Her letters conveyed the opulence and liberty of that distant place that was, to us, an exotic and oppressed false paradise. But when two nations have been entwined in bitter rivalry for so many decades it is hard for even the most scholarly of us to interpret what is clear fact and what is bold fiction, cooked up while the blood is hot. She spoke of a world where women spoke freely of the affairs of their house, of the politics conducted by their husbands, of the major events in their cities, without the need to edit their words or stand under supervision of their male kin. The great women were the patrons of many of the buildings constructed in their cities as well as the artisans and scientists that worked there. It is only by virtue of her blue blood that these letters were not immediately buried by the court. A woman of a lesser station would not have dared to speak so graciously and so scandalously of the enemy as such and she knew this well enough, which is why she did it.
Paddy Dobson
10th May 2023