Chapter Summaries

Muhammad Ali used the Ottoman Empire’s crisis in Georgia to strengthen Egypt’s position and court French support. Talleyrand then offered French help to build an Egyptian cannon foundry and ironworks.

• Muhammad Ali ordered an investigation into Ahmed’s gift for the King of France and warned the chief eunuch not to underestimate him.
• Tahir reported that Persian and Georgian forces had captured Tbilisi, prompting Muhammad Ali to send money and a letter of support to Constantinople while ordering Ahmed kept away from the French ambassador.
• Three days later, Muhammad Ali offered Talleyrand a valuable personal gift and asked to buy French cannons and percussion-cap guns.
• Talleyrand told Muhammad Ali that the Crown Prince planned to help Egypt establish a cannon foundry and ironworks.

Talleyrand offered Muhammad Ali French industrial and agricultural support in exchange for Egypt becoming a trade competitor to the Ottoman Empire and leasing France key sites. Muhammad Ali agreed to lease Suez and Famara, the future site of Port Said, while retaining Ibrahim Port.

• Talleyrand offered Egypt access to French ironmaking and textile technologies, iron ore from Algiers, coal, steam water pumps, and stone fertilizer.
• Muhammad Ali realized French assistance could strengthen Egypt, then asked Talleyrand what France expected in return.
• Talleyrand said France wanted Egypt to compete with Ottoman control of eastern Mediterranean trade and sought a route to India independent of the Ottoman Empire.
• Muhammad Ali agreed to lease France the Suez Urban Area while keeping Ibrahim Port open to French merchant ships.
• Talleyrand requested Famara on the eastern edge of Manzala Lake, and Muhammad Ali agreed to lease the barren site that would later become Port Said.

Talleyrand defended Joseph’s plan to industrialize Egypt, while Delat remained concerned about Egypt’s future power and planned to report his doubts to the Crown Prince. In Switzerland, an unpaid Austrian army struggled with low morale as tax reform cut government revenue and soldiers’ supplies.

• Delat questioned the Cairo investment agreement’s military terms, but Talleyrand assured him they reflected the Crown Prince’s decision.
• Delat worried that Egypt’s industrial growth could threaten France, while Talleyrand said he trusted Joseph’s judgment.
• Delat decided to send the Crown Prince a separate report about Egypt despite Talleyrand’s assurances.
• On October 10, an Austrian army marched near Aarau with three months of unpaid wages and frequent desertions.
• Captain Gold learned from his lieutenant that wine rations had been cut and tax reform had sharply reduced government revenue.

Austrian tax resistance and unpaid soldiers undermined the army as Captain Kemmerer’s troops attacked the Basel Rebels. Just as the Basel militia’s defenses began to collapse, Colonel Engelmann’s mercenaries arrived from the east, prompting a call for a counterattack.

• The narration explained that Old Nobles and Tax Farmers weakened Austria’s bureaucracy and tax collection, while falling revenue threatened military pay.
• Captain Kemmerer ordered his soldiers to prepare for battle, then received orders to block the rebels’ escape route from the southeast.
• Austrian artillery and infantry attacked the Basel militia, and Steffens froze as the defenders began retreating.
• The militia major urged Steffens to surrender, but cannon fire from the east forced the Austrian troops to withdraw.
• A messenger told Steffens that Colonel Engelmann requested a counterattack with nearly two thousand mercenaries from Schwyz and Brienz.

Queen Mary persuaded Louis XVI to seek a way to visit Brest by telling him about its remarkable machines and proposing that Joseph serve as regent in Paris. Meanwhile, the Duke of Levis learned that his wife had gained the Queen’s trust, though she worried that Mary trusted her too much.

• Queen Mary described Brest’s beaches and canneries to Louis XVI, whose interest surged when she explained the automatic seaming machine and steam oil press.
• Queen Mary told Louis XVI about Brest’s steam warship, The Decisive, and he eagerly wished to see it and help design it.
• Queen Mary suggested appointing Joseph regent so Louis XVI could go to Brest, and she said she had already begun arranging a scheme there.
• The Duke of Levis read a report about Dr. Potti’s research and reflected on advances in medicine before his wife returned from Brest.
• The Duke of Levis asked his wife whether her journey had increased the Queen’s trust, and she replied that Mary trusted her perhaps too much.

Joseph responded to Austria’s defeat in Switzerland by planning a campaign to exploit tensions over the war and tax reform, while Lavalette brought him troubling news about Charles. The chapter ended before Lavalette revealed what he had heard about Charles.

• The Duchess of Levis told the Duke that the King had mentioned establishing a Regent.
• Joseph appointed Dorian Delat general manager of the Egypt Shipping Company and arranged for the Egyptian Institute of Archaeology to discuss surveying the Suez Canal.
• Berthier reported that Engelmann’s force and the Basel Militia had routed the Austrian troops near Aarau.
• Joseph ordered Lavalette to publicize Austria’s defeat and tax-reform problems, while secretly encouraging the Tax Farmers to provoke trouble.
• Lavalette told Joseph he had heard unusual news about Charles from a Viennese noble.

Joseph ordered Lavalette to investigate Prince Charles’s affair in Berlin, while a French play in Vienna stirred reformist fervor and alarmed a former tax farmer. The chapter ended with Earl of Ulfeld warning Holtz that the Secret Police suspected him in Taxation Officer Feder’s case.

• Joseph learned that Charles was having an affair with a high-ranking woman in Berlin and ordered Lavalette to identify her and check her health.
• Gloria watched Quiet Summer Night with Lucas, celebrated the defeat of its Tax Farmers, and praised the play’s message of reform.
• Lucas worried when Gloria called for freedom because Secret Police could arrest her for such remarks.
• Holtz, a wealthy former tax farmer, watched the play and feared its story foretold his own ruin.
• Gloria returned home after rehearsing her cover story with her maid, while Earl of Ulfeld warned Holtz that the Secret Police suspected him in Feder’s case.

Baron Arnstein and the Tax Farmers planned to pressure the Emperor by withdrawing their capital and exploiting Austria’s military defeat and a grain shortage. The next morning, Gloria hurried to Lucas’s residence to report the secret news of the defeat in Switzerland.

• Earl of Ulfeld warned Holtz that repeated attacks on tax officers could draw an investigation, and Holtz promised to find another way to retaliate.
• Baron Arnstein told the gathered Tax Farmers that Metternich planned arrests and revealed that Bernhardt had been taken to the Hofburg over the Favoriten attacks.
• Alexander Barryon urged the Tax Farmers to sell Austrian Government Bonds, withdraw their Bank of Vienna investments, and use their influence and public opinion to pressure the Emperor.
• Barryon said Austria’s defeat in Switzerland would force the Emperor to seek funds, and advised the Tax Farmers to invest in foreign railway bonds or stockpile grain.
• Gloria went to Lucas’s residence and whispered that she had overheard news of the Imperial army’s defeat in Switzerland.

Lucas and Gloria spread news of Austria’s Swiss defeat, helping fuel public anger as Franz II committed more troops to the conflict. Meanwhile, Kościuszko’s Polish forces won a surprise victory east of the Dnieper, and he ordered them to pursue the retreating Russians toward Smolensk.

• Lucas and Gloria learned that Austria had suffered heavy losses in Switzerland and that nobles planned to pressure Franz II over military funding.
• Lucas and Gloria printed pamphlets exposing the defeat, and the news spread through Vienna as bread prices rose.
• Franz II approved sending twenty thousand reinforcements to Switzerland under General Mikhalevich, while Metternich supported the decision.
• Lucas rallied the Stilz Society and urged people to resist, demand Parliament and a constitution, and claim their rights.
• Kościuszko prayed after the Polish surprise attack captured Mstislav and broke the Russian defensive line.
• Kościuszko ordered General Madalinski to advance toward Smolensk and sent cavalry to requisition supplies from nearby villages.

Kościuszko refused to send reinforcements to the Russian rebels at Pereyaslav, then learned that General Madalinski had captured Smolensk after disease crippled its defenders. As the Polish Army prepared to advance, the rebels faced Dolgurukov’s approaching forces and debated retreating.

• Kościuszko ordered his heavy cannon guarded for winter and declined the Society of Happiness’s request for reinforcements, saying Polish soldiers should not bleed for Russians.
• More than ten days later, a messenger reported that General Madalinski had captured Smolensk Fortress after Major Isaev’s Skirmisher Battalion broke in and disease weakened the Russian defenders.
• Kościuszko ordered the Polish corps to exploit the Russian retreat and told Captain Lukich to report the victory and demand supplies early.
• At Pereyaslav, Major Nestetov warned Gozerov and Kishchenko that Dolgurukov’s forces would arrive the next day after defeating the Vladimirov Battalion.
• Gozerov blamed the Poles and the serfs for failing to support the rebels, while Kishchenko argued they could rely only on educated men.
• A Captain from the Tikhonov Regiment urged the rebels to withdraw toward Lubny and try to reach Kursk before the enemy caught them.

The rebels abandoned plans to reach Kursk and fled toward Moldavia with Polish assistance arranged by That Gentleman. In Versailles, Queen Mary’s plan to send the ailing Louis XVI to the coast faltered when nobles opposed the journey.

• Sidorov told Kishchenko, Gozerov, and the others to cross the Dnieper and travel through Polish territory into Moldavia, where they could survive and regroup.
• Chaddov and Major Nestetov supported the escape, and Gozerov fell silent as more than two thousand rebels crossed the frozen Dnieper overnight.
• Doctor Potti diagnosed Louis XVI with typhus and claimed that freshly caught Fork-toothed Snapper heads could treat it.
• Queen Mary ordered preparations to take Louis XVI to the coast, but the Prince of Condé and other nobles warned that the journey could worsen his condition, leaving her surprised.

Queen Mary’s attempt to keep Louis XVI away while the Regency Charter was passed nearly backfired when the nobles believed his illness was fatal. Doctors reassured them, and Louis was taken to Fontainebleau for treatment, but Duke of Levis warned Mary that Versailles would be left without anyone in charge.

• After Louis XVI’s temperature reached forty degrees, the nobles called for a Senate session, Joseph’s return, and measures to prepare for the King’s possible death.
• Queen Mary tried to prevent Joseph from returning, but the nobles insisted Louis should remain near Versailles and follow the proper succession rituals.
• Duke of Levis brought Covisat and other doctors, and Covisat declared Louis’s condition under control and recovery possible.
• Baron de Breteuil and Duke of Levis proposed sending Louis to Fontainebleau, and Queen Mary agreed.
• Servants carried Louis to a Steam Tram, and Duke of Levis warned Mary that Versailles would lack anyone to oversee affairs while the King recovered.

Queen Mary approved a regency for Joseph and considered using the King’s illness and possible aftereffects to keep him from ruling. Meanwhile, Marseille’s European Settlement Bank attracted applications from across Europe, and Joseph ordered strict financial reviews for most applicants.

• Baron de Breteuil proposed appointing Joseph Regent, and Queen Mary ordered the Senate to draft a Regency Charter.
• Duke of Levis asked what would happen to the regency if the King recovered, prompting Baron de Breteuil and Duke of Levis to suggest that typhus aftereffects could keep the King from governing.
• Queen Mary agreed that Joseph would serve as Regent for now, and Duke of Levis and Baron de Breteuil left to carry out her decree.
• Joseph and Gaudin discussed how the settlement bank had boosted trade in Milan and Parma and spurred other countries to seek membership.
• Joseph ordered strict financial reviews for all applicant countries except Genoa, Florence, Bavaria, and Hesse.

Joseph discussed using the European Settlement Bank’s membership reviews to attract applicants and gather intelligence, then saw Marseille’s financial district flourishing. On his return to Paris, he learned that Poland had advanced to Smolensk and planned to attack Moscow, leading him to suspect that bitter winter had helped drive the Russian collapse.

• Joseph told Gaudin that limiting settlement bank qualifications would create scarcity, strengthen diplomatic leverage, and give the Security Bureau access to foreign financial intelligence.
• Joseph watched crowds gather for the Saint Carlos National Bank Branch opening and reflected on Marseille’s rapid growth as France’s financial center.
• Joseph received an urgent report that the Polish Army had broken through Russian defenses, captured Smolensk, and assembled more than fifty-four thousand soldiers east of the city.
• Joseph read the Polish Army’s plan to pin down Russian reinforcements and have Kościuszko lead an offensive toward Moscow.
• Joseph questioned how Poland had advanced so quickly against Kutuzov and realized that bitter winter might explain the Russian Army’s collapse.

Joseph rushed to Versailles after learning that Louis XVI was seriously ill and had been named Regent, fearing for his father and the kingdom. At the Fontainebleau Sanatorium, he discovered that Louis XVI was not truly bedridden and demanded to know what was happening.

• Joseph warned the General Staff Headquarters that the Polish Army faced disaster and ordered it to help plan a retreat west of the Dnieper River-Western Dvina River.
• Alexandra secretly told Joseph that Louis XVI had reportedly contracted Typhus and warned that the Count of Artois, Duke of Broglie, and others might exploit the crisis.
• Joseph ordered Lamarck to take Penicillin to Versailles, but medical reports said Louis XVI's illness was not life-threatening and its diagnosis was uncertain.
• In Alamon, Joseph learned that Louis XVI had signed a Regency Charter authorizing him to serve as Regent, and he demanded reports about events at Versailles Palace.
• Joseph reached the Fontainebleau Sanatorium and found Louis XVI's temperature reading implausible; after sending everyone else away, he asked Queen Mary whether his father was really ill.
• Louis XVI sprang out of bed and scratched his itchy neck, complaining about the pigment on his body.

Joseph arranged for his parents to travel while presenting Louis XVI as ill, then returned to Versailles to assume the regency. As Regent, he ordered a direct withdrawal order for the Polish forces and learned that Mirza had inflicted a major defeat on the Ottoman Army.

• Joseph suggested that his parents could travel to different destinations under the pretext of Louis XVI receiving treatment, and discovered that the paint used for Louis's fake symptoms had caused an allergic reaction.
• Joseph returned to Versailles and held a ceremony to assume the regency, while Alexandra revealed that she had prepared the Royal Military Academy for a possible coup.
• Alexandra relaxed when Joseph assured her that Paris was safe, and he explained that his parents' wish to travel had caused the crisis.
• Newspapers announced Joseph's regency and Louis XVI's temporarily stable condition, while Berthier told Joseph that the Polish General Staff wanted the Great Sejm to decide on the withdrawal plan.
• Joseph ordered Eman to write to Stanisław and request a direct withdrawal order, then Berthier reported that Mirza had killed or captured more than thirteen thousand Ottoman soldiers near Tbilisi.

Joseph learned that Queen Louise had drawn Charles into helping Prussia obtain coal for its expanding steel industry. Rather than force Charles home or block the scheme, Joseph planned to support Marechal’s coal trade and let Charles return to France on his own.

• Berthier told Joseph that Russia was aiding Persia and that Ottoman reinforcements would soon reach Transcaucasia, so Joseph warned the Poles that Russian troops might shift to the West Line.
• Lavalette reported that Charles was having an affair with Queen Louise of Prussia, who had approached him after they met during ceasefire negotiations.
• Lavalette explained that Charles had tried to convert Prussian war reparations into loans and transferred his Alphonse-Boutin Ironworks shares to Marechal, whose coking plant sent coal to Stendal.
• Joseph concluded that Louise was using Charles to supply coal for Prussia’s steel industry and decided Charles must return of his own accord.
• Joseph instructed Lavalette to work with Governor Trudaine in Cologne and to support Marechal’s coal trade, helping Louise pursue her plan.

Joseph directed efforts to weaken Austria in Switzerland and ordered more intelligence on suspected American plans in North America. In Nassau, Marechal confronted Alphonse-Boutin Ironworks manager Gorner over a delayed coal order amid an investigation into shipments to Cologne.

• Lavalette reported that Austria's Mikhalevich Legion was advancing toward Zurich, and Joseph told him to continue operations in Austria.
• Joseph's plans used volunteers, Basel Militia, mercenaries, and local resistance to harass the Austrian Army in Switzerland, while French-printed comics encouraged opposition to Vienna.
• Lavalette warned that American military preparations were concentrated in the southern states, and Joseph suspected they might target Florida.
• Joseph ordered the Security Bureau to investigate American intentions and told the Governor of Florida to prepare its defenses.
• Marechal demanded that Gorner explain why the Hilbert Coking Plant's coal order had not shipped, and Gorner said an investigation had followed the company's large shipments to Cologne.

Louise tried to secure French coal for Prussia’s steel mills by persuading Charles to intervene, but Joseph’s investigation kept the shipments blocked. After Marechal bought his release from arrest and found a powerful French intermediary, Louise agreed to consider a large payment but asked to meet the man’s patron over a proposed 25% coal-price increase.

• Louise learned that Charles could not stop the investigation delaying coal shipments to Prussia and suspected he was using the crisis to pressure her.
• Louise returned to Charles, offered herself to him, and secured a promise to meet every week, but the coal blockade continued.
• Marechal was arrested for trying to bribe an investigator, then paid 50,000 Francs to regain his freedom.
• Marechal approached an influential intermediary, who offered to end the investigation for 700,000 Thalers and demanded a 25% increase in coal prices.
• Louise told Marechal she wanted to meet the intermediary’s patron before agreeing to the terms.

Queen Louise secretly enlisted Baron Trudaine to help resolve the Alphonse-Boutin Ironworks investigation and eliminate the coal surcharge, believing she had won his devotion. Trudaine was actually sent by the French Regent to seduce her, and the chapter ended with a servant summoning his Highness to a card game in the neighboring room.

• Queen Louise offered Baron Trudaine Bills of Exchange and asked him to help with the Alphonse-Boutin Ironworks and the Hilbert Coking Plant’s coal surcharge.
• Baron Trudaine explained the political complications, and Louise persuaded him to try by revealing that Prince Charles was already helping her.
• More than ten days later, Louise and Trudaine met secretly at a masquerade, where he told her he was arranging the matter.
• Trudaine had arranged for the investigators to be sent away and Prussian coal to be transported to Stendal, while Louise believed she had made him her lover.
• A servant told his Highness that Mr. Silvio and Count Bender were waiting to play cards in Room 218.