The Queen's Lover by Francine Du Plessix Gray Page A

This operation required great secrecy and much promptitude, for we had but one forty-gun ship to escort the convoy, and the English with two frigates could have kept us from leaving the York River, or else have captured some of the convoy. Our army is to leave Baltimore on the 15th to come to Philadelphia, and go hence to the Hudson River….
    This particular missive displays the great confidence Axel’s superiors had in him. The most delicate, sensitive missions were always assigned to him because of his great capacity for tactfulness and discretion.
    During the years Axel was in America my marriage was quickly deteriorating. My husband’s numerous affairs—with scheming courtesans as well as with noted society women—were deeply humiliating to me. And yet I preferred not to divorce Piper, in part for the sake of our children, in part because it would taint the family name.
    And so I found my principal solace in the affection of Evert Taube. Axel’s correspondence also cheered me greatly when it intimated that the war might be drawing to an end, and he would soon come home to us.
    Philadelphia, August 17, 1782
    It appears as though peace were near. England appears to be much inclined if France is modest in her demands. The Americans desirenothing else, now that the King of England has declared them independent….
    The English…have sent all prisoners back from England, without demands for their exchange. General Carleton, who commands New York, has informed General Washington, in a very polite letter, that the King, his master, has granted the independence of America; that he has sent a man to Paris with full powers to negotiate; and he proposes to General Washington an exchange of prisoners. All this seems to indicate peace; we all think that if it is not already signed, it certainly will be in the winter, and that we shall embark in the spring. This causes universal joy; it gives me inexpressible pleasure; I have hopes of seeing you again soon, my dear father.
    We all jumped for joy at the prospect of a peace being signed in the following year. Our Axel would finally be out of danger! His frugality, his indifference to physical comforts, continued to amaze me.
    Camp at Crompond, October 3, 1782
    Though we have not seen the enemy, our recent campaign has been a very rough one. We suffered much from heat, and now the cold weather is making itself keenly felt. I, for one, bear these changes well, and have never been in better health. This year I have a tent and a straw mattress. I’m not that well covered, but my cloak is a help.
    My brother made many other interesting comments on American society that I did not have a chance to include in these excerpts, such as the following: the president of Congress offered him turtle soup for dinner. Axel was amazed to learn that Americans were allowed to do little on Sundays but read the Bible—a Frenchman trying to play his flute on the Sabbath almost caused a riot. He found America boring because of its lack of museums. He was puzzled to observe that everyone washed so often, used soap on their hair instead of powder, drank too much tea and thus lost their teeth early.
    I was happy to hear that during the course of the conflict my brother changed his mind about General de Rochambeau. He ended up admiring him greatly.
    Boston, November 30, 1782
    We parted with M. de Rochambeau with sorrow; everyone liked to be commanded by him. M. de Rochambeau, with his precious sangfroid, was the only man capable of commanding us here, and of maintaining that perfect harmony which has reigned between two groups of citizens so different in manners, morals, and language, and who, at heart, do not like each other…. Our allies have not always behaved well to us, and our stay on their shores has not led us to like or to esteem them. M. de Rochambeau himself has not always been well treated; but in spite of this his conduct has been perfect…. The stern orders he gave our army…enforced that