Chapter 408: Queen Marie and the "Crown Princess"
In the small theater of the Petit Trianon, Joseph was unbuttoning his heavy costume, pointing to the actors reciting their lines on stage, and said to Talleyrand:
"Sorry, please speak up; it's too noisy here, and I can't hear you."
"Oh, of course, Your Highness." The Foreign Minister quickly raised his voice. "The British have two main demands.
"The first is that we stop all support for Mysore, including recalling the Marquis de Lafayette.
"The second is that we issue a statement clarifying that Britain had no involvement in exporting the revolution to the Southern Netherlands."
"As expected." Joseph nodded. "And what do we gain?"
Talleyrand grew excited and pulled out his notebook, reading aloud:
"First, Britain must cease all support to North African nations, including Morocco, and publicly condemn the invasions of Tunisia by Algiers, Morocco, and Tripoli.
"Second, Britain will acknowledge Tunisia, Tripoli, and Annaba in Algiers as part of the French sphere of influence."
"Annaba?" Joseph looked at the Archbishop in surprise; this wasn't originally on his "wishlist."
Talleyrand proudly lifted his chin:
"I traded a few spies from the Southern Netherlands for it. The British quickly agreed."
"You've done very well." Joseph nodded in approval. Annaba was the only gateway from Algiers to Tunisia—unless one counted the southern desert route. Controlling it would significantly enhance the security of western Tunisia.
Moreover, from Tunisia, Annaba could serve as a bridgehead into Algiers. After Algiers' guards had twice provoked France, those actions would not go unpunished.
And the area itself wasn't small, almost the size of Montpellier in France, with a good port. While somewhat redundant with Bizerte, it was better than nothing, and it would lower the cost of shipping grain from Algiers to France.
"It's all part of my duty," Talleyrand said with a bow, then continued to list his "victories." "Third, Carnatic will remain permanently neutral, and Britain will not seek any alliances with it."
Given Britain's power, alliances with Indian princely states were essentially vassalage. This clause meant that there would be a gap in British influence in southeastern India, leaving an opening for France to reestablish itself on the subcontinent. France's only foothold in India, Pondicherry, was right next to Carnatic.
"Fourth, Britain will use its influence to ensure Russia does not intervene in the Silesian conflict."
This was a condition Joseph had insisted on, and Wellesley had agreed without hesitation—Russia was currently at war with Sweden and had no intention of intervening in Silesia.
However, Joseph knew that Catherine the Great had never stopped coveting Poland.
To defeat Poland with minimal effort, she would need to get Prussia and Austria to strike simultaneously, which would require first mediating their conflict.
And Russia's typical mode of mediation was to say, "Stop fighting, or we'll send in our troops."
Talleyrand closed his notebook:
"Fifth, and finally, Britain will reveal the whereabouts of Oscar Paoli but insists he cannot die on British soil."
This was another demand of Joseph's. As the leader of Corsican nationalism, Oscar Paoli had to be dealt with quickly.
Not only did Napoleon see Paoli as a spiritual mentor, but removing him was also crucial for Corsica's stability. Paoli's supporters constantly vied for power in the Corsican assembly, slandered the French government, and incited resistance to national policies, preventing Corsica from developing properly.
Historically, it was only after Napoleon used force to suppress the Corsican nationalists that the island began to prosper. However, that was after Napoleon became First Consul and ruled France—his position shaped his views. Since Joseph couldn't give Napoleon the position of First Consul now, he would have to eliminate Paoli instead.
The British demand presented a challenge—Paoli couldn't be killed in Britain.
This was understandable. Unlike the diamond necklace scandal's fraudster, whom the British government handed over to the French without hesitation, Paoli was a figure of significant political influence. The British had to consider the implications—if he died in Britain, it could discourage others from establishing exile governments there. Revealing his whereabouts was already a significant concession.
Joseph squinted slightly, thinking that for a political figure like Paoli, social death might be even more effective than physical death in destroying him…
As he mused, the theater troupe's leader approached cautiously, bowing to him:
"Your Highness, your Anne has arrived."
Seeing Joseph pause in confusion, the leader quickly explained:
"Oh, I mean the leading lady of the play."
Joseph smiled awkwardly, remembering that he had renamed the heroine of Battle Through the Heavens to Anne Xun'er Xiao.
"I see. I'll be right over."
"Of course, Your Highness."
After Talleyrand quickly discussed some treaty details with the Prince, he took his leave.
Joseph then made his way to the stage area of the theater, where the troupe leader parted the crowd and brought a little girl, barely reaching Joseph's chest, to stand before him. The leader respectfully introduced her:
"Your Highness, this is Alexandra Pavlovna, who will be playing Anne…"
Joseph looked at the chubby face and gentle, large eyes of the child before him, and nodded with a smile:
"Hello, we meet again."
Alexandra immediately lifted her skirt and curtsied: "It's a pleasure to see you, Your Highness."
"I'm pleased to see you too, Grand Duchess."
A shy smile flickered at the corner of Alexandra's mouth as she stepped closer and whispered:
"Your Highness, your amusement park is simply the greatest invention in the world!"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Joseph responded politely, then looked at the troupe leader with suspicion. "Are you saying that the Grand Duchess will be playing Anne?"
"Uh, yes, Your Highness." The leader braced himself and replied, "The Grand Duchess is the perfect choice for this role."
He was silently cursing himself. This role had been personally arranged by Her Majesty the Queen, but since she had ordered him not to tell anyone, he had to take the blame.
Indeed, this was Queen Marie's brilliant idea for advancing her son's love life—letting all the nobles at Versailles witness the Prince and Alexandra acting as a couple on stage!
By this indirect method, she hoped to gradually get the nobility accustomed to the idea of a Russian crown princess. Marie considered herself a genius for coming up with this plan.
(End of Chapter)
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