The Marquis de Fontanes and his Turkish wife, Princess Mihriban [Miri]
have five children.
Both their daughters and two of their three sons have found their life partners
and are happily settled.
That leaves Joachim, the youngest son.
Twelve years younger than his oldest brother, everyone still sees Joachim as a boy. And "everyone" means not just his loving family, but all the people on his father's estate.
So, this year, when both his brothers are away and his father is busy with political affairs, now is his chance to prove he is capable of managing every aspect of the work involved.
" This year was his first time of being in charge of
running the whole estate and he was determined to make a success of it. He
could put up with the steward being somewhat patronising over dealing with the
accounts. But it was embarrassing to know he was under constant inspection by
every person on the estate, from the grooms and stablehands to the shepherds
and the peasants in the mining village. He took a deep breath. I’ll make everything work as well as ever,
if not better. " A Lady's Honour
Of course, he didn't allow for added complications, involving a pair of visitors who upset matters in a range of ways. But we'll get to them later.
Two details about Joachim that are important in the story -
He wears a cologne that has a spicy and invigorating scent [it's called Carmelite Water,
made using cloves, lemon, lemon balm and brandy].
He treasures his jade stickpin, an 18th birthday gift
from his oldest brother, Henri,
