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Léon Belmont (ex_the_ambas216) wrote in toujoursliberer,
@ 2008-03-28 07:54:00

Entry tags:

ambassadors_ball, leon_belmont

An Invitation to the French Ambassador's Ball
Subject: The Ambassadors Ball
Where: The French Embassy
Who: Léon Belmont, the French Ambassador to the English court
Warnings: none as yet
Open to: All (all players may attend either as invited guests of the ambassador, as servants or guests of those invited, as staff, or as gate-crashers.)

The ballroom of the Embassy was already growing busy, and when Citizen Belmont paused for a moment besides one of the large windows, he could see yet more carriages pulling up outside, wreathed in the mist blowing in from the river.

The quartet had been playing now for a good half an hour, new French tunes as well as those the English favoured. His staff was busy handing out good French wine, and then refilling those glasses when they were drained.

It was going to be a good evening, and not only in the eyes of the party-goers. With some of England’s most prominent aristos on the guest list, and some than some newly arrived French nationals, tonight would be a night of information gathering, of sizing up the opposition, and perhaps even ensuring some of those French escapees were returned to face justice.

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ex_the_ambas216
2008-04-29 08:06 pm UTC (link)

"Lord Blake?" He asked, having had one of his English aides point the man out to him a moment or two before. The English had far too many nobles for such a small country, he decided, and many of them appeared to him to be exactly the same. Same accents, same opinions, same dry, dead sense of humour. Still, when in Rome...

"I am glad you could make it this evening. I understand you do not stay in London very often?"

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	blakethesecond 2008-04-29 08:18 pm UTC (link)
	Christopher noted this man as he approached and when he began talking he instantly put two and two together. With a small yet muted smile he greeted the Ambassador with a courteous bow. "Not if I can help it, Monsieur Ambassador. I find it tedious and far too busy. I reside in Surrey. It is a magnificent ball you have held tonight, though..." (Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

ex_the_ambas216
2008-04-29 08:27 pm UTC (link)

"I am glad you think so, Lord Blake. Such things are strange to me, I hope I have not been... too Spartan and offended any delicate English sensibilities harboured by your kinsmen?" He asked, smiling slightly as he glanced about the room. "You would tell me, I hope, if I made a terrible faux pas?"

"Surrey? That is further south than here, is it not? You will forgive me, I hope. I have left London very little so far, but I have not been here long. London keeps me busy. But I understand why you would want to leave, my lord. It does... ingrain itself into your skin, does it not?"

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blakethesecond
2008-04-29 08:35 pm UTC (link)

"If you have they have gone unnoticed by me," Christopher replied, smiling politely, "and I would of course correct you if you so wished me to. I would not want your splendid ball to turn sour simply because I did not speak up."

He sipped the drink in his hand, listening to the Ambassador while looking at him closely. All the time he was assessing whether he was to be trusted as his charges had told him so. "Yes it is south of here. Not too far but far enough - I do feel confined when I am here, the country is far better suited to my current temperament."

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ex_the_ambas216
2008-04-29 08:45 pm UTC (link)

"I am sure the evening would not be ruined entirely, sir, but perhaps some of my guests would go home offended. They would say, Not only did that horrid Revolutionary serve me unchilled champagne, but he was also rude! No wonder in France do they cut off peoples heads." He said, a smile tugging at his lips as he picked up a drink of his own.

"If only all temperaments could be cured by a visit to the countryside. Alas, it is not so. But I do believe that then the countryside would be crowded with party guests and king's cousins, and the cities and towns filled with farmers, without money or land enough to feed themselves. I have heard that cobblestones are not the most fertile of crops."

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	blakethesecond 2008-04-29 08:54 pm UTC (link)
	Christopher smiled at his joke, amused that he was actually giving him a lead to take a conversation. With another sip of the wine he shook his head. "No, they do not grow very well under cement! But tell me, Ambassador - is it true what they say of your stance on the Revolution? That you are with those who are battling for equality?" (Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

ex_the_ambas216
2008-04-29 09:05 pm UTC (link)

Léon inclined his head, "Is that not what all human beings deserve, sir? The same chance as their fellows, and the same opportunities as their brothers? The quality of a man's soul is not based on the wealth of his parents, or how soft the fabric of their clothes."

"In England, they think a man who thinks such things is mad. Or French. But more likely he is both. Is that your opinion?"

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	blakethesecond 2008-04-29 10:06 pm UTC (link)
	"I heartily agree with your sentiment," said Christopher carefully, "and I house several more who share the same mindset. It is those who expect poorer families to settle to a life of slavery and ill treatment that are mad, sir, for they do not even realise they are slaves themselves." (Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_the_ambas216 2008-04-30 05:53 pm UTC (link)
	"Slaves at least to their habits and vices, my lord." He says, agreeing wholeheartedly. "It is a slavery of the soul, rather than that of the body. The worst kind." He pauses, draining his glass. "You house like-minded people? I am surprised, I did not think there were more than one or two individuals in England were so enlightened." (Replies frozen) (Parent) (Thread)

	blakethesecond 2008-04-30 05:59 pm UTC (link)
	"Oh, they are not from England," he said poignantly, giving the Ambassador a rather significant look and paused so that his words had the chance to sink in and make their mark. "But you are right. England has very few people who would support the cause as readily as I do." (Replies frozen) (Parent)

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