On the night of July 14, 1789, when tsunami-like roars and the thunder of gunfire came from outside the palace, the tense Louis XVI anxiously asked those around him, "Is this a rebellion?"
A duke answered, "No, Your Majesty, this is a revolution."
The duke who answered Louis XVI's question was Miss Georgiana's new guardian, Citizen La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, who looked as comically absurd as a Joker in public yet carried himself with solemn authority inside a carriage. He had been elected a representative to the Estates-General in 1789 and politically belonged to the liberal aristocrats led by Lafayette.
The French Revolution was full of factions. Though they had similarities, they were not entirely the same. Some liberal aristocrats were plantation owners from overseas colonies, but more were entrepreneurs engaged in mining and metallurgy. Napoleon's army needed guns and cannons, and making them required metallurgy and mining. As one of the surviving Jacobin "regicides," he had become close partners with the aristocrats who had once attended Louis XVI. How "shocking" it would be if that got out.
Yet that was exactly how their relationship worked. Aristocratic wealth needed military protection, while soldiers' equipment and the luxurious lives of senior officers also required aristocratic financial support. Now a class of financiers had to be added as well; they too were suitable marriage partners for the newly risen officers.
As people in Egypt say, no matter how precious turquoise was, it could not be eaten as grain. The Baltic Sea was an important grain-producing region. They did not produce food, while France itself was destined for a poor harvest. If they only realized it after the autumn harvest a month later, they would then scramble across the world for supplies. By the time the grain arrived, the civil unrest would be over, conveniently