1.
First, I visited an author friend, John and his wife Jeanne in Mississippi for advice on getting published through royalty companies and the former was quite helpful in the hours that we spent together
2.
They found Jeanne Leclerc, the French geomatics expert, sitting alone in one of the command chairs
3.
Jeanne smiled briefly to them, then activated her headset microphone for the umpteenth time in her watch
4.
Jeanne shook her head
5.
“I don’t know! Jeanne only said that it was called ‘HERMES’
6.
He saw on the small video screen of the panel Jeanne fiddle with the controls of one of the external cameras
7.
” Said Jeanne over the intercom
8.
Would you like to review my troops before the briefing, Jeanne?”
9.
“LINE UP THE TROOPS FOR INSPECTION! JEANNE D’ARC WILL REVIEW
10.
Dorothy Dandridge was the first to follow her counsel, followed by Jeanne Crain and Cara Williams, gluing herself to the old man, whose extremities were become pale from the cold
11.
I am talking of the mysterious d’Orléans Social Foundation, this French charity and social help society established in Paris in 1848 by a young aristocrat named Jeanne d’Orléans
12.
That finally decided me into doing a discreet inquiry through time, via robotic spy probes, about that d’Orléans Social Foundation and on that Jeanne d’Orléans
13.
‘’What you will see is a video taken of the said Jeanne d’Orléans in 1848, at her Paris residence
14.
In 1848, the said Jeanne d’Orléans could not be more than twenty years old
15.
In fact, my investigation in the past revealed that Jeanne d’Orléans was born in 1829 under the name of Jeanne Marie Céleste de Brissac
16.
Jeanne, according to official French documents of the time, married in 1846 in the Guadeloupe Knight Pierre Alphonse d’Orléans
17.
Once in Paris, Jeanne d’Orléans managed to quickly fatten her fortune via a number of very successful financial speculations and founded a year later her social aid society
18.
‘’This Jeanne d’Orléans seems to spread goodness and compassion around her
19.
I will be happy to become Jeanne d’Orléans
20.
Jeanne smiled with amusement and looked at him
21.
‘’Let’s say that well-born girls are rare in the Guadeloupe, Jeanne
22.
Jumping down on the ground with Jeanne once in front of his residence, Pierre let the cart in the hands of Fernand and showed the wooden façade of his house, which seemed to have been damaged and then repaired summarily
23.
‘’You will excuse the appearance of my house, Jeanne, but a terrible earthquake struck this island three years ago
24.
Jeanne nodded her head while inspecting the façade
25.
A stoutly-built black woman with a sympathetic face came in at once from the kitchen, to open wide eyes on seeing Jeanne, who was still only wearing her half-dried shirt
26.
Can you prepare a good hot bath for Jeanne and also wash her hair
27.
With Jeanne following the servant, Pierre then ended alone in his living room
28.
Marthe returned with Jeanne a bit less than one hour later, as another servant was preparing the covers on the dining table, situated at one end of the lounge
29.
Pierre smiled to Jeanne, who was now wearing a male set of clothes that ill fitted her
30.
Jeanne, who seemed to be still disoriented, returned his smile
31.
He was however thinking furiously as he kept looking discreetly from time to time at Jeanne, who was eating slowly
32.
If not, the busybodies around Saint-François would not hesitate to call a baby born too quickly from Jeanne a bastard
33.
As a consequence, she had been forced to modify slightly her original cover story for her role as Jeanne de Brissac in 1846
34.
Next morning, Pierre had his cart readied and left with Jeanne for the small town of Saint-François, situated a few kilometers to the southwest of his plantation
35.
Keeping to small talk on the way, Pierre did his best to relax Jeanne by chatting about the town and the local life
36.
Despite the fact that Jeanne seemed more than satisfied by his acquisitions, Pierre promised himself to one day bring her to Pointe-à-Pitre, the main port of the Guadeloupe and a place where he knew that he would find some gowns worthy of an aristocrat girl
37.
On the other hand, Jeanne, with her uncommon height and athletic body, was well noticed in Saint-François, where the coming of new French settlers was fairly rare these days
38.
One plantation owner, intrigued by Jeanne, visited a tailor shop after Pierre and Jeanne and spoke with the tailor, who told him in turn about the scars on Jeanne’s torso
39.
Returning to the plantation by the end of the afternoon with a Jeanne apparently happy about their acquisitions, Pierre took an hour to go inspect the various works in progress in his fields and in his sugar extraction plant
40.
He found Jeanne there, wearing one of her new dresses and playing with brio a piece of music unknown to Pierre
41.
Seeing him approach, Jeanne gave him a big smile while continuing to play
42.
’’ Replied Jeanne in a playful tone before changing her tune on the piano
43.
His heart warmed up as he watched Jeanne sing and play, radiant with beauty and talent
44.
The multiple talents just shown by Jeanne basically ruled out a possibility that had worried him since yesterday: that Jeanne had lied to him and was in reality a pirate herself, a thought brought by her tall and strong body and her torture marks
45.
Pierre listened to two more songs by Jeanne, who played the guitar for her last song
46.
Now truly hooked on, Pierre shared an agreeable supper with Jeanne, whose morale seemed to have improved a lot since yesterday
47.
That time with Jeanne finished convincing Pierre that she had received a quality education that only a true aristocrat could get
48.
Sleep came with difficulty for him that night, with images of Jeanne filling his mind
49.
During the following days, Jeanne revealed herself to be a girl with a heart of gold and with liberal, progressive ideas, treating with respect and kindness the ex-slaves of the plantation and their families and showing interest in their welfare
50.
Pierre, who was in bad terms with his white neighbors because of his so-called ‘softness’ towards his black workers, much appreciated that side of Jeanne, while she gained quickly the affection of the plantation’s workers
51.
Jeanne also proved to be singularly useful around the plantation and to Pierre
52.
Leaving early each morning with her young black assistant, Jeanne would return by noon hour with her catches, then would wash and change into simple work clothes and would help Pierre run and maintain his plantation
53.
When Jeanne casually told him how she had done those repairs, Pierre could only look at her with his jaw wide opened in disbelief
54.
After washing a second time before supper, Jeanne would put on a gown and become again an aristocratic girl, entertaining Pierre’s evenings by singing, playing music and conversing with him
55.
He however hid his anxiety as best he could and walked quickly around his house, going to its vegetable garden, which Jeanne was helping to maintain
56.
Jeanne, busy plucking out wild grass, only saw Pierre and the soldiers once they were only a few meters from her
57.
‘’They came from Basse-Terre with an assistant-prosecutor to see you, Jeanne
58.
‘’Her correct title would be Lady Jeanne, Monsieur de Mézières
59.
’’ Said Pierre before telling him in a few minutes how he had saved Jeanne from the sea and had then brought her to his plantation
60.
Lieutenant Dupré just told me that your Jeanne happens to be very tall and quite muscular…for a sixteen year-old aristocrat
61.
Jeanne was now wearing a gown, while her hair was carefully combed and gathered in a horse’s tail at the back of her head
62.
Seeing that Pierre was suddenly struck by discouragement, Jeanne went to sit by his side to console him, one arm around his shoulders
63.
‘’Fair deal!’’ Said Jeanne before looking at Pierre, who was staring at his two ‘guests’ with little sympathy
64.
Jeanne looked around her with curiosity as the cart transporting her entered a stone fortress through a guarded gate
65.
Pierre, who had made the trip atop of his horse, set foot on the ground with Jeanne, De Mézières and Lieutenant Dupré, letting the soldiers of the escort bring the cart and the horses to the stables
66.
Jeanne, carrying in her hands a canvas bag and a guitar that she had used to provide some entertainment during the trip, was invited to follow De Mézières inside the house, which turned out to be the residence of the governor of the Guadeloupe, Monsieur de Layrle
67.
He examined Jeanne a moment, surprised by her height, before bowing politely to her and Pierre
68.
A small woman in her forties with a distinguished appearance then stepped from behind the governor and smiled to Jeanne
69.
Having expected that, Jeanne obeyed without fuss and soon stood fully naked in front of the wife of the governor, who asked her to slowly turn around on the spot
70.
A few seconds were enough for her to see that Jeanne was not a virgin anymore
71.
Jeanne obliged him at once and served him the cover story built for her by the Time Patrol
72.
That story actually followed closely reality, as a Jeanne de Brissac had effectively taken a cabin with her parents on the GROS GAILLARD in the port of Bordeaux, with the goal of rebuilding their fortune in the Guadeloupe
73.
The real Jeanne de Brissac was sixteen at the time of her fatal trip, was fairly tall for a girl and had black hair and green eyes
74.
By the time that supper was announced, the governor had become convinced that Jeanne was telling the truth, reasoning that a girl raised among pirates could not possibly fool him this much
75.
What cemented his favorable impression of her was when, at his invitation in order to test her, Jeanne played the piano and the guitar after supper while singing, on top of conversing in Spanish and in English, two languages that the governor was fluent in
76.
Excusing himself for a moment with Pierre and Jeanne, the governor left the lounge and went to see his assistant-prosecutor, who was hiding in the governor’s office adjacent to the lounge
77.
The small crowd that was present at the ceremony, made up in majority with the black workers of Pierre and their families, shouted with joy as Pierre and Jeanne exchanged a long kiss inside Saint-François’ church
78.
Pierre and Jeanne stayed together in bed until late next morning, caressing each other and repeatedly making love
79.
With Pierre having declared that day as a holiday for his workers, Jeanne made a point of walking around the workers houses with his guitar, playing and singing to brighten their day
80.
‘’You are now a d’Orléans, Jeanne
81.
‘’Nothing of the sort, my sweet Jeanne
82.
Later, as night had fallen, Jeanne left the residence, telling Pierre that she was going to walk through the workers’ houses
83.
Such largely anonymous charitable works like this one and the social foundation she was planning to found in Paris as Jeanne D’Orléans in the mid-nineteenth century were one of the things she liked most about her job as a field agent of the Time Patrol
84.
‘’But,’’ objected Pierre, ‘’the Time Patrol said that Pierre d’Orléans did not have any heir from Jeanne de Brissac, according to recorded history, and that she would as a consequence inherit his title and possessions
85.
‘’I don’t know, Jeanne
86.
‘’If that’s the case, then it is probably not because of you, Jeanne
87.
Jeanne d’Orléans got up from her chair the moment Lebaron appeared in the living room, speaking to him in an anxious tone
88.
‘’Lady Jeanne, your husband realizes that he doesn’t have long to live and asked for a notary, in order to update his will
89.
‘’Indeed! I married Jeanne to Pierre d’Orléans and I must say that it was the best thing that happened to Sir Pierre
90.
I am afraid that the poor Jeanne could end up being broken by her oncoming loss
91.
They then went the same day to sell to an antiquary an old rusted sword that Lady Jeanne had found in a submerged cave during one of her frequent swims
92.
‘’There are also stories that say that Lady Jeanne swims nearly naked when she goes to fish on the coast
93.
‘’Lady Jeanne d’Orléans? My name is Victor Schoelcher, deputy for the Guadeloupe at the National Assembly
94.
In contrast, Jeanne seemed to be still fresh and full of energy, while her suntanned skin only added to the impression of health radiating from her
95.
‘’Your price is a very honest one, Jeanne
96.
Victor Schoelcher then spent an agreeable hour eating and conversing with Jeanne, discussing mostly about the operations of the plantation and the current market for rhum and sugar
97.
Frankly impressed by Jeanne, Schoelcher left the plantation at the end of the afternoon, going back to Saint-François in his carriage with a promise to come back the next day
98.
Once the selling act was signed, Jeanne presented him to her foreman and to her black workers and their families, watching discreetly his reactions at the contact of the ex-slaves
99.
On their part, the black workers, being understandably nervous at losing such a good employer as Jeanne, relaxed noticeably once they met their new boss
100.
The workers genuinely loved Jeanne, while she was sad to have to leave them