SOLO SHOT by Irv Brandt

Author:Irv Brandt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2022-12-15T14:31:04+00:00

Chapter 19

November, 1689

Nemesskaya Sloboda (German Quarter)

Moscow, Russia

“Do you not like the food, my lord? You barely touched your dinner.”

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier looked at the young gingered haired woman seated next to him at the table and saw genuine concern in her big blue eyes.

He patted her hand and said “the food is wonderful, my dear. It’s just I have been feeling unwell as of late and don’t have much of an appetite. And please call me Jean-Baptiste. You know I’m no longer a lord.”

The young woman smiled and said “you will always be Baron Tavernier to us here in Russia.”

The woman’s remark was met by a murmur of agreement from the men and women seated at the elegant table in the formal dining room of the mansion located in Northeast Moscow on the right bank of the Yauza River.

Jean-Baptiste smiled sadly as he looked around at the people gathered in the room. They were from England, Spain, France and other countries in Europe and now lived in Moscow where they were forced to reside in the German Quarter which was designated for foreigners. All these people including myself are outcasts from their native homes, he thought. This lovely young woman seated next to me is the daughter of an English tobacco merchant who was forced to flee over a tax dispute with the crown.

Jean-Baptiste said “if Louis XIV didn’t strip me of my title of nobility for being a protestant Huguenot, I would have never moved here to Russia where I’ve made such wonderful new friends.”

He held his wineglass up high and said “so let us raise a glass and toast the King of France!”

All the people in the room appreciated the ironic humor and raised their glasses saying “long live the King!”

After the laughter died down over the toast, the young woman said “I don’t understand how you can make a joke of what King Louis did to you. I think it’s horrible.”

Jean-Baptiste looked fondly at her and said “my dear lady Sara, life is full of tragedy and despair. You must learn to put it behind you and move forward.”

She didn’t seem happy with his response and Jean-Baptiste really couldn’t blame her because he didn’t truly believe it himself. My life has gone straight to hell ever since I acquired that great blue diamond in India, he thought. I lost over half my guards to attacks during the journey from India to Persia then the sea voyage to Europe had been a nightmare. Twice the crew had to battle pirates and the ship almost sank during a violent storm.

I thought my fortune had changed when I sold the great blue diamond to King Louis and became the Baron of Aubonne, but my wife grew ill and died the very next winter leaving me alone. When I returned to Paris, I found the King’s attitude towards Protestants had changed and I just managed to sell Chateau Aubonne before the King stripped me of my title for refusing to convert to Catholicism.

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