Paris.
The steam passenger ship Pearl Earring slowly came to a stop at Saint-Bernard Port on the Seine River. The moment the gangplank was set in place, Mrs. Broad impatiently emerged, lifting her skirts.
She first took an excited deep breath of the air tinged with the river's fishy smell, then gazed at the tidy streets in the distance and the endless stream of vehicles, exclaiming in somewhat clumsy French:
"The newspapers were right after all. This place is practically second only to heaven!"
Her husband dawdled after her, frowning as he muttered, "Don't be fooled by this superficial illusion. France is crawling with warmongers..."
The woman immediately shot him a glare. "I suggest you put aside that utterly unnecessary hostility and prejudice. France's army has helped us before."
"Hmph, everyone knows France is backing the Flemings. Those invaders occupy vast tracts of land in the south of the Netherlands!"
Mrs. Broad retorted, "Without France's mediation, the Flemings might already have occupied Amsterdam.
"And not long ago, France even ceded western Emden to us. We should be thanking the French."
"Hmph, mere crumbs." Broad curled his lip. "If that fellow hadn't insisted on sending us ship tickets and admission passes, I wouldn't have wanted to set foot on French soil for the rest of my life."
Yes, he was a radical Dutch nationalist. His political views included reclaiming the lands occupied by the Flemings and rebuilding the mighty navy that had once looked down upon Europe, among other things.
Mrs. Broad rolled her eyes at him again. "You ought to show your cousin some respect. Please don't forget that your business still depends on his help."
The moment Broad heard the word "business," his momentum immediately faltered.
Back then, his fortune had been considerably greater than that wool merchant Walsh's.