H.J. Gaudreau - Betrayal in the Louvre

H.J. Gaudreau - Betrayal in the Louvre Read Free

Book: H.J. Gaudreau - Betrayal in the Louvre Read Free
Author: H.J. Gaudreau
Tags: Mystery: Thriller - Treasure Hunt
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lamp?  No, that’s special.”  Eve laughed and backed down the ladder.
     
     

 
    Chapter 3
     
    Louis XVI studied the scene outside the rain-streaked window.  The lead lined windowpanes distorted the view of the ornate gardens of the Château de Versailles.  He didn’t see the distortion, he didn’t see the gardens.  He simply stared in the direction of the Hotel des Menus Plaisiers.  The afternoon was cold, gray, wet.  It seemed as if a dark cloud simply grew from the horizon, centered on that damned hotel.  The cloud expanded up and over him.  It closed in around him, through him and squeezed his heart so that it was hard to breath; even harder to think.  And now, more than ever he needed to think.
    Things were going badly and he knew it.  It was a slow, rumbling avalanche and it was coming right at him.  Insults had been shouted.  Shouted at him!  Things were said in the newspapers and on handbills.  Most of France had suffered poor harvests, the Treasury was empty, and his wife was making a mess of things.  A raucous group of Parliaments, the councils in each region, had demanded action.  That fool, François de Paule de Barentin, had encouraged a general meeting with the nobility, the clergy and the people, an Estates-General.  It was a rarely used thing, it would be the first since 1619.  And now, there they were, assembled in that damned hotel.  Things were not calmer; they were worse.  The Estates-General was a disaster.  The whole thing was a mockery to his reign. 
    He had lost control from the beginning.  His advisers had no advice of course, worthless fools.  They simply made matters worse.  The commoners had not understood their role.  They even tried to sit in the front of the theater!  These uncultured fools didn’t even recognize the protocol of such a meeting.  The rules for the conduct and proceedings were clearly established in L’Etiquette of 1614.   The clergy and nobility were to sit in the front, dressed in the formal regalia defined by their station in the nobility.  The representatives of the Third Estate; landsmen, tradesmen and minor members of the nobility were to sit at the back; far away from the throne as befit their standing.  It was simply the way things were done. 
    That had been the first issue, harangued and argued with but finally overcome.  It had been, well…uncomfortable. 
    Then Barentin began with a procedural process formalizing the rules for the conduct of the assembly.  The fool completely misread the crowd.  He talked for hours, forgot what he was about and tried to get right to the financial situation of the country and address taxes.  It resulted in a near riot.  They wanted to talk about procedures.  Louie had already agreed to double representation for the commoners.  He had made a major concession.  Was that not enough?  Surely that had no impact on the procedures for votes on issues before the Estates-General.  Each estate would vote by orders – thus each estate had an equal voice.  That was certainly fair; he did not see an issue.  Individual votes would apply only insofar as how the total order voted.   To do otherwise, was contrary to the rules.  Besides that, well, damn-it, he was the King. 
    Last week these fools had formed the Communes.  What the hell was that?  Worse, they had invited him to participate!  Participate!  Of course he had refused, what choice did he have?  This was an action against God!  He was King and a representative of God.  It could not stand! 
    Finally, his Councilors understood; military force would be necessary.  He didn’t want to do that to his own people.  Yes, it might work.  No, he couldn’t do that.  He vacillated.  He couldn’t decide.  Now even that seemed to be slipping away.  What was happening?
    He could sense a growing danger.  It was out there, perhaps in this black cloud of mist sweeping up from the river Somme.  It pushed down on him and his Palace. 

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