Chapter Text
It would be said, later, that Dolores Dei was the most beautiful woman ever to have lived. That her pale blond hair, oceanic green eyes, and ethereal frame drew every eye in every room she walked into. That was probably an exaggeration. She was pretty. But that wasn’t what Irene noticed about her the day they first met.
It was at a bridge-party, the sort of thing that happened often around the court of Lutèce, capital of Suresne. Irene’s table had just finished a rubber, and she could hear animated conversation at a table nearby. Curious, she walked over and took a seat, seeing that the table had abandoned their bridge game for the time being.
One woman was speaking a little too quickly, with eyes that clearly shone with enthusiasm and passion for her subject. “ … which will lead to much greater innovation and much more ambitious ventures,” Irene caught as she sat down.
“Princesse,” murmured the three others at the table, all nobles who Irene knew well. The Duc de Nemours hastened to perform the proper introduction. “Princesse Irene, may I present Madame Dolores la Marchesa de Touraine. She has recently wed her husband le Marchese and come to join us at court.” The marchesa had a slightly foreign accent and her manner of dressing her hair was not at all in fashion in Suresne: she wore a light hairnet, barely visible over her blond hair, rather than the hoods that were currently ubiquitous.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Irene replied. “Please don’t let me stop you from your conversation; it sounded interesting.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” rejoined Dolores. There was nothing inappropriately unenthusiastic in her smile or tone; yet Irene got a perfunctory sense from her greeting, as though the enthusiasm had been practiced in front of a mirror. But her real enthusiasm returned as she returned to her subject. “I was just giving my opinion that the dearth of innovative ventures and ambitious projects in Suresne is due to a lack of appropriate capital structures to fund them. Surely there are many ventures that are destined most likely for failure, but with a small chance of a large payout. Currently it is quite difficult for such ventures to seek funding, as even usurious interest rates are insufficient to tempt those with capital to risk their funds in cases where they are most likely not to be paid back. Instead, these should be structured as joint ventures, where outside funders receive a share of the profits, in return for taking a share of the risk. Investors are able to earn more than by simply lending at interest, entrepreneurs can pass off some risk to those with deeper pockets; everyone wins.”
Irene nodded thoughtfully, trying to take in everything Dolores was saying. “Is that how ventures are organized in … pardon me, where did you say you were from?”
“Vesper-Messina. No, it’s just an idea I’ve been thinking about recently.”
“And … how could the crown assist with something like this? Is it a matter of policy? Or merely the individual actions of our subjects?”
“Oh, the crown could definitely make it easier,” Dolores answered. “Right now it is prohibitively difficult for many owners to act as one. Any act must be signed by every investor, for example. Create a legal framework to allow incorporation of joint stock corporations, that allow a limited number of directors to act on behalf of many owners.” Her eyes glowed. “Oh, and limit the liability of owners in such corporations, so that by buying in one cannot incur arbitrary amounts of debt,” she added, as a bit of an afterthought.
“Wouldn’t that … tend to encourage risky behavior?” Irene frowned.
“Perhaps, but I think on balance it is worthwhile. To be candid, what I see in Suresne is a people far too afraid to take risks. What has really changed since the days of Franconegro? Suresne’s population is scarcely even bigger, thanks to periodic plagues and stagnant agricultural productivity. The serfs may be free, but what good does it do them when half their children die before adulthood? What is needed is risk-taking ventures; in the realm of science, to improve medicine and agriculture, and in exploration, to find new resources and new lands to settle.” Franconegro had ruled two hundred years ago as Innocence over all of Mundi. At pivotal moments in history, a personification of that moment would appear–it had been so since the days of the Perikarnassian. The Ecclesiastes existed to anoint those personifications to the office of Innocence. What Dolores said was admittedly true–Suresne had made great strides during the reign of Franconegro, but been stagnant since, as if waiting for the next Innocence to arrive.
“That’s … very interesting. You really should talk to my father about some of this.”
“And you? What do you think?” Dolores looked at Irene expectantly.
“Well … I don’t know. I suppose I have to think on the matter.” Dolores looked a bit disappointed at Irene’s noncommittal response, but continued to look at her thoughtfully, even as the Duc de Nemours steered the conversation toward a ball that was being planned for next week.