บท 13: A Normal Day
You know I always imagined politics as a den of vipers, everybody lying through their teethes, manipulations, schemes that would make George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire look like a fanfiction, yet the politics of ancien regime were quite civil? If being honest looked more like a scene from a local market where a person would banter for price with the seller, words would be thrown here and there, but in the end, the King(seller) would have the last say of the day. Of course, they were some plots here and there, but humans always wanted to one-up another, even then the plots were either smearing person's name or bribing those closest to him to change sides.
Though that may be because I'm a Prince and the Heir to the throne, I skipped a lot of steps in the politics in the court and all the nobles were quite willing to talk to me, but I knew some of them didn't take me seriously and just listened to because of my status while others were down riding bootlicking my shoes, especially the younger nobles of the court were really active to get my attention, probably because in this court they will never get and important position or have enough influence to sway it so their best way to get into the big leagues is to side with the future King and so like that The Dauphin's faction was born.
Though what surprised me was when I was approached by Phillippe de Noailles after a few days when his wife Anne d'Arpajon became the first lady of honour to Marie Antionette. And I have to be honest when Marie told me that I thought that he was just a regular noble who just wanted to get on my good side and advance in power. But what surprised me was that I was met by an elderly gentleman in a military uniform. I didn't know what he wanted from me as I had zero presence in the military, plus from what Aldric told me he was already Lieutenant général (NATO: Major General) and a veteran of the seven-year war.
He was around 30-40 years old, wearing a grey wig and with a white uniform decorated with medals.
"Your Royal Highness, I'm Philippe de Noailles, it is my utmost honour to meet you."
He did a bow.
"The pleasure is mine"
I replied and then I sat down at the table that was prepared by the servants in advance, there was already wine and snacks prepared.
I took a sip of the wine, honestly, I'm not really fond of it the taste is just not from me as I prefer strong spirits rather than wine or champagne.
I twirled the wine in the cup while waiting for the Lieutenant général to start speaking and after taking a few sips himself he began talking.
"Thank you, your Royal Highness, for accepting this meeting, I will then get straight to the point. The entire de Noailles family offers full support to your Royal Highness, in exchange for looking after 5 individuals Philippe Louis de Noailles, Louis Marie Antoine de Noailles, Jean de Noailles, Emmanuel Marie Louis de Noailles and lastly Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette, here is my brothers Louis de Noailles letter."
He gave me the white envelope and I tore the wax seal off and started reding.
It was the same as what the gentleman before me said, we will help you if you look after these individuals, Of course, the letter was more extravagant and detailed than the words of Phillippe de Noailles.
And I understand what 'looking after' means, well it doesn't take a genius to figure out that they probably want me to promote these individuals or at least streamline the process.
''I got what you have in mind, but they're few things that I don't understand"
I said as I put the letter at the table.
"Your Royal Highness, I can answer any questions if needed."
"Okay, first is why go to me, while I'm the Prince my powers are limited and even my faction is but a whisper in the court. Second, while understand the four members of your family, but what about Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette?"
I asked, while understand wanting to look after one's family and get them in better places, I don't understand the mention of the last individual as he comes from a different family, maybe he is a branch member?
"To answer your first question, Your Highness, think of it as a future investment and while we don't expect something immediately at least we want, your Royal Highness to a good word for our family, after all, they are some speculations that the Dauphin has the ears of René de Maupeou..."
Ah, So this is his game, while yes out of everyone the current Chancellor of France currently had his eyes on me, sometimes during the High Council or Council of Messages Rene de Maupeou ask for my opinion in some manners and even sides with me from time to time, plus I certainly know while he is in the King's faction, he had a distant hand in the creation of Dauphin's (my) faction.
"Isn't this just a gossip? Even if I had his ears there is still little chance that I could do anything to "support" the mentioned individuals."
I replied to him.
"And that's why we are investing in the future, your Royal Highness, all we need right now is just to keep us in your Royal Highness's mind."
Good reply. If he even took a second to think about it, I would be instantly shutting him down and either promising small concessions or none at all.
"Then what about Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette? While understanding the logic behind others he doesn't seem to be of your house?"
This Marquis de Lafayette was the odd one out, while others were of the de Noailles family, he had a different surname and he was already a marquis so either he is a family branch member or he is married into the family.
"Ah, yes, he is my brother's future grandson-in-law as de Lafayette will marry my brother's granddaughter, your Royal Highness, don't need to worry he is an orphan and is currently being looked after by his uncle while he studies at the university of Paris, but after he marries, he will be under our care."
Well, I think this is a good deal, after all, it is not that hard to mention them in the meetings and if they're competent I see no point in promoting them in a position or two, while I will have the support of seven individuals and 6 of them come from one of the prominent families in France.
"I understand, then I will see what I can do."
I replied and the gentleman just thanked me. After that, we just talked about his experiences during the seven years war and it was really interesting to hear the history from the person who lived through it, after all, I was always more interested in hearing the stories of my grandma, grandpa than reading it from a literature piece written by a historian who has no or very little connection to the time period, as this one way you can get even more insight and details than reading through as sometimes the literature paints a different picture than what really happened, like Theophanes the Confessor who even though lived through the time he wrote about, he spun a couple of events his way, like accusing every Iconoclast emperor of being a degenerate.
After this quite fruitful and informative morning, my afternoon went in the opposite direction as I did absolutely nothing, except attending a couple of events as per courtly protocol, the rest of the afternoon I spend reading books.
Well, the books in this age were quite... unique let's say, as all of them were catering to one or other physiological school of thought, like Leibnizian optimism or stoicism, trying to teach how to live morally and spiritually fulfilling life, while at the same time being copies of Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe first published on 25 April 1719) in one way or another.
After all, for me there wasn't so much to do, though there was tennis, golf, and a rough version of football being played, many people still watched cruel sports like cockfighting and bull-baiting, which just weren't for me. Nobles and richer peasants like merchants liked hunting, which I started enjoying it too as horse riding and hunting were something novel and new coming from the future. A form of Bare-knuckle boxing was also popular among the peasantry and around the noble circle.
That reminds me, maybe I should introduce some of the modern games? And then maybe have a giant festival-like Olympics? Heck, do Olympics even exist here? Probably not as they are a pagan festival therefore heresy or something like that. But having festivals like these and having my face at the front would boost my popularity among the masses, now I just wish for someone like Joseph Gobbles to suddenly appear before me, as I'm completely green in the world of politics, the most I can do is copy others.
While copying others isn't so bad, Afterall in infancy and during the childhood humans actually learn a lot by copying others like their parents or siblings, even animals learn best from others. But even if I applied some of the political, cultural, and other various things from the future I'm afraid that it just wouldn't work as people here are superstitious and quite religious and that would lead to some unforeseen circumstances.
Let's leave it for that as I even don't have a lot of capital to do something in the first place, hopefully duc de La Vauguyon and Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux will find some suitable people in 4 years, now I even wonder if Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux will put Anne Robert Jacques Turgot in the position of Controller-General of Finances, well it isn't like I changed much of history for that not to happen, I don't even know what was the cabinet of Louis XVI like or who was in there, I only know of three people who served under Louis XVI once he became the king and those were Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux because of his success during 1723–1749 and he was appointed as the First Minister of State, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot because he tried to fix the financial situation of France and if you are an economic student then you would probably know him as early advocate for economic liberalism, lastly Jacques Necker who was another Controller-General of Finances and was best known for making the country's budget public in 1781.
Then the door to my room opened and came in Aldric, he looked at me and then bowed.
"Please excuse me, Your Royal Highness, the horses for the evening hunt are already prepared, though I must inform you that, her Royal Highness Marie Antoinette will be partaking as well."
"Thank you, Aldric."
"It is a pleasure, Your Royal Highness if you'd excuse me."
So, Marie will be joining in too...The progress I made with her I think is good, she is more outgoing now and I always invite her to tea and to walks around the Versailles, the relationship between her and me is still developing and I myself learned to appreciate her openness and her rather big imagination, which I found surprising, and lastly, I even made my permanent residence in her bedroom and we always sleep together and nowadays I only use my room as an office where I go to read or relax.
And her going hunting with me, my male siblings and the King shows that she starting to warm up to me, the royal family, and being in France, solid progress all-around
Soon enough I made my way to the courtyard where the hunting party was assembled.
Just looking at all of the people who had gathered there to go on a hunt is mind-boggling for me. I understood having guards and whatnot, Afterall the King is going hunting and we can't let thieves, assassins, or angry people capture him or kill him, but having ten carriages with guests, other ten loaded with weapons, ammo, food, drinks, and even camping equipment was too much, that's not even mentioning the extravagance of the décor, everything was grandiose and puffed up to the max, just for going to a forest and killing some animals.
The stringiest thing was the carriages these fancy carriages, called voitures de chasse (hunting cars), were sometimes embellished with a stag's head or had a stag's forequarters on the front. In addition, some of the voitures de chasse's looked like Roman chariots because they were equipped with three or more horses traveling abreast.
Atop the fancy voitures, de chasse also sat fancy coachmen. The coachmen were not necessarily expert drivers as I interviewed one during one of my hunts, their real forte was how they looked: They were decked out in gold or silver lace and had their hair highly dressed. This also meant that postilions, responsible to control the carriages, sat on the lead horse dressed in their finery that consisted of a cocked hat and jackboots.
While I and King Louis preferred riding our won horses looking for the game, most of the other nobles and my brothers actually preferred to attend the hunt with closed carriages and then they sat and waited (called coverting) in the forest in spots where they thought the boar might appear or asked one of the servants to put traps or bait the animals with the help of hunting hounds or falcons.
I made my way to my white horse where the Royal family, Marrie Antoinette, and even more surprisingly Madame du Barry who had a frown on her face as she looked at the King who was talking to Marrie. (A/N: If someone could point out what horse breeds were used or most likely were used for war and for royalty in 18th century, that would be really helpful.)
Oh if only looks could kill, little Marie would be dead a couple of thousand times, well it isn't like she was innocent. Marie in these couple weeks began being more active in the royal court and managed to get the Kings attention and the King's mistress Madame du Barry didn't like that one bit, that and the fact that Marie started showing her horns and trying to undermine Madame du Barry, both of them slowly started to see each other as enemies, but sadly for Marie she didn't have the political capital to move against the mistress as Madame du Barry had her own following amongst the high nobles and even Joseph Marie Terray the current Controller-General of Finance was one of her faction but after being given an office his loyalties shifted, plus the mistress had another big advantage over the future queen that of being the Kings bed warmer and woman's body can be a weapon sharper than any blade a man would meet in the battlefield.
Well, it's not like I stood still and left my fiancée on her own, while I too don't have a lot of power still being a Dauphin carried its own weight and with the creation of Dauphin's faction and with the future backing of Noailles family I will be trying to undermine her, plus I certainly know that I have the full backing of the Triumvirate as Rene de Maupeou himself is antagonistic towards the royal mistress, while even combined we couldn't do much as she had the King's ears and eyes, we could at least stall or make it harder for her to do what she pleases.
"I see, you are finally here."
The King said as I approached them.
I of course bowed a bit as a sign of respect.
"Your Royal Majesty, My lady."
I said and then took Marie's arm and kissed it briefly.
I then looked over Marie as she wore a full red hunting uniform, with black boots, and atop of her head was a black hat with an abundance of white ostrich feathers that stuck out of her hat and she looked so regal, a perfect blend of royalty and casualty.
"Well let's get a move on!"
The king boisterously said as servants helped him climb the horse and after everyone was ready, we sat out.
After 30minutes of riding, we arrived at the forest and soon the servants were making camps, building fireplaces, and unloading food with beverages, while the nobles have begun looking for hunting spots, we with the King took a couple of guards, servants, and hound handlers. Then we set out to the forest, with the king and his retinue going south, while I went north and Marie accompanied me on her own horse.
"Have you any experience hunting?"
I asked her as I was interested in this topic, because from my imagination the women here were equivalent to housewives and nothing more, living a very sheltered life, with their lives mainly revolving around housekeeping and raising children, but apparently, they had more liberties than I thought at first, with them going hunting was the first thing I learned, well at least noblewomen had the liberties as I still don't know a lot about commoners in this era.
"Sadly, no, while my elder brothers had gone hunting with our father and alone, I mainly stayed inside and enjoyed singing and dancing."
That I already knew, as she prided herself on those two things, while I was like a grizzly on the dance floor and I couldn't sing or play an instrument.
"So, you wanted to try out hunting?"
I asked her.
"Yes, I wanted to see what's so interesting about hunts, as even Madame Etiquette talked how both his Royal Majesty and Dauphin were in love with hunting, even His Royal Majesty had ten frames of various hunted animals, so I thought it was great chance to try it."
Why I did enjoy hunting I wouldn't say I was in love with it, hunting for me was kind of a novelty as I never experienced anything like this.
"Madame Etiquette? Who is that?"
I asked as I didn't even know or heard someone being called like that.
"Anne de Noailles."
Marie replied.
Oh, she must be referring to Anne d'Arpajon who trough Marie arranged the meeting with Philippe de Noailles earlier.
"Why would you call her that?"
"Because she is so strict! You can't do that, you can't do this, it isn't proper for a French lady, the proper etiquette is this, etiquette, etiquette, and etiquette, she even prevented me from participating too much in the festivities at court. Hmph, critical stingy old woman."
I laughed a bit, which didn't help her mood as she pouted. This reminds me of duc de La Vauguyon and my hardships in learning the proper etiquette, I was probably was worse than Marie as she still Royalty and definitely had training in Austria, while I was just a commoner from the future.
But I had to agree with Anne D'Arpajon, you are now a French lady and the Future Queen of France, so acting the part came in with the title.
*WOOF* *WOOF*
We were interrupted by barking sounds and I knew that the hound found something so quickly I spurred my horse and with a couple of minutes of running, I found them cornering a large stag so quickly got off my horse while one of the servants gave my rifle.
It's interesting to note that for hunting we used a fowler.
The fowler was a smoothbore firearm generally lighter than a military musket. They were capable of firing various loads from "birdshot" like a modern shotgun, to bullets.
The fowler was often more accurate than a military musket. This was because the bullets were cast to fit the barrel more tightly. Military muskets were built to fire 50 or more rounds in an engagement, without the black powder fouling the barrel and making further shots impossible until the gun was cleaned. Black powder is very fouling, so this required a bullet somewhat smaller than the barrel so that the gun could still be loaded and fired after numerous rounds. These gaps between bullet and barrel reduced the accuracy of the gun. Military muskets were also generally heavier and more rugged than fowlers, and could be fitted with bayonets.
While the hunting hound barked growled and ran around the stag preventing him from escaping I quickly aimed and took the shoot.
*BOOM*
With a thundering sound, I saw the stag staggering and then making a mad dash, while I quickly reloaded the Fowler and mounted my horse while giving chase.
Soon we got up and I took another shot from atop of horseback and this shot proved to be fatal.
"Hey, Marrie do you want to try shooting, after all, if you don't shoot you will not get the full hunting experience."
I said to her as the servants were preparing the stag for transport.
"I don't know how to shoot."
She replied and I smiled and said that I could teach her, she wouldn't need to reload as I would do it for her or the servants would do it, so all I had to teach her is how to hold the gun and how to pull the trigger.
After that, we returned to camp with two stags and one small boar that Marie managed to hunt and quite in time as after around 20minutes the King showed up marking the start of the hunting feast as servants already prepared the tables and were in the process of preparing the hunted animals.
Now all its left is to go back to Versailles and call it a day.
A/N: HAHA I'M DONE.
I'm now officially back and active on dc https://discord.gg/SUeu6Ddejz come in, join and remind me that I'm a lazy bastard.
Fun Fact: Before meeting Marie Louis XV cross-questioned the ambassador to Austria about her bosom, and being told with a blush that the ambassador had not looked at Marie's bosom, The King replied: 'Oh, didn't you? That's the first thing I look at.'
GIGACHAD moment
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