General le Duc Alain de Mylcandonai to
His Most Christian Majesty Louis the Fourteenth by the Grace of God, of the
Kingdom of France and of His other Realms and Territories, King
Greetings and Felicitations
Your Majesty,
Thank you for revealing the genesis of the pernicious rumours mentioned
previously. It would appear that, as is often the case in these matters, a
grain of truth gave
rise to a rumour which eventually distorted its beginnings beyond all
recognition.
With Your Majesty's indulgence, however, I feel I must point out that, far
from being disappointed by Your Majesty's choice of Minister of State I was,
I believe, amongst the first to offer Duc von Fersen my warmest
congratulations.
Whenever a military manoeuvre meets with unexpected failure it has always
been my practice to examine the circumstances in the minutest of detail so
that, in the future, similar ventures can be assured of success and Your
Majesty's military efforts be crowned with the glory which they deserve. Old
ingrained habits such as this die hard, I fear, and I must apologise
profusely if by adopting a similar approach in the field of political
strategy I have unwittingly occasioned Your Majesty any unintentional
offence.
None of the gentlemen who attended Duc von Fersen's September meeting made
any mention of the affair to me. I must assume, given the serious nature of
the
topics discussed, that they were sworn to absolute secrecy. Your Majesty
will be pleased to learn that absolute trust may be placed in them all, for
not a single one has been heard to divulge the tiniest detail. I am unaware,
of course, of the grave matters which occasioned Duc Senior and his lady to
spend so much of September incognito and delayed their departure from the
end of September (when his term as Minister of State expired) until early
October. As ever, of course, as a loyal subject of Your Majesty I can but
fervently hope that the matters in question are resolved to Your Majesty's
complete satisfaction.
Where the allegations concerning Duc Senior are concerned I can do no other
than admit my full agreement with Your Majesty. I was only today, whilst in
conversation with Duc von Fersen, bemoaning the cruel turn of events which
denied Duc Senior the opportunity to clear his good name in Court before
Your Majesty. Fortunately, few of Your Majesty's Hispaniolan subjects will
be aware of the circumstances and I am sure that those who are will be far
too polite to make mention of the fact in His Grace's presence.
As Your Majesty will no doubt appreciate, the events of the last month have
compelled a radical reappraisal of my future career. Given the differences
in our views regarding the nature of government Duc von Fersen is
understandably reluctant to offer me a position in his own administration
(though I had hoped the common ground we share regarding foreign policy
might be sufficiently spacious to accept the foundations of a more cordial
relationship).
It would appear (since the clerks at Army HQ still find it impossible to
believe that a full Lt.General may command a Division) that the only
positions I might currently seek with any hope of success are those of
Minister of War (where my military experience might prove useful) and of
Minister of Your Majesty's Cabinet (which would, perhaps, allow me to learn
more about the byzantine and labyrinthine ways in which, to an outsider,
Your Majesty's Government appears to operate on occasion).
I will leave the decision as to which (if, indeed, either) of these
positions would be most appropriate to my abilities completely to Your
Majesty's discretion.
Your Majesty's Most Loyal and Obedient Subject,
General le Duc Alain de Mylcandonai
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