Comte de Graçay
From Hornblower
Lucien Antoine de Ladon, the Comte de Graçay was a member of the old French nobility who has lost three sons in Napoleon's wars. He lived at Chateaux de Graçay with his widowed daughter-in-law, Marie.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Sheltering Fugitives
In the winter of 1810-1811,the Comte sheltered Horatio Hornblower, William Bush, and Brown during their flight from French captivity. The party spent the winter as guests of the Comte and prepared for an escape in late spring. When the spring came, the party escaped down the Loire.
[edit] As a Resistance Leader
After Hornblower defeated Napoleon on the , Hornblower's wife Barbara accompanies her brother, the Duke of Wellington to the Congress of Vienna, leaving Hornblower at loose ends. He decided to visit the Comte de Gracay, where he resumed his relationship with the Comte's daughter-in-law, Marie. When Napoleon escaped from Elba and raised a new army, Hornblower, the Comte and Marie lead a guerilla fight against the Imperial forces. They were eventually defeated, and Marie died from a leg wound; Hornblower and the Comte were captured and condemned to death, but news of the Emperor's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo arrived just in time to save their lives.
[edit] Appearances
- Flying Colours (First appearance)
- Lord Hornblower
