Free The Queen's Lover by Francine Du Plessix Gray Page A

spectators of their allies’ ruin. Happily, the plot failed….
    Through Axel’s letters to us we also learned much about the great George Washington, including delightful details such as the name of his many dogs (Downey, Pilot, Mopsey, Sweetlips, Drunkard, Vulcan, Jupiter, Trueloose). Axel reported that a group of his colleagues—de Broglie, Montesquiou—went to see Martha Washington, whom they described as “a nice fat lady with no pretensions.”
    Newport, December 7, 1780
    You see, dear Father, that we are still in Newport; we do not even think of leaving it. We are living tranquilly in winter quarters. Washington’sarmy went into theirs two weeks ago…. Colonel Ferguson has been defeated by the Americans; his corps of fourteen hundred men was almost destroyed; this has obliged Lord Cornwallis, who commands the English troops in that region, to retire to Charleston with his corps of four thousand men, most of whom are dying of fatigue and of disease….
    Mr. de Rochambeau has just made a little journey of six days on the mainland. I went with him…and we did not see a fine country or pleasant people; they were, as a rule, lazy and selfish; with those attributes, how is it possible to be useful in war?
    As he expresses it in the following letter, my brother did not have a great admiration for the American people for whose independence he was fighting. He found them to be materialistic, self-serving, and unduly obsessed with money. This disappointed many of us; our enthusiasm for the Revolutionary cause had led us to believe that Americans were of fine, idealistic character.
    Newport, January 9, 1781
    The spirit of patriotism exists only in the leaders and more eminent persons of this country, who are making great sacrifices; the others, who are greater in number, think solely of their personal interests. Money is the prime mover of all their actions; they think only of the means to gain it; each citizen is for himself, and few are for the public good. Because the English pay them well, the inhabitants along the coast, even the best Whigs, offer provisions of all kinds to the English fleet, which is anchoredin Gardiner’s Bay. They fleece us pitilessly; the price of everything is exorbitant; in all the dealings that we have with them they treat us more like enemies than friends. Their cupidity is unequaled; money is their god; virtue, honor, seem nothing to them compared to the precious metal. I do not mean that there are no estimable people of noble and generous characters—there are many; I speak of the nation in general; I think [their failings] are derived more from the Dutch than from the British.
    We have just received some very sad news concerning the desertion of the Pennsylvania “line”—that is how they call the twenty-five hundred men raised in that State; they went over to the English because of their discontent at lacking everything. They had neither coats nor shoes; and they were left without food for four days…. This desertion sets a very dangerous example; it proves how little reliance can be placed on such troops.
    Axel was often called upon to resolve differences between the American and French generals. This led us to think that he would make a wonderful diplomat. We’d always wanted a diplomat in the family.
    Newport, January 14th, 1781
    There is a coolness between General Washington and M. de Rochambeau; the displeasure is on the side of the American general; we are ignorant of its cause. Rochambeau has charged me to bring a letter to take to General Washington, who Anglicizes my name and calls me “Ferchin.” I am to inform myself as to the causes of his displeasure, and remove them if possible…. So you see, my dear father, I am entering diplomacy; it is my first attempt, and I shall try to come out of it well.
    Axel, who had engaged in this conflict in hopes of seeing armed action, was at first disappointed by the lethargy of the war’s beginning.
    Newport, May 17th, 1781
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