General le Duc Alain de Mylcandonai, OC First Army, to Colonel le Comte Coward de Custaad, OC Dragoon Guards, Greetings
Colonel de Custaad, As you will doubtless be aware, as a former commander of the regiment I do tend to keep something of a paternal eye on the Dragoon Guards. I must say that you are certainly to be commended on your efforts to attract new gentlemen of 'the right stuff' into the ranks. Indeed, I was shocked to see that there are now only four gentlemen of any note within the regiment - no doubt a consequence of Brouilles' careless stewardship. You will recall that when Brigadier B'Staad was Colonel he instituted a scheme whereby deserving gentlemen of limited means were bestowed with a horse and subalterncy (paid for from the pockets of established officers serving in the regiment). Indeed, perhaps you yourself took advantage of this upon arriving in Paris? It is a tradition which was certainly carried on in turn by myself, Vicomte Tournage and Lt.General d'Erring (at least until he fell prey to the 'mystery illness' which eventually led to his retirement from public life - there is strong evidence to suggest that he was actually slowly poisoned by Brouilles in order to create a vacancy in the Colonel's chair, though this was deemed irrelevant to the charges on which the traitor was convicted and was not, of course, brought up at the trial). It appears, however, that like so much else this fine tradition fell by the wayside when the traitor Brouilles succeeded to the command of the Dragoon Guards - doubtless he could not spare the time away from attempting to defraud the treasury, conspiring with foreign powers and kidnapping Commission operatives which would have been necessary to administer it. I must wholeheartedly recommend that this Dragoon Guard tradition be reinstituted forthwith. It did wonders for morale - indeed, at the time I myself commanded the regiment there were no fewer than _fourteen_ gentlemen of note within the ranks (including myself) and a complete absence of any persons of No Particular Consequence above the rank of subaltern. Should those currently serving with the regiment lack the means to fully maintain this scheme, I would be happy to contribute myself. I believe that at the end of the summer you intend to review regimental standing orders and protocol? Other than to reinstate the clause discouraging the holding of government office so as to prevent the regimental command structure from stagnating (which, despite my urgings, Lt General d'Erring saw fit to dispense with) I would advise extreme caution in this exercise. Until these regulations began to be flouted (about which the less said the better - although the punishment meeted out to you was far less strenuous than I believe you deserved at the time, I now consider the matter to be closed) they were largely responsible for the incredibly high morale and astounding successes which the regiment enjoyed as a result. I would consider the fact that Brouilles demonstrated such a lax attitude towards these regulations to be most telling, wouldn't you? In finishing allow me to wish you and your men the very best of good fortune in the course of the forthcoming campaign. General le Duc de Mylcandonai
