Territories with mineral resources had often been granted out by the king before the French Revolution. The Constituent Assembly had only confiscated Church lands, not noble estates, so many of those involved in smelting were liberal nobles.
Leoncourt and the old Duke of Saint-Simon both had good reputations, and they and their descendants had escaped the Reign of Terror. Other nobles were different. For various reasons, they had left France, and newly risen notables had bought up their properties. As those exiles gradually returned home, the new notables began worrying that the places they had bought would be reclaimed and returned to the exiles.
This was the intelligence Matilda had brought back after going out to gather information.
Georgiana suddenly discovered Matilda's lovable side. No wonder Sophie regarded her as a good friend.
With someone by her side at a time like this, Georgiana felt much better. That was Marmont's cleverness.
The difference between being in favor and falling from favor could sometimes be that simple. News of the defeat in Saint-Domingue had not spread very widely. Many people believed Napoleon had obtained everything he had now purely through luck. Perhaps once they learned of it, they thought that if they had gone to Saint-Domingue instead, they could have salvaged the defeat.
She rather hoped there would be more people like that. The problem was that even the Swiss refused to go. Who else would be willing?
Amid her restless anxiety, Pierre-Louis Roederer, chairman of the Sampigny Carriage Guild, arrived. He had another identity as well: he had once served as a member of the Directory's Council of State and had recently been assigned to the Senate of the Directory. He had attended the Constituent Assembly, served as a lawyer and judge at the Metz High Court, and in 1789