ICR which woman it was in Greek literature/mythology that said it, but it sums it up pretty well: nobody hates you like your family does
Frankie Goes to the Hofburg, or Napoléon II, Regent of Austria?
hopefully he can keep it that way.
I will neither confirm nor deny (seriously, I haven't thought that far yet)
Using the term Slovakia here is a bit anachronistic, imo.
Otherwise great update! I have a feeling that this Léon bloke will be a great source of headaches soon enough. The question is: for who?
The Boys That Wore The Green
Soundtrack: Johann Sebastian Bach: Fugue in G Minor "Little" , BWV578
*exterior* *Frankie in full military uniform* *his face immobile* *pan down to show he's sitting on a horse* *pan down shows that Leopold is sitting on the saddle horn as well* *pan out shows that in attendance are the usual suspects: Juan de Montizon, King Ferdinando II of Naples, the Crown Prince of Modena* *as well as "older" heads of state such as Carlo Alberto of Sardinia, the grand duke of Tuscany, Archduke Rainier, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia, and - surprisingly, given our last view of she and Frankie - Dowager Empress Marie Louise* *pan right shows why Marie Louise is present: on the other side of Frankie sits Henri de Chambord, Emperor Nikolai I, his wife, Empress Alexandra and their eldest son, Tsetsarevich Alexander[1]* *next to the Emperor is the king of Hannover and the grand duke of Saxe-Weimar* *Marie Louise is talking to Empress Alexandra* *Alexandra, for her part, has a look on her face like "get this thing away from me"[2]*
*all the persons are on horseback* *spectating a cavalry review* *a caption on the screen tells us that this is at Monza [3]*
Henri: *talking to Nikolai* *dropping a hint tone* and of course, his Serene Highness has once more become a father.
Nikolai: *looks at Frankie suspiciously*
Frankie: *continues to watch the review* *fuss over Leopold*
Henri: a second son who we are pleased to announce our intention to create "Comte de Rosny[4]" as a reward for his...father's most...loyal friendship to us. *leads round of applause*
Nikolai: *tightly to Frankie* your Serene Highness is to be congratulated for having...reached so high and achieved so much in such a short space of time.
Frankie: your Majesty does me great honour to recognize my accomplishments *said in tone like "to recognize me"* *turns back to Leopold* *leaning down to point out the whisper in his son's ear and point at the troops*
Nikolai: that regiment with the green jackets, who are they? I don't recall having seen them before.
Ferdinando II: they are the Imperial and Royal Macedonic Regiment, cousin.
Nikolai: I wasn't aware there was a Macedonic Regiment.
Ferdinando II: they were actually his Serene Highness' idea. Modelled after our own Reggimente Reale Macedone [5]
Frankie: *about to respond* *sees a messenger - in Frankie's livery - and another man galloping up to them* excuse me, your Majesties... *dismounts* *takes Leopold down off the saddle horns* *thrusts him at Marie Louise* Mama, would you mind terribly watching Leopold? *puts his son on her lap*
Marie Louise: *looks at her grandson like her son just asked if she wants cancer*
Alexandra: *smiling graciously as she motions for the clearly uncomfortable empress to give her the child* *little boy has no objections*
Frankie: *to Alexandra* your Majesty is most kind. I am sure my son will remember this as the happiest day of his life. *kisses her hand* *then walks off to receive the messenger*
Nikolai: *looks at Alexandra like "please just drop him on his head so we can avoid how we know this ends"*
Alexandra: *ignores her husband's look and dandles Leopold almost maternally* *as though a criticism towards Marie Louise's mothering skills*
Marie Louise: *unfortunately not bright enough to recognize the insult* *simply smiles placidly at everyone and makes no attempt to retrieve her grandson*
Nikolai: *rolls eyes and turns to first watch the maneuvres* *but becomes conscious that he is the only one doing so* *the rest of the royals are all watching Frankie and the messenger* *its clearly a heated argument* *big hand gestures* *repeated shaking of head* *the man with the messenger makes a suitably pleading gesture* *again Frankie points back at the visiting royals and shakes his head*
Nikolai: *calmly* I wonder what all that is about.
Henri: *squints* judging by the uniform and orders, no doubt some ambassadorial lackey, cousin. Don't recognize the uniform though, so its probably not from Metternich.
Alexander "Sasha": why would Prince Metternich cause such a stir? Surely he knows about this review.
Alexandra: *smiles down at Leopold as he grabs her horse's mane* that might be precisely the problem, darling.
*After several crowned heads have viewed the entire tantrum Frankie returns* *with the man who was with the messenger in tow*
Henri: is everything alright, Monsieur François?
Frankie: *clearly reluctant tone* your Majesty, may I present his Excellency, Monsieur O'Murphy y Allegria [6], minister plenipotentiary for the Mexican Republic to the Court of St. James.
Sasha: *starts whistling the theme to Ries' Piano Concerto "Retour à Londres"*
Juan: *looks pointedly at Hannover* England must be getting desperate if she can't even send her own ambassadors and is outsourcing the job to *disgusted tone* Mexican Irishmen.
Hannover: *says nothing* *
Frankie: your Majesty, I apologize for my rudeness, but Monsieur O'Murphy has just given me the- *turns to O'Murphy* perhaps you should tell his Majesty what has happened. The names and places mean little to me *mounts horse again*
O'Murphy: *bows but doesn't remove hat* [7]. *to Henri* it began in November last, your Majesty...French ships appeared outside of Veracruz and demanded that apologies be made for the destruction of one Monsieur Remontel's bakery on the outskirts of Mexico City-
Henri: and what concern is that of the Duc d'Orléans?
Frankie: *maneuvres his horse, Fate, around O'Murphy to retrieve Leopold from Alexandra* *as he does so, Fate flicks her tail, knocking the envoy's hat off*
Raguse: *steps forward to receive the hat* *but hands it to Frankie* *who plops it on Leopold's head* *the little boy pushed the hat up as though to ask "what's going on?"*
O'Murphy: *uncomfortable now that he's uncovered looks at the hat* *until he realizes that the mood has shifted and the sovereigns' body language is now "more attentive"* -Monsieur Remontel is a French citizen, sir, and he wrote to him complaining of the damages-
Henri: then why did the duc d'Orléans not simply gift Monsieur Remontel the money and be done with it? The man surely has enough lying around with that inheritance he stole from me [8].
O'Murphy: I do not know, your Majesty...they also demanded reparation of three million francs as recompense-
Nikolai: *blurts* must've been a very large bakery.
O'Murphy: no, sire, not even worth a hundredth of that amount. The exaggerated amount is due to interest accrued since this happened in 1832. And also for hanging a Frenchman found guilty of piracy last year-
Henri: *curls lip in disfain* I'm not sure whether I should be more troubled or relieved that it has taken Monsieur le Duc so long to get round to responding to the matter or that he has exposed himself to Europe as the hypocrite we all knew he was. Imagine if he were to object to French pirates executed in Sicily or the Crimea. Does he condone piracy then? -Then again, is anyone surprised that he would?
O'Murphy: quite, Majesty... at the start of November Veracruz found several French naval vessels in her harbour under Admiral Bazoche. An ultimatum was delivered to the Mexican government of-
Henri: pay up or else?
O'Murphy: essentially this. But also that France wishes to be granted preferential nation status in trade with Mexico-
Frankie: doesn't she already have that with the Texans? And then the...is it the Argentines down in South America?
O'Murphy: and the Yucatan Republic, sir.
Frankie: since you are here, we can only imagine that the Mexicans clearly refused this.
O'Murphy: we did, sir. And then the French sent another two dozen ships.
Nikolai: to do what, exactly?
O'Murphy: the very same thing that Monsieur François warned us they would do.
Royals: *look at Frankie*
Frankie: I told the Mexican minister to Tuscany last year that as soon as the Argentines had capitulated, the French king would start nosing around Mexico. Either by formenting a revolt in California or in Yucatan - the duc has many of the higher ups well-bribed and well-supplied with armaments for such an eventuality. - and then capitalizing on the discord to annex the province or republic to France. My cousin, the marquis de Beauharnais, is in Mexico as we speak and told me that there are many there who would not be disinclined to see the French as allies.
Juan de Montizon: this is an outrage!
Frankie: quite, your Royal Highness. *turns back to O'Murphy* and what did the French do after they'd blockaded the gulf.
O'Murphy: when our government refused to meet the demand - within thirty days - of three million francs for the damages incurred and a further million to pay for the French fleet doing the blockading, they bombarded the city.
Henri: it's like France in 1815 where we had to pay for the foreign troops billeted on our own soil! Except what reason is there here? A damned bakery! I have every sympathy for Monsieur Remontel's loss, but that the duc seized on such a flimsy pretext to declare war!
Frankie: *measured tone* to be fair, your Majesty, I'm sure those far older and far wiser than us will remember that my father quite often gave no pretext for war. Or if he did, the grounds were often even flimsier. Look at his annexation of Holland to France or his invasion of Russia and Prussia. For what? Because they wouldn't adhere to his rules he'd set when it was either - as with the Dutch - harmful to them, or to the Russians - made no difference whether they did or didn't?
Alexandra: and now it would seem as though the duc d'Orléans is trying to wear your father's boots. Only that he wishes to cause less offense by doing it where the rest of Europe will laud him for his actions.
Frankie: Majesty, even I have found this boots most uncomfortable. If only for the fact that my father's feet - like everything else about him - were very small *smiles*
*ragged chuckles*
Hannover: then the solution is clear, your Serene Highness, the French king must be made to understand that he cannot act in this way.
Frankie: while your Majesty is - without doubt - correct, I'm afraid Austria would be in a very bad position to do so. Since we have no navy by which we could relieve the blockade. Or even transport our troops to Mexico to grant assistance.
Hannover: Mexico? I meant we fight in Europe.
Nikolai: and then what, cousin? Europe is dragged into another twenty years of warfare as a result. *looks visibly pained as he says this* His Serene Highness is correct. If there is a war over Mexico, fighting it in Europe makes about as little sense as the Mexicans fighting a war in their country for who should be king of France: the comte de Chambord or the duke of Reichstadt. It has nothing to do with most of us, and I daresay the Spaniards and the Mexicans will grow increasingly annoyed if I were to suddenly order the Russian fleet to Veracruz harbour.
Crown Prince of Modena: There are other ways of intervening, cousin. After all...at the moment, the reason that France feels that she can act in this manner is due to the fact that Mexico is...diplomatically isolated. Without allies, isn't that correct, Monsieur O'Murphy?
O'Murphy: as your Majesty says.
Modena: now, the Texan Republic has received recognition from the United States, from Mexico, France and Great Britain, correct?
O'Murphy: *disgustedly* yes, your Majesty.
Modena: but most major European powers have withheld that from Mexico. Spain granted it and then rescinded it when your brother took over as regent, your Royal Highness *looks at Juan de Montizon* Portugal has likewise done so, regardless of the fact that D. Pedro granted the recognition. If other powers in Europe were to extend recognition to the Mexican Republic, then France would be unable to continue with her behaviour without angering the rest of Europe and causing them to break off relations with Paris
Nikolai: I do think you are being rather naive, cousin, to think that a mere severing of diplomatic relations with Paris would be enough to cow them into submission.
Modena: while that is true, cousin, the duc d'Orléans is not Napoléon. He is not even Louis XIV. France's economy can endure another twenty years of war no more than any of the rest of us. I was simply thinking that we turn Napoléon's idea for a continental blockade inside out. Instead of France blockading England, the rest of Europe closes its ports to France
Alexandra: If Napoléon's system didn't work, what makes you think that this one will?
Hannover: because France is more reliant on her markets in the rest of Europe than what England is or was. England could still trade with the United States, India, Holland, Russia, Sweden, even the Ottomans. What market does France have? A few sugar and spice islands in the Caribbean. All of Europe - my wife included - will groan at being deprived of a dress from Paris, but think of how the French will groan if they have all these stuffs and nobody to buy them aside from some Algerines or Egyptians.
*royals look like they're actually considering this*
Juan de Montizon: *grudgingly* I shall try to convince my brother of recognizing Mexico once more, Senor O'Murphy. I make no promises. Either that he will or for this...frankly harebrained scheme. [9]
[1] I know in January 1839 Alexander Nikolaïevich visited Naples, and Nikolai/Alexandra visited several times, although I can't find dates for the imperial couple aside from that on one of the visits, Olga Nikolaïevna met her future husband
[2] Alexandra might have been a nice person (I actually have no idea what her personality was like @Valena ), but Marie Louise's track record as a wife/mother is likely what makes even the most hardline royals sympathize with Frankie. Not to mention that, in her role as "Dowager", Marie Louise is likely (forced to) wear widow's weeds which just makes her look like even more of a hypocrite. It's a PR move on Frankie's part: it shows him as the "devoted son" to a callous, hypocrite of a mother. Then he has his son, the comte de Marnes, with him to illustrate how "unlike" his mom he is. Yes, I know, parading your bastard in front of the crowned heads of Europe like this probably isn't the done/acceptable thing, but most of them are probably like "thank God it's a bastard and not a legitimate heir".
[3] I could only find where anything but the Austrian army regiments in Lombardy-Venetia were quartered, although there seems to have been four or five cavalry regiments, where they were located is unmentioned
[4] title used as an incognito by the duchesse de Berri
[5] Royal Macedonian Regiment was a light infantry unit staffed by Greeks, Serbs and Albanians still hired by the Kingdom of Naples up until the proclamation of the Parthenopean Republic, when the regiment was suppressed. When Carlos III became King of Spain, several units of this light cavalry transferred to Spain as well. Likewise, Maria Theresia and Joseph II still kept units like this in Italy as late as the 7 Years War and one of the Russo-Turkish Wars in Joseph's reign. I'm guessing that much like the Neapolitan version, they were "nationalized" in the Napoleonic Wars
[6] O'Murphy y Allegria was Mexican minister to the Austrian Empire under Maximiliano. Reason for Frankie's reluctance is that not only is O'Murphy y Allegria at the wrong court, but none of the assembled monarchs have granted the Mexican Republic diplomatic recognition (Russia would only do so in 1890)
[7] by bowing he is extending a courtesy, but by remaining covered he is indicating this isn't subservience.
[8] Henri isn't speaking of the French crown but rather, TTL the prince de Condé's will was published naming Henri de Chambord as his heir before he was murdered and the will denounced as a "forgery"
[9] how hare-brained it is is open to question. OTL an alliance of Austria, Russia and England was able to force Louis Philippe - around this time - to drop Muhammed Ali of Egypt, and so force him to return Syria and Arabia to the Ottomans. I'm not aware of exactly how they forced him into this corner OTL, but through trade and impounding any French ships in their ports would probably be a good way to do it.
@The_Most_Happy @isabella @VVD0D95 @Jan Olbracht @Tarabas @LordKalvan @Ramontxo @HortenseMancini @Anarch King of Dipsodes @Dragonboy @Fehérvári @kaiidth @SavoyTruffle @Wendell
*exterior* *Frankie in full military uniform* *his face immobile* *pan down to show he's sitting on a horse* *pan down shows that Leopold is sitting on the saddle horn as well* *pan out shows that in attendance are the usual suspects: Juan de Montizon, King Ferdinando II of Naples, the Crown Prince of Modena* *as well as "older" heads of state such as Carlo Alberto of Sardinia, the grand duke of Tuscany, Archduke Rainier, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia, and - surprisingly, given our last view of she and Frankie - Dowager Empress Marie Louise* *pan right shows why Marie Louise is present: on the other side of Frankie sits Henri de Chambord, Emperor Nikolai I, his wife, Empress Alexandra and their eldest son, Tsetsarevich Alexander[1]* *next to the Emperor is the king of Hannover and the grand duke of Saxe-Weimar* *Marie Louise is talking to Empress Alexandra* *Alexandra, for her part, has a look on her face like "get this thing away from me"[2]*
*all the persons are on horseback* *spectating a cavalry review* *a caption on the screen tells us that this is at Monza [3]*
Henri: *talking to Nikolai* *dropping a hint tone* and of course, his Serene Highness has once more become a father.
Nikolai: *looks at Frankie suspiciously*
Frankie: *continues to watch the review* *fuss over Leopold*
Henri: a second son who we are pleased to announce our intention to create "Comte de Rosny[4]" as a reward for his...father's most...loyal friendship to us. *leads round of applause*
Nikolai: *tightly to Frankie* your Serene Highness is to be congratulated for having...reached so high and achieved so much in such a short space of time.
Frankie: your Majesty does me great honour to recognize my accomplishments *said in tone like "to recognize me"* *turns back to Leopold* *leaning down to point out the whisper in his son's ear and point at the troops*
Nikolai: that regiment with the green jackets, who are they? I don't recall having seen them before.
Ferdinando II: they are the Imperial and Royal Macedonic Regiment, cousin.
Nikolai: I wasn't aware there was a Macedonic Regiment.
Ferdinando II: they were actually his Serene Highness' idea. Modelled after our own Reggimente Reale Macedone [5]
Frankie: *about to respond* *sees a messenger - in Frankie's livery - and another man galloping up to them* excuse me, your Majesties... *dismounts* *takes Leopold down off the saddle horns* *thrusts him at Marie Louise* Mama, would you mind terribly watching Leopold? *puts his son on her lap*
Marie Louise: *looks at her grandson like her son just asked if she wants cancer*
Alexandra: *smiling graciously as she motions for the clearly uncomfortable empress to give her the child* *little boy has no objections*
Frankie: *to Alexandra* your Majesty is most kind. I am sure my son will remember this as the happiest day of his life. *kisses her hand* *then walks off to receive the messenger*
Nikolai: *looks at Alexandra like "please just drop him on his head so we can avoid how we know this ends"*
Alexandra: *ignores her husband's look and dandles Leopold almost maternally* *as though a criticism towards Marie Louise's mothering skills*
Marie Louise: *unfortunately not bright enough to recognize the insult* *simply smiles placidly at everyone and makes no attempt to retrieve her grandson*
Nikolai: *rolls eyes and turns to first watch the maneuvres* *but becomes conscious that he is the only one doing so* *the rest of the royals are all watching Frankie and the messenger* *its clearly a heated argument* *big hand gestures* *repeated shaking of head* *the man with the messenger makes a suitably pleading gesture* *again Frankie points back at the visiting royals and shakes his head*
Nikolai: *calmly* I wonder what all that is about.
Henri: *squints* judging by the uniform and orders, no doubt some ambassadorial lackey, cousin. Don't recognize the uniform though, so its probably not from Metternich.
Alexander "Sasha": why would Prince Metternich cause such a stir? Surely he knows about this review.
Alexandra: *smiles down at Leopold as he grabs her horse's mane* that might be precisely the problem, darling.
*After several crowned heads have viewed the entire tantrum Frankie returns* *with the man who was with the messenger in tow*
Henri: is everything alright, Monsieur François?
Frankie: *clearly reluctant tone* your Majesty, may I present his Excellency, Monsieur O'Murphy y Allegria [6], minister plenipotentiary for the Mexican Republic to the Court of St. James.
Sasha: *starts whistling the theme to Ries' Piano Concerto "Retour à Londres"*
Juan: *looks pointedly at Hannover* England must be getting desperate if she can't even send her own ambassadors and is outsourcing the job to *disgusted tone* Mexican Irishmen.
Hannover: *says nothing* *
Frankie: your Majesty, I apologize for my rudeness, but Monsieur O'Murphy has just given me the- *turns to O'Murphy* perhaps you should tell his Majesty what has happened. The names and places mean little to me *mounts horse again*
O'Murphy: *bows but doesn't remove hat* [7]. *to Henri* it began in November last, your Majesty...French ships appeared outside of Veracruz and demanded that apologies be made for the destruction of one Monsieur Remontel's bakery on the outskirts of Mexico City-
Henri: and what concern is that of the Duc d'Orléans?
Frankie: *maneuvres his horse, Fate, around O'Murphy to retrieve Leopold from Alexandra* *as he does so, Fate flicks her tail, knocking the envoy's hat off*
Raguse: *steps forward to receive the hat* *but hands it to Frankie* *who plops it on Leopold's head* *the little boy pushed the hat up as though to ask "what's going on?"*
O'Murphy: *uncomfortable now that he's uncovered looks at the hat* *until he realizes that the mood has shifted and the sovereigns' body language is now "more attentive"* -Monsieur Remontel is a French citizen, sir, and he wrote to him complaining of the damages-
Henri: then why did the duc d'Orléans not simply gift Monsieur Remontel the money and be done with it? The man surely has enough lying around with that inheritance he stole from me [8].
O'Murphy: I do not know, your Majesty...they also demanded reparation of three million francs as recompense-
Nikolai: *blurts* must've been a very large bakery.
O'Murphy: no, sire, not even worth a hundredth of that amount. The exaggerated amount is due to interest accrued since this happened in 1832. And also for hanging a Frenchman found guilty of piracy last year-
Henri: *curls lip in disfain* I'm not sure whether I should be more troubled or relieved that it has taken Monsieur le Duc so long to get round to responding to the matter or that he has exposed himself to Europe as the hypocrite we all knew he was. Imagine if he were to object to French pirates executed in Sicily or the Crimea. Does he condone piracy then? -Then again, is anyone surprised that he would?
O'Murphy: quite, Majesty... at the start of November Veracruz found several French naval vessels in her harbour under Admiral Bazoche. An ultimatum was delivered to the Mexican government of-
Henri: pay up or else?
O'Murphy: essentially this. But also that France wishes to be granted preferential nation status in trade with Mexico-
Frankie: doesn't she already have that with the Texans? And then the...is it the Argentines down in South America?
O'Murphy: and the Yucatan Republic, sir.
Frankie: since you are here, we can only imagine that the Mexicans clearly refused this.
O'Murphy: we did, sir. And then the French sent another two dozen ships.
Nikolai: to do what, exactly?
O'Murphy: the very same thing that Monsieur François warned us they would do.
Royals: *look at Frankie*
Frankie: I told the Mexican minister to Tuscany last year that as soon as the Argentines had capitulated, the French king would start nosing around Mexico. Either by formenting a revolt in California or in Yucatan - the duc has many of the higher ups well-bribed and well-supplied with armaments for such an eventuality. - and then capitalizing on the discord to annex the province or republic to France. My cousin, the marquis de Beauharnais, is in Mexico as we speak and told me that there are many there who would not be disinclined to see the French as allies.
Juan de Montizon: this is an outrage!
Frankie: quite, your Royal Highness. *turns back to O'Murphy* and what did the French do after they'd blockaded the gulf.
O'Murphy: when our government refused to meet the demand - within thirty days - of three million francs for the damages incurred and a further million to pay for the French fleet doing the blockading, they bombarded the city.
Henri: it's like France in 1815 where we had to pay for the foreign troops billeted on our own soil! Except what reason is there here? A damned bakery! I have every sympathy for Monsieur Remontel's loss, but that the duc seized on such a flimsy pretext to declare war!
Frankie: *measured tone* to be fair, your Majesty, I'm sure those far older and far wiser than us will remember that my father quite often gave no pretext for war. Or if he did, the grounds were often even flimsier. Look at his annexation of Holland to France or his invasion of Russia and Prussia. For what? Because they wouldn't adhere to his rules he'd set when it was either - as with the Dutch - harmful to them, or to the Russians - made no difference whether they did or didn't?
Alexandra: and now it would seem as though the duc d'Orléans is trying to wear your father's boots. Only that he wishes to cause less offense by doing it where the rest of Europe will laud him for his actions.
Frankie: Majesty, even I have found this boots most uncomfortable. If only for the fact that my father's feet - like everything else about him - were very small *smiles*
*ragged chuckles*
Hannover: then the solution is clear, your Serene Highness, the French king must be made to understand that he cannot act in this way.
Frankie: while your Majesty is - without doubt - correct, I'm afraid Austria would be in a very bad position to do so. Since we have no navy by which we could relieve the blockade. Or even transport our troops to Mexico to grant assistance.
Hannover: Mexico? I meant we fight in Europe.
Nikolai: and then what, cousin? Europe is dragged into another twenty years of warfare as a result. *looks visibly pained as he says this* His Serene Highness is correct. If there is a war over Mexico, fighting it in Europe makes about as little sense as the Mexicans fighting a war in their country for who should be king of France: the comte de Chambord or the duke of Reichstadt. It has nothing to do with most of us, and I daresay the Spaniards and the Mexicans will grow increasingly annoyed if I were to suddenly order the Russian fleet to Veracruz harbour.
Crown Prince of Modena: There are other ways of intervening, cousin. After all...at the moment, the reason that France feels that she can act in this manner is due to the fact that Mexico is...diplomatically isolated. Without allies, isn't that correct, Monsieur O'Murphy?
O'Murphy: as your Majesty says.
Modena: now, the Texan Republic has received recognition from the United States, from Mexico, France and Great Britain, correct?
O'Murphy: *disgustedly* yes, your Majesty.
Modena: but most major European powers have withheld that from Mexico. Spain granted it and then rescinded it when your brother took over as regent, your Royal Highness *looks at Juan de Montizon* Portugal has likewise done so, regardless of the fact that D. Pedro granted the recognition. If other powers in Europe were to extend recognition to the Mexican Republic, then France would be unable to continue with her behaviour without angering the rest of Europe and causing them to break off relations with Paris
Nikolai: I do think you are being rather naive, cousin, to think that a mere severing of diplomatic relations with Paris would be enough to cow them into submission.
Modena: while that is true, cousin, the duc d'Orléans is not Napoléon. He is not even Louis XIV. France's economy can endure another twenty years of war no more than any of the rest of us. I was simply thinking that we turn Napoléon's idea for a continental blockade inside out. Instead of France blockading England, the rest of Europe closes its ports to France
Alexandra: If Napoléon's system didn't work, what makes you think that this one will?
Hannover: because France is more reliant on her markets in the rest of Europe than what England is or was. England could still trade with the United States, India, Holland, Russia, Sweden, even the Ottomans. What market does France have? A few sugar and spice islands in the Caribbean. All of Europe - my wife included - will groan at being deprived of a dress from Paris, but think of how the French will groan if they have all these stuffs and nobody to buy them aside from some Algerines or Egyptians.
*royals look like they're actually considering this*
Juan de Montizon: *grudgingly* I shall try to convince my brother of recognizing Mexico once more, Senor O'Murphy. I make no promises. Either that he will or for this...frankly harebrained scheme. [9]
[1] I know in January 1839 Alexander Nikolaïevich visited Naples, and Nikolai/Alexandra visited several times, although I can't find dates for the imperial couple aside from that on one of the visits, Olga Nikolaïevna met her future husband
[2] Alexandra might have been a nice person (I actually have no idea what her personality was like @Valena ), but Marie Louise's track record as a wife/mother is likely what makes even the most hardline royals sympathize with Frankie. Not to mention that, in her role as "Dowager", Marie Louise is likely (forced to) wear widow's weeds which just makes her look like even more of a hypocrite. It's a PR move on Frankie's part: it shows him as the "devoted son" to a callous, hypocrite of a mother. Then he has his son, the comte de Marnes, with him to illustrate how "unlike" his mom he is. Yes, I know, parading your bastard in front of the crowned heads of Europe like this probably isn't the done/acceptable thing, but most of them are probably like "thank God it's a bastard and not a legitimate heir".
[3] I could only find where anything but the Austrian army regiments in Lombardy-Venetia were quartered, although there seems to have been four or five cavalry regiments, where they were located is unmentioned
[4] title used as an incognito by the duchesse de Berri
[5] Royal Macedonian Regiment was a light infantry unit staffed by Greeks, Serbs and Albanians still hired by the Kingdom of Naples up until the proclamation of the Parthenopean Republic, when the regiment was suppressed. When Carlos III became King of Spain, several units of this light cavalry transferred to Spain as well. Likewise, Maria Theresia and Joseph II still kept units like this in Italy as late as the 7 Years War and one of the Russo-Turkish Wars in Joseph's reign. I'm guessing that much like the Neapolitan version, they were "nationalized" in the Napoleonic Wars
[6] O'Murphy y Allegria was Mexican minister to the Austrian Empire under Maximiliano. Reason for Frankie's reluctance is that not only is O'Murphy y Allegria at the wrong court, but none of the assembled monarchs have granted the Mexican Republic diplomatic recognition (Russia would only do so in 1890)
[7] by bowing he is extending a courtesy, but by remaining covered he is indicating this isn't subservience.
[8] Henri isn't speaking of the French crown but rather, TTL the prince de Condé's will was published naming Henri de Chambord as his heir before he was murdered and the will denounced as a "forgery"
[9] how hare-brained it is is open to question. OTL an alliance of Austria, Russia and England was able to force Louis Philippe - around this time - to drop Muhammed Ali of Egypt, and so force him to return Syria and Arabia to the Ottomans. I'm not aware of exactly how they forced him into this corner OTL, but through trade and impounding any French ships in their ports would probably be a good way to do it.
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I wasn't sure where the Török de Szendro estates are located, but I know Georg had estates near Pressburg, so I guess just saying Hungary would work right? Or was only Pressburg/Bratislava in Hungary?
Art Thou Elijah? Art Thou He That Troubleth Israel's Peace?
Soundtrack: Mendelssohn: Elijah, Part 1: No. 10; Recitative & Chorus: As God The Lord of Sabaoth Liveth [1]
*exterior shots of Paris* *we follow of newspaper blown by a gust of wind into the portico of the Palais Bourbon* *before someone sweeps it up to throw it away, we see that the headline reads that the Molé ministry is to resign and new elections are to be held in March*
*interior of the Palais Bourbon* *Chamber of Deputies*
François d'Arago: *trying to convince the government of the benefits of adopting daguerrotyping*
*another newspaper blows across the screen that announces that Spain's regent has recognized the Mexican Republic*
*French chamber of deputies again*
Alphonse de Lamartine: Messieurs, while the past is closed to us and we are in need of a new idea, you must remember that not everyone is as exhausted as we are, fearing the slightest movement!
*another newspaper headline gusts in to change the scene again* *this headline announces that Great Britain has signed a commercial treaty with Spain* *Spain will export iron to England while the British will export coal to Spain* *also, Spanish ports are now closed to French vessels*
*D. Carlos de Montemolin and D. Isabel II touring the shipyard at Veracruz and being cheered by the sailors*
*newspaper announces that Sicily, Portugal, Austria and the Hanseatic ports of Lubeck, Hamburg and Bremen are closed to French shipping*
*cut to a view of an exhibition of French Industry with prizes being distributed by the duc de Chartres and his once more pregnant wife*
*newspaper announces that Spain has abolished not only serfdom but confirmed the abolition of slavery*
*cut to French chamber of deputies*
Hippolyte Passy: *new prime minister* *proposing a law of free wombs for vote* any child born in the colonies to slave parents will be born free of bondage...Any slave shall be allowed to redeem himself from bondage... Slave families shall no longer be allowed to be broken up.
*we see a dustman clearing out the garbage and on top of the trashcan is a newspaper that announces that the Passy ministry has resigned after only six days* *and that Russia and Prussia are putting pressure on the French to remove themselves from Mexico or else their ports will also soon be closed*
Louis Philippe: *puts down the newspaper trumpeting that the king of Sicily has just signed a trade treaty with the Republic of Texas* *sighs heavily* well, Monsieur le Duc, what do you make of this?
His new prime Minister, Napoléon Lannes, Duc de Montbello: *looks at the newspaper* it is a fever, Majesty, it will soon abate. Europe is ruled by a camarilla of women: the queens of Spain, Portugal and England... And like all women once they go a season without a new dress from Paris they will soon drop this act.
Louis Philippe: I am told that in England the queen is encouraging the silk works at Spitalfields by insisting on wearing only dresses made from English cloth.
Montbello: and if your Majesty remembers the Congress of Vienna, Englishwomen looked an absolute fright with their fashions. The English have many admirable qualities, however, fashion is not one of them.
Louis Philippe: and the queen of Sicily has managed to persuade her husband to rescind his agreement to export sulphur to France. Which means we are back where we were before you negotiated the deal for us last year.
Montbello: your Majesty, the queen of Sicily is an intrigante like her mother. The king will soon come to see sense that we are paying him twice as much as the British for sulphur. What will he use to build his train line with with no French expertise? Or how he will pay for the new iron he has ordered from Spain without French money? Your Majesty is fortunate that the king of Denmark has not proved so petty as the Sicilians or the Spanish and is more than willing to make up the difference of the import of sulphur required.
Louis Philippe: I wasn't aware Denmark had sulphur.
Montbello: *smirks* it seems that neither did the duke of Reichstadt when he came up with this... reversed continental system. But Denmark is rather concerned... As are the Swedes... By the proposed marriage of Prince Vasa's niece, Princess Alexandrine of Baden, to the Dutch king's grandson and heir-
Louis Philippe: didn't we see this play already with Prince Vasa and Princess Marianne?
Montbello: except that with that, we did not have to concern ourselves with either a potential embargo. After the Treaty of Middleburg, there was talk that the Dutch prince would marry the same archduchess once considered for the duc de Chartres... But of course, a Habsburg queen was never going to make any headway against the Dutch. Which was when someone proposed a Dutch match for Baden... As a way of settling the awkward concerns that Lutheran Baden has inherited a Calvinist Palatinate. She'd come to the Dutch as an Austrian proxy, with a dowry to match. When the Grand Duke was not keen on raising taxes to foot the bill, the Dowager Grand Duchess [Stéphanie de Beauharnais] happily obliged with moneys she had *hooks fingers* inherited from the queen of Holland. Of course, your Majesty needs no guessing where this money comes from.
Louis Philippe: the Austrian treasury through the Dowager's son-in-law, Prince Vasa.
Montbello: who is also the duke of Reichstadt's commanding officer and seems... Rather fond of the boy.
Louis Philippe: if the boy can make vast sums of money appear out of thin air like that... Who wouldn't be fond of him.
Montbello: oh, I have no doubt that he has inherited a flair for finance that his father so obviously lacked. Perhaps a talent for showmanship. But his treatment of his brother is... most shameful.
Louis Philippe: I have never heard Comte Walewski complain.
Montbello: I was talking about the other brother, Charles Léon [2].
Louis Philippe: I believed he was the son of the king of Naples not Bonaparte [3]
Montbello: *produces three miniatures* *one of Frankie, one of Napoléon and one of Léon* which of these men would your Majesty believe is the son of Bonaparte?
Louis Philippe: *picks up the miniature of Napoléon* *then looks at Frankie* *smiles at Montbello like he's just caught the trick* this is the duc de Chartres *then looks at Léon* this is clearly the duc de Reichstadt.
Montbello: that is Monsieur Léon, Majesté. Provided by his former guardian, the Baron de Ménéval.
Louis Philippe: *picks up miniature of Frankie again* *looks at it reflectively* so you are the cause of all my troubles?
Montbello: as your Majesty can see, paternity matters for little. If you were to... Reopen Ménéval's suit for the terms of Bonaparte's will... It would show your Majesty as interested in the boy's welfare and will expose, no doubt, the cruelty of the duc de Reichstadt to his own brother. To leave his brother to rot in the debtor's prison at Clichy or how he apparently beat the poor Léon to within an inch of his life in London... No doubt there are many such equally horrific stories of the duc's cruelty and caprice... At the moment, most royals in Europe seem to deem him worthy of sainthood, with their all too common refrain, I heard from Comte Pozzo di Borgo[4], being how "unlike his father he is". If your Majesty were to reopen the court case, have the original verdict re-evaluated...no doubt there would not be the opposition there originally was. The queen of Holland the prince de Vénise are both dead, the prince's son is in Mexico, which, given its state of affairs with France...anything his objections can be dismissed as simple sour grapes. The Dowager Duchess of Baden, despite her largesse towards her daughter's niece, is not likely to object. While the duchess of Parma is treated with scorn and disdain by her legitimate son and would be unlikely to raise any objections.
Louis Philippe: that still leaves the Bonapartes and the Habsburgs.
Montbello: the same Habsburgs who would attempt to dictate France's foreign policy? The same Habsburgs who strung the duc de Chartres along for months without a clear answer about an archduchess? The same Habsburgs who have...I dare say...clasped the exiled Duc and Duchesse d'Angoulême, the comte de Chambord, D. Miguel of Portugal, to their bosoms? Those Habsburgs your Majesty? I doubt there would be the most miserable peasant in France who will credit their protests.
Louis Philippe: which leaves the Bonapartes.
Montbello: King Joseph is currently sponsoring Monsieur Léon. King Louis is as close to death as ever. Prince Lucien and King Jérôme have no reason to have any love for their nephew, the duc de Reichstadt. I highly doubt that they would object too loudly were your Majesty to undertake this action.
Louis Philippe: *about to respond* *door opens*
Footman: Your Majesty, the duchesse de Chartres' labour has commenced.
Louis Philippe: Have Baron Ménéval call tomorrow...and then have the records of the court case brought for me to peruse. There might be value in this idea, Montbello.
[1] piece and title both from the first half of Mendelssohn's kick-ass oratorio, Elijah. The comparison between the imagery of an apostate king being confronted by the same prophet of God that has shut up the heavens and caused a three year drought as punishment to Israel and the "solution" can't be ignored. Not to mention how King Ahab asks that question of the unflinching prophet, only for the equivalent of a Greek chorus of furies to answer "Thou art Elijah, thou be the troubler of Israel" rather than the prophet himself. Elijah's response is "I never troubled Israel's peace, it is thou, Ahab, and all thy father's house"
[2] Léon's "comte" was a fictitious creation assumed by the "Aiglon des Boulevardes" to rather than an actual title.
[3] this was a rumour OTL as well. Even Napoléon - while acknowledging paternity of Léon - seems to have lent it some credence. Mostly because both before and after she took up with him Éléonore Denuelle de la Plaigne was sleeping with Joachim Murat
[4] Pozzo di Borgo hated the Bonapartes with all the passion of a typical Corsican vendetta. Montbello's hatred for the Bonapartes is also OTL since his mother blamed Napoléon for her husband's death until she died. Not unthinkable that some of that poison seeped into him as well
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*exterior shots of Paris* *we follow of newspaper blown by a gust of wind into the portico of the Palais Bourbon* *before someone sweeps it up to throw it away, we see that the headline reads that the Molé ministry is to resign and new elections are to be held in March*
*interior of the Palais Bourbon* *Chamber of Deputies*
François d'Arago: *trying to convince the government of the benefits of adopting daguerrotyping*
*another newspaper blows across the screen that announces that Spain's regent has recognized the Mexican Republic*
*French chamber of deputies again*
Alphonse de Lamartine: Messieurs, while the past is closed to us and we are in need of a new idea, you must remember that not everyone is as exhausted as we are, fearing the slightest movement!
*another newspaper headline gusts in to change the scene again* *this headline announces that Great Britain has signed a commercial treaty with Spain* *Spain will export iron to England while the British will export coal to Spain* *also, Spanish ports are now closed to French vessels*
*D. Carlos de Montemolin and D. Isabel II touring the shipyard at Veracruz and being cheered by the sailors*
*newspaper announces that Sicily, Portugal, Austria and the Hanseatic ports of Lubeck, Hamburg and Bremen are closed to French shipping*
*cut to a view of an exhibition of French Industry with prizes being distributed by the duc de Chartres and his once more pregnant wife*
*newspaper announces that Spain has abolished not only serfdom but confirmed the abolition of slavery*
*cut to French chamber of deputies*
Hippolyte Passy: *new prime minister* *proposing a law of free wombs for vote* any child born in the colonies to slave parents will be born free of bondage...Any slave shall be allowed to redeem himself from bondage... Slave families shall no longer be allowed to be broken up.
*we see a dustman clearing out the garbage and on top of the trashcan is a newspaper that announces that the Passy ministry has resigned after only six days* *and that Russia and Prussia are putting pressure on the French to remove themselves from Mexico or else their ports will also soon be closed*
Louis Philippe: *puts down the newspaper trumpeting that the king of Sicily has just signed a trade treaty with the Republic of Texas* *sighs heavily* well, Monsieur le Duc, what do you make of this?
His new prime Minister, Napoléon Lannes, Duc de Montbello: *looks at the newspaper* it is a fever, Majesty, it will soon abate. Europe is ruled by a camarilla of women: the queens of Spain, Portugal and England... And like all women once they go a season without a new dress from Paris they will soon drop this act.
Louis Philippe: I am told that in England the queen is encouraging the silk works at Spitalfields by insisting on wearing only dresses made from English cloth.
Montbello: and if your Majesty remembers the Congress of Vienna, Englishwomen looked an absolute fright with their fashions. The English have many admirable qualities, however, fashion is not one of them.
Louis Philippe: and the queen of Sicily has managed to persuade her husband to rescind his agreement to export sulphur to France. Which means we are back where we were before you negotiated the deal for us last year.
Montbello: your Majesty, the queen of Sicily is an intrigante like her mother. The king will soon come to see sense that we are paying him twice as much as the British for sulphur. What will he use to build his train line with with no French expertise? Or how he will pay for the new iron he has ordered from Spain without French money? Your Majesty is fortunate that the king of Denmark has not proved so petty as the Sicilians or the Spanish and is more than willing to make up the difference of the import of sulphur required.
Louis Philippe: I wasn't aware Denmark had sulphur.
Montbello: *smirks* it seems that neither did the duke of Reichstadt when he came up with this... reversed continental system. But Denmark is rather concerned... As are the Swedes... By the proposed marriage of Prince Vasa's niece, Princess Alexandrine of Baden, to the Dutch king's grandson and heir-
Louis Philippe: didn't we see this play already with Prince Vasa and Princess Marianne?
Montbello: except that with that, we did not have to concern ourselves with either a potential embargo. After the Treaty of Middleburg, there was talk that the Dutch prince would marry the same archduchess once considered for the duc de Chartres... But of course, a Habsburg queen was never going to make any headway against the Dutch. Which was when someone proposed a Dutch match for Baden... As a way of settling the awkward concerns that Lutheran Baden has inherited a Calvinist Palatinate. She'd come to the Dutch as an Austrian proxy, with a dowry to match. When the Grand Duke was not keen on raising taxes to foot the bill, the Dowager Grand Duchess [Stéphanie de Beauharnais] happily obliged with moneys she had *hooks fingers* inherited from the queen of Holland. Of course, your Majesty needs no guessing where this money comes from.
Louis Philippe: the Austrian treasury through the Dowager's son-in-law, Prince Vasa.
Montbello: who is also the duke of Reichstadt's commanding officer and seems... Rather fond of the boy.
Louis Philippe: if the boy can make vast sums of money appear out of thin air like that... Who wouldn't be fond of him.
Montbello: oh, I have no doubt that he has inherited a flair for finance that his father so obviously lacked. Perhaps a talent for showmanship. But his treatment of his brother is... most shameful.
Louis Philippe: I have never heard Comte Walewski complain.
Montbello: I was talking about the other brother, Charles Léon [2].
Louis Philippe: I believed he was the son of the king of Naples not Bonaparte [3]
Montbello: *produces three miniatures* *one of Frankie, one of Napoléon and one of Léon* which of these men would your Majesty believe is the son of Bonaparte?
Louis Philippe: *picks up the miniature of Napoléon* *then looks at Frankie* *smiles at Montbello like he's just caught the trick* this is the duc de Chartres *then looks at Léon* this is clearly the duc de Reichstadt.
Montbello: that is Monsieur Léon, Majesté. Provided by his former guardian, the Baron de Ménéval.
Louis Philippe: *picks up miniature of Frankie again* *looks at it reflectively* so you are the cause of all my troubles?
Montbello: as your Majesty can see, paternity matters for little. If you were to... Reopen Ménéval's suit for the terms of Bonaparte's will... It would show your Majesty as interested in the boy's welfare and will expose, no doubt, the cruelty of the duc de Reichstadt to his own brother. To leave his brother to rot in the debtor's prison at Clichy or how he apparently beat the poor Léon to within an inch of his life in London... No doubt there are many such equally horrific stories of the duc's cruelty and caprice... At the moment, most royals in Europe seem to deem him worthy of sainthood, with their all too common refrain, I heard from Comte Pozzo di Borgo[4], being how "unlike his father he is". If your Majesty were to reopen the court case, have the original verdict re-evaluated...no doubt there would not be the opposition there originally was. The queen of Holland the prince de Vénise are both dead, the prince's son is in Mexico, which, given its state of affairs with France...anything his objections can be dismissed as simple sour grapes. The Dowager Duchess of Baden, despite her largesse towards her daughter's niece, is not likely to object. While the duchess of Parma is treated with scorn and disdain by her legitimate son and would be unlikely to raise any objections.
Louis Philippe: that still leaves the Bonapartes and the Habsburgs.
Montbello: the same Habsburgs who would attempt to dictate France's foreign policy? The same Habsburgs who strung the duc de Chartres along for months without a clear answer about an archduchess? The same Habsburgs who have...I dare say...clasped the exiled Duc and Duchesse d'Angoulême, the comte de Chambord, D. Miguel of Portugal, to their bosoms? Those Habsburgs your Majesty? I doubt there would be the most miserable peasant in France who will credit their protests.
Louis Philippe: which leaves the Bonapartes.
Montbello: King Joseph is currently sponsoring Monsieur Léon. King Louis is as close to death as ever. Prince Lucien and King Jérôme have no reason to have any love for their nephew, the duc de Reichstadt. I highly doubt that they would object too loudly were your Majesty to undertake this action.
Louis Philippe: *about to respond* *door opens*
Footman: Your Majesty, the duchesse de Chartres' labour has commenced.
Louis Philippe: Have Baron Ménéval call tomorrow...and then have the records of the court case brought for me to peruse. There might be value in this idea, Montbello.
[1] piece and title both from the first half of Mendelssohn's kick-ass oratorio, Elijah. The comparison between the imagery of an apostate king being confronted by the same prophet of God that has shut up the heavens and caused a three year drought as punishment to Israel and the "solution" can't be ignored. Not to mention how King Ahab asks that question of the unflinching prophet, only for the equivalent of a Greek chorus of furies to answer "Thou art Elijah, thou be the troubler of Israel" rather than the prophet himself. Elijah's response is "I never troubled Israel's peace, it is thou, Ahab, and all thy father's house"
[2] Léon's "comte" was a fictitious creation assumed by the "Aiglon des Boulevardes" to rather than an actual title.
[3] this was a rumour OTL as well. Even Napoléon - while acknowledging paternity of Léon - seems to have lent it some credence. Mostly because both before and after she took up with him Éléonore Denuelle de la Plaigne was sleeping with Joachim Murat
[4] Pozzo di Borgo hated the Bonapartes with all the passion of a typical Corsican vendetta. Montbello's hatred for the Bonapartes is also OTL since his mother blamed Napoléon for her husband's death until she died. Not unthinkable that some of that poison seeped into him as well
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Sticking with Hungary would suffice. Maybe the area in question could be referred to as "Cisdanubia". It's an acceptable translation of "Dunáninnen", a term which was historically used to describe the area of modern day Western Slovakia. If you know where exactly most of those estates were however, then using county names might be the best solution.
O Mio Babbino Caro [1]
Soundtrack: Mozart: Requiem in D Min - Confutatis Maledictis [2]
*establishing shot* *various views of the city of Pisa* *the Lungarno* *the Leaning Tower* *the baptistery* *then we are offered a glimpse of a woman in an artist's studio* *she's clearly pregnant under her smock* *she works happily on a clay model of a statue, Flora Macdonald Tends Bonnie Prince Charlie[3]* *suddenly one she drops the knife in surprise* *as she stoops to pick it up, she clutches at her belly, grimacing in pain* *she straightens up again* *we see her mouth open with what looks like a gasp or silent scream of pain*
*cut to convent called Santa Rosalia between Pisa and Parma where Louise d'Artois and her husband are both attending mass* *we hear the choir chanting Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison [4]*
*cut to the artist in labour* *the women and doctors are fussing around her* *she's clearly in pain* *her screams coincide with the pounding of the timpani of Mozart's Confutatis*
*cut to an image of Ferdinando and Louise's carriage racing down the road to the rushing strings of the same* *both their faces are drawn and tense*
*cut to the doctor giving the baby to the artist to hold* *her hair is wet* *her face is red* *rather than some sort of tranquil Madonna, she looks like she's just climbed a mountain*
*cut to Louise hurrying through the front doors of a palazzo* *up the stairs*
*cut to the artist's husband entering the room* *he sits on the bed with his wife* *looks down at their newborn*
Usher: Her Majesty, the Queen of Sicily!
Louise: *enters room* *she hands her hat to the usher and orders him out*
Husband a.ka. Alexander of Württemberg [5]: *rises from bed* what are you doing here?
Louise: *coolly stares Alex down*: I'm the bad fairy at Sleeping Beauty's christening, Alexandre. What are you going to do?
Artist a.k.a. Marie d'Orléans: I asked her to come.
Louise: *smirks at Alexander in triumph as she steps past him* *sits down on bed* *kisses Marie on both cheeks*
Marie: Alexander, leave us.
Alexander: opens his mouth to protest*
Louise: it's discussing women's business, no concern of yours, Prinz. Ferdinando's waiting out in the salon with those horrible cigars of his. Maybe he'll share *turns back to Marie* *looks down at the child* he's beautiful.
Marie: *smiles as they close the doors* I don't know how much time I have, Majesty.
Louise: nonsense, you will recover and he will have many more brothers and sisters.
*as if on cue, Marie coughs into a handkerchief* *it comes away stained with blood*
Marie: my apologies, your Majesty.
Louise: *realizes why Marie wanted to see her*
Marie: I was thinking of naming him "Louis Henri" if it was a boy. "Thérèse Antoinette" if a girl.
Louise: both good names, Marie.
Marie: I want this...squabble to end, your Majesty. Your brother versus my father.
Louise: that is their choice, not mine.
Marie: but my son will end up caught in it. That is no fit life for a child. To be torn between two homes. *coughs again* Two loyalties.
Louise: why two. There will be one home, one loyalty.
Marie: not if he is raised by you.
Louise: *horrified* what? *stands up from bed*
Marie: it's all in my will. My father will contest it, naturellement *coughs* but I wish for this child to have a better life than we have had, Majesty.
Louise: then leave him to your father, leaving him to me will do you no good.
Marie: when I die...my father will swoop in to claim the child like he's a piece of property. Like I was. Like Louise was. Like Clémentine will be. And while my brother may seem an idiot, he will hang onto my son. Alexander will be excluded from this child's life almost entirely. He's not important enough to have standing at the court that my father or brother needs to worry about possible offense. You know what it is like to grow up without a father, Majesty. Can you *coughs* honestly tell me that you would wish that fate on my son?
Louise: I had my uncle...Monsieur François-
Marie: and Ludwig will have neither. He will be a chesspawn moved around from square to square. First a trophy for my father then an embarrassment for my brother. Too important to be sent home to his father, not important enough to be anything more than an ornament at court.
Louise: he will have no standing at the Sicilian court. Ferdinando would never agree to it. My brother would never agree to it.
Marie: but Monsieur François would. That...school of his.
Louise: it's not a nursery for children, Marie. Nor a foundling hospital!
Marie: I meant once he's older. I would like Alexander to keep him. Yours and Monsieur François' arms are the only *coughs* ones I know are strong enough to keep my father from stepping in.
Louise: Alexandre could stay in Paris. He could-
Marie: he'll be a reminder to my father - then my brother - of me. That's the only reason they will tolerate him. They'll never allow him to remarry - if that's what he wishes - because they'll see it as dishonouring my memory. They'll look at him with pity that will turn into embarrassment and then to scorn, and my son will grow up hating his father and uncles for that...so we carry this misery into a new generation-
Louise: why not his uncle in Brussels? At least there he'd still have a Protestant guardian.
Marie: my father forced Alexander to concede in the marriage contract that the child will be raised Catholic. And Leopold might be Protestant, but he will send Ludo back as soon as my father asks. While you and Ferdinando might be Catholic, you're also the type that would let Alexander raise him Protestant just to spite my father and brother.
Louise: *purses lips* *she wouldn't actually* *she'd probably insist on him being dumped into catechism classes as soon as he can talk* *but she gets what Marie is asking for*
Marie: you owe Alexander nothing. You interceded on your wedding day for a woman you didn't even know. You were willing to take *coughs*a chance on a Protestant Anglaise, all I ask is that we be able to draw a line under all that has passed between us. To go back to how things were *coughs* before.
Louise: *takes Ludo from his mother so she can finish coughing* *sadly* before is gone Marie. That door is closed. *looks down at the little baby*
Marie: then perhaps it is up to us to make it better than it was before, *coughs*
Louise: *closes her eyes as if to ask "what the Hell am I doing?"* *finally she nods*
*cut to Louise and Ferdinando sitting in a carriage* *it's going at a more leisurely pace now* *the Lacrimosa from Mozart's requiem is playing* *on the opposite side of the coach sits the nurse they hired - although baby Ludwig is on Louise's lap - and Alexander of Württemberg*
*a card flashes over the screen that Marie died that evening after she and Louise's conversation* *and that her son would be raised at the Neapolitan court as the ward of Queen Louise* *and that he'd never meet his Orléans' grandfather*
[EDIT] Scene closes over the image of Marie's sculpture she was working on* *we see that Flora Macdonald has the features of Louise, queen of Sicily* *while Bonnie Prince Charlie is Henri de Chambord in a kilt* * General George Murray, seated next to a dog, at Charlie's feet has the features of Reichstadt*[6]
[1] from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi: the story of a lawyer who forges a will for his relatives favourable to himself. They can't object to him forging a will since by doing so they make themselves complicit. His daughter, Laurette, sings the aria O Mio Babbino Caro (O my beloved father) when one of them insults him and he threatens to leave rather than "help them".
[2] Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus addictus - when the evil/accursed are confounded and consigned to flames of woe
[3] not a weird subject choice, Sir Walter Scott and the Jacobites were big in 1820s/1830s France
[4] Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy. Santa Rosalia is also the convent supposedly where a Dr. Beaton assisted a woman presumed to be Luise of Stolberg give birth to the Jacobite heir in 1774
[5] I was wondering if it sounds plausible that this Alexander of Württemberg is actually OTL Queen Mary of Teck's grandpa? That for whatever reasons, he doesn't meet Baroness Rhedey. He'd certainly be a "marginally" better prospect of a husband than Marie's OTL husband, with his connections to the Dutch, the Wettins, another sister being Stephan of Hungary's stepmom, his half-brother being something of a BFF to Nikolai I of Russia. Would certainly make King Bomb slightly more accepting of taking in a Protestant cavalry captain if that Protestant was also someone with "connections" at least, no?
[6] Marie (and several artists) were known to do this. Delacroix's Médée was believed to be the Duchesse de Berri and her kids as well. Paul Delaroche's paintings most famously as a sort of political commentary: Execution of Lady Jane Grey was a criticism of Marie Antoinette (it was removed from the 1833 Salon for this since it showing the executioner as being reluctant and the queen as sympathetically tragic figure) , his Death of Queen Elizabeth, Liz (supposedly) has the features of Madame Royal, his Cromwell Viewing the Corpse of Charles I is a thinly veiled reference to Louis Philippe/Charles X. His murdered duc de Guise apparently had the late Ferdinand d'Orléans in mind. Richard of Shrewsbury Praying Over the Dying Edward V was a thinly veiled reference to Madame Royale's own sufferings,and ICR if the models were either inspired by the ducs d'Aumale and Montpensier or by Chartres' two sons.
@The_Most_Happy (hope I got the birthing stuff right) @isabella @VVD0D95 @Jan Olbracht @Tarabas @LordKalvan @Ramontxo @HortenseMancini @Anarch King of Dipsodes @Dragonboy @Fehérvári @kaiidth @SavoyTruffle @Wendell @Evil Crusader @Issei Uzumaki @Jürgen @Metempsychosis @Drex @unprincipled peter
*establishing shot* *various views of the city of Pisa* *the Lungarno* *the Leaning Tower* *the baptistery* *then we are offered a glimpse of a woman in an artist's studio* *she's clearly pregnant under her smock* *she works happily on a clay model of a statue, Flora Macdonald Tends Bonnie Prince Charlie[3]* *suddenly one she drops the knife in surprise* *as she stoops to pick it up, she clutches at her belly, grimacing in pain* *she straightens up again* *we see her mouth open with what looks like a gasp or silent scream of pain*
*cut to convent called Santa Rosalia between Pisa and Parma where Louise d'Artois and her husband are both attending mass* *we hear the choir chanting Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison [4]*
*cut to the artist in labour* *the women and doctors are fussing around her* *she's clearly in pain* *her screams coincide with the pounding of the timpani of Mozart's Confutatis*
*cut to an image of Ferdinando and Louise's carriage racing down the road to the rushing strings of the same* *both their faces are drawn and tense*
*cut to the doctor giving the baby to the artist to hold* *her hair is wet* *her face is red* *rather than some sort of tranquil Madonna, she looks like she's just climbed a mountain*
*cut to Louise hurrying through the front doors of a palazzo* *up the stairs*
*cut to the artist's husband entering the room* *he sits on the bed with his wife* *looks down at their newborn*
Usher: Her Majesty, the Queen of Sicily!
Louise: *enters room* *she hands her hat to the usher and orders him out*
Husband a.ka. Alexander of Württemberg [5]: *rises from bed* what are you doing here?
Louise: *coolly stares Alex down*: I'm the bad fairy at Sleeping Beauty's christening, Alexandre. What are you going to do?
Artist a.k.a. Marie d'Orléans: I asked her to come.
Louise: *smirks at Alexander in triumph as she steps past him* *sits down on bed* *kisses Marie on both cheeks*
Marie: Alexander, leave us.
Alexander: opens his mouth to protest*
Louise: it's discussing women's business, no concern of yours, Prinz. Ferdinando's waiting out in the salon with those horrible cigars of his. Maybe he'll share *turns back to Marie* *looks down at the child* he's beautiful.
Marie: *smiles as they close the doors* I don't know how much time I have, Majesty.
Louise: nonsense, you will recover and he will have many more brothers and sisters.
*as if on cue, Marie coughs into a handkerchief* *it comes away stained with blood*
Marie: my apologies, your Majesty.
Louise: *realizes why Marie wanted to see her*
Marie: I was thinking of naming him "Louis Henri" if it was a boy. "Thérèse Antoinette" if a girl.
Louise: both good names, Marie.
Marie: I want this...squabble to end, your Majesty. Your brother versus my father.
Louise: that is their choice, not mine.
Marie: but my son will end up caught in it. That is no fit life for a child. To be torn between two homes. *coughs again* Two loyalties.
Louise: why two. There will be one home, one loyalty.
Marie: not if he is raised by you.
Louise: *horrified* what? *stands up from bed*
Marie: it's all in my will. My father will contest it, naturellement *coughs* but I wish for this child to have a better life than we have had, Majesty.
Louise: then leave him to your father, leaving him to me will do you no good.
Marie: when I die...my father will swoop in to claim the child like he's a piece of property. Like I was. Like Louise was. Like Clémentine will be. And while my brother may seem an idiot, he will hang onto my son. Alexander will be excluded from this child's life almost entirely. He's not important enough to have standing at the court that my father or brother needs to worry about possible offense. You know what it is like to grow up without a father, Majesty. Can you *coughs* honestly tell me that you would wish that fate on my son?
Louise: I had my uncle...Monsieur François-
Marie: and Ludwig will have neither. He will be a chesspawn moved around from square to square. First a trophy for my father then an embarrassment for my brother. Too important to be sent home to his father, not important enough to be anything more than an ornament at court.
Louise: he will have no standing at the Sicilian court. Ferdinando would never agree to it. My brother would never agree to it.
Marie: but Monsieur François would. That...school of his.
Louise: it's not a nursery for children, Marie. Nor a foundling hospital!
Marie: I meant once he's older. I would like Alexander to keep him. Yours and Monsieur François' arms are the only *coughs* ones I know are strong enough to keep my father from stepping in.
Louise: Alexandre could stay in Paris. He could-
Marie: he'll be a reminder to my father - then my brother - of me. That's the only reason they will tolerate him. They'll never allow him to remarry - if that's what he wishes - because they'll see it as dishonouring my memory. They'll look at him with pity that will turn into embarrassment and then to scorn, and my son will grow up hating his father and uncles for that...so we carry this misery into a new generation-
Louise: why not his uncle in Brussels? At least there he'd still have a Protestant guardian.
Marie: my father forced Alexander to concede in the marriage contract that the child will be raised Catholic. And Leopold might be Protestant, but he will send Ludo back as soon as my father asks. While you and Ferdinando might be Catholic, you're also the type that would let Alexander raise him Protestant just to spite my father and brother.
Louise: *purses lips* *she wouldn't actually* *she'd probably insist on him being dumped into catechism classes as soon as he can talk* *but she gets what Marie is asking for*
Marie: you owe Alexander nothing. You interceded on your wedding day for a woman you didn't even know. You were willing to take *coughs*a chance on a Protestant Anglaise, all I ask is that we be able to draw a line under all that has passed between us. To go back to how things were *coughs* before.
Louise: *takes Ludo from his mother so she can finish coughing* *sadly* before is gone Marie. That door is closed. *looks down at the little baby*
Marie: then perhaps it is up to us to make it better than it was before, *coughs*
Louise: *closes her eyes as if to ask "what the Hell am I doing?"* *finally she nods*
*cut to Louise and Ferdinando sitting in a carriage* *it's going at a more leisurely pace now* *the Lacrimosa from Mozart's requiem is playing* *on the opposite side of the coach sits the nurse they hired - although baby Ludwig is on Louise's lap - and Alexander of Württemberg*
*a card flashes over the screen that Marie died that evening after she and Louise's conversation* *and that her son would be raised at the Neapolitan court as the ward of Queen Louise* *and that he'd never meet his Orléans' grandfather*
[EDIT] Scene closes over the image of Marie's sculpture she was working on* *we see that Flora Macdonald has the features of Louise, queen of Sicily* *while Bonnie Prince Charlie is Henri de Chambord in a kilt* * General George Murray, seated next to a dog, at Charlie's feet has the features of Reichstadt*[6]
[1] from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi: the story of a lawyer who forges a will for his relatives favourable to himself. They can't object to him forging a will since by doing so they make themselves complicit. His daughter, Laurette, sings the aria O Mio Babbino Caro (O my beloved father) when one of them insults him and he threatens to leave rather than "help them".
[3] not a weird subject choice, Sir Walter Scott and the Jacobites were big in 1820s/1830s France
[4] Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy. Santa Rosalia is also the convent supposedly where a Dr. Beaton assisted a woman presumed to be Luise of Stolberg give birth to the Jacobite heir in 1774
[5] I was wondering if it sounds plausible that this Alexander of Württemberg is actually OTL Queen Mary of Teck's grandpa? That for whatever reasons, he doesn't meet Baroness Rhedey. He'd certainly be a "marginally" better prospect of a husband than Marie's OTL husband, with his connections to the Dutch, the Wettins, another sister being Stephan of Hungary's stepmom, his half-brother being something of a BFF to Nikolai I of Russia. Would certainly make King Bomb slightly more accepting of taking in a Protestant cavalry captain if that Protestant was also someone with "connections" at least, no?
[6] Marie (and several artists) were known to do this. Delacroix's Médée was believed to be the Duchesse de Berri and her kids as well. Paul Delaroche's paintings most famously as a sort of political commentary: Execution of Lady Jane Grey was a criticism of Marie Antoinette (it was removed from the 1833 Salon for this since it showing the executioner as being reluctant and the queen as sympathetically tragic figure) , his Death of Queen Elizabeth, Liz (supposedly) has the features of Madame Royal, his Cromwell Viewing the Corpse of Charles I is a thinly veiled reference to Louis Philippe/Charles X. His murdered duc de Guise apparently had the late Ferdinand d'Orléans in mind. Richard of Shrewsbury Praying Over the Dying Edward V was a thinly veiled reference to Madame Royale's own sufferings,and ICR if the models were either inspired by the ducs d'Aumale and Montpensier or by Chartres' two sons.
@The_Most_Happy (hope I got the birthing stuff right) @isabella @VVD0D95 @Jan Olbracht @Tarabas @LordKalvan @Ramontxo @HortenseMancini @Anarch King of Dipsodes @Dragonboy @Fehérvári @kaiidth @SavoyTruffle @Wendell @Evil Crusader @Issei Uzumaki @Jürgen @Metempsychosis @Drex @unprincipled peter
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will fix it
I don't, unfortunately
well, it's pretty hard to like a man you blame for your dad being dead, I'd imagine. Plus - weirdly - Joao VI of Portugal was Montbello's godfather.
Did Marie die from complications of childbirth, then? Or was she already sick?