Two hours after Talleyrand saw off the Sultan's Envoy, Mustafa Bey, Muhammad Ali's son-in-law and also the younger brother of the Governor's wife, arrived with his attendants at a small wooden cabin on the western side of Paris's Royal Hunting Ground.
This was where the royal family rested during hunts. The building was small, but extremely secluded—within five kilometers, apart from the Regent's Royal Guards, there were only deer and wild boars.
Upon seeing the Regent of France, Mustafa hurried forward and solemnly bowed, then launched into a lengthy string of congratulations on the royal family gaining an heir. The gifts he had brought had already been delivered to Versailles Palace on the day of Michel's birth celebration. He came empty-handed now, and in any case, this was not an appropriate setting for gift-giving.
However, he had remained outside the banquet hall that day and had been unable to meet the Regent, so he still had to make up for the congratulatory words.
Joseph was still eager to return and hold his son, and had no wish to waste time. After gesturing for him to sit, he went straight to the point. "Marquis of Brézé said you had something extremely urgent to discuss with me?"
"Indeed, Your Highness the Regent." Mustafa hurriedly rose again and bowed. "As you know, in order to secure the Holy City, Pasha invested tens of thousands of soldiers and several million Krusch in military expenses in Hejaz. Only after suffering immense casualties was he able to defeat the Diriyah rebels." The Pasha he referred to was naturally Muhammad Ali.
Mustafa's expression shifted to one of indignation as he continued, "However, we have received reliable intelligence that the Sultan intends to violate tradition and order Pasha's troops to withdraw to Cairo!"
Ottoman tradition dictated that whoever