A Plague of Lies (45 page)

As I wrote this book, I grew very fond of Anne-Marie, daughter of the Prince of Condé and granddaughter of Claire Clemence, the princess of Condé, whose story is partly told in
the second Charles book,
The Eloquence of Blood
. Anne-Marie and her three sisters were Bourbons and Princesses of the Blood, but because they were so small—like Claire Clemence—the court called them Dolls of the Blood. Anne-Marie, who never married, died of lung disease at twenty-five. The Duc de Saint-Simon wrote that she had “great wit, kindness, and piety, which sustained her in her very sad life.”

D
ISCUSSION
Q
UESTIONS

1. When the book opens, Charles is dismayed at the thought of being sent to Versailles. Why does Charles dislike King Louis XIV and the Sun King’s court so much? Do his attitude and thinking change over the course of the book?

2. What do you think of the way Père La Chaise handles his responsibility as the king’s confessor? How does he balance his role’s limits with the opportunity to influence the king? Do you think his motivations are ultimately good, self-serving, or both?

3. In what way does the character of the Comte de Fleury, whom we never meet alive, manipulate the novel’s development? How do you think things might have ended up differently if he hadn’t died?

4. Discuss the different positions of women at court. Is Mme de Maintenon better or worse off, being married to the king but not recognized as queen? How is the Grand Duchess of Tuscany’s role different from those of the young girls, Lulu and Anne-Marie? How are the two girls’ positions different from each other?

5. Why do you think Lulu was so desperate not to go to Poland? Why does she do what she does at the end? Can you see how she could have made different choices?

6. Do you think the Prince of Conti is indifferent to Lulu’s plight? Why or why not?

7.
How do the character and personality of Henri de Montmorency shape the events of the book? Do you think he has grown or changed by the end?

8. It is often noted that the entire court is obsessed with the idea of poison. Why do you think poison was such a frequently used—or frequently suspected—murder weapon during that era?

9. What struggles does Charles have with Jesuit obedience in this book? How is his attitude toward obedience different from your own? Do you think Charles will decide to continue as a Jesuit, or will he ultimately find the life too constricting?

10. Seventeenth-century Paris was a fascinating period, full of drama and intrigue. Would you have liked to live in Charles’s era? Why or why not?

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