Searchers in Winter by Owen Pataki

Author:Owen Pataki [Pataki, Owen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781682619803
Publisher: Permuted
Published: 2021-03-12T23:25:10+00:00

My beloved André,

When a month passed with no word from you, I feared the worst. Your latest letter has found me, however, and though I am overcome with relief to receive word, my heart breaks for your executive officer Monsieur Moreau. From your description he sounds a rather useful fellow to have beside you in a fight, and I don’t want to think about you braving battle with anything less than heroes by your side. I hope he recovers his health soon and know that I pray for you and your men every night and will not cease until you arrive safely home.

I must now share with you the painful reason for writing this particular letter. Something has occurred here at Carcourt that has caused me no end of grief and distress, and while I do not wish to place additional burdens on you, I feel you must be aware of what is happening; for this is your home, and we are your family. I would hear any advice you have on the matter, and I will implement it.

You surely recall what I told you in my previous letters about the Count de Montfort, a man named Jean-Claude, and his affairs on our estate. I told you of our invitation for him to Carcourt for dinner, and I can say that I have given as true and sincere an offer of friendship that I can, but André, something has gone terribly wrong. I will not share with you all of the details of our dinner party, but ever since then he has shown a growing coldness toward me. That, of itself, is no particular cause for alarm; it is what has happened lately that truly disturbs me. Our efforts to build a tavern on the sight of the abandoned mill on the Saint-Paër stream have caused a great mess, and, after speaking with the concerned parties, I wrote the count, asking for any advice he might have to offer. He sent no reply. Strange though that might’ve been, I thought nothing was amiss until I received word from Monsieur Le Bon that the count would not be visiting Carcourt anymore, and that he was “indisposed.” Again, I thought it a strange development but hardly anything to worry over until I was handed, once again by Guy Le Bon, ever the bearer of pleasant news, an article recently published in the Norman Gazette, the count’s newly purchased journal. The article is riddled with cruel and unfounded rumours, and I wished you to hear of it from me before any soldiers’ gossip or calumny finds you at the front. The closing lines were the most damning, and try as I might I can find no reason for the man to have resorted to such base cruelty, especially in light of the friendship the people of Carcourt-sur-Seine have shown him and his associates.

“The lady of the estate, Sophie Valiere, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Valiere, where she has failed using seduction and licentious offers of

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