THE GREAT TRAGEDY OF RAYMONDE TREMBLAY
by Maxime Silvain
We were all aware of Mademoiselle Tremblay’s marriage to one Jacinth de la Rochenoire, currently the commander of the Young Company and Warden at Sainte Mere-des-Larmes. Considering his insistence at addressing his wife as “Madame de la Rochenoire-Tremblay”, and the rumors that his interests laid not in their marital bed, but in another member of the Church, it was easy to assume that this union was nothing more than a political arrangement of two noble houses. But the truth is more complicated than that.
When Mademoiselle Tremblay’s nephew was abducted, his kidnappers gave her family an ultimatum – pay the ransom of three and a half million Solars or never see their child again. Three and a half million Solars is an immense sum, even for a noble family.
And that is when de la Rochenoire presented the Tremblay’s with a deal.
The family itself is well-known for their charity work, and surely at least some of us are familiar with it. This situation was not that much different. Seeing the tragedy that befell the Tremblay’s, de la Rochenoire offered the following – two-million and a quarter thousand Solars, which would go towards the ransom, in exchange for Mademoiselle Raymonde’s hand in marriage and one-fifth of the family’s sugar plantations back in Souragne. A generous offer which would not only strengthen both houses, but also save the life of an innocent child. However, there was a problem.
You see, both parties of the arranged marriage were already sworn to or in love with someone else. We all read the letter written by the Baron of Duchbourg, and are familiar with the transgressions on behalf of Mademoiselle Tremblay – her attempt at blackmail that was supposed to ensure titles for her and her husband, the heathen marriage with the disgraced Alix Martineau. But are we aware of the transgressions on her husband’s side?
First, how do you marry your son, a Warden of Ezra, to a heathen? The solution to this question is less savoury than some would hazard. According to the letter, de la Rochenoire offered the Bastion a generous sum, in order to convince them to allow the marriage. At the time the Church was apparently aware of Jacinth de la Rochenoire’s alleged affair with another member of the congregation, but the money was enough to convince their authority to give permission for this union.
Now that the two of them were married, the money promised for House Tremblay would be transferred, and the life of their heir would have been saved by the charity of de la Rochenoire.
The child was, instead, saved thanks to the intervention of our local Red Vardo Traders branch, according to our anonymous source within the organization, not the generosity of de la Rochenoire. In fact, the promised sum of two-million and a quarter thousand Solars was never paid, spent on the numerous gifts the family made to the Church of Ezra.
With the child safely in his mother and father’s arms, there would be no need for the money, one would argue. And you would be right, if not for one small problem. De la Rochenoire still had their eyes on the promised sugar plantations, and how would they get them if that part of the deal was not kept? Legal recourse and our sources point at the answer; an annulment of their union.
Mademoiselle Tremblay made this part of their plan much easier with her indiscretions. Jacinth de la Rochenoire schemed to use it to undermine her position in the Young Company, and have a messy divorce, which would be easily faulted on Mademoiselle Tremblay. After all, de la Rochenoire reputation suffered tremendously because of that (and not their hiring of twists and foreigners as retainers, or other scandalous antics they are often accused of), so they would surely be awarded the promised plantations as damages, and harm any chances mademoiselle Tremblay would have at receiving a title. Then, Jacinth de la Rochenoire will be free to marry his lover and perhaps even move away from the hustle and bustle of Port-à-Lucine to Souragne.
While this itself would be a considerable weight to have on one’s shoulders, Mademoiselle Tremblay suffered not only in her private life, but her professional life as well.