Conseil du Royaume

[_Tristan_]

Philippe smiles to the assembled nobles.

Ah, Constance... Ever the one for surprises it seems... I had heard from one of her maid that some young Italian lad had caught her eye, but knowing my daughter I was surprised to hear her talk of marriage...

Nevertheless the man is of good standing, part of the Venetian ruling family and with a claim to the Doge seat, even if tenuous. And if he's willing to deal with Constance, I wish all the good to him...

To the newly weds !! (Philippe raises a goblet brought by a servant for a toast)

To celebrate such a joyful occasion, I think it is high time I made amends... A good ruler should recognize when or where he's in the wrong, and that I have been these past few years...

I wish to apologize to Duc Alain for the harshness in words and deeds I may have displayed against him and his House.

He surely didn't make things easy on him but I can allow for his surliness and anger with the unfair treatment I've been giving him.

I set him as Senechal a difficult mission, a mission at which he didn't balk or quail in fear at but tried to accomplish to the best of his abilities. He succeeded in what few could have accomplished : taking land on the British Isle under the nose of Guillaume, a thorn in the British lion side, a thorn which may serve us well to kick the English out of France.

And this was accomplished while he also had to manage the day-to-day life of the Royaume as Senechal, a balancing feat few ould have been capable of.

I hope Alain will accept my apologies and should he do so, I offer him as a reconcilation gift the good city of Bruges, as a token of my faith in him to be a good servant of the Royaume.

Should he accept the gift, all I would require of him is to release the men garrisoning Bruges and send them back to Paris to bolster the defences of our Capital City.