Date: 7 Mar 2010 09:21 pm (UTC)
Well, I suppose that's the challenge in writing historical fiction - managing to make the research work for you and not overwhelming the story with it.

I understand that the cool, gentlemanly thing to do in pistol-duelling was to miss on purpose, thus satisfying your honour without unseemly blood and guts (and having to flee abroad!). Of course, the best laid plans... The main example I've read about (I did C19th American history at one point in uni) is from 1804, when then-US Vice President (!) Aaron Burr fought a duel with the former Secretary of the Treasury, and his bitter political and personal rival, Alexander Hamilton. It's hard to know what exactly happened, because all of the seconds etc were standing with their backs to the action so they could swear later in court that they'd seen nothing (nice plan!), but apparently Hamilton did the missing-on-purpose thing (he'd told his friends beforehand that that was what he was going to do) and Burr, perhaps thinking that he'd meant to kill him but had missed by accident, shot him dead anyway. Or mortally wounded him, at any rate - I think he took a while to die.

Anyway, it ruined Burr politically, even though all the legal charges were eventually dropped, and he ended up living in Britain for a while, then got involved in some harebrained scheme to make himself Emperor of Louisiana, or something (again, exactly what was up with the so-called Burr Conspiracy remains a matter of some debate). But the point is, as you say, this isn't exactly a subtle or trouble-free means of resolving the kind of pickle John finds himself in... ;D

Of course, with the big battle taking place just down the road at Belle-Alliance (and the days of military manoeuvring and smaller battles preceding it), the best thing might just be to have the troublesome relative run into a "French cavalry patrol", with the added bonus that the surviving party can then claim that "I managed to fight off those two dozen Frog hussars, but unfortunately they'd already got him - he died like a dashed hero..." I'm sure Rothley the Elder has already thought of this! :-D

The big question of course is what motivates the traitor? I can't really imagine a comfortable landholding type like him supporting Liberte, Egalite et Fraternite, or even Napoleonic imperialism, so did he just do it for the money? I'm sure that even if he did he's got some self-justifying "rational" explanation for what he's done, but that's just traitors for you...
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