The Comte de Broglie to the Candidates
Paris, 23 December 176-
Dear Marquis de Volanges and Duchesse de Saint-Fargeau,
I am writing this letter in the Chatelet police headquarters of Monsieur de Sartine. The Vicomtesse de Marsan and the Baron de Vergy are in his custody, as are a dozen Englishmen. Upon receiving your last letters, I immediately contacted the royal guard and stormed the de Vergy estate. Not only were the two candidates locked up in the cellar, but I also found the English actress and d'Enfou in a comfortable position in de Vergy's master bedroom. The rascal had escaped the Bastille through accomplices that have been hanged today in the prison's courtyard. Based on preliminary interrogations (that is without the help of Monsieur Samson, the King's executioner) it seems that both de Vergy and de Marsan had been their agents for quite a while. De Vergy was smuggling goods, letters and persons accross the Channel and de Marsan using her animal magnetism to extract classified information during her irresistible pillow talk sessions. The English most recently used them to infiltrate our secret and hoped that one of them would get selected. To ensure this neither de Vergy nor de Marsan was aware of the other's most secret mission until recently, and it's no doubt de Marsan wanted to be the one by confounding de Vergy. Of course, their employers, being treacherous Britons, betrayed them and sequestered them until further notice.
To establish that kind of network outside of your own country requires an extensive group of collaborators. The pox-infected actress was found by d'Enfou, who got pox from her and was working himself for none other than the Duc de Saint-Fargeau, our Duchesse's beloved husband. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I started active surveillance of his correspondence to prevent him from hindering the Duchesse in her investigations. I discovered that the Duc wanted to destabilize the Bourbon dinasty, starting with Monsieur, to better place himself in line for succession. He thus contacted the English through famous socialite Comte de Saint-Germain and proceeded to recruit d'Enfou as his Parisian liaison. One of my elite agents, the Chevalier d'Eon, obtained this information using the de Marsan approach on Saint-Germain. Saint-Germain also revealed a few embarassing things about you, Volanges. The man claims to be centuries-old so he may just be lying, but at this stage I cannot dismiss any testimony.
Marquis de Volanges, you will stay in England and find whether the Duchesse de Saint-Fargeau is part of her husband's plot. For this I will need proof coming from King George's administration.
Duchesse de Saint-Fargeau, you will infiltrate Cagliostro's circle and see if, as claimed by Saint-Germain, the Marquis de Volanges has become Cagliostro's puppet through alchemical means or maybe more mundane corruption in gold and diamonds.
I want your reports by the end of the 3rd of January.
All other candidates are requested to investigate one or the other of these issues so that they don't stretch their ressources too thin and comment on one of the last two candidate's reports. De Marsan and de Vergy will be freed so that they can use their networks but followed by agents of Monsieur de Sartine and shot on sight of any suspicious movement.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Charles-Francois, Comte de Broglie
Dear Marquis de Volanges and Duchesse de Saint-Fargeau,
I am writing this letter in the Chatelet police headquarters of Monsieur de Sartine. The Vicomtesse de Marsan and the Baron de Vergy are in his custody, as are a dozen Englishmen. Upon receiving your last letters, I immediately contacted the royal guard and stormed the de Vergy estate. Not only were the two candidates locked up in the cellar, but I also found the English actress and d'Enfou in a comfortable position in de Vergy's master bedroom. The rascal had escaped the Bastille through accomplices that have been hanged today in the prison's courtyard. Based on preliminary interrogations (that is without the help of Monsieur Samson, the King's executioner) it seems that both de Vergy and de Marsan had been their agents for quite a while. De Vergy was smuggling goods, letters and persons accross the Channel and de Marsan using her animal magnetism to extract classified information during her irresistible pillow talk sessions. The English most recently used them to infiltrate our secret and hoped that one of them would get selected. To ensure this neither de Vergy nor de Marsan was aware of the other's most secret mission until recently, and it's no doubt de Marsan wanted to be the one by confounding de Vergy. Of course, their employers, being treacherous Britons, betrayed them and sequestered them until further notice.
To establish that kind of network outside of your own country requires an extensive group of collaborators. The pox-infected actress was found by d'Enfou, who got pox from her and was working himself for none other than the Duc de Saint-Fargeau, our Duchesse's beloved husband. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I started active surveillance of his correspondence to prevent him from hindering the Duchesse in her investigations. I discovered that the Duc wanted to destabilize the Bourbon dinasty, starting with Monsieur, to better place himself in line for succession. He thus contacted the English through famous socialite Comte de Saint-Germain and proceeded to recruit d'Enfou as his Parisian liaison. One of my elite agents, the Chevalier d'Eon, obtained this information using the de Marsan approach on Saint-Germain. Saint-Germain also revealed a few embarassing things about you, Volanges. The man claims to be centuries-old so he may just be lying, but at this stage I cannot dismiss any testimony.
Marquis de Volanges, you will stay in England and find whether the Duchesse de Saint-Fargeau is part of her husband's plot. For this I will need proof coming from King George's administration.
Duchesse de Saint-Fargeau, you will infiltrate Cagliostro's circle and see if, as claimed by Saint-Germain, the Marquis de Volanges has become Cagliostro's puppet through alchemical means or maybe more mundane corruption in gold and diamonds.
I want your reports by the end of the 3rd of January.
All other candidates are requested to investigate one or the other of these issues so that they don't stretch their ressources too thin and comment on one of the last two candidate's reports. De Marsan and de Vergy will be freed so that they can use their networks but followed by agents of Monsieur de Sartine and shot on sight of any suspicious movement.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Charles-Francois, Comte de Broglie