From the chateau of N****, 9 February, 1780

Never let it be claimed that I do not fulfill my part of any bargain, madame. I wager that the epistolary challenge you set me in the early morning hours of our last tête-à-tête may have faded in the memory somewhat. The consumption of some of the most exquisite wines from your private cellar may have affected your recollection of your request - to refresh your memory (if, perchance your account of this wager is clear and accords with mine, then please accept my compliments) -

After spending hours conversing on the passing of time and more specifically, speculating on what the future may hold for some of our mutual acquaintances, our fancy turned to a more fictional elaboration of the future lives of those at court. (Your surmisal on the health of Marie Antoinette's mother, and speculation on future tragedy that awaits her family, blended both known fact and insight with a wonderful folly.) As the conversation extended deep into the night, your challenge to me was to entertain you during the rest of this bleak winter with letters from the chateau du N****, detailing the fictional account of a subject of my choosing, containing whimsical details of times to come.

And so, I choose to begin the narrative of V*****t (after all, some degree of separation of author and protagonist is necessary), which I humbly submit for your entertainment and no doubt, titillation.

The subject of my fiction shall be placed in an exciting new environment - the New World; for where else on god's earth offers such exciting and unknown prospects of the future. Alas, the Spaniards have since taken La Nouvelle-Orléans; but I have read accounts of the charm of the area, and so my imagination soars to a time in the future, when our V****t (would it be so coarse to the ears to call him Val? I plead the tireness of my hand at the quill) works at a hostelry, in the arrondissement of Hathian.

And thus I plan to begin the tale of the pecadilloes, paramours, loves and misadventures of this Val - a roguish character whose follies may endear you to his narrative. Of course, the letters detailing his adventures may be of a rather candid nature. I shall thus use a double seal and wrapping, to aid you in concealing these tales in a suitable location (may I recommend underneath the purple pillows in the adjunct in your boudoir.)

Your humble servant