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December 21st, Year of Our Lord 1337
If there is one thing that I despise more than being rebuffed… well there are quite a number of such entities, one of which starts with "Hélie" and ends with "de Pontchâteau"… but I digress. Safe to say that my ire is drawn to many targets these days. One of these is unannounced surprises - of the unpleasant sort of course, I would very much welcome being surprised to learn that Edward Plantagenet had finally mustered his armies and taken Pays de France. Again my mind wanders.
Whether the surprise of today is beneficial or not, I do not know. Apparently unable to continue as the Duke's spiritual advisor, due to his journey to Rome, the Bishop de Donges has dispatched his sister, a woman, to fulfil his duties for him. She arrived at the castle, unannounced, today and promptly demanded to see the Duke. Unusual to say the least. More surprising is that the woman was actually shown to my liege's chambers where they did confer for an hour!
I am not entirely sure as what to make of this Marthe de Donges…
Marthe de Donges: Attractive and pious. A poor combination
December 24th, Year of Our Lord 1337
The faith woman will make a fine addition to our court. She is after all completely deranged and possibly insane. That is the only explanation for the woman's behaviour. The witch does not cease in her prayers! Numerous times I have called by her chambers to make an introduction only to find her prostate upon the floor. At first I took this to be a welcome development, only to shortly realise that the woman was deep in prayer and mumbling words of praise to the Good Lord!
If that were not enough evidence as to the unhinged nature of Marthe de Donges' mind, the woman has apparently demanded that she be given a prominent role in the celebratory Nativity mass tomorrow morn. To think of a female leading such a ceremony is… well unthinkable. That the Duke has acquiesced to her request only proves that the madness is spreading.
December 27th, Year of Our Lord 1337
With the Feast of the Nativity safely over I can forget about religion until Easter. Of course that means that I will have to avoid that zealous witch de Donges as much as possible. Given that she spends her days cloistered with the Duke in prayer that should not be a problem. If the old man were not by Death's door then I would suspect that he was taking advantage of the, admittedly not unattractive, woman.
January 4th, Year of Our Lord 1338
A new day and a new year. Very well, I may at least make the attempt to be optimistic. This year I shall engineer the downfall of the family Valois, escape Brittany and make my way to the Levant where I should tussle with the Saracen, then building my fortune on the Mediterranean trade routes before retiring to a small château outside Milan. Perhaps Jeanne de Dreux would consent to accompany me on these grand adventures.
On a slightly more realistic level I expect the following year to contain much rain.
January 9th, Year of Our Lord 1338
My work on building a network of informants goes well. Despite being hindered as I am by my isolation, much progress has been made in contacting former acquaintances from my youthful years in Paris. I have still to turn this informal list of friends into a more lasting informant network but work continues apace. With hope I shall have enough contacts in place within the next month to follow the progress of the war. It has been a harsh winter and I expect that neither the English nor Frankish nobles will be overly willing to abandon winter quarters in the coming weeks. The spring will undoubtedly see the proper commencement of war between the two powers.
If nothing else this project of mine does occupy my restless mind on these dreary days.
January 17th, Year of Our Lord 1338
I don't quite believe it. Perhaps there is some truth and sense to this Marthe de Donges after all. For the past several months the Duke de Dreux has lain within reach of the Boatman. Almost entirely removed from court life, an absence no doubt notable from my papers, it was apparently only a matter of time until he was called from this life. One may imagine my surprise, and that of the court, when he was observed taking a walk in the gardens this morning!
This was the first time that the old man had made it out of his room in over a year and, while not fully recovered, his condition has clearly improved beyond measure. How could his disease revenged lungs have recovered is beyond my knowledge. The Duke's noted piety, and the ministrations of Marthe, can only have impressed and garnered the favour of the Heavens. A disturbing thought that.
I must consider carefully the ramifications of this development. Certainly an active Duke would limit my own independence and may well cast an uncomfortably close eye over my dealings with England. As for the rest of the court… I can only imagine the fury of Marshal Jean and his wife. Would they dare to take direct action to resolve this crisis? Perhaps that would be best for my position as well.