IV.
The next day, Charlotte was calm and focused.
God would not have sent her that premonition if Maximilian’s
fate was sealed. He was giving her the opportunity to save her husband and she
would do so.
She was a woman with a goal, and a plan to reach that goal,
sketched out while she’d paced her bedchamber hour after hour last night. (As
was the custom of the time, she and her husband had separate bedchambers. That
was one of the joys of living in a house with over a dozen rooms.)
While breakfasting with Maximilian, they discussed the
parties that they would host over the coming weeks and months – inviting society
from Trieste to come and enjoy the beautiful setting that was Miramar.
After breakfast, Maximilan retired with his equerry to his
study, to discuss business of the estate. Charlotte retired to her study, and
sent one of the housemaids to fetch her own equerry.
“Hans,” she began after he’d entered and bowed to her, “I
need you to find two people for me. You will need to travel at least as far as
Trieste, and perhaps further, to set things in motion.”
“As you wish, madam,” said Hans.
“I want a tutor who can teach me both English and Spanish.
Preferably a woman but a man if necessary. An elderly man. (Maximilian would
never believe that she would have an affair with a tutor, but the tongues of
Society would doubtless wag if she had a young male in the house, while living
with a husband who traveled a great deal.)
“Very good, madam,” said Hans.
“And this is very important, Hans. She is to come to me only
as an English tutor. Maximilian is not to know that she is teaching me Spanish
as well.”
Hans raised an eyebrow, but said, “As you wish, Madam.”
Charlotte smiled to
herself. But her reasoning was simple. She did not want Maximilian to know that
she was learning Spanish because then he would perhaps think that she was
subtly hinting that he should accept
the honor to become the Emperor of Mexico. If he was to come to that conclusion
– and according to her premonition he would
– she wanted it to be his own decision, not one influenced by her. Outwardly,
she would support him in any of the decisions he chose to make on his own, while
privately, she would ensure that when the time came, she would have the ability
to support him with more than words alone.
“And I need you to find me a man, Hans. A trustworthy and
honorable man. A man, young or old, who can speak English well. But – and this
is important – he must have a silver tongue. He must be able to charm the birds
down from the trees. And he must be willing to travel to the United States of
America, and do there as I bid him.”
“Such a man might be hard to find,” Hans said musingly.
“Then the sooner you start looking for him, the better,”
said Charlotte. “There is some urgency in the matter – I do not want to wait
more than three months for you to find him.”
“Very well, Madam. I will leave for Trieste within the hour.”
“Thank you, Hans. When you find him, summon me to Trieste. I
will meet you there and tell him his commission at that time. Do not fail me,
Hans.”
Hans clicked his heels together and snapped his shoulders to
attention. “I will never fail you, Madam.”
He spun on his heels and strode from the room.
Charlotte took a deep breath. No, Hans would not fail her.
Just as she would not fail
Maximilian.
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