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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 14, 2020 9:03:31 GMT
My friends has anyone else been amazed at the repeated announcements coming from the Director of the Lottery?
We are told that sales remain low, always low, BUT there is always a winner. Whoever this / these lucky winners are one can't help but wonder at the luck of managing to pick a ticket that wins, despite the low sales. I have yet to learn of the name of any winner and it was interesting to overhear a conversation, by several gentlemen, at a nearby table in Blue Gables when Hugolina and I visited last month.
Gentleman 1 "Here, I see someone has won the lottery again...nudge nudge wink wink"
Gentleman 2 "Yes, I saw that too! Funny isn't it that the Director states this but you've never hear who the winner is! My cousin has a friend who works at the Lottery and he says that the Director is being seen more and more often in flamboyant costume, fancy rings on his fingers and his morning refreshments are only the finest champagnes".
Gentleman 1 "Yes, it's a hard life at the top but what with the Director being that Baron bloke whose going to risk saying anything, he'd send the heavies round to you and the next thing you know they'd be fishing another body out of the Seine"!
Gentleman 2 "Shudder....you're right best let some naïve fool try and challenge that issue! Of course, it may all be just rumor, malicious hearsay, as surely no Peer of the Realm would be involved in anything as underhand as" his voice suddenly raising into loud outrage "bloody blatant corruption, embezzlement, misuse of public office and spending the ticket money for his personal gain".
Now, naturally, I don't share such a crass view of the Director and could not believe that I was hearing such. At one point I almost felt like reaching for my sword to take a stand in the Director's defence until I remembered, being a peaceful man, I don't actually own a sword so I had to keep my mouth shut and hope they would move onto a different topic of conversation. No, my purpose is to merely to inform my fellow friends of such talk that is circulating and innocently ask if anyone does, indeed, know of any of these previous lottery winners in person?
Monsieur Claud D'Applaud Duc's Men Troupe
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Post by Renald De La Azur on Oct 14, 2020 16:17:54 GMT
Monsieur Claud D'Applaud,
if you have evidence other than these thin second hand comments than i suggest you take them to the correct office otherwise i would keep quiet. duels have been fought for less.
Yours
Sieur Renald de la Azur
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 14, 2020 19:41:53 GMT
Sieur de la Azur,
Seemingly harsh words towards someone who merely reports words overheard from others! Fancy threatening a man of peace with veiled threats about duels, by God sir if I were a man of war I would rise to your bait and give you a sound thrashing but, perhaps fortunately for you, I am not so you may continue in peace.
Seeking to return the conversation to a more level-headed manner may I ask are you actually aware of any winners? Do you have names?
Monsieur Claud D'Applaud Duc's Men Troupe
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Post by huillaume on Oct 14, 2020 23:26:32 GMT
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 15, 2020 21:56:37 GMT
"Now what's the matter Claud, you've been sitting there for hours staring into space and muttering under your breath"?
"Well I'm still thinking about the damn unfairness of it all, the success of others and the stagnation of yours truly. I mean it's just so unfair but...if...they were all gone then surely there would be jobs for me, prestigious ones that don't involve cross-dressing or pandering to the masses".
"All gone?! What do you mean 'all gone'? Surely you can't mean...not....not..."
"Yes, Hugolina just that!! If we kill them all then no-one will be left to stand in my way, no-one at all. None of those stuck up military types, none of your shopkeepers, no actors, artists or doctors, not a whiff of a lawyer, not a trace of a Priestly type...just me...just Claud...Claud the Magnificent, think of it I can become a God"!!
"Darling you're worrying me, look just stay there I'll go and fetch le Docteur you're clearly unwell, it's all the pressure my love, the long rehearsals...just wait there I wont be long"
"Stupid woman can't she see what I'm talking about if I kill them all, including that damn docteur, then no-one can stand in my way. I, Claud, will be the greatest noble in France. Oh how the people will recognise magnificence then, bow their knee to me, worship me Lord Claud, Count Claud....Almighty Claud!
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 16, 2020 10:45:45 GMT
"I'm so sorry Docteur Hildenstriem I simply don't know what has come over him lately, he just isn't himself anymore. It took me all my efforts and pleading to get him to go to his rehearsals last month as he just wanted to keep scribbling away at his bureau adding to a great bunch of lists that he has been compiling"
"Lists my dear, vot sorts are zese lists"?
"Well they're all mixed, a jumble, but most of them seem to detail various ways of 'disposing' of enemies, nuisances, annoying family members, students, merchants, the aristocracy just about anyone or everyone really. It's all become most worrying, he hardly touches the food I prepare for him and he is due on stage in a day or two for the whole of this month so anything you can do will be much appreciated Herr Docteur".
"Hmmhh...a most unusual case zis one but I have yet to meet ze patient who cannot be cured by Docteur Van Hildenstriem"!
"Ooooh, wonderful docteur, simply wonderful I knew you were the right man to come to, the girls at the market said you were the cheapest, err I mean the best, yes the best. What's the cure"?
"Zese little beauties mein gute woman....der leeches"!
"Sigh....just sigh....a docteur who is madder than his patient...it is a times like this I am oft to recall mother's advice about taking the habit, a nunnery would be so much easier....sigh..."
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 21, 2020 9:10:18 GMT
The light of a full moon casts a pale illumination through the window of a Parisian apartment, shedding it's light upon a large bed in the center of the room. Under a pile of sheets a form can be made out, twisting from side to side, mumbling, from time to time shouting out a seemingly ineligible word or two but, if one were to listen closer.....
"Awake my child....awake...it is time once again..."
"Mumble....groan....no...no...leave me alone".
"You cannot deny me, you cannot deny your destiny. There are so many more of those harlots to be rid of, they continue to spread like a disease...a plague....and a plague needs a cure"
"Argh...get out of my head, cease your words demon, I shall listen no more".
"It is too late my apprentice, you have already begun your mission, your hands already reddened, and now you must continue, finish the task, see them all gone. Remember our agreement, remember the rewards for your service....fame, glory, prestige. No more will they look down upon you, service to the powers of darkness will bring you what is rightfully yours. Imagine my child....imagine it all...commit, serve, reap the harvest"!
"Yes...yes...you are right, forgive my weakness. I must serve, receive my blessings".
"Good...good my apprentice then when they are gone it will be time to focus upon the others, haughty Baron's who have taken posts and riches more becoming to you, arrogant Chevaliers strutting around with medals you deserve, accursed priests of that wretched compassionate God. Kill them all, bathe in their blood, offer their still beating hearts to the Lord of Darkness"!
"Ha, ha , ha DEATH, yes death shall befall them my master"!
"Now hurry, there is one I have chosen next...a Sabilina...a brazen strumpet who laughed in the face of your friend, humiliated him in front of others. It is her turn to be harvested, strike true my apprentice".
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 23, 2020 21:00:00 GMT
My dear friend,
You may have heard that Lagarde has been so insane as to challenge me to a duel, the stuck up swine that he is and I have accepted. I intend to kill him and to rid Paris of it's premier idiot and free the Lottery from the clutches of a corrupt Director.
His lackey, d'Aranches, has agreed to Second him so I will kill him too and take the greatest of pleasure in watching their blood stain the ground while I listen to their death rattles. The pair of them are utter crooks and incompetents, Paris will be far better for their demise and I am the man to do it!
Once I have killed them I will present their severed heads to their women who I intend to bed, showing them what they have missed from a real man.
I invite you to act as my Second.
Yours sincerely,
Claud D'Applaud Duc's Men Troupe
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 23, 2020 21:19:18 GMT
Madame,
I feel that I must write to you in order to gauge your sanity!
As you have recently consented to marrying Paris's most notorious villain, a man who has corrupted the State Lottery by filling his own pockets with the ticket sales and making false announcements that prizes are being won each month, I can only assume that you are either completely mad or a gold-digging whore of the most opportune nature.
Pray tell Madame, which is it? It is well known amongst gentlemen of character that you would not have married Lagarde for any reasons other than money since the contents of his trousers are the joke of many a club and tavern in the City. Indeed, most recently, while attending my own club, I overheard several conversations about his disappointingly miniscule 'equipment' - these whores at the Ladies Slipper can never keep their mouths shut - and apparently he is known as Monsieur 'Baby Carrot' amongst the working girls due to his 'equipment' resembling such! But, then, you would know all about that so it must be his money you are after?!
Your husband has recently challenged me to a duel, no doubt in desperation before I can reveal the scope of his fraud, so I must inform you I am going to kill him. Once he is gone may I offer you the chance to experience a real man, one who can truly fulfill you as a woman. I can understand if you can't wait that long so while the coward has left to hide amongst the troops at the Front pop round to my apartment and we can get to know each other better!
Claud D'Applaud Duc's Men Troupe Your Husband's future killer
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Post by Father William Souris on Oct 23, 2020 21:25:47 GMT
Arnold looks at the letter in shock for a short while, then writes a letter to the CPS, enclosing it within.
To the Office of the CPS
Enclosed you will find a letter to myself from a deluded man. His mind has clearly gone. You must not let him commit murder, nor allow him to die trying. He must be saved, from himself.
Arnold d'Blancheur
Arnold posts that then replies to Claud.
Claud,
I have sent your letter to the CPS and ask that you hand youself in at some sanitarium for treatment.
Also, I shall be leaving Paris for the Savoy border soon, and hope this issue is resolved by the time I return!
Arnold
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 23, 2020 21:34:16 GMT
Arnold,
You b'stard...Lagarde has clearly got to you...how much is he paying you as I will double it and you can have his wife after I have finished with her.
Claud
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Post by Father William Souris on Oct 23, 2020 21:44:49 GMT
Claud,
Do not assume I am as corrupt as you!
Arnold
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 23, 2020 21:47:41 GMT
People of Paris,
We have recently leant of the death of that crook Lagarde's brother.
There were no specific details given either as to the nature of his demise or the reason(s) aside from some lame excuse that it was in a duel BUT many have been the whispers amongst the good folk of the City that this brother of his killed himself out of the sheer shame of being related to Lagarde and so that he did not have to live to see the family name besmirched by the disgrace that is soon to befall it once Lagarde is revealed as the fraudulent rogue that he is.
If there is any regret in this sorry matter it must surely be that it was the brother who killed himself and not Lagarde!
Claud D'Applaud Duc's Men Troupe
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 25, 2020 4:46:02 GMT
Senators,
Your Emperor is in peril, I am trapped in Gaul and beset by enemies who seek to threaten my life and, thereto, Rome itself.
Dispatch the 1st & 3rd Legions with immediate effect, send forth the Praetorian Guard. I am currently in Lutetia, which these heathens call Paris. Have the armies march here, crush any who oppose you and be ready to subjugate Gaul once again.
Emperor Claudius Emperor of Imperial Rome
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Post by Monique Adelina De'Ath on Oct 25, 2020 5:31:11 GMT
To: The Public Safety Ministry
Monsieur Commissioner,
I write to you with a comprehensive list of information concerning the crimes and threat to nation security posed by one Baron Huillaume Lagarde de Berne, a notorious criminal fraudster who resides here in Paris.
The evidence I present to you, I trust, should prove sufficiently damning and of immediate concern that you will instruct your agents to apprehend this individual and place him under arrest. I am no lawyer but it seems clear even to me that a Court should be summoned to try this wretch and ensure that he is subject to the most rigorous scrutiny under the eyes of the law.
Point 1: The State Lottery - Lagarde managed to secure the post of State Lottery Director and since that time has surely embezzled funds from it in order to finance his opulent lifestyle. Increasing 'rumors'' have been heard across the city about what is happening behind the scenes of the State Lottery. A number of employees has raised their own concerns and my good lady Hugolina has a distant cousin who is amongst that number and he told Hugolina that it is well known within the Lottery that Lagarde is corrupt. Since taking on the role he has adorned his fingers with expensive rings, filled his personal office with the most exquisite furniture and begun wearing top price outfits. His personal income is not enough to support his lifestyle and so he has to be getting the money from somewhere...yes, the Lottery!
Point 2: My missing Hugolina - I believe that Lagarde is behind the disappearance of my beloved Hugolina. I think he has 'silenced' her because she knew of his embezzlement of Lottery funds, via her cousin. I grow increasingly concerned for her safety and am beginning to fear the worst. I recently gave invite to others for joining me in a search party next month but while some have responded Lagarde is ominous with his silence, no wonder as he has taken her! I also fear for the safety of Mademoiselle Sabilina Granet who I know Lagarde used to set up poor Arnold, she is another he is likely to silence so his sordid dealings go unknown.
Point 3: Attempt upon my life - Lagarde has recently offered me public challenge and a duel to demand satisfaction. Why, upon what grounds.....actually very little, some offence at a letter or two that I wrote him but it is merely an excuse to try and silence me too as another who knows of his fraud and shady dealings. Lagarde is scared that I am going to speak out, well I have now and this letter to you Commissioner is in case anything should happen to me in the near future.
Point 4: He married a whore - Lagarde fell for the womanly charms of this cheapskate and through his lust and desires has managed to introduce her within Parisian High Society. This cannot be right and I think you should have her arrested too.
I am more than willing to provide further information and should your men be able to apprehend him I offer my services as an interrogator once Lagarde is behind bars. I know some useful techniques that 'encourage', shall we say, even those most reluctant to talk to do so. We'll get a confession from him and then it's a shut and closed case at the Trial.
Emperor Claudius
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