In 1814 – shortly before Napoleon, escaping from exile in 1815, was thoroughly routed by the Duke of Wellington (not relevant at all to the story, but I like to remind people anyway) – the Bourbon monarchy was restored in the person of Louis XVIII, brother of Louis-Charles, or Louis XVII as would have been. At the time, hundreds of claimants to the throne, all professing to be the ‘lost dauphin’, arrived in Paris from all over Europe, some from as far away as Canada, South Africa and the Seychelles.
