What about the two troubled sisters?

 'Here they are, mother, Miss Hartford and Miss Sophia Hartford.' 

says Joachim as he presents the visitors to his mother [and he thinks 'I really wish they weren't here.'] 

Actually, Nell and Sophie really don't want to be there either, but having been cast out of their home in Paris they have nowhere else to go. 

Why are the sisters troubled?

They lost their brother, Captain Alex Hartford from his wounds at the battle of Waterloo. Not long after that their mother died. 

Their father, Colonel Robert Hartford thinks only of his own advancement. An aide to the Duke of Wellington, he is organising the disbanding of the Army of Occupation in Paris in 1818.[1]

In June 1817 he remarries in hopes of having another son. 

Very soon Nell sinks into a depressed state and Sophie becomes so wild, their new stepmother casts them out.

Pedestrian curricle [vélocipède] race in Paris 1817
Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Life in Paris is full of variety, fashion, entertainments and endless dances with crowds of English, Austrian and Russian soldiers. Exactly what Sophie enjoys.

Bal Bullier, an open air dance setting at Montparnasse, established in 1787. [Picture courtesy of Les Montparnos Blog]

Going from Paris to the Pyrenees is a huge shock. What ? Life in a country chateau surrounded by lakes and mountains? No dances and no soldiers to admire her? Bor-ing!

Sophie creates havoc before she has been there 24 hours, driving Joachim into such a rage he's certain flames are coming out of his ears. After ten days he realises that Nell has not smiled once since arriving. It seems life is going to be difficult for all concerned. 

Joachim's comrade Bertrand remarks: 'My friend, I don’t envy you being saddled with that pair for months. I couldn’t put up with either of them for a week, even.’

Can life with the slightly exotic Montailhac family help the sisters make a fresh start? 

Can Joachim find anything to like in either of them? 

            His wise mother uses kindness to bring about change. 

[c] Beth Elliott

[1] The Army of Occupation by the four Allies - England, Austria, Prussia and Russia - under the Duke of Wellington, guaranteed peace in France for three years, and was disbanded at the end of 1818.