

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the door behind Nancy. As the latter looked around the room, the servant pointed at a closet near the door.

‘’If you could remove your dress, Marquess: I must check that you don’t have weapons on you.’’

That confirmed to Nancy that Isabella was more than a simple lady-in-waiting. That she had guided her to a ‘private office’ that turned out to be in reality a small bedroom away from the official royal quarters also marked her as someone in whom King Philip had utmost confidence. Going to the closet and opening it, she then slipped out of her gown once Isabella helped her by undoing the laces in her back. The King’s servant then softly touched some of her whip and branding iron scars on her back.

‘’The Infanta told me about you being tortured some years ago by French Fronde insurrectionists. I can see now that they were indeed truly cruel with you, Marquess.’’ Telepathically feeling her mood and emotions, Nancy then turned around and faced Isabella as she now wore only her panties.

‘’They were, but they could not break me, Isabella. I protected King Louis’ secrets and was then saved by my young king, who galloped to my rescue with a troop of cavalrymen. King Louis the Fourteenth is a most decent young man who highly values loyalty and honesty and whose word can be counted on. Tell me, Isabella: is sex between women considered a crime in Spain?’’

That question made Isabella throw a sharp look at her before she answered after a short hesitation.

‘’Attitudes vary widely on that subject in Spain but, yes, the Inquisition considers

Sapphic love24 to be unnatural sex and a crime that could be punished severely, going from public lashing, to imprisonment or even death by burning at the stake.’’ Nancy nodded soberly, then gently took hold of Isabella’s two hands and guided them to her breasts, to let her fondle them. Isabella took a deep breath then but did fondle Nancy’s breast. As she did so, Nancy pulled down Isabella’s dress, denuding her breasts before fondling them while speaking.

‘’Isabella, I can love equally men and women and am a very liberal-thinking woman. Would you mind having sex with me?’’

24 Sapphic love: Early term used among many other terms to describe lesbianism in Early Modern Spain, as ‘lesbian’ and ‘lesbianism’ were not yet common words in 17th Century Spain. It is related to the ancient Greek female writer Sappho, who described lesbian activity on the island of Lesbos.

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‘’But the King could arrive here anytime now!’’ objected Isabella, alarm in her voice. ‘’He could repudiate me or even denounce me to the Inquisition for this.’’ Nancy, who was widely read on History, shook her head then while still fondling Isabella’s breasts.

‘’I believe King Philip to be more open-minded than that, Isabella. I believe that he will probably just sit and watch the show at first before asking to jump in. But I will let him decide first, in order not to compromise you, as I believe you to like both men and women, like me. I call that being bisexual by the way.’’

The Spanish maid nodded, then pulled back up her dress.

‘’Very well, Marquess. I will wait to see how His Majesty reacts to this but please be careful with your choice of words: I could risk a lot with this.’’

‘’I will, I promise. And please call me simply Nancy when in private. If you wish so, I would be happy to see you later on in my room at the diplomatic annex.’’

‘’I would be happy to, Nancy.’’

Isabella then stepped back from Nancy as the later finished taking off all her clothes, then went to take an inviting pause on the bed, facing the entrance door. King Philip IV arrived a few minutes later and braked to a halt as soon as he entered and saw the naked Nancy on the bed. A wide smile appeared on his face and he closed and locked the door at once behind him, then approached the bed, his eyes taking in Nancy’s nudity and noting her closely shaved groin and armpits.

‘’You sure understood well my request, my dear Marquess. I must say that I rarely saw a woman as beautiful as you before.’’

‘’Thank you, Your Majesty. To please a worthy man is a privilege for me...when it is voluntary. Some high-level aristocrats in France however think that their titles allow them to use and abuse women at will, showing them zero respect. You in fact have one here, in Madrid, Your Majesty.’’

‘’Ah, yes: the Prince of Condé. I can understand your hostility to him, Marquess. He did betray his King and his country in a time of war. However, his betrayal directly helped Spain so, while I don’t personally like his loyal acts, it is in my country’s interest to keep supporting and sheltering him now.’’

‘’A point of view I can understand, Your Majesty. But let’s switch to a more appealing subject for this moment. I could spice up further our time together by getting your lady-in-waiting to participate in our games.’’

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‘’How so?’’ asked the King while glancing at Isabella, standing two paces to his right.

‘’You could at first sit back and relax while watching me and her stimulate each other. Then, when you will feel ready, you could then jump in bed with me.’’ King Philip’s grin on hearing her words was enough of an answer to both Nancy and Isabella, with the latter then quickly stripping and joining Nancy in bed. Nancy, careful not to make Isabella look like the initiating party, then started a session of oral sex with her, with Isabella first lying passively on her back as Nancy licked her clitoris. That excited King Philip quickly as Isabella moaned under the treatment meted to her by Nancy. It took less than a minute before King Philip got up from his chair and, lowering his tights, took Nancy from behind as she kept licking Isabella. To his credit, he tried his best to make himself last long enough to allow Nancy to reach climax, with Isabella also climaxing at nearly the same time.

Both spent and happy, the King pulled back up his tights and smiled to both women, patting Nancy’s naked butt at the same time.

‘’Well, that was a truly enjoyable experience, my dear Marquess. King Louis must be a happy man, with you at his court.’’

Reaching inside his belt purse, Philip took a gold coin out of it and threw it to Isabella, who eagerly caught it in flight.

‘’Thank you for participating in this, Isabella. I would now like you to escort the good Marquess back to the diplomatic annex building.’’

‘’Right away, Your Majesty!’’

Both she and Nancy then put their clothes back after quickly washing their groins, using a pan full of water, a sponge and towels lying on a small table next to the bed. The King had been gone for a good five minutes before they left the small bedroom and started to make their way to the southern entrance of the palace. The walk outside in the open air plaza was short and they were soon in the modest bedroom assigned to Nancy in the diplomatic annex building. Entering her room, Nancy then faced Isabella while holding her door open. The Spanish woman got the message and entered, with Nancy locking the door behind her before smiling to Isabella.

‘’Now, where were we?’’

08:46 (Madrid Time)

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Saturday, March 15, 1659 ‘A’

Nancy’s room, diplomatic annex building of the royal palace Madrid, Spain

When Nancy woke up in the morning, she found Isabella’s left hand cupping her left breast while hugging her back in spoon-fashion. Seeing that Isabella was still asleep, with a content smile on her face, Nancy reciprocated her attention and slipped her left arm between both of them and started fingering her clitoris. Isabella started moaning while still asleep as Nancy turned around and used both hands and her mouth to stimulate her awake. The Spanish woman soon woke up and gave a loving look at Nancy, who was now down to her groin and using her tongue. She didn’t speak until she climaxed, exhaling deeply in contentment, then kissed Nancy on the mouth.

‘’Nancy, you are one hell of a skilled lover. Let me return you the favor.’’ Having learned quite a few new tricks from Nancy during the past evening and night, Isabella then gave her best to stimulate her, making her climax in turn after a few minutes. Both of them then kissed each other passionately before looked into Isabella’s eyes.

‘’Maybe you could help me with something today, Isabella: I really need to buy more court gowns for my stay in Madrid, to supplement my present, meager wardrobe. Do you know a shop where I could either find or order some dresses?’’

‘’Sure I do, Nancy! I know a good tailor who has a shop in the Lavapies District, near the Plaza Mayor. He both makes new dresses and also sells used ones for women who have a limited budget.’’

‘’That sounds like a perfect place for me, Isabella. Could you guide me to that shop?’’

‘’I certainly can, Nancy. Just let me first seek the permission of the King to let me go out in town with you. He shouldn’t have objections to that but I must make sure that he won’t need me for something this morning.’’

‘’Then let’s get dressed! I will wait for you at the southern entrance of the palace.’’

Both women then got out of bed and started putting on clothes. While Isabella put back on the dress she had worn last evening, Nancy put on one of her riding outfits, wanting to save her only clean court dress left in her wardrobe. Once dressed, they left the diplomatic annex building and went to the palace’s nearby southern entrance, where

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Nancy waited outside the double doors while Isabella went inside. The Spanish woman came back after some twenty minutes, a satisfied smile on her face.

‘’The King gave me the day off. Let’s go!’’

With Nancy electing to walk and leave Pegasus in the stables, both of them soon walked out of the open air plaza by its southern gate, then walking down the Calle de Bailen and turning on Calle Mayor, then on Calle Del Sacramento. While the

temperature was fresh, the sky was mostly empty of clouds and the streets were quite lively with pedestrians, chariots and riders. At one point, Isabella turned into a small street and pointed to Nancy a shop sign some sixty meters down that street.

‘’That’s the sign for Señor Bardem’s shop, Nancy. I believe that you will find all that you want there.’’

As both women walked towards the shop, a cart carrying three men and bails of hay passed by them, then stopped abruptly, with two of the men then jumping out. Nancy, alarmed at once, saw that both men were armed with pistols, daggers and short batons. Unfortunately, she had decided to leave the palace without any weapons, since she basically represented a country at war with Spain.

‘’TURN AROUND AND RUN, ISABELLA!’’

However, as soon as they pivoted around, they saw that four more armed men who had been following them were now blocking their way, short batons and daggers in hand. While Nancy then decided to fight those men, Isabella hesitated on how to react to this. One of the two men who had jumped out of the cart then swung his baton and struck her hard on the head with it. Pushing a brief cry of pain, Isabella collapsed on the street’s cobblestones, knocked out. Enraged by this, Nancy pushed a savage karate shriek and punched Isabella’s attacker hard in the plexus with all of her superhuman strength. The man’s breastbone shattered on impact, piercing the heart and killing the man nearly instantly. Unfortunately for Nancy, that gave a chance to the four goons in her back to attack her and deliver multiple baton strikes on her. A first baton strike hit the back of her head, making her stumble, before a second strike hit her on her left temple. Knocked for the count, Nancy collapsed on the pavement, next to Isabella, to be surrounded at once by the surviving goons. Their leader went to check on the man hit by Nancy and swore when he saw that he was dead.

‘’Por Dios! Manuel is dead! That witch killed him with one single punch. Alright, let’s load both women and Manuel’s body in the cart, then cover them with hay.’’

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The few passersby in the street, intimidated by the number and weapons of the goons, chose to flee rather than get involved, allowing the five goons to pick up and carry Nancy, Isabella and the dead man to the cart, where they were hurriedly covered with hay to hid them from public view. The goons then climbed in the cart, which rolled away at a fair speed.

10:38 (Madrid Time)

Prison of the Spanish Holy Inquisition

Atocha District, Madrid

Nancy woke up slowly, a strong pain

reverberating in her head. Remembering

her Time Patrol field agent training, she did

her best to hide the fact that she was awake by not moving except opening partly her eyes and keeping silent. She was now in a poorly lit dark basement room filled with sinister instruments and devices. She laid on the stone floor and was completely naked, while she could see Isabella, also fully naked and still unconscious, suspended from a thick vertical wooden post by chains and manacles. Four men were visible to Nancy, including one wearing the outfit of a Dominican priest. Dread filled her when she understood that she and Isabella were in a torture chamber of the Spanish Holy Inquisition. She had already experienced torture eight years ago, in Paris, and didn’t wish to relive the experience again. More importantly, she didn’t want to see poor Isabella tortured because of her. Concentrating mentally, she sent a silent radio message to her robotic horse Pegasus.

‘’Pegasus, I am declaring a Code Red Maximum: me and my friend Isabella have been attacked and are now prisoners in an Inquisition torture chamber. We are about to be tortured and then will probably be killed. Get help, fast, then triangulate my signal to find my exact location and report it to our rescue team.’’

‘’Will do, Nancy!’’ was the short answer from Pegasus. Nancy then felt a bit more reassured: declaring a Code Red Maximum meant that a field agent was in imminent danger of torture or death, a situation to which the Time Patrol had detailed protocols to deal with. Pegasus was now going to alert the Time Patrol main base via temporal radio waves, triggering the sending of a rescue team aboard a scoutship. With the precise

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time of her call for help noted, that team should then time its arrival over Madrid mere seconds later after she made her call.

Hoping that the rescue team would react quickly, Nancy still feigned being unconscious while waiting and hoping to be rescued before the tortures would begin. One of the men present in the torture chamber then grabbed a bucket and approached Nancy before throwing the water in it on her, splashing her with cold water. Knowing that not reacting to that would only make her gaolers suspicious, she faked waking up slowly, then made a point of looking around her and appear fearful.

‘’What? Where am I? Who are you and why was I and my friend attacked?’’ The priest present in the chamber approached her and bent down, speaking to her in a contemptuous tone.

‘’You are here, in the hands of the Holy Inquisition, because you are an enemy of Spain and because we suspect that you came to Madrid under a false diplomatic cover in order to assassinate King Philip. You can confess now and thus avoid lots of pain to you and your friend.’’

‘’Are you mad or just stupid? I came to Madrid to deliver a letter from King Louis the Fourteenth of France to King Philip and am simply staying in order to bring back to Paris the response of King Philip to King Louis’ missive. As for my friend, she is one of King Philip’s ladies-in-waiting and torturing her will only bring King Philip’s enmity to your evil Inquisition.’’

‘’She may be the King’s lady-in-waiting but she may well also be an accomplice to your secret mission. We thus will need to get the truth from her as well as from you. Now, tell us the real reason for your presence in Madrid.’’

‘’I already told you: I am a simple messenger sent by King Louis of France in order to find a way to stop the war between our two countries. I have no plans or wishes to bring arm to King Philip or his family.’’

‘’You know what, witch: I don’t believe you. PEDRO, MAXIMILIAN, GRAB HER AND PREPARE HER FOR THE

STRAPPADO25!’’

25 Strappado: Torture method where someone’s hands are tied in his/her back and then pulled up via a rope and pulley, lifting the victim from the floor and causing extreme pain by gradually dislocating the shoulders and tearing the muscles of the victim. The prisoner is then left

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Two of the gaolers then came to Nancy and picked her up from under her armpits, then dragged her towards a winch mechanism in which a thick rope was engaged and went up to a pulley fixed to the ceiling. A voice then resonated in Nancy’s head, bringing her much needed hope.

‘’Nancy, this is Otto, aboard the scoutship TEEN TEAM.’’ Her relief was however a short one, as Otto’s next words chilled her.

‘’I...I’m sorry, Nancy, but we can’t do a thing to help you. There is a witness present with you, your friend, who could report how we will appear.’’

‘’No! NO! YOU CAN’T DO THAT TO ME AND TO MY FRIEND!’’ Nancy unconsciously shouted out loud those words, making the priest grin with sadistic anticipation.

‘’Of course we can: we are the Holy Inquisition and we manage justice in Spain. Even the King can’t overrule our judgments.’’

‘’King Philip can’t but I can!’’

Turning collectively towards where the mental voice had come, the priest and his four gaolers froze in disbelief on seeing a five-meter-tall white luminous and translucid silhouette with a vague humanoid shape now standing at the far end of the torture chamber. The four gaolers then burst in flames from the inside, dying with short, horrible screams, reduced to smoldering dust in seconds. Only the priest remained intact and alive. As the latter stared in horror at what was left of his assistants, the powerful mental voice then resonated again in his brain and those of Nancy and Isabella.

‘’I have a message to the Grand Inquisitor and you will pass it to

him, Father Ignacio. Tell him to leave Lady Nancy Sommers and

her friend Isabella de Cordoba in peace from now on, unless he

wishes me to pass this message directly to him, along with my

judgment for him. Your so-called Holy Inquisition is nothing but

pure evil to me and I have grown sick of its cruelty, intolerance

and sadism. You will immediately release those two innocent

 

suspended for many minutes and can also be caused more pain by making the victim drop a short distance and then abruptly stop the fall by holding to the rope.

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women, if not I will do it myself...after sending you to Hell and

eternal damnation.’’

Before the priest could say or do anything, the luminescent giant then faded away, leaving him weak-kneed and shaken. With cold sweat on his forehead, Ignacio went at a near run to Nancy and untied her hands, then ran to Isabella, freeing her from her manacles, then knelt and started praying frantically in a shaky voice. Isabella, while shaken by what she had just seen and heard, simply looked down at the priest with a mix of contempt and hatred before hurrying to Nancy. Both women hugged each other emotionally while exchanging kisses.

‘’Oh, Nancy, I was so scared! To be saved like this by God himself must prove that you are worthy enough to warrant his help and protection. You will be my friend for eternity.’’

‘’Well, maybe not eternity, as I am not immortal, Isabella, but I will happily be your friend for as long as I live. Let’s find our clothes, so that we could leave this awful place.’’

Father Ignacio, probably in an attempt to save himself from divine wrath, then went to a wooden chest in one corner of the torture chamber and opened it.

‘’Your clothes are in this chest, ladies.’’

Nancy gave him a cold stare in reply.

‘’How about you disappear right now and go pass God’s message to the Grand Inquisitor, Father Ignacio?’’

‘’Uh, sure, Marquess.’’

As the priest ran out of the torture chamber, Nancy looked up skyward and sent a mental message by radio to the TEEN TEAM.

‘’Thanks for nothing, guys!’’

As both of them dressed back, Isabella gave a questioning look to Nancy.

‘’Should we tell the King about this, Nancy?’’

Nancy actually had to think that over for long seconds before answering her.

‘’Not for the moment, Isabella. He may very well refuse to believe us, thus raising more questions about us in his mind. Let the warning from God sink in the head of the Grand Inquisitor. Hopefully, he will be intelligent enough to understand how close he is now from being judged by God and will now let us in peace.’’

‘’You may be right, Nancy.’’

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Once fully dressed, the pair walked out of what turned to be a Dominican Order’s monastery situated in the Atocha District, southeast from the royal palace. To Isabella’s surprise, Nancy insisted on going to visit Bardem’s tailor shop, where she bought three used three court gowns in still good state. While theoretically too short for her and having belonged to rather corpulent women, those gowns had also been meant to be worn with large waste-level cages. When worn without cages, the gowns proved just the right length for Nancy, while their wide torso section, meant to accommodate fat ladies, instead fit Nancy’s wide, muscular shoulders. The tailor was most happy when both women left his shop, having been generously paid by Nancy for the dresses. As they were walking back towards the royal palace, Nancy thought bitterly about what had happened and how severely disappointing the Time Patrol’s reaction to her call for help had been. She briefly toyed with the idea of resigning as a field agent of the Time Patrol but then realized that this would mean becoming permanently cut off from her children, who lived either in this century or in the 19th Century. Still, something would have to change drastically concerning the protocols of the Time Patrol about its response to calls for help from its field agents.

15:10 (Paris Time)

Tuesday, May 6, 1659 ‘A’

Palace of The Louvre

Paris, France

Alerted by D’Artagnan, King Louis XIV was in time to greet Cardinal Mazarin at one of the entrances giving on the courtyard. Mazarin, who had just arrived from Lyon in his carriage and who still felt quite numb from his long trip, bowed respectfully to his king while harboring a wide smile.

“Success, Your Majesty! King Philip of Spain has finally agreed to marry away his daughter to you. The final peace negotiations are now free to start.”

“That is definitely great news, my dear Mazarin. Uh, isn’t the Marquess of Saint-Laurent with you?”

“She is escorting back to Madrid the Spanish secretary of state for external affairs, Don Antonio Pimentel, who came to Lyon to bring to me the answer of King Philip.”

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That piece of news nearly made Louis forget the diplomatic success France had just scored: he could now only picture the young and beautiful Nancy, on horseback and risking her life again while crossing back the Spanish border with her precious charge. Mazarin read his mind and spoke to him in a low voice.

“Do not worry too much about the marquess, Your Majesty: she is a very capable person and has acquitted herself with utmost distinction on her mission so far.” Louis was thoughtful for a moment, then patted the shoulder of his prime minister.

“I have no doubts about that, my good Mazarin. Decidedly, I will have to think of something to reward her properly for all her good services to France.”

“If I may, Your Majesty, I have had a lot of time to think about that while my carriage made its way back to Paris. While the good marquess is still receiving an annual pension of 9,000 Livres, she doesn’t own any property yet. With two growing boys in her charge, maybe she will now be more inclined to accept some estate as a reward. I could also raise her pension, which is quite small in view of all the services she has given us.”

“Those are two good ideas, Mazarin. Raise her pension to 12,000 Livres per annum and find her a property from which she could extract a fair living.”

“It will be done, Your Majesty. I will have a report of my trip to Lyon ready for you by tomorrow at noon.”

“Then, I will see you at supper, my friend.”

After a last bow at the King, Mazarin went to his apartments, his servants carrying his luggage behind him. Once inside his luxurious private lounge, he sat down with a sigh of relief in his favorite sofa, then called in his personal secretary. The functionary entered at once and bowed.

“Yes, Your Eminence?”

“Get me the titles and property assessments of the estates now part of the King’s domains and which were confiscated from supporters of the Fronde in the Bordelais.”

“Right away, Your Eminence.”

Mazarin had time to go wash a bit and change into a fresh set of clothes before his secretary came back, two clerks bearing heavy binders of documents at his back. Thanking them, Mazarin then sifted through the documents and tax ledgers. Bordeaux and its surrounding area had been a hotbed of insurrection during the Fronde and had been last to submit to him and the King. Even now, Mazarin was still not confident about

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the loyalty of the people of the Bordeaux area, especially since many Huguenot Protestants lived in and around that region. Giving a property in that area to his best spy would both reward the good Marquess of Saint-Laurent and put in place near Bordeaux someone he could count on to report to him any fresh attempts at sedition there. After about twenty minutes of reading, Mazarin smiled as he examined a particular property document, then another property document for a small adjacent lot of land. Calling back in his secretary, he gave him the property deeds which had attracted his attention.

“Have a transfer of property act prepared for this estate and that adjoining lot. The beneficiary will be the Marquess of Saint-Laurent and the King will sign the transfer. Your clerks can take back the rest of the documents.”

“Yes, Your Eminence.”

Mazarin sat back once his secretary had left and grinned as he thought about his latest decision.

“Well, the good Marquess of Saint-Laurent will be able to truly live up to her title after this.”

 

19:20 (Paris Time)

Monday, May 26, 1659 ‘A’

Palace of The Louvre

Paris, France

Nancy arrived at the palace tired, covered with dust and in bad need of a bath after having galloped for weeks from Madrid to Paris. She could have used the spacetime jump abilities of her robotic horse Pegasus to cut her travel short but she made a point of not using as much as possible her abilities and equipment from the Time Patrol when working in the service of King Louis XIV. Two palace valets hurried to her as she came down from her horse and helped her by carrying her saddlebags and bedroll for her, while a stable boy took care of Pegasus. Nancy didn’t refuse their help, as she was truly spent by her long trip. With the two valets in tow, she entered the palace and went first to her apartments, where her two sons greeted her with joy and ran to her to hug her. She returned their hugs and kisses before looking at the servant who looked over them during her absences, a kind and mature woman who had lost her husband and children during the Fronde Uprising.

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“Did they behave during my trip to Spain, Madame Longchamps?”

“They were very reasonable…for young boys, madame. Between the lessons and assignments given by Monsieur Dupré and the fencing and riding lessons from Monsieur D’Artagnan, your sons were kept quite busy.”

“Good! They are at an age when they have lots to learn and little time to learn it. Well, I am going to have a good bath after all these miles of dusty roads, then I will go report to the King. Could you prepare my sky blue court gown while I wash, Madame Longchamps?”

“Of course, madame!”

By the time she was done with her bath, had put on her court gown and jewels and had applied some makeup and perfume, her two sons were ready to go to sleep. Most people in the 17th Century didn’t stay up very late anyway for lack of an inexpensive lighting source. Besides, without television, radio or other electronic form of entertainment, children had few reasons to want to stay up late at night, as the adult evening entertainments of the time would have been either too boring or too shocking for them. Nancy took the time to sing a lullaby for her two sons and to kiss them on their foreheads before blowing out all the candles in their room except for one and leaving them for the night. Nancy next smiled to the babysitter and, taking out four gold pieces from a small purse hidden down her cleavage, gave the coins to her.

“You have done a marvelous job at taking care of my sons, Madame Longchamps, as usual. Please accept this as a little extra over and above your salary.”

“Madame la Marquise is too good, truly!” said the happy woman while bowing to Nancy, who shook her head while still smiling.

“I’m not too good, Madame Longchamps: it’s most other people around who are not good enough.”

“That is one original way to look at it, madame. Goodnight, madame!”

“Goodnight, Madame Longchamps!”

With her servant gone, Nancy left her apartments and started walking along the long hallways of the palace, heading towards the King’s apartments. Crossing one of the personal maids of the King in the hallway, she politely stopped her to ask her a question.

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“Excuse me, Jeannette, could you tell me where I could find the King at

this hour?”

“I believe that he is in his private study, Madame la Marquise.” answered the teenager. Something in her tone made Nancy stare at her.

“Is something wrong with the King, Jeannette?” she asked in a low voice. “Come on, you know that I am a close friend of the King.”

The maid hesitated only for a second before speaking.

“The King seems to have had his heart broken yesterday by the departure of Mademoiselle Marie Mancini and has been brooding ever since, madame.” Nancy nodded in understanding, her expression turning somber. Marie Mancini, one of the young nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, had conquered through her spirits and her warmth the heart of King Louis XIV during the last few years. The Queen Mother was not looking happily at the prospect of such a romance and possible marriage and, as per established history, had convinced Mazarin to talk to his niece and dissuade her from courting young Louis. That broken romance had ended with the departure in exile of the young woman on orders from her uncle. Nancy could personally sympathize with the emotional distress of both King Louis and of Marie Mancini: both were decent young people with true feeling towards each other but who had been the victims of state politics.

“Thank you, Jeannette. I will see if I can help the morale of the King.” The maid nodded and curtsied to her before continuing on her way. Nancy, thoughtful, made her way to the entrance to the King’s apartments, where two musketeers stood guard. One of them saluted her with his hat while keeping his left hand on the pommel of his sword.

“Good evening, madame. What brings you here tonight?”

“I would wish to see the King, if he is willing to receive me.”

“One moment, madame.” said politely the musketeer before partially opening the door and whispering to someone inside and then facing back Nancy.

“You should have an answer shortly, madame.”

Effectively, a valet opened the door again after a minute or so and signaled Nancy to come in.

“The King will receive you in his private study, Madame la Marquise.”

“Thank you!”

Following the valet, Nancy entered the royal apartments and was soon introduced into the luxurious private study of King Louis XIV, where she found the young monarch sitting

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at his work desk, various papers and books in front of him. Nancy curtsied to Louis on entering the study, prompting Louis in raising a hand.

“No need for this between us when we are in private, my dear Nancy. What may I do for you tonight?”

“My visit has two purposes, Your Majesty. First, I wanted to report back from my trip to Spain. Second, I wished to see if I could help your mood, which is said to be sad these days.”

Louis made a weak smile at that last sentence.

“Few secrets seem to stay so for long in this palace. With all the servants and court members around, I should not be surprised about that, though. It is true that my heart has been hurt by the departure of Mademoiselle Marie Mancini two days ago.”

“Marie Mancini was a fine young woman, Your Majesty. You are quite right to mourn her departure.”

Louis eyed her melancholically for a moment, then got up from behind his desk and went to a nearby sofa, motioning Nancy to come to him.

“Let’s sit together, my friend. We have many things to talk about. And you can call me simply Louis while in private.”

“With pleasure, Louis.” replied Nancy before going to sit besides the King on the sofa. Both then looked into each other’s eyes in silence for a few seconds before Louis spoke up again.

“You must yourself be hurting after the marriage of D’Artagnan with the Baroness of Sainte-Croix, Nancy. I would personally have been most happy to see you marry D’Artagnan in place of the Baroness, but since you yourself rejected such a marriage…”

“If such a marriage would have been possible, I would have gladly accepted the request from D’Artagnan, Louis. Unfortunately, I believe that destiny was not meant to see such a marriage happen.”

“Why, my friend? I am the King! I can make destiny in France.” Nancy gave a sad look at Louis then.

“Some things are beyond even the reach of a King, Louis. Besides, marrying would severely limit my usefulness to you as a special messenger and agent.”

“Your loyalty and dedication are to be truly commended, Nancy.” said quietly Louis, meaning it. “To have sacrificed your love to D’Artagnan for the good of France was sad but admirable.”

“And so was your letting go of Marie Mancini, Louis.”

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Louis sighed and passed an arm around her shoulders, looking into her eyes from a few inches away.

“The affairs of the state can be quite cruel indeed on young people like us, Nancy. Do you know that I more than once considered the idea of marrying you? You would indeed have made an outstanding queen.”

“I am flattered, Louis, but you know that such a marriage would have been politically impossible, even though we have true mutual feelings towards each other.”

“And what do you see in me, Nancy?” said Louis, a smile coming to his face at last. Nancy answered him in a soft voice, saying strictly the truth.

“I see a young man with imperfect education but with outstanding abilities and a kind and just heart. You have everything to be the greatest king France ever had and I am confident that you will prove yourself to be such a king. And you, Louis, what do you see in me?”

“The most extraordinary young woman I ever saw.” said Louis without a hesitation. “You proved to be more intelligent and skilled than most men, apart from being incredibly brave and strong. But, most of all, you are a very beautiful and warm lady with a heart of gold. I wish that I could have had you as Queen of France.”

“Thank you for thinking so of me, Louis.” said softly Nancy before kissing him. Louis returned her kiss, hugging her tightly in the process. With both of their hearts beating faster now, Louis ended up lying on top of Nancy in the sofa.

“Shall we move to the bedroom, Nancy?”

“I was about to propose the same thing to you, Louis.”

Both got up at once and went to the adjacent bedroom, where they quickly undressed each other before jumping in the huge bed with anticipated pleasure.

Much later, as both unglued themselves from each other in the now dark bedroom, Louis caressed the long silky hair of Nancy while looking at her tenderly.

“You are indeed a unique girl, Nancy. You said earlier that you wanted to report to me about your trip to Spain. You may do so now.”

“Very well, Louis.” said Nancy, who then spent a good twenty minutes recounting her mission in Spain to Louis, who eyed her with genuine respect at the end of her report.

“Tudieu, madame, you can summarize things in a way I could only wish to be able to imitate. Maybe I should make you part of my royal council.”

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“Only if it is in an unofficial, discreet manner, my dear Louis. I prefer to work in the shadows, where I can serve you better.”

“You may work better in the shadows, my friend, but I certainly don’t want to profit from your talents without granting you some just rewards for your loyal services. I spoke some weeks ago about that with Cardinal Mazarin. As a result, know that your annual pension has been raised from 9,000 to 12,000 Livres, retroactive to January of this year. An estate near Bordeaux is also yours, where you will be able to raise your two sons.”

“An estate? Was that really necessary, Louis?” said Nancy, surprised. The young monarch smiled and got out of bed, putting on a robe before going into his study. Not bothering to put anything on, Nancy followed him and watched as Louis searched inside a drawer of his desk and took out a leather folio. She took the folio handed to her as Louis spoke.

“Mazarin selected a small but interesting estate just north of Bordeaux. It includes a vineyard and a winery and has a fortified tower dating back from the 12th Century. It was confiscated from a Fronde supporter and was part of my royal estates but is now yours, my friend, along with some surrounding farmlands that have been annexed to the estate in your favor. You will be able to pass it on to your sons after raising them there.”

Nancy, truly touched by this, read the deed contained inside the leather folio and smiled to Louis.

“The Château La Tour Carnet, in Saint-Laurent du Médoc? I am truly honored, Louis.”

Her genuine appreciation made Louis smile with malice.

“Really, Nancy? This is quite a small estate after all, covering only two square miles even with the newly annexed farmland. Many nobles in my court would sneer at such a small piece of land.”

“That is because they don’t truly appreciate what they owe you, Louis. That estate will be perfect for me, especially considering where it is situated.” Louis nodded, satisfied by her reaction.

“You just spent nearly three months away from your sons on a most arduous and risky mission, Nancy. Why don’t you go to the Bordelais and take possession of your new home? Take a good month of vacation there as well. If I need you in the meantime, I will send you a messenger.”

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“Oh, you are too kind, Louis!” said happily Nancy before gluing herself to the King and kissing him. Louis used that chance to caress again her firm breasts while answering her in a soft voice.

“For you, nothing is too good in my eyes, Nancy. Enjoy your time in the Médoc.”

More lovemaking between Louis and Nancy followed, taking a good part of the night. When they parted in the morning, Nancy was happily holding against her heart the leather folio with the deed to her new property. Even though she lived regularly through two other centuries and had access to much wealth and luxuries as a field agent of the Time Patrol, this life with her sons Charles and James in the 17th Century had become as real and concrete to her as one could be. In fact, more than a third of her biological time was spent in this time period as Nancy Sommers-Laplante, Marquess of Saint-Laurent, while another third of her time was spent in the 19th Century as Lady Jeanne Smythe-D’Orléans. The rest of her time was split between training sessions at the main base of the Time Patrol, duty tours in either outposts of the Time Patrol in 20th Century ‘B’ Paris and 35th Century ‘A’ New Lake City and on special missions in various time periods in the past or future. With the approximately 200 years of life expectancy available to her thanks to the genetic longevity treatment standard to all citizens of the Global Council, which she was as a virtue of being a member of the Time Patrol, she had enough years left for her to live to manage all those lives fairly easily. She however had to be careful about splitting her time judiciously and at the right moment and place in order for her physical appearance to correspond at least roughly to her official age in each time period. That was less difficult actually than managing the time of her three sons. Charles, James and William were after all still growing fast and any miscalculation on her part could expose them and herself to some embarrassing questions or comments from those around them. Nancy had however resolved that problem by letting her sons live mostly in their centuries of birth, jumping herself spacetime in ways that made her absences from either the 17th or 19th Centuries appear to be matters of mere hours at most to her sons. Also, she had not made either Charles or William, who were still pre-teens, travel through time other than for short trips after their births, so that they would not inadvertently reveal the secret of time travel by babbling with other children about having lived through some fantastic place or time. Only James, who was now thirteen years old and able to understand the importance of her secrets, traveled more often through time with her. As Nancy saw it, James was probably going to enlist

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in the Time Patrol soon as an apprentice, while Charles and William could possibly end up living normal lives in their respective centuries of birth. The property deed she now held represented a place to call home for at least Charles, who would now have a legitimate way to sustain himself when the day of Nancy’s death inevitably came. In her happiness as she announced the good news to her sons and in the excitement that followed as they packed for their trip to Saint-Laurent du Médoc, Nancy forgot about the possible consequences of her night of lovemaking with King Louis XIV.

14:40 (Paris Time)

Monday, June 2, 1659 ‘A’

Château La Tour Carnet, Saint-Laurent du Médoc Bordelais region, on the Atlantic coast of France

“Is this our new home, Nancy?” asked James, who was at the reins of their cart, in which also traveled little Charles and Madame Marthe Longchamps, their sitter. Nancy, who was riding ahead of the cart on Pegasus, turned her head around and smiled to her adopted son.

“Unless everybody who gave us directions along the last ten miles lied to us, yes, it is. It looks like quite a place, isn’t it?”

“It is certainly an impressive place, madame.” said Marthe Longchamps, who had accepted Nancy’s offer to move with the children to Saint-Laurent du Médoc. Being a widow, she had no ties that would keep her in Paris. All four of them contemplated for a moment the castle of La Tour Carnet, with its massive rectangular stone keep that closed off the thick walls of the castle. Nancy then urged Pegasus to a slow trot, followed by the cart. As they approached, Nancy noticed two soldiers standing guard at the main gate of the keep, which was linked to the passing road by a drawbridge that spanned the water-filled moat surrounding the medieval castle. She then looked back at James.

“Keep rolling at your present pace, James. I’m going forward to talk to those soldiers at the gate.”

Pushing Pegasus to a gallop, Nancy took only a minute to arrive at the drawbridge, slowing down her robotic horse and then stopping it just a few paces from the two soldiers, who were now eyeing her with both curiosity and suspicion. They were royal dragoons, mounted infantry soldiers who were infamous for their rough manners with

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most of the local population. One of the soldiers, having detailed Nancy’s male riding clothes and her weapons, spoke firmly to her while holding his musket at the ready.

“This is a royal property, madame. What brings you here?” Nancy took out of the pouch slung across her chest the leather folio containing her property deed and showed it to the soldier but didn’t give it to him while replying in as firm a tone as that of the soldier.

“This property is now mine, on the order of the King. I am the Marquess of Saint-Laurent. I wish to see your commander at once.”

The two soldiers looked at each other with bemusement before the senior one told the other to go get their officer. As one soldier ran inside the keep, Nancy stepped down from her horse and quickly dusted herself off, then extracted and unfolded her property deed, getting ready to show it to the commander of the dragoons. Two men actually came back with the soldier: a young second lieutenant of the dragoons and a civilian wearing small, round spectacles. The civilian was the one who came forward to speak with Nancy after bowing to her.

“Good afternoon, madame. I am Robert Villemin, royal clerk and administrator of this estate in the name of the King. I was told that you were given this property by the King.”

“That is correct, Monsieur Villemin.” said politely Nancy, her tone now much softer than with the soldier before that. “Here is the property deed signed by the King, who also included adjacent lots of land to this estate.”

Nancy thought for a moment that she saw fleeting dismay on the face of the clerk as he read the deed but the man gave no other clues about his reactions apart from that. He finally gave back the deed to Nancy and looked at the dragoons officer.

“The act is authentic and valid, Monsieur De Jumonville. You and your men will have to vacate the castle, along with myself.”

The young officer appeared to be unsettled by that and gave a hesitant look to Nancy, who understood at once his dilemma.

“Do not worry, Monsieur De Jumonville: I won’t be mean to the point of throwing you out just before nightfall. You and your men can stay until tomorrow, when you will be better able to obtain alternate barracks facilities from your regimental commander. I will just need one room for my family and my servant for the time being.”

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“You are too kind, Madame la Marquise.” replied the visibly relieved officer while bowing and saluting her with his large hat. “Do you need help to bring your baggage inside the keep?”

“Eight men would be enough to bring up my four travel trunks, monsieur. Thank you for the offer.”

“It’s my pleasure, Madame la Marquise.”

As the young officer shouted orders to get eight men to run out of the keep and to the cart, which was now at the gate of the castle, Nancy grabbed the bedroll and saddlebags on her horse and let Villemin show her the way, little Charles behind her. The keep was of a fairly large rectangular section and stood a good twelve meters to its crenellated top. The royal clerk soon showed her a large bedroom on the second floor which looked unused. It was also reasonably well furnished.

“This bedroom is reserved for passing royal dignitaries. I hope that it will be adequate for your needs until we leave, madame.”

“It will be more than adequate, monsieur.”

“Then I will have your trunks brought up to this room.”

Letting the clerk go back down to direct the soldiers carrying up her trunks, Nancy dropped the bedroll and saddlebags she was carrying beside the large canopy bed and inspected the bed sheets and the mattress for the presence of vermin. Thankfully the bed was clean, something that relieved her greatly: she had no wish for herself or her sons to catch lice. Her previous experience during her boat trip to New France five years ago had been enough for her. The first soldiers carrying her trunks started coming in as she was finishing her bed inspection. She took a minute to direct them and make them put down the trunks in one corner of the bedroom, then thanked them before they left. James and Marthe Longchamps came in behind the soldiers and looked around the room, with Nancy sweeping one arm around.

“We are going to sleep in this room tonight. Tomorrow, once the soldiers are gone, we will be able to redistribute better the rooms in this castle. What do you say to touring this castle together while there is still daylight?”

Both of her sons cheered at that, while their babysitter nodded her head while smiling, more excited about this move than she let appear. In truth, this was the first time in her life that Marthe had left the region of Paris.

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The four of them thus went up the stairs of the keep, led by Nancy. They went all the way to the roof, emerging on a large terrace bordered by a crenellated wall giving an outstanding view of the surrounding countryside. Taking out her property deed and going by the descriptions made in the document, Nancy pointed various directions to her sons and servant.

“Well, we are a bit over a mile to the east of the village of Saint-Laurent de Médoc, which is over there, while the village of Saint-Julien is over there in the opposite direction. Our property is bordered to the South by that small forest and by a stream and to the North and East by the lines of piled stones along those fields. To the West, our property stops at the limits of the village of Saint-Laurent.”

“I can see quite a few peasants’ houses dotting your property, madame.” said Marthe while scanning her surroundings. “I wonder if they are your tenants.”

“We will know fast enough once I am able to tour my property tomorrow.”

“What are those large buildings inside the castle walls, Mom?” asked James while looking down through a crenellation. Nancy examined for a moment the two multistory buildings standing side-by-side along the southern wall of the castle before answering her adopted son.

“The one to the right looks like a chapel, if I can go by its bell tower. As for the one to the left, its lower part seems to be a sort of stable and also possibly contains the winemaking equipment. The upper floors are probably used by the servants of this castle. Talking about the servants, let’s find out how many there are in the castle.” Using again the spiral staircase of the keep, they went down this time, exploring each floor of the keep as they went. The top floor was actually occupied by the dragoons and their young officer, while the only other occupant on the floor where Nancy’s bedroom sat was Roger Villemin. The ground floor was occupied by a fairly large hall, a guardroom occupied by four dragoons on duty, two storerooms and a large kitchen with pantry. They found a man, a teenage boy and a mature woman in the kitchen, who bowed to Nancy when she entered.

“Please, no need for such formalities between us, my good people.”

“But you are a marquess, madame.” protested politely the man, making Nancy smile to him.

“First and foremost, I want to be your friend, not your master. Please call me Nancy or, at the worse, madame. What is your name and function, monsieur?”

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“Jacques Talbot, madame. I am the cook and this here is my young assistant, Denis Rousseau. Over there is Marise Poulenc. She makes the bread in the castle.”

“Pleased to meet you all. These two boys are my sons Charles and James. Standing next to them is their sitter, Marthe Longchamps.” Talbot’s eyes went to James when Nancy pronounced his name the English way.

“Your older boy has an English name, madame.”

“That’s because he was English. I adopted him after saving him from Iroquois natives in New France.”

“You went to New France, madame?” asked enthusiastically the young assistant cook, Denis Rousseau.

“I sure did! I was in fact born there. That is however a long story which I will be more than happy to tell you late tonight in front of the fireplace.”

“If he is English, then he is a Protestant, I suppose, madame.” said cautiously Jacques Talbot. His tone of voice got Nancy’s hear up.

“He is, as a matter of fact, even though he doesn’t practice much, like me. We are not a very religious family but we compensate that by practicing good Christian charity and kindness around us. Too many people go to church every Sunday only to act mean or with greed once out of the church.”

“Too true, madame.” said Talbot, appearing to relax.

“Tell me, Jacques: are there other servants in this castle?”

“There are three maids, madame. I believe that they are presently busy cleaning the stables where the dragoons keep their horses. There is also the winery manager of the castle, Antoine Marboeuf. He is presently out inspecting the vines. A number of other people work on the estate to maintain the vineyard, collect the grapes and press the juice out but they live outside of the castle and come when called in by Marboeuf.” Nancy nodded, then lowered her voice for her next question.

“What I saw up to now of the castle’s furniture looked mostly dilapidated, nearly bare in fact except for the room given to me and the ones used by Monsieur Villemin and De Jumonville. For a royal property, I was expecting something a bit better furnished. Was it always like this?”

Seeing that Talbot was hesitating, Nancy approached him and patted his left shoulder to reassure him.

“My good Jacques, I may have come from the royal palace in Paris but I am not here to make your lives difficult or to watch the local population. I simply hope to raise

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my sons in peace and quiet in this castle, which was given to me by the King. You are a Protestant Huguenot, aren’t you?”

The man stiffened at once, both nervous and apprehensive.

“I…I am, madame.”

“Relax, Jacques! As I said, I don’t care much about religion, either way. I was told that this castle was confiscated at the end of the Fronde Uprising. Did the royal troops loot it then?”

Talbot answered after a second, deciding to risk it all and be frank with that most unusual young woman, whom he couldn’t help find sympathetic.

“They are still looting the estate, madame. Much of the wine we produce goes

directly to these dragoons and the rest of their regiment and we are not getting a Liard26 for that wine. This estate could make a fortune with its vineyard and winery but we are barely able to scratch a living after all the taxes and requisitions are levied. Nearly everything of worth was stripped from the castle after its confiscation and the dragoons don’t care much about being careful with what’s left, madame.” Talbot swallowed hard as Nancy stared into his eyes for a moment. She then nodded her head and spoke in a low voice.

“Since much of what you say would be hard to prove, I will live with the damage already done. However, once those soldiers and Monsieur Villemin leave tomorrow, we will all work at putting this estate back into business. That I promise you. This said, do you have enough provisions in the castle to make a supper for the lot of us tonight, and I don’t mean to include the dragoons.”

“The larder is mostly bare, madame, as…”

Nancy stopped him with a gesture of the hand and took out of her purse ten gold pieces.

“Take this gold and go with my son James to the village in our cart, then buy there what you need to feed us for the rest of the week. Calculate the same portions of meat and fresh produce for each of the servants as those for me and my sons. I don’t believe in double standards when it comes to food. If any dragoon tries to steal or confiscate what you will buy, tell him that the Marquess of Saint-Laurent will come and kill him if he doesn’t leave you alone.”

“Understood, madame!” exclaimed happily the cook before looking at James. “Let’s go get your cart, Monsieur James!”

26 Liard: Low denomination copper coin introduced in France in the XVII Century.

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“Just James will do, Jacques.” replied the teenager, smiling. As the man and boy left the kitchen, Nancy looked and smiled at the young assistant cook and at the woman baker.

“My personal custom is that everyone in my house eats at my table, irrespective of rank or occupation. Also, if you have any problem, personal or otherwise, don’t hesitate to seek my help. I will now go see our three maids and Monsieur Marboeuf with my younger son. I will see you at supper time.”

Once she was out with her son, Marise Poulenc and Marthe Longchamps eyed cautiously each other. The baker spoke after a few seconds of silence.

“Madame la Marquise seems quite, uh, unusual.”

Marthe nodded, her expression serious.

“She is a unique woman, I have to say. However, you won’t find a more generous and kind person. She is also quite deadly when she needs to be: she is the equal of any man with a sword or pistol and can even beat a man with her bare hands.”

“You must be joking!” said Marise, unbelieving. Marthe shook her head at that.

“Not one minute! She spent years hunting fur in New France and fought during the Fronde Uprising.”

“On which side?” asked naively the young Denis Rousseau, making Marthe look dubiously at him.

“On the King’s side, of course, my boy. She was given this estate by him.” Marise Poulenc hid her displeasure at that: as a supporter of the King, their new master was going to be a potential danger to anyone around this region who held a grudge against the crown. Having to suffer those brutal royal dragoons all those years had been bad enough.

Nancy and Charles effectively found the three maids of the castle in the stable, busy scooping up horse excrement in order to mix it with straw to make manure. One was a woman in her late twenties while the two others were still teenage girls. Nancy quickly signaled them not to bow to her.

“Please, no need for formalities between us. I may be dressed like a

noblewoman but I don’t care one bit about class differences.”

“Uh, you actually look more like one of those swordsmen with fancy titles and short tempers, madame.” said the youngest of the maids, who was maybe thirteen. That made Nancy grin.

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“True, except for the short temper. I am Nancy Sommers-Laplante, Marquise de Saint-Laurent, the new owner of this estate. However, I prefer to be simply called Nancy. This is my younger son, Charles. Could you tell me your names, the three of you?”

“Of course, madame!” replied the older maid. “I am Gilberte Comtois, the senior maid in this castle. The one who spoke so lightly is Annette Beauséjour, while the other one is Collette Parmentier.”

“Pleased to meet you all.” said Nancy before kissing all three on the cheek. “My other son, William, is gone with Monsieur Talbot to the village. You will be able to see him at suppertime. By the way, the dragoons and the royal clerk will leave the estate tomorrow morning.”

Nancy didn’t miss the discreet reaction of relief from the maids at those last words.

“Have those dragoons caused problems to you, girls?”

None of the maids replied, seemingly reluctant to speak. Nancy sighed, then went to sit on a nearby stool and eyed the three maids.

“Look, girls, I may be a follower of the King but that doesn’t mean that I condone wrongful acts by his soldiers. If you don’t want to speak about potential problems, that is your business, but know that I will not tolerate any abuses against you or against other honest people. I may be the owner of this estate now but I want you to consider me first and foremost as your friend and protector, not as your master.” Before the hesitant maids could decide to speak up, a man in his forties dressed like a peasant entered the stables, a pair of scissors in his hands. He stopped on seeing Nancy and, after a short hesitation, took off his large felt hat and bowed to Nancy.

“I am sorry if I disturbed your conversation, madame.”

Nancy got up and walked to the man, presenting her right hand while smiling.

“Call me Nancy, my good man. I am the new owner of the estate. And you are?”

“Antoine Marboeuf, madame. I am the winery manager.” said the man while shaking her offered hand.

“Pleased to know you, Antoine. We will need to talk at length tonight about how to put this estate back on the right footing. I guess that years of governmental administration didn’t do much to help the estate affairs.”

There was a momentary flash of anger in Marboeuf’s eyes before he answered Nancy in a controlled voice.

“Indeed, madame. In fact, nearly all of our wine production has been used to keep those dragoons drunk most of the time and to fill the pockets of monsieur Villemin.”

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“Has it?” replied Nancy, displeased, but not at Marboeuf. “How much wine is left in the castle’s reserves?”

“A mere sixteen barrels, madame. In a good year, we produce over 150 large barrels of top quality wine and should by all rights make a fine business. Instead, this estate is close to bankruptcy, while the castle itself is in dire need of renovations. I am afraid that you were handed a rather poor deal, madame.”

“Maybe, maybe not. As of now, our wine will be used or sold solely for the benefit of this estate and I intend to use your expertise to put us back into business.” Marboeuf eyed her with hope, then looked at Charles, standing near Nancy.

“Your son, I suppose, madame?”

“Indeed! His name is Charles. I have another, older son who is now gone to the village with Monsieur Talbot.”

“And when can we expect Monsieur?”

Nancy didn’t understand him at first, then grinned to Marboeuf.

“There is no Monsieur, my dear Marboeuf: I am not married.” The scandalized look that appeared on the faces of Marboeuf and of the three maids only amused Nancy more.

“I may be a marquess but that doesn’t mean that I am a saint, monsieur. My older son, James, was actually adopted by me in New France. But enough about me. I will be more than happy to tell my personal story to all of you later tonight. Could you in the meantime show me the winery installations and our wine reserve?”

“With pleasure, madame!”

The tour of the winery, which occupied part of the building containing the stables, took half an hour, during which Nancy asked numerous questions concerning the care of the vineyard and the winemaking process. Marboeuf proved to be a true professional when it came to winemaking, even though his manners and speech were a bit rough. Both quickly developed a mutual sense of respect for each other during the tour, with Marboeuf seeing that Nancy was no simple court lady and had a very sharp and practical mind. They were on decidedly good terms by the time they climbed the stairs of the basement where the barrels of wine produced by the estate were stored. Seeing a dragoon inside the stable, Nancy went to him at once in a few wide steps. The soldier, who was giving water to the horses of his unit, bowed to her after a short hesitation.

“Good day, madame.”

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“And good day to you, monsieur. Would you please pass a message from me to Monsieur De Jumonville, your officer?”

“Of course, madame!”

“Then, after you are finished with your stable duties, tell Monsieur De Jumonville that the wine stored in the basement of the winery is not to be touched without my express permission. I will decide on its distribution and use from now on.” The soldier gave Nancy a disturbed look before bowing again.

“Your words will be passed on, madame.”

“Good! Tell him also that I will be happy to host him and his men, along with Monsieur Villemin, at my table tonight.”

Nancy then walked away with Marboeuf, who spoke to her in a low voice once they were out of ear shot of the soldier.

“Those dragoons have already pilfered most of your wine, madame. Why be nice to them like this?”

“Why? Because they are too many for even me to kill them all without risking the life of one of the servants of this estate, Antoine. Besides, being a mistress of the King is not enough to allow me to kill royal soldiers without a very good reason indeed. Tomorrow, we will be rid of them peacefully enough.”

Marboeuf’s eyes widened at the words ‘mistress of the King’ but he managed to keep his mouth shut then. Nancy next left her son Charles with Marthe Longchamps in the kitchens, then exited the castle and walked with Marboeuf to the vineyards to inspect the vines. The manager then answered her numerous questions about vine care and seasonal work to be done to obtain top quality grapes, an essential requirement in order to produce good quality wine. Marboeuf was not a little surprised and confused when Nancy told him about a few ideas she had for the estate.

“You want to store our future wine in glass bottles, madame? But it will surely turn to vinegar!”

“Not if we seal the bottles properly with cork plugs. I intend to either find artisans able to produce glass bottles or to procure the bottles and plugs.”

“But what will be the benefit of storing our wine in bottles instead of in barrels, madame?”

“A significant one, my dear Antoine: our wine will then be able to age for years and thus acquire a more solid and mature bouquet. If properly sealed and stored, wine in bottles could be aged for up to fifteen years or more.”

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Marboeuf scratched his head at that, clearly not fully convinced about her idea.

“Uh, I don’t know about this, madame. Where did you hear about this wine aging in bottle business anyway?”

“In Italy.” lied Nancy in a calm voice. “It is however still a rare process even there but I was able to taste some aged wine and I can tell you that, compared to such wine, what has been produced here up to now will taste like vulgar plonk indeed.”

“I am certainly curious to taste such a wine one day, madame.”

“I will make a point of bringing back a bottle or two from my next trip to Italy just for you, Antoine.”

Her inspection of the vineyard completed, Nancy returned to the castle with Marboeuf half an hour before supper time and went to the kitchens, where she found James and Charles helping the castle’s staff put the final touches to the supper. Nancy went to the large fireplace of the kitchen, where a number of chickens were being roasted on a spit turned via a handle held by James, and smelled with delight the meat.

“Hmm, this smells so good. I’m positively starving.”

“So am I, Mom!” replied James, who was sweating profusely as he sat by the fireplace to turn the spit. Nancy next eyed a large pot of vegetable and beef soup simmering over the fire. She saw as well that Marise Poulenc was baking fresh bread.

“Well, I see that everybody seems to know what to do. No sense for me in micro-managing you guys. I will be in the great hall if you need me.” Leaving the kitchens and walking into the great hall, the main ground-level room of the keep, Nancy eyed the few rough tables, benches and chairs in it and made her mind to rearrange them for the supper. The noise of moving tables and benches quickly attracted at a run Gilberte Comtois, who looked scandalized at seeing her mistress perform such menial labor.

“My God, madame, you should not lower yourself by doing such petty work. You should have called for me to do this.”

Nancy stopped for a moment but still held on to the table she was moving and stared seriously at the senior maid.

“Gilberte, there is no such thing as petty work. I may hold the title of marquess but I always believed in living simply and doing my own things. But, if you are ready to help, then you can grab the other end of that table.”

Gilberte didn’t hesitate and took her end of the table to help this most unusual noble lady.

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When Robert Villemin came down for supper, along with Lieutenant De Jumonville and his 22 dragoons, he found the tables rearranged in a large ‘U’ and covered with white linen cloths. Nancy smiled politely to him and showed him a chair set to the left of the master chair at the head table.

“If you will sit to my left, Monsieur Villemin. Monsieur De Jumonville can sit to your left, with his men next in order of rank along the left-side tables.”

“You are too kind, madame. Uh, who is going to sit to your right?”

“My sons and Monsieur Marboeuf. The rest of the staff will sit at the right tables.”

“You let your servants eat with you, madame?” asked De Jumonville, stunned. Nancy nodded her head, her expression becoming serious.

“Always, monsieur. I believe in the equality of all persons as human beings. Didn’t our lord Jesus insist on keeping the company of the most lowly-regarded people of his time?”

“True, madame.” said De Jumonville, having nothing to counter her argument. The young officer then took place on the chair designated by Nancy and made his men sit to his left. That was when he noticed that there were benches and chairs only on one side of the tables.

“You seem to be fond of old medieval customs, madame, judging by your seating arrangement.”

“You are correct, Monsieur De Jumonville. Maybe I would have felt more at ease in Joan of Arc’s time.”

“You certainly look like you could have played that role, madame.” Nancy grinned maliciously at that: the young officer couldn’t know that her spirit had once been that of Joan of Arc and that she still possessed all the memories and experiences of the famous French heroine.

“Indeed, monsieur! Ah, here is the first serving.”

The three maids of the castle, along with James, came in the hall while carrying either bowls of soup or pitchers of wine. The rest of the servants, except for the cook and his young assistant, also entered the hall and took place to the right of Nancy, with little Charles and Antoine Marboeuf closest to her and to James’ still empty seat. Once everybody had both a bowl of soup and a full cup of wine in front of him, Nancy recited a short grace, with everybody else lowering their heads for the prayer. In reality, Nancy was not religious one bit but one could not go around Europe in this century and never

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pray without attracting both undue attention and even hostile reactions. With the grace done, Nancy grabbed her cup of wine and raised it high.

“TO FRANCE! MAY IT PROSPER IN PEACE!”

“TO FRANCE!” replied the others, some secretly wondering why she had not made a toast to the King. As they were eating their soup, Robert Villemin asked a question to Nancy in a voice strong enough to be heard by all.

“So, madame, what are exactly your functions at the court?”

“I act mainly as one of the King’s special representatives and go-between. I recently helped set in motion peace talks with Spain, which should lead to a peace treaty in the next months.”

“A peace treaty with Spain?” said De Jumonville. “That would be indeed good news for all: the war with Spain has been a costly one.”

“Like all wars, monsieur.” replied Nancy. “Wars may be necessary at times but they are never the best solution to problems.”

“But war can bring the glory of arms to valiant men.”

“True, but it also brings out the worst in men, while the common people too often can only endure its excesses and destruction. As a soldier, my proudest claim would be to have been able to preserve peace.”

De Jumonville exchanged a perplexed look with Villemin, not having expected such philosophizing on war from a young woman. The young dragoon officer however was too curious about her to let the subject drop so quickly.

“May I understand that you have seen war, madame?”

Nancy didn’t reply immediately, as past visions of the wars her spirit had experienced through 9,000 years flashed in her mind. She finally spoke slowly, deliberately.

“I went through the Fronde Uprising and saw my share of deaths, monsieur. I also had to fight the Iroquois natives in New France while helping to defend Ville-Marie.”

“And did you get to kill enemies, madame?”

“Remind me later to show you the scalps of five Iroquois warriors I kept as trophies, monsieur. If you doubt me on that, just ask my adopted son James: I saved him from the Iroquois.”

Everyone but her sons looked at her then with either disbelief or shock. De Jumonville was the first to recover his wits and ask another question.

“Would you entertain us with the stories of your battles, madame?”

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“I could, monsieur. I realize that garrison duty in such a small place as this could be quite boring, right?”

“That it can be, madame. We however make do with what we have. So, what was the first battle you were into?”

“A street fight in Paris at night against five morons who attacked me and a friend. We made those five men either hit the pavement or run away fast enough.”

“You had a sword then, I suppose, madame?”

“Not at first. I had to use my bare hands against my first opponent. Then, I was able to grab his sword. My next fight was with a troop of some forty Fronde soldiers as I was accompanying a messenger of Cardinal Mazarin. I was then overwhelmed and captured.”

“And…what then, madame?” asked De Jumonville after a short hesitation. Nancy answered him calmly but with a somber expression.

“The messenger was able to escape but I was brought to the Bastilles and tortured to make me say who were the agents of Cardinal Mazarin in Paris. I refused to say anything and was thankfully freed later at night by the young King Louis himself.” On an impulse, Nancy got up from her chair and quickly pulled up her shirt out of her trousers, holding its folded edge just under the level of her nipples and turning slowly around so that all could see the faint scars still visible on her torso. Whispered exclamations greeted her display, coming from both the soldiers and the servants. Nancy sat back and looked again at De Jumonville.

“I can tell you that what I went through in the Bastilles was no fun, monsieur. It was however a risk I had accepted to take to serve the King and France.” The young dragoon officer got up from his chair at those words and bowed low, saluting Nancy.

“Madame la Marquise, your courage and dedication are truly admirable and must be saluted.”

Nancy smiled and bowed in turn.

“Your kind words warm me, monsieur. Many a lowly soldier or young officer however made even greater sacrifices in the service of the King. We all do our part the way we can do best. With the Fronde behind us and the war with Spain about to end, we will now be able to concentrate on returning the whole of France and its people to peace and prosperity.”

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Her carefully chosen words were greeted well by all, prompting another round of toasts. The cook and his assistant then brought in on a rolling trolley six large serving trays filled with roasted chickens laid over a bed of boiled vegetables. Fresh, still warm loaves of bread were also put on the tables, then the cook and his assistant joined the rest for supper.

The rest of the meal went well enough, with Nancy telling stories about New France, about which the others knew very little and who showed intense curiosity about it. While the atmosphere of the supper was civil, Nancy didn’t miss the obvious cold from the servants towards the soldiers, which was reciprocated by the soldiers’ barely hidden high handedness. Only the young Lieutenant De Jumonville proved polite to all, acting like a true gentleman. As for the royal clerk, Villemin would have ordered the cook and maids around if not for a warning look from Nancy. At the end of the meal, as the soldiers got ready to return to their duties, Nancy put one hand on Villemin’s shoulder and whispered to him.

“I want to see the estate’s books with you in half an hour, here in this hall.” She didn’t miss the momentary look of consternation on the clerk’s face, nor did her telepathic power fail to sense his short mental flash of panic then. Villemin simply nodded his head and then left the hall at a hurried pace. Now pretty sure that he was hiding something, Nancy told her domestic staff and two sons to go with her to the kitchen right away and to delay the picking up of the leftovers and dirty dishes. Sitting with them around the large table in the kitchen where the servants and cooks were normally expected to eat, Nancy smiled to them and adopted a relaxed, informal attitude.

“Since I am now your new employer, I would like to discuss your respective wages with you. First, I will need to know how much you were paid by Monsieur Villemin.”

After a short hesitation and looking at the others, Antoine Marboeuf spoke first.

“As the winery manager I was paid the most and got 200 Livres per year, plus food and lodging in the castle.”

Nancy nearly made a grimace at that: such wages were barely better than the pay an experienced servant could expect. Yet, Marboeuf was obviously an expert tradesman.

“That isn’t much, Antoine. Alright, Monsieur Talbot, you’re next.”

“My pay was 100 Livres per year, plus room and board.”

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Asking the others in turn, Nancy quickly learned that the salary of the others varied between 60 and 90 Livres per year, figures which were markedly inferior to what she had learned to expect in Paris. She couldn’t help look with surprise around her afterwards.

“With such pitiful salaries, how come you still work here?”

“Because times are hard around Bordeaux, madame.” answered the senior maid, Gilberte Comtois. “The Fronde may have ended six years ago but the representatives of the King make us feel as if we are still under occupation and keep us under their thumbs, with heavy taxes and constant requisitions. The soldiers also don’t hesitate in taking what they want, including young girls.”

Nancy sighed quietly at those words: she knew from history that the population of the Bordelais would suffer years still of such treatment and would endure even worst, all as the price to pay for its support of the Fronde and for the high proportion of Protestant Huguenots in its midst, which would attract religious intolerance and no end of government harassment.

“Look, friends: I may be a lady from the King’s court but I don’t care one bit what religion you practice and what you did during the Fronde. We are all French and I am resolved to treat you decently and with kindness. I expect good, honest work from you but, in turn, you can expect my protection and my support. Monsieur Marboeuf, from what I saw and heard of you up to now, I can judge you to be a genuine expert at your trade. Furthermore, your expertise will be vital for the future commercial success of this estate. I am thus raising your salary to two Livres…per day, plus food and lodging.”

“Madame?” stuttered Marboeuf, not able to believe his ears.

“You heard me well, Antoine. Your salary is now 730 Livres per year, plus food and lodging as before. Once the soldiers and Monsieur Villemin are gone tomorrow, I will also redistribute the rooms of this castle, so that you all get private individual rooms. Monsieur Talbot, Madame Comtois and Madame Poulenc, as senior servants you will each get the same pay that Madame Longchamps, my sons’ sitter, already gets: one Livre and five Sols per day, on top of room and board. As for the rest of you, you will be paid from now on one Livre per day, plus room and board.” As a concert of happy exclamations and profuse thanks came out, Nancy opened her purse and counted out a number of gold coins, distributing them around.

“Consider this as a hiring bonus. It will partly make up for the miserly wages you got previously.”

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“But, with all the renovations and refurbishing needed by this castle, you will ruin yourself while trying to pay us such wages, madame.” objected Marboeuf. “It will be months before the estate can sell a new batch of wine and thus provide you with some income.”

Nancy grinned at that and patted his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about my purse, Antoine: it is quite fat, I assure you. Besides, I have other revenues. Well, you are now free to return to your duties and routines, except for Monsieur Marboeuf.”

With the happy staff dispersing and getting busy, Nancy faced both of her sons and smiled tenderly to them, with Marthe Longchamps standing nearby.

“May this be a lesson you will learn well, my dear boys: being nice with people often is the best way to get things done, except of course in war. Marthe will now get you to take a bath before you go to bed. In the meantime I have something to discuss with Monsieur Marboeuf and then with Monsieur Villemin.” Nancy next returned her attention to Marboeuf, who was waiting timidly while seated at the kitchen’s table.

“Antoine, I am going afterwards to review the estate’s books with Monsieur Villemin. Can you tell me how many barrels of wine we produced last year and the year before?”

“I certainly can, madame. We produced 742 barrels of red wine last year. The year before that we filled a good 754 barrels.”

“About Monsieur Villemin, is there something I should know about him before reviewing his books?”

“Certainly, madame!” replied forcefully Marboeuf, heating up on the subject. “He is a crook, pure and simple! I can’t prove it but I am sure that he sold some of our wine for his own personal profit. Unfortunately, my word counts for nothing compared to his word.”

The bitter words from Marboeuf made Nancy pat his shoulder gently.

“Not with me, Antoine. I will ask you to stay in the kitchen for a while, so that I could call you in quickly if I need you in the next hour.”

“Yes, madame!” replied the manager, relief and appreciation in his voice. Nancy playfully patted his left cheek and then left him alone, returning to the great hall.

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There, she moved a heavy chandelier to near a table sitting by one of the windows of the hall, in case she would need extra light later on while examining the estate’s books. Once that was done, she sat and waited for Villemin to show up.

The royal clerk entered the great hall ten minutes later, carrying a thick ledger book in his arms. Villemin bowed to Nancy, giving her a smile that he tried to make look genuine.

“Here is the estate’s accounts book, madame.”

His relaxed looks didn’t fool Nancy, who could feel through her telepathic power how tense and apprehensive Villemin really was. Telling him to sit facing her, she then turned around the ledger book and opened it. What Villemin couldn’t know was that Nancy’s experience at running a multi-million Pounds Sterling charity foundation as Jeanne D’Orléans in the 19th Century had given her a keen eye for financial records and transactions. It didn’t take her long to notice a few things which didn’t jive in the estate’s ledger book. She turned around the book so that Villemin could look at it and pointed to a series of entries.

“It says here that the estate produced a total of 722 barrels of wine last year and that all but eighteen of them were sold to various customers, while two barrels were used by the dragoons, thus leaving sixteen barrels still in storage. While there are effectively sixteen barrels still in the basement cellar of the castle, I was made to understand that this estate produced 742 barrels of prime quality red wine last year. Where are the twenty barrels not mentioned in this ledger, Monsieur Villemin?”

“But,” stuttered nervously Villemin, “we produced only 722 barrels, madame, not 742. Who mentioned to you such a figure?”

Nancy, eyeing him hard, answered him with a question.

“Monsieur Villemin, who has access to this ledger book apart from you?”

“Nobody! I only show it to the royal tax collector when he comes yearly to pick up the taxes due.”

“So, nobody but the tax collector would have known how many barrels you listed in this book as having been produced last year, right?”

“Uh, correct, madame.” said Villemin, starting to see where she was going. “I assure you though that we did produce only 722 barrels last year. I don’t know who told you otherwise but that person was wrong to say that we produced 742 barrels.”

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“And how would that person have known that you declared anything else but 742 barrels in this ledger book, monsieur?” asked pointedly Nancy.

“I don’t know, madame!” replied Villemin, his voice starting to rise. “That person must have quoted a figure that he knew was higher than the actual wine production of this estate. I have served for eleven years as a royal clerk and I resent these baseless accusations.”

“Since this estate has been given to me by the King, I believe that I am in my right in making sure that I get correct accounts concerning my new property, monsieur. Now, you declared a production total of 734 barrels of wine for the year prior that. Since you probably also kept that figure confidential, how would you explain that I was told that 754 barrels were produced instead of 734 barrels? Funnily enough, the differences for each of these years are the same: twenty barrels. Was my source lucky in his guessing of how much you had declared in this book or is your yearly personal quota of embezzled wine set at twenty barrels, Monsieur Villemin?” Villemin became red-faced and shot up on his feet at once.

“Madame, you are most insulting! Nobody calls me a thief without proof.”

“You want me to get proof, monsieur?” replied Nancy, also rising on her feet. “Are you ready to face a court of justice under charges of theft of royal property? Do you really think that nobody around here saw your little game and won’t testify against you, monsieur? You thought yourself safe because no one dared accuse you, the

representative of the King. Well, I am here now and know that the King has my ear. You can either continue to deny these charges and face a court of justice or leave this estate right now and disappear before I call in royal investigators.”

“They would find nothing wrong with my administration of this estate, madame.”

“Oh, really?” said Nancy before turning the pages of the ledger and pointing at a particular entry. “It is written here that you spent 1,300 Livres last April to repair the roof of the castle’s stable and winery building. Yet, when I looked at it today from the top of the keep, that roof clearly had not seen any renovations or care for many years, monsieur. That sum would have been enough to completely replace that roof, and then some. You are not only a thief, monsieur: you are an overly greedy thief. I give you half an hour to pack up and leave. Once out of this estate, make sure that I never cross your way again or you will regret it, Monsieur Villemin. Oh, one last thing before you leave: you owe me 1,300 Livres for the roof repairs.”

Villemin stiffened with anger at those words and nearly shouted at her.

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“And what makes you believe that I have such a sum with me?”

“Your greed!” answered Nancy, who then walked quickly around the table, going to Villemin and grabbing him hard by the tip of his left ear. Ignoring his loud protests and whimpers of pain, she then dragged him behind her and went up the stairs of the keep to the upper floor room occupied by Villemin. The few soldiers and the one servant who saw her pass were too surprised and amused to comment or react to this and Nancy arrived in Villemin’s room in less than two minutes. Closing the door and pushing the locking bolt in position, Nancy roughly pushed the little man on top of his bed and pointed a warning finger at him.

“Don’t move from that bed or you are dead, monsieur.”

Villemin eyed the two pistols and the sword and hunting knife at her belt and stayed put, realizing that she was the kind of woman to act on these words. Nancy then started searching methodically the room but did it in a restrained way: throwing around Villemin’s possessions may have been satisfying but it would have been unnecessarily mean. She quickly found a locked travel chest which attracted her attention. As she eyed the chest, she saw from the corner of one eye a fleeting look of dismay appear on Villemin’s face. Turning and looking hard at the royal clerk, Nancy extended her left hand.

“The key to that chest, monsieur. Now!”

Looking ready to cry with frustration, Villemin searched reluctantly in a pocket of his jacket and fished out a large key, then threw it at Nancy, who caught it in mid-air.

“Thanks!”

Opening the chest, Nancy quickly found under a pile of folded clothes a relatively small but heavy wooden box. Pulling it out and laying it on top of the chest, she then opened it, revealing hundreds of gold coins. She gave a mean look at Villemin, who was now as pale as a sheet.

“So, you didn’t have enough to reimburse me for that roof repair, monsieur?” Not waiting for an answer from him, she quickly counted 1,300 Livres, putting the coins aside in a pile on top of the chest. That left the box still half full but she closed it back nonetheless and faced the mortified Villemin.

“Do you own a horse, monsieur?”

The clerk nodded weakly to her.

“I have a small buggy and a horse in the stables.”

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“Then pack quickly. Even if I should, I will not confiscate the rest of your gold, as you will need it to rebuild your life away from here. Know that I intend to advise Cardinal Mazarin of your misdeeds when I return to Paris in a month. Be sure to be out of reach of the King’s justice by then.”

Using an empty pillow case, Nancy then put in it the gold taken back from Villemin. Next, she went with the loaded pillow case to the door and unlocked it as the clerk hurried to pack his things. Looking in the hallway and seeing two soldiers, Nancy signaled them to come to her.

“Could I ask for your help for a moment, gentlemen?”

The two soldiers bowed to her and hurried in the room. Seeing Villemin busy packing, they gave a questioning look to Nancy, who answered at once their silent question.

“Monsieur Villemin is leaving us tonight. I would like you to help him bring his things down to his buggy in the stables.”

She threw to each of them a silver coin as she spoke. The soldiers eagerly grabbed the coins and smiled while bowing.

“With pleasure, Madame la Marquise.” said the senior soldier.

The room was emptied of the belongings of Villemin within twenty minutes, with the soldiers making two trips down to the stables in the process. Lieutenant De Jumonville came at a near run to Nancy as she was escorting Villemin out of the keep and towards the stables.

“Madame, what is happening? Why is Monsieur Villemin leaving at this hour?” Villemin, preceding her by a few steps, froze with fear then: if she told De Jumonville about his deeds, the young officer would probably arrest him on the spot and make him face royal justice, which could be very harsh with those stealing from the King. Nancy however kept her voice low as she faced the young dragoons officer.

“Monsieur Villemin elected to leave now for personal reasons, Lieutenant. I know his reasons and am seeing that he leaves the castle safely.” The young lieutenant gave a suspicious look at Villemin but refrained from questioning him, instead bowing to Nancy.

“Then I will return to my round of sentries with your permission, madame,”

“You do not need my permission for that, Lieutenant: you are in command of your unit. I am only the resident owner of this castle and your host.”

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“Madame la Marquise is too kind.” replied the lieutenant before walking away. Nancy then returned her attention to Villemin, who was blowing air in relief.

“You better leave quickly before Monsieur De Jumonville decides to be more inquisitive, monsieur.”

Villemin didn’t have to be told twice and walked quickly to the stables, where he loaded the last of his things into his small four wheels buggy. With Nancy walking alongside, he then rolled out of the stables and across the inner yard of the castle. The domestic staff of the castle, along with Antoine Marboeuf, was now lined up along the passage formed by the castle’s gate built through the keep. They all watched with hostility Villemin as he rolled out of the gate and over the drawbridge of the castle, with Marboeuf even spitting in the dirt at his passage. The latter watched the royal clerk drive away for a minute, then smiled at Nancy, who was standing besides him.

“I already feel a lot better, madame.”

He then noticed the heavy pillow case she still held.

“Uh, what’ s in that pillow case, madame?”

“The money owed to me by Monsieur Villemin for the roof renovation.”

“Roof renovation? What roof renovation?” said Marboeuf, genuinely confused. That brought a mean smile to Nancy’s face.

“Exactly! I will need you tomorrow to present me to someone competent in roof repair. This castle sure could use much renovation work.”

After the departure next morning of the unit of dragoons and in the course of the three weeks that followed, Nancy initiated a major repair and renovation program for her castle, which was in dire need of it. Spending thousands of Livres on that work, she also bought or ordered numerous pieces of furniture and other items to furnish properly her new home. In the process she gave a major boost to the local economy of Saint-Laurent de Médoc and to the other nearby villages. Going to nearby Bordeaux with her sons, she also found and hired a master glassmaker and his two apprentices to have him produce glass bottles of a standard size and shape for her winery, ordering bottles by the thousands. She also arranged plans with that glassmaker to eventually relocate to La Tour-Carnet once Nancy could have a house and bottle shop built there. She was also lucky in finding an import company which regularly received by ship supplies of cork, thus providing her with a source of material to seal properly her wine bottles. The castle was still a beehive of activity when time came for her to return to Paris and the King’s

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court at the end of June. Thankfully, she had by now full confidence in the competence and honesty of Antoine Marboeuf to leave him in charge of the castle and was able to leave with her two sons and Marthe Longchamps without worries about the castle in the back of her mind. Her only worry then was of a more personal nature: her menstruation period was overdue by two weeks.

16:03 (Paris Time)

Saturday, June 28, 1659 ‘A’

Palace of the Louvre, Paris

“Ah, you are back, my dear Nancy!” happily exclaimed Cardinal Mazarin, rising from the sofa on which he was sitting in his lounge as Nancy entered the room. A mature nobleman she knew well also rose at Nancy’s entrance. Nancy curtsied to Mazarin and then bowed to the nobleman.

“I see that you were busy with Monsieur de Lionne, Your Eminence. I hope that I am not disturbing some important discussion.”

“Not at all! In fact we were discussing about you.” said the Prime minister of France with a smile.

“About me, Your Eminence?”

“Yes! You see, Monsieur de Lionne greatly appreciated your help in convincing King Philippe of Spain to start negotiating peace and wishes to use your services again.” Nancy bowed, pleased: that meant more close contacts with important historical players, something that was of prime interest for the Time Patrol in its work of reconstituting detailed records of history. It also may offer her a chance to see again Isabella de Cordoba.

“I will be pleased to help further Monsieur de Lionne, Your Eminence. What do you have in mind for me?”

“I would like you to go to Bayonne with Monsieur de Lionne and assist him in setting the precise wording of our future peace treaty with Spain. Your main job will be to, uh, smooth the attitudes of the Spanish envoys who will discuss the treaty with Monsieur de Lionne. You will of course be given ample entertainment funds to help your work. Since you now have a property near Bordeaux, this assignment will in fact allow you to be close to home for a few months. Once the treaty is signed and sealed, you will further help Monsieur de Lionne by playing the role of temporary court lady for the

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Infanta Maria-Theresa, who is due to be the future bride of King Louis. I understand that the Infanta does not speak any French and knows nothing about our court. Your main job then will be to teach her as well as you can what she will need to know to be a proper queen of France.”

“Uh, if I may speak frankly, Your Eminence, that will not be exactly easy: the Infanta is rather slow-witted by all accounts.”

Mazarin sighed at that.

“Well, I didn’t say that your job will be easy, my dear. By the way, how was your new property in the Médoc?”

“It was in a bit of a need for renovations but I already took care of that, Your Eminence. The estate is a prime wine producing land and holds many promises.”

“Good for you! Let’s sit so that we can discuss the terms we wish to see incorporated in our future treaty with Spain.”

A bit over one hour later, Nancy left Mazarin’s office with de Lionne, both having their marching orders and ample funds for their incoming mission. After agreeing with the Foreign affairs minister on a time and place of departure for tomorrow, Nancy went her way, returning to her apartments where her two sons were with Marthe Longchamps. She arrived there as they were finishing unpacking from their trip.

“Sorry to have you work for nothing, guys: we are leaving again tomorrow morning.”

“To were, Mom?” Asked Charles.

“I have to go to the Bayonne area for a few months. I will drop you at the castle on our way. Marthe, Monsieur Dupré is a single man I believe.”

“You are correct, madame.” answered her sons’ sitter. “He is a widower, like me.”

“Then, could you do me a favor and go see him quickly to ask him if he would be ready to move to my castle for a few months in order to continue teaching my sons? James can drive you in the cart.”

“It will be done, madame.” said Marthe while bowing, prompting a gentle chiding from Nancy.

“Marthe, you know that you can call me simply Nancy when in private.”

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“Madame la Marquise deserves the title in my mind, madame.” replied politely the woman before leaving with James. That simple compliment from her servant made Nancy feel good indeed. She now had only one big potential problem left to solve.

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Japanese drawing depicting the first Europeans to be allowed in Japan in 1859.