When Georgiana returned to the great conservatory, Polina had already arrived. Sure enough, she was wearing that purple gauze dress, though she had paired it with a very pretty hat that gave her a thoroughly pastoral air.
Augereau was accompanying her on a walk. Perhaps because she had been confined for far too long, her lively nature had emerged, and Augereau was smiling happily as well, even though Polina was not wearing that magnificent necklace.
The necklace was set with many gems, suitable for dinner parties and balls. Both Bougainville and Alexander von Humboldt had said that in Brazil, all gems besides diamonds could be freely traded without being considered smuggled goods, because they belonged to the mine owners.
Anything became worthless when there was too much of it, whether Spanish silver coins or opals. Even the peridots she wore were the same. There was a green beach in French Guiana where the sea washed up nothing but peridots.
Another line in the poem on the flyer read: "I shall shatter your fragile scepter and make Beethoven's Fifth Symphony submit beneath my feet."
Perhaps people in Italy did not care about "betrayal," or French thieves being "clothed in royal blood." Italy had no king, so what did any of it have to do with them?
What Britain wanted was India. They had only just occupied the Mysore Sultan's lands, and nothing had yet stabilized. How could they possibly spare troops to conquer Egypt, or establish a coffee monopoly at a time like this?
But Home Popham was different. If he succeeded, money would come pouring in. He could live lavishly in Madrid like Gabriel Ouvrard, spending money like water. His business was transporting Piastre silver coins for the King of Spain.
Anyone who wanted to run with Ouvrard needed money.