The Shadows of God - J. Gregory Keyes [58]
He became so lost in the notes that it took Robert and Voltaire to rouse him from them and remind him that the dinner hour was fast approaching.
“Every part of your plan is in place— except you, you dunderhead, and the scientifical apparatus.”
“Yes, thanks, fellows. Could you carry these things— or find some servant to carry them—while I put on fresh clothing? The king, I fear, has already seen me in this.”
“Your court habits are coming back awful fast, despite y'r protestations that you have no use for ‘em,” Robert observed.
“It's necessity, Robert. To win this French king over, I must play the game by his rules.”
“Really?” Voltaire asked. “I wonder about that. Sterne, I think, knows those rules better than you, and this d'Artagui-ette surely does.”
“A lecture on rules from the man who talked himself into the Bastille?” Franklin replied. But something about Vol-taire's comment rang true. “Well, perhaps I shall do some bending, then, and see how that works.”
His outfit was greeted at first with titters and stage-whispered comments. He smiled and nodded politely as if to the highest praise, kept his back straight and his step even, and presented himself to the king. As he bowed, he doffed his raccoon-skin hat and kept it off.
“Some new scientifical garb?” the king asked mildly, surveying him. Franklin wore a deerskin matchcoat borrowed from one of the Apalachee and beneath it a very plain waistcoat of linsey-woolsey with cloth-covered buttons. His breeches matched.
“No, Your Majesty—American garb. It is quite the rage in Charles Town.” That last was something of a lie—men of means dressed exactly as these French did, in habitual imitation of the lost European courts. But he did look rather like a deerskin trader or ranger, down to the hat.
“Really? How quaint. Perhaps I should have such an outfit made. We are, after all, Americans in a sense.”
“In the highest sense,” Franklin agreed. “Indeed, I am told that this habit was borrowed by our English traders from the French in the Natchez concessions. In any event, I find it comfortable.”
“I find it rather crude,” d'Artaguiette said, a brittle smile on his thin face.
“I prefer natural, sir. Survival in this New World, you will admit, requires a certain vitality. All of us here at this table have it— evident by our survival. We have been tried by our environment and found adequate, much as the natives have. I feel this dress is a badge of honor, a mark of distinction, and an important step in admitting—embracing—that our nations are unlike any ever to exist in Europe or anywhere in the world. Despite our creeds, languages, and governments, Your Majesty, I offer that we are all Americans.” He strode to the table and lifted a glass of wine. “To his majesty, Philippe I— the king of France in America—an American king.”
“Here!” Voltaire seconded, standing to raise his own. All Franklin's companions followed suit, as did a scattering of Frenchmen he strongly suspected were Junto members. He noticed Vasilisa, too, seated a few chairs from the king, repressing a smile.
When the king nodded in acceptance of the toast, all of his court joined— even d'Artaguiette.
Sterne—unshackled this time and dressed in finest silk— did not drink.
“You do not drink the king's health, sir?” Don Pedro asked loudly.
“I will gladly drink the king's health,” Sterne replied. “I did not hear a toast offered to his health, only some maudlin, common sentiment that the noble blood of France has somehow become polluted by the savagery of this continent and its peoples.”
“Peoples like my own, sir? You understand that I am a prince of Apalachee.”
“I understand that—prince—and if I have given offense where none was intended, I do apologize.”
“And will you say that none was intended?” Don Pedro asked. “Or must I assume you meant to insult me?”
“I do not know you well enough, don, to say. Why don't you tell us whether I have insulted you or not?”
A faint grin appeared on Don Pedro's face. “I do feel insulted, and, moreover, my people have been insulted. Your Majesty, I require satisfaction from