The Duchess out of Time

XX

Liz spent the next three days living and breathing those letters. She realised that there were three different sets of handwriting. One was elegant cursive letters written on thick quality stock parchment. Their use of language and grammar was extravagant and their tone was demanding in both languages. The second was barely legible scribbles that reminded Liz of a child's handwriting. The writer behind the second handwriting didn't speak Spanish well. It kept blurring between Spanish and French, the sentences didn't make a lot of sense and tended to be short basic responses. The third's handwriting was a mix, they obviously understood what they were writing but gave the impression that they didn't want to waste time writing more than necessary.

"Aunt Lizzie?" Henry's head poked through the door as Liz looked up and smiled.

"Hey" She sang as he raced to her side. Lifting him up into her lap, Henry looked at the letters scattered across the desk.

"I haven't seen you in three days" He pouted as she brushed his hair from his face and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm sorry little man. I've been busy doing some important work" She told him as he frowned.

"But Ladies don't work" He frowned as she chuckled before letting out a deep breath.

"You see these?" She lifted a letter up to him for him to grasp. Looking at the letter he frowned, as he was unable to understand any of the words that were written on the page.

"It's French, I can understand what it says so I am writing what it says in English so everyone else can understand" She told him softly as he just looked in awe. Picking her sentences carefully, Liz read them aloud in French first before she translated it to English for Henry. Her little lesson was interrupted when the Captain entered, pausing at the sight of the two of them.

"Why don't you go and annoy Edward?" She whispered in his ear as he gave her a goofy grin.

"Ok" He smiled before he skipped past the Captain in search for Edward. Neither of them spoke a word as she watched him make his way towards his desk and pick up one of her many translated pieces of parchment. The two of them had a silent understanding between each other. They had been spending a fair amount of time together in the private quarters of the Captain. More often than not he would watch her as she worked through the many pages. He noticed she tended to bite her lower lip when she was in deep thought and her fingers played against the desk like a piano when she lost her train of thought.

"Does the name Étienne François mean anything to you?" Liz tiredly asked.

"Étienne François is the Duke of Choiseul, he is also the French foreign minister." The Captain told her. Raising an eyebrow Liz realised that what ever she was trying to piece together just got more complicated.

"He is the only name mentioned and even then I think it was an unintentional." She showed him one letter that had his name written. The author of the letter had desperately tried to scratch the name out but when you held it against the light you could see the original name beneath.

"At least we know who one person is, the only problem is that we don't know who the other two parties are." Liz smiled softly at the progress she had made. Knowing who was behind this was half the battle, or a third in this case.

"It wouldn't be too hard to guess" He mumbled in response before he picked up an envelope sitting in a pile waiting to be translated. Opening up the letter slowly he began to read it.

"This letter is confirming payment of Spanish gold and a hundred thousand men to aid France" He read as Liz felt the quill in her fingers drop against the table.

"You can read French? Then why am I translating?" Liz looked up at the man before her in surprise.

"Partially. I can partially read French." He gave her a devilish smirk before he picked up another letter and began to unfold it. This man continued to amaze her, as she wanted nothing more than to learn everything about him. He couldn't have always had been a pirate? Had he come from a wealthy family before he turned to the seas?