The Education of The King of France ca. 1831 {Chauvelin}

Chauv - Time to get the boy an education.

Henri felt a sense of unease and nervousness like the way he felt before his tutor gave him an oral examination except about a hundred times worse. The ‘examination’ he was about to receive was far more important and thus more nerve-wracking than any he had experienced thus forth in his entire life — of that Henri had no doubt. The knowledge only made is stomach churn and his head race all the more.

The reason for his anxiety was that he had finished the books Chauvelin had brought him to start his education with. And the man was coming by this very afternoon to “Discuss them at length.” Of course Henri should, he thought, have expected that Chauvelin wouldn’t just want him to read them or merely just discuss them with him. It would be another chess match of intelligence, points and counterpoints and making sure that he had absorbed everything of benefit he could from the material and knew how to apply it. He hadn’t expected Chauvelin to go easy on him — nor would he want him to. After all, the pressure and heat of a fire is what forges the strongest metals he thought to himself. Without it, they wouldn’t be as strong.. And he would need to be as strong as he could make himself if he ever hoped to stand against the Chouannerie and this gilded cage they’d put him into,

Nevertheless, he was quite nervous about whatever at length discussion Chauvelin would have for him about the applications of the works he’d read. He hoped he could remember them all. He intended to continue to impress the man and assure him of his faculties and capabilities and, as such, he’d finished the books Chauvelin had brought him several days quicker than Chauvelin had initially said he would return. Henri had a sensation of amusement thinking about how the man’s face might have looked when he received word that Henri had finished the books he was to read well ahead of schedule and was ready for him to return to discuss them as he’d promised he would.

Well he would find out soon for the other man was to arrive at any moment — probably in the same sneaky way he’d just ‘appeared’ the two times before. Henri looked at the books he’d just so recently read. They were on the table beside an elegant and delicious looking meal which had been set out for Henri and ‘a friend’ as he had simply said. Normally the books had a special hiding place, but he brought them out this time for he and Chauvelin to go over. Chasse would alert him if anyone entered the hall, and he could quickly hide the books. They had been both interesting and informative in content, pushing him to expand his thoughts and to challenge the authors in his mind with his own thoughts as well. So far the collection included a re-read in better context of Treatises of Government by Locke, Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract , Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” Machiavelli’s The Prince, and More’s Utopia. — the reading list was more than a bit thick and he knew there would be months and months worth of books and education to follow — and he didn’t mind. He wanted to be education, to be exposed to all manners of thought so he could consider them all and decide exactly where he was on the spectrum of things and try to put what he’d learned to work in mending the brokenness that was the spirit of his people.

He stacked and unstacked the books until Chasse’s ears rose at a still as yet inaudible sound. He quickly stowed the books away beneath the table hidden by its white cloth. He was certain Chauvelin was coming, but one never could be too careful, either. He didn’t want to appear to just be sitting and waiting, so went to his music stand and began to look through his music as if he was picking out a new piece.