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angelasscribbles · 3 months

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What Once Was

Fandom: Vying for Versailles (Romance Club)

Summary: Renee married someone else. But what happens when Alexandre comes back into her life?

“Madame, you have a visitor.”

Renée looked up from her writing desk curiously. She hadn’t been expecting anyone. “Who is it, Beatrice?”

Beatrice had served Renee since she had first set foot in Versailles all those years ago. She had risen from lady’s maid to maîtresse d'hôtel. Her duties now involved overseeing all the other household servants at Chateau de Marly.

“It’s Monsieur Bontemps, Madame.”

The door to the study swung wide as the mistress of house backed away, revealing Alexandre, his fingers twisting nervously at the hat clasped in his hands.

Renee rose from her desk with surprised delight and swept across the room to greet him with a hug. “Alexandre! This is a pleasant surprise! Wait….” She drew back with a worried crease across her brow, “Is all well? The king—”

“The king is fine, Madame.”

Her good mood faltered as her eyes tracked his face noting the agitation in his stance. Very little rattled the king’s spymaster. “Then why are you here?”

“I was hoping we could have a private conversation.” His eyes darted around the room. “May I come in?”

“Certainly, but I think we would be more comfortable in the small sitting room.” She stepped out of the study and led him down the hallway to the smallest of the sitting rooms. It was cozy, plush, and private.

She gave Beatrice instructions to send a maid in with tea service then she shut the door. Turning back to him, she crossed her arms and studied him closely.

He was fidgety, clearly wound up about something, which was completely out of character for him. She couldn’t help the smile that crawled across her face as she took in his agitation. “Do I still make you nervous, Alexandre?”

“You do have a way of knocking my equilibrium off balance, Madame.” He gave her a small smile.

The affection and heat in his gaze sent butterflies exploding through her stomach. “That is good to know, Monsieur.”

He arched an eyebrow skeptically, “You think me indifferent to you?”

“Perhaps.”

“I could never be indifferent to you.” The pure, undisguised longing on his face sent shivers cascading down her spine.

There was a brief lull in their conversation as the tea was served. Renee watched the maid retreat as she stirred her tea. With her eyes focused on the cup in her hand, she softly said, “You should have stayed.”

“Renee…I couldn’t stay in close proximity to you knowing I could never touch you again.”

She glanced up at him and her tone was sharp as she told him, “Those were the choices you made.”

He sighed as he carefully sat his cup on the table. It was the same argument they’d had before he had left for Geneva to serve the king’s interest in Switzerland. “You didn’t choose me.”

“I did. I simply didn’t choose only you,” she reminded him. “And it’s not like you were ever going to marry me anyway.”

“A spymaster—”

“I know. Believe me, I remember all your excuses.”

“They weren’t excuses.”

“Weren’t they?”

He didn’t answer. He had told her that they could never be a couple. He hadn’t had a noble title back then and his work made it almost impossible to conduct a love affair. But when she had accepted a proposal from the Prince du Sang, it had felt like a knife plunged into his heart.

He drew in a deep breath and decided to tell her the truth. “There’s something you don’t know, Renee. I did approach Louis about a possible match. The king had been offering to ennoble me for years. I thought, maybe…”

Renee jerked in surprise, nearly spilling her tea in the process, “What?”

“My request was rejected out of hand and when Philippe got down on one knee in front of the entire court a mere day later, I understood why.”

Louis loved him like a brother. But Philippe was his brother. And he had probably asked first. The prince was a better match for her anyway. He knew that.

Renee quickly sat her cup down and tried to quell the shaking in her hands. “Alexandre…why didn’t you tell me?”

“After witnessing firsthand your pure joy at accepting another man’s proposal? What would have been the point?” He had, instead, determined to keep his distance from her.

And yet when their paths crossed, he had found that he still could not resist her. “Do you remember that night in Paris, right before your wedding?”

Madame de France, princess, duchess, and marquise did not blush easily, but her cheeks colored at the reminder. “Of course I do. But why are you bringing that up? Why are you bringing any of it up now?”

“Pardon?”

“Why discuss these things now? After all this time?”

“Ah, yes.” And here was the reason for his visit. “Do you remember when you told me that you would recognize me anywhere?”

“Yes. And you said the same. What does that have to do with why you’re here?”

“Only that I by chance saw you last time I was in Paris on the king’s business. I only saw your profile as you climbed into your carriage, but I knew it was you.”

“And you didn’t think to say hello?”

“I started to but then I saw your son.”

“Louis-Philippe?”

“Yes. One of the servants handed him up into the carriage to you and I got a clear view of his face, Renee.”

Her heart stopped. “And?”

“And he favors neither the prince nor a certain count that you are overly fond of.”

She ignored his reference to Armand as her heart started to thump even harder. She knew exactly who the child favored but she wasn’t going to make this easy on him. Her hands and her voice were steady as she looked him directly in the eye. “What are you asking me, Alexandre?”

“Is he….is he mine?”

She jumped up from her seat and stalked across the room to stare out the window. After a long pause, she replied, “You are not a father in the way that Philippe is. You do not tuck him into bed at night nor ease his fears when the thunder booms. He does not know you.”

He stood and followed her across the room, resting a hand on her shoulder. “That’s not what I’m asking, and you know it.”

Without turning to look at him, she whispered, “Yes, he was conceived that night in Paris.”

Alexandre’s world tilted on its axis. He had known, of course, the moment he had seen the child’s face. But to have confirmation…. He dropped his hand and stepped away from her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Anger flared through her as she spun to face him and flung his own words back at him. “What would have been the point? You ran away from me fast enough the moment you didn’t like my choices.”

“But a child, Renee!”

“By the time I knew I was with child, I was already married! What would you have had me do? Put it in a letter so your enemies could use it against us both? You well know how easy it is to intercept correspondence.”

He nodded in acquiescence. He could not fault her logic. “And the Prince du Sang... does he….”

“Philippe knows. He does not care.”

“I find that hard to believe, Madame.”

“Did you think we were cuckolding him every time we were together?”

“Well…”

“I told you, before he even proposed, what our arrangement was!”

“Yes, but I—”

“You what? You thought I was lying?” She stepped closer. So close she could smell the vanilla and cardamom scent that always clung to him. So close that she could feel the heat radiating from him, sense the tension in his body, “I may lie to everyone else in service to my king and my country, but I have never lied to you nor him! I do not lie to the people that I love.”

Alexandre froze, shock, pleasure, and disbelief coursing through him at her words. She loved him?

Oblivious to his reaction to her unintentional confession, she plowed on. “And your assertation that I would have divided loyalties was preposterous! My loyalty to my husband would never put me at cross purposes with you, Alexandre and you know it! Philippe loves his brother and is loyal to him. Furthermore, I do not tell him everything that I know or that I do. He understands and respects the need for discretion when it comes to my duties as a spymaster! He would never ask me to betray—”

“Alright! Alright!” He held both hands up in surrender with a bemused chuckle.

“It’s not funny, Alexandre!” She stood in the middle of the room, just inches from him, cheeks red and chest heaving with emotion.

He was struck nearly speechless by her beauty. She was even more breathtaking when she was angry. How was that possible? He took an involuntary step toward her.

She froze, her eyes trained on him, but she didn’t back away.

He took another step toward her, this one purposeful.

They stood, unmoving, staring into each other’s eyes; two hearts pounding in anticipation. He lifted a hand and reached out for her just as the sitting room door banged open.

“There you are, my love! I—oh! I didn’t realize we had company.” The prince stopped short, causing the chevalier who had been hot on his heels to collide into his backside.

Alexandre jerked his hand back and stepped away awkwardly. “My prince! I…” he executed a low bow. “So lovely to see you again.”

Philippe’s eyes took in the valet’s flushed and guilty expression and then his wife’s stoic demeanor. Renee had not backed away when he entered the room. She had stood her ground. Her ire was evident and he smothered a smile. He understood everything. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Alexandre, but let’s not pretend you came here for me.”

“I….” For the first time in his life, Alexandre was struck completely speechless.

Renee finally moved, closing the distance to greet her husband with a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. She murmured in his ear, “He knows about Louie.”

“Hm,” he hugged her back, but his gaze was trained on his brother’s spymaster.

Renee moved around her husband to greet the chevalier with the same hug and kiss she had just given her husband. “How was grouse hunting?”

“As usual, we didn’t find a single grouse but at least we didn’t end up drunk in a fountain again.” The chevalier laughed at his own joke as he returned her hug. Not a day passed that he didn’t count his blessings.

There had been a time when the king had been adamant that Philippe make a political marriage, likely to some English noblewoman who would expect fidelity from him. He would forever be grateful that Louis had allowed the prince to marry Renee and that Renee had never blinked at the relationship between the two men. Now he practically lived at Chateau de Marly and was both a godfather and cherished uncle to their son. They functioned very well as a threesome and while his whole heart belonged to the prince, he wasn’t completely indifferent to Renee.

He also liked the life they had built together very much so he glared suspiciously at the intruder. “Why are you here, Monsieur Bontemps?”

Finally recovering, Alexander stiffly replied, “I had some…business to discuss with the duchess.”

Renee snorted. “Business? Is that what this is, Alexandre?”

He flushed scarlet which caused the other two men in the room to laugh.

The prince spoke first. “Let’s drop the pretense, shall we? Renee and I have no secrets from each other nor do I keep secrets from the chevalier. His discretion is not in question. You may speak freely. Everyone in this room knows that Louis is your son. So why are you really here?”

“Do you wish to challenge me to a duel, Monsieur?” Alexandre asked carefully.

Philippe looked at him askance. “Why would I do that?”

Alexandre shook his head slowly. “Most men in your position would.” It was dawning on him that Renee had been telling the full truth of the matter. Philippe showed no signs of rage or jealousy.

Of course, it was an open secret at court that his affair with the chevalier never ended, but for most men indulging their own desires did not mean they were tolerant of their wives doing the same.

Philippe’s face broke into a wide smile. “When have you ever known me to be like most men? Come now, stay for dinner and we can discuss everything.”

“As tempting as that sounds…I have some urgent business matters I must attend to tonight. However….”

“Yes?”

“With your leave, I would like to visit the child. As a family friend, of course. I would never disclose the true nature of our relationship to him.”

“You want a relationship with our son?” Renee asked so quietly he almost missed it.

Turning to face her with beseeching eyes he answered her. “If it pleases you, then yes.”

Renee closed her eyes briefly as she fought against the onslaught of conflicting emotions that collided inside her at the thought. When she opened them again, she blinked up at him. “I think I would like that very much.”

Profound relief swirled through him at her answer. He had not known what to expect when he knocked on her door, but things had gone better than he could have imagined. Turning his attention back to Philippe, he asked, “And this is alright with you?”

“It is. You’ll find Louie is a capricious and wild little hellion who delights in his friendships with children and adults alike. I think he’ll be good for you.”

Alexandre barked out a surprised laugh. “He’ll be good for me?”

“Yes….” Philippe drawled out with a mischievous grin. “I think you need to loosen up and he’s just the person to help you do it.”

The king’s valet turned to go but an idea had taken root in his mind and he could not let it go. Turning back he asked, “And your wife?”

“What about her?”

“May I have permission to resume our….friendship?”

“Oh, he wants to court your wife!” The chevalier chortled out loud.

“Monsieur,” Philippe shook his head. “You disappoint me. I thought you understood. You do not need my permission. You need hers.”

Alexandre turned slowly, his heart thudding in his chest. “Madame. I would be most grateful if you would agree to indulge me in a conversation soon. I think we have many things to discuss.”

“For how long?”

“I’m sorry?”

“How long will these discussions go on? When do you leave again?”

He nodded in understanding. “Given today's revelations, and assuming you will continue to welcome me as a visitor in your home, I will start making the preparations to return to my house in Paris immediately and permanently.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment and then she nodded. “I would like you to get to know our son and I would be open to you and I having a conversation about where we go from there.”

He couldn’t help the smile that crawled across his face. He left the chateau with a spring in his step.

The truth was, he had not been happy since he’d left court shortly after her wedding. He hadn’t thought he could share her, open relationship with her husband or not. But an even larger concern had been his fear of openly loving her, thereby making her a target for his enemies, which were many.

He would never be comfortable being physically affectionate with her in front of others, he was more private than that, but if there was still a relationship to be had with her, there couldn’t be a more perfect cover than her marriage. No one ever had to know what she meant to him, or that he had a child. They could therefore never be used against him.

The thought of rekindling what they once had made him feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time….happiness.

It was entirely possible that things had worked out for him after all.

#vying for versailles #rc vying for versailles #rc vfv #rc alexandre #rc renée #fanfiction #fanfic #romance club #vfv

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reneedenoailles · 2 months

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take this from my cold, dead hands

#this is what i'm wasting my time making #rc vfv #vying for versailles #rc vying for versailles #vfv #rc prince philippe #armand de gramont #catherine de gramont #chevalier philippe #rc henrietta #ignore how uneven they are its stressing me out as much as it stresses you out #i first thought of putting a photo of buckingham palace for henrietta but the british flag was funnier

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paracosmic-murdock · 4 months

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Tell me what are my words worth ; Benedict Bridgerton x Reader

Chapter 21: "Cordialement, Y/N et Benedict"

Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader

Summary: It has been two years since your secret was exposed and you had to leave London. Two years with deep buried misery and in which you missed everything you used to have. However, neglect, novelties, and letters made sure to give you more than one reason to return to claim someone who is as rightfully yours as your estate and your people: Benedict Bridgerton.

Warnings/tags: idiots in love, eventual smut, mutual pining, (kinda???) enemies (fake, this is just pride) to lovers (surely), bisexual benedict bridgerton, feminist themes, historical inaccuracy (for the sake of the plot), inspired by mulan (1998), song: the lakes (taylor swift), other tags to be added

Chapter summary: You and Benedict return to London with a wedding invitation and more shocking news for the family.

Word count: 2.7K

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“Ma chérie, when did this happen?”

You cleared your throat. “Uh, during my first trip to London, my Lord.”

“This is unexpected, but… I shall speak to the council about this,” Lord Monet replied. “We believed you and the Prince of Monaco-”

“No,” you firmly denied. “He was a mere suitor, but Mr. Bridgerton is my love match.”

He raised his eyebrow, giving him a despective look. “Is he now?”

You two nodded.

“Is he also fit to be a duke?” he questioned. “Because if you do not marry the Prince, you must marry a man fit to rule the region, at least.”

“Even if he wasn't, and I am not saying he is not fit, I must be the one to perform the ducal duties,” you answered. “Not a soul knows this region better than I. Since my father passed, as you know quite well, I have been the one to take care of Burgundy, the winery, and the state. Therefore, I should be the one who continues doing it.”

“What is your cousin for, then?”

“Nothing, my Lord,” you sighed. “And once I marry and have children, the region shall stay in good hands. Always in our family.”

He sighed. “What is his background, then? His family, what?”

“His father was the late Viscount Edmund Bridgerton. My father's friend from Oxford, if you can recall,” you replied. “He is his second son, and his older brother is Anthony Bridgerton, the now Viscount.”

“You come from a good family, it seems.”

“I do, yes,” Benedict spoke for the first time. “I have seven brothers and sisters. One of my sisters, Daphne, is the Duchess of Hastings.”

“Well, you sound like a good man,” Monet smiled slightly. “Have you decided on a date for the ceremony?”

“The sooner, the better.” Benedict said.

“Why the rush?”

“As I am sure Lord Cartier might have mentioned, there have been issues with my grandfather,” you answered. “He found a bastard child of Father's to take my rightful place. The sooner I marry, the safer I will be, you know? Protected by marriage.”

“As long as the rush does not mean anything else, I believe two months from today will be perfect so you can have everything ready.”

“Will the priest be available?” you asked in concern.

“I'll make him available provided he isn't. The Duchess of Burgundy's wedding must be a priority for the Church,” he replied. “I might as well have the Pope himself marry you.”

You chuckled. “That will not be necessary.”

“The fourteenth of September, then?”

Benedict looked at you with an enamored smile. “Yes.”

Dearest Bridgertons,

We are most delighted to reach out to you with the news of our engagement and upcoming matrimony, which will take place on September 14th at the Palace of Versailles. However, before that, we are pleased to invite the whole family to the engagement ball on August 5th at the Château du Clos de Vougeot.

Additionally, we would be honored for Lady Violet Bridgerton to stay with us until the ceremony to assist us in its planification and keep us beloved company.

We are grateful to all of you for your support and, unbelievably, for meddling in our love. We would not be here today without your carefully schemed and loving interventions.

Finally, we announce our stay in Versailles until July 20th, when we shall start our journey back to London for some days. We are expected in Vougeot by August 1st at the latest (in hopes that you join us), in Dijon on August 28th, and in Versailles on September 2nd. The former information was provided to inform you of our whereabouts in case you wish to join us someday.

Sincerely,

Y/N & Benedict.

You and Benedict were having breakfast when Antoinette arrived at the dining room. Her expression gave you an insight for whatever the unfortunate announcement would be.

“My lady, your grandfather is here. And he brought unpleasant company.”

Your lips formed a fine line, and you looked at Benedict in utter worry.

“Please, inform him we are breaking the fast and take him to the sitting room to wait for us,” you replied. “Tell him we do not have much time to receive him as we are leaving for London within the hour.”

“What should I say if he asks who is ‘we’?”

“Tell him I mean my fiancé and myself.”

She nodded. “Of course, my lady.”

“If you wish, I could ask him to leave,” Benedict proposed when he saw your maid leave. “You will not have to see him if you don’t want to.”

“I will not show him any sign of intimidation, my heart. Plus, I must extend our invitation to the engagement ball in person and have my guards take that misfortune of a brother to the dungeon he belongs to.”

Benedict smirked. “You are a devious young woman, aren't you?”

“This particular trash will not take itself out, so I must make sure someone does,” you replied. “And if it has got to be me so I know it is done properly, you know I will.”

“My darling, you are an unstoppable force of nature.”

You rolled your eyes with affection. “You are a silly man, Your Grace,” you noted. “You better kiss that attitude goodbye by the day of the engagement ball if you want the King of France to approve of you.”

He smiled and finished the last of his breakfast. As soon as you finished, he helped you stand up and walked to the sitting room alongside you.

“Good morning, sir,” you greeted him. “Raphaël, I thought you would be in a dungeon right now.”

Benedict cleared his throat. “Good morning.”

Your grandfather raised his eyebrow arrogantly. “What is the meaning of this, Mr. Bridgerton?”

“Were you not informed?”

“Of what?”

“Y/N and I are getting married mid-September.”

Raphaël frowned. “Married?”

You looked at the engagement ring in your finger and showed it to them. “September 14th, to be precise.”

“You can not marry this man. He is a mere artist! He is not fit to rule the region!”

“And this bastard is?” you questioned, looking the man up and down. “The only person fit to be Duke or Duchess of Burgundy is me, and not even over my dead body somebody else will take my place.”

“No one is asking for your permission, Y/N,” he said. “Either you leave soon, or I'll tell your cousin, the King, about your London shenanigans.”

You frowned. “Are you aware that I could be killed for that motive? Are you truly capable of causing your granddaughter's death?”

“You have brought it upon yourself.”

Benedict watched the scene in bewilderment. “I beg your pardon?”

“You might be engaged to her, but this is a family matter and none of your concern, Mr. Bridgerton.”

“Anything in regards to the mother of my child is of my concern, and I will not allow you or anybody to disrespect her.”

You opened your eyes in the widest astonishment.

You were certainly not with child —at least not just yet—, but you couldn't deny that was a smart move from him.

“Are you with child?!”

You cleared your throat, looking at your grandfather in awe. “Yes.”

The anger in his features was unmatched, and for a second you thought he would have a heart attack at the news. A short second that resulted in the slow-motion scene of him attempting to hit you but his hand landing on your fiancé instead.

Both you and Raphaël gasped loudly as Benedict returned the punch with all the strength of his body.

“Oh, my Lord!”

“Stop!”

“I will kill you with my bare hands for doing that to my granddaughter!”

“Is she your granddaughter now?! You get away from her or I swear to God you will not make it to the engagement ball!”

“You dishonored her not once but twice, and you dared inform of her condition as if it was the most normal thing on Earth to have a lady with child before marriage! Mr. Bridgerton, you are the furthest thing from a gentleman that there is, and you, Y/N, must learn your place! You are acting like a-”

“Speak of her badly once again and I will make sure to break your face.”

“You know what? I am out of here right now.” Raphaël rolled his eyes and exited the sitting room, tired of you and the chaos that surrounded the Dukes of Burgundy.

Your grandfather looked you dead in the eyes. “See what you caused?!”

“Whatever do you mean?!” you questioned. “Leave our property right now for I do not wish to see you again, sir. Perhaps the King should know of my faults and my condition and see how He assesses the situation.”

“For as long as I breathe, I will make sure you never rule this region. I will not let you tarnish my daughter's sacred name.”

“You are welcome to stop, then.” Benedict finished, to then yell for the footmen to take your grandfather out of the Palace.

And then there was silence.

“I will get killed, Benedict.”

He shook his head. “For all the Ton knows, everything was one of Lady Whistledown's rumors. Nobody has actual proof apart from witnesses we can trust in and mere hearsays. We will find Lady Whistledown and have her say it was all a lie or a misunderstanding.”

“Penelope Featherington is Lady Whistledown.” you replied.

“What?!”

You nodded. “She told me herself in an attempt to get my forgiveness so I wouldn't expose her to the Queen. I can only assume Eloise told her the truth, that the Queen and I were looking for her, and she decided to come clean.”

“Did you tell the Queen? Because Lady Whistledown hasn't published anymore, and the Featheringtons are in an economic crisis. The only thing keeping them alive is my family's support.”

“I did tell Her,” you replied. “I confessed to Penelope and Eloise that I was Antoine, and Penelope used that against me to have some sensationalist novelty for her ridiculous scandal sheet. She exposed Eloise's friendship with Theo to save herself because the Queen was getting close to her. Penelope saved herself at the expense of all of us instead of facing the consequences of her actions. It was only fair for me to return the favor.”

“Why would she do that to you?”

“When I was going through Eloise's stuff to find something about Lady Whistledown's identity, I saw that she exposed Miss Marina Thompson's pregnancy right after she got engaged to Colin,” you replied. “She surely was not aware that you and I were the couple and must have known about Colin's intentions to court me and the constant flirtations.”

“My heart, are you completely sure about this?”

“I am, and if her actions keep threatening my life and peace, I will make sure she pays for it even if it's the last thing I ever do,” you swore. “She was responsible for two years of my suffering. If it weren't for her, I would have been able to tell you myself about Antoine and I wouldn't have lost you. Nobody would have found out about anything and my grandfather would not be trying to ruin me. My life would not be hanging by a thread. If I must live in fear for as many moons as I have left, so will she.”

He sighed, kissing your gloved knuckles. “We must tell the family everything as soon as we arrive in London, my heart.”

“We must,” you conceded. “Along with a few other things.”

“Oh, my children! Welcome!”

You and Benedict looked at each other with a smile, and then at his mother again.

“We have been eagerly awaiting your return.” Kate said with a graceful smile.

“We sure have.” Eloise smiled widely.

“Now that you're here, we are finally ready for dinner!” Colin exclaimed. “I am so very happy for the two of you.”

“You better be, Brother.” Benedict teased him.

You cleared your throat. “Uh, before we do, we would like to speak to you. Adults only.”

Anthony nodded in surprise. “Of course. Gregory, Hyacinth, wait for us in the dining room.”

They complained but reluctantly left the sitting room.

However, before getting started, a maid appeared and announced Penelope's arrival to Bridgerton House.

“If you'll excuse me, I must receive her and we shall join you right away.” Colin commented happily.

“We would be grateful if the conversation could please stay within the family.” You looked at them with shyness in your tone.

“But Pen is like part of our family.” Eloise frowned.

“Well said, Sister: like.” Benedict conceded.

“Benedict…” Colin warned him.

Anthony cleared his throat. “There is no need to make a fuss out of this. If Y/N and Benedict's topic of conversation weren't confidential, there would be no issue in her being here. Since it seems to be as such and it is important that it stays between us Bridgertons, then you must respect their wishes, Colin.”

“If she cannot hear it, then perhaps it is none of my concern either.”

You rolled your eyes. “It's just that I personally would not want to see what I have to say on some scandal sheets tomorrow morning, Colin. Though I do not think she would expose herself, will she?”

The room fell silent, and you could see Eloise's offense at your comment. Despite Colin's tension caused by your gaze and words, you did not hesitate to continue.

“But if you do not want to hear what we have to say, it is fine. Less chances of Lady Whistledown finding out about my life if you do not tell her yourself, Colin.”

“Are you implying that Miss Featherington is-” Anthony began, but couldn't bring himself to finish the statement.

“... Lady Whistledown?” Kate continued for him.

“This cannot be true, and I kindly suggest you stop making such accusations, Y/N, for you have the reputation of a liar already and cannot deal another blow to your name.”

You stopped Benedict from interfering. “Eloise, am I lying?”

“I-” she blurted out, but couldn't form a sentence in her favor.

“El?” Colin asked, but she stayed silent.

“Eloise, did she or did she not expose Miss Thompson's condition in order to keep her away from Colin? Is that not the same thing that happened when she said that I was dressing as a man to go to the Academy when the only people who knew for sure were you, her, and my maid?” you questioned. “Did she not expose you and every single one of your family's matters to save herself and have something to say, respectively?”

“This is a serious accusation, dear…” Lady Bridgerton noted. “Are you… are you certain?”

“She told me herself,” you answered. “Trying to get my forgiveness after, I can only assume, Eloise suggested she tell me due to my plans with the Queen.”

“Did you, Eloise?” Anthony asked.

Eloise chuckled nervously but you spoke before she could. “At the end of the day, it was never her secret to tell,” you murmured. “But, for those of you who didn't know, I could get killed if word of it reaches France, so forgive me for not wanting her here.”

“Oh, this is too much to handle…” Lady Bridgerton sighed.

“Colin, have Penelope return home. She is not welcome here.” Anthony demanded.

“But, Brother-”

“Even before being Benedict's fiancée, she has always been the daughter of Father's dear friend, so we owe her our support,” Anthony stated. “And if not for her, do it for our sister Eloise regardless of how fine she is about it currently. Think of how she has affected our family, even Daphne… We are withdrawing our support to the Featheringtons effective immediately.”

Everyone looked at each other in silence.

“You cannot do this, Anthony.” Eloise retorted. “We have known them for-”

“Exactly. If she did not care about that when she used us and took advantage of our crises in her numerous issues, then we shouldn't either,” he spoke firmly. “It should be you or Colin whoever breaks the news. Decide or I'll do it myself tomorrow after breakfast.”

Colin left the sitting room, and Eloise shot you a look of disappointment before doing the very same.

“Let's not make Gregory and Hyacinth wait any more time. They must be starving.” Anthony said before leading the family to the dining room.

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adarkrainbow · 9 months

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Aulnoy's famous fairytales: The White Doe (2)

Now that we made a recap for the overall story, let's look at little details here and there, shall we?

1 ) Despite this being one of the most famous and reprinted fairytales of d'Aulnoy, The White Doe/The Hind in the Woods is one of the more dated of these stories. Not just because of the problematic racist elements of "princess Black of Ethiopia", but also because this story was clearly written in honor and reference to the king of the tme, Louis 14. When the fairies create a palace for princess Desired to live into until her fifteenth birthday, and have inside of it the whole history of the world depicted by art pieces, d'Aulnoy breaks her narration to describe in a poem form the "greatest and most brilliant warrior king of History", who is not named but is very clearly Louis XIV. Earlier, when the queen visited the six fairies' palace, the fairies told her that to build it they hired "the architect of the Sun", who basically recreated "the Sun's palace" but in smaller proportions. This is an obvious reference to Versailles, the wonderful castle of the "Sun-King", Louis 14. And if this wasn't enough, there are also several explicit comparisons to an actual historical event contemporary to the story: a royal wedding. Several times throughout the narration, d'Aulnoy says that the beautiful clothes or gorgeous outfits of Desired are identical with or "right behind in term of beauty" to the outfits and jewels worn at a "certain princess" wedding. These are all comparisons made to a certain woman named Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie, who had just married the duke of Bourgogne, aka... Louis XIV's grandchild.

All of this makes the story feel very NOT "intemporal" since, if you don't have the historical context, all those moments seem a bit weird and mysterious. And yet, this fairytale stayed one of d'Aulnoy's most popular ones... My guess is that what seduced people in this story was the imagery it brought rather than the story or writing itself. People's mind and imagination were struck by the supernatural white doe a prince cannot capture, by the visual of this monstrous crayfish terrorizing a queen and fairies by cursing a baby, by the idea of a beautiful girl doomed to live in the dark until her fifteenth birthday...

In fact, the way madame d'Aulnoy writes this tale to celebrate the royal wedding might explain why the main protagonist here, Desired, has such a young age - barely fifteen. Because Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie, upon being wed to Louis XIV's grandchild, was only twelve... [Note however that madame d'Aulnoy did not condone or enjoyed at all child-weddings of this sort - she herself had suffered from an atrocious arranged wedding in her very early life, and this ended up in a complicated business of manipulations, false accusations, exiles and murders - but when you live in 17th century France, you better be a propagandist of the king, especially if you are a woman who tries to write fiction.]

2 ) The beginning of the fairytale is obviously to put in parallel with Perrault's Sleeping Beauty. Same "gift-giving christening by the fairies" scene, the same way the older and more powerful of the fairies arrives to curse the babe only to have her curse "eased" by the others, the list of gifts offered by the fairies being quite similar to the one of the Sleeping Beauty fairies - more explicitely, in the beginning of Sleeping Beauty it was explicitely said the queen visited/tried several miraculous/healing waters to try to have a baby - which is what the queen does in the beginning of this tale, except here it becomes the start of the plot.

3 ) While there is still the manichean divide typical of French literary fairytales of "good fairy and wicked fairy", here d'Aulnoy plays deliberately on the fairies ambiguity, to show that despite acting by a binary pattern, fairies stay a "gray" set of beings. For example, the Fairy of the Fountain or Crayfish Fairy, despite being one of the main antagonists, starts out in the story as a helper and a benevolent force - and in a twist, still does fulfill her role of "good fairy godmother"... but she does so to the princess Black, who is an unwilling/accidental antagonist to the hero of the tale. (A similar process, where the antagonistic fairy is just the fairy godmother of someone other than the hero, was already used by d'Aulnoy in several of her previous fairytales, including The Blue Bird). As for the six benevolent fairies, while they are all good and nice throughout the story, the narration still highlights that they have two sets of chariots, and that when angered they drive the dragons, snakes and panther-driven chariots, hinting that while they are here helpers they can become antagonists in other stories.

4 ) While there is all the racism I talked about before, it is quite interesting to see here that we have two "anti-portraits" of ugly women, meant to oppose Desired's supreme beauty, two anti-portraits that actually help us understand the beauty criteria at work in this end of the 17th century of France. For Princess Black, we see that her ugliness comes from a "dark skin", "big lips" and a "crushed, large nose" - which are, beyond traits typically "African connoted", the opposite of the French ideal of women with very pale skin, very small noses, very thin lips. But in contrast, we also have Long-Thorn who presents another set of flaws. Just like princess Black there is the nose - here too red and too hooked - but beyond that we also have added poor teeth hygiene (Long-Thorn has black and unaligned teeth), and more interestingly a body too tall and too skinny. In general, when it comes to ugliness d'Aulnoy typically invokes smallness/dwarfism or fatness/obesity, but from time to time she also insists that when a character is too tall or too skinny, they also are ugly. Because in this time era, while they wanted women tall, they still didn't want them as tall as men, and there was still a certain "interest in the curve" as without being very large or big, women needed to be plump and fleshy enough to have a body to appreciate (a bony and skinny body was not a beautiful one at the time). Of course, no need to remind you that this was a set of aristocratic ideals - because only the noble and the rich could afford to be chalk-white and "pleasantly plump".

5 ) People have noted that, funnily, the way prince Warrior falls asleep in the woods after eating apples he found there looks like a "male Snow-White". It is quite interesting because, while there probably wasn't a Snow-White reference (since it is not a typically French tale), madame d'Aulnoy had the very Christian background and culture of the apple as the "forbidden fruit" with the whole Garden of Eden story. Which leads to an interesting point...

6 ) This fairytale is a sexy tale. It is not an overtly erotic fairytale, no, but there is an obvious VERY romantic if not sexy if not erotic connotation. This however only appears in the second half of the story, when Desired becomes the White Doe. Desired, turned into a prey, and Warrior, improvising himself a hunter, those two lovers, find themselves reunited deep into the woods (the uncivilized, savage, wild world) after purposefully leaving or fleeing their respective courts (the forest is noted to be filled with dangerous predatory animals, such as bears or lions). Warrior hunts down the White Doe, not knowing that she is the girl he is in love with and obsessed over - though he also grows a fondness, familiarity and love for this white doe. And all the while, the White Doe recognizes her hunter as the one she is in love with, and having to flee from him for her life is said to be just as painful as if she was actually hit by his arrows... Madame d'Aulnoy clearly plays here on metaphors and allegories to weave a whole "game of love" or "love as the hunt", "hunt as the love" section. Warrior hunting for the White Doe, the White Doe making sure she can be hunted while never letting herself be caught, it all evokes a bizarre game of seduction. Warrior clearly treats the Doe as more than a simple pet, claiming he "loves" it and wants it to follow him everywhere and to live with him. When the Doe tricks Warrior to escape him, and Warrior complains to his friend, Becafigue jokes about the situation being like an unfaithful woman cheating on her lover - but the prince answers his joke absolutely seriously. And of course, it is after the prince and the princess spend the night together, sharing their love, in human form, that the spell is broken... [Note: In my previous recap I might have written things backward, saying the spell is broken when "night comes and nothing happens". It is the reverse - they talk all ight long together, and as the morning comes she doesn't transform. Sorry about that.]

Beyond the general image, if things weren't clear eough d'Aulnoy keeps addng little details that make the story even more erotic - almost scandalous. The apple section I mentionned - prince Warrior eating apples in the woods before falling deeply asleep reminds of the first human consuming the "forbidden fruit", and it is when the White Doe dares sleep near him for the first time. When the prince catches the Doe or tries to "woo" it with gifts, it is said he keeps petting it, hugging it, caressing it, kissing it - as a pet, as an animal of course, but we reader know that there is a human woman underneath this doe skin, and so the erotic content cannot be escaped. ESPECIALLY when it is said that, after running from each other all day long, both return to their respective bedrooms "sweating and panting, exhausted by the time they spent together". And don't even get me started on how the prince ends up, to conquer and tie up the doe, hitting her with a single arrow in the leg, making her bleed... This is not a fairytale safe for kids.

7 ) Speaking of love, I did not mention it in my recap, but this fairytale is one of the rare ones of d'Aulnoy to have a moral in the end. To summarize it, d'Aulnoy explains that "With the story of this princess that wanted to leave too soon the dark place a wise fairy placed her in to hide her from the sun's light - and the metamorphosis and misfortunes that resulted from it - you will find an illustration of the dangers to which a young beauty exposes herself when she enters too young, too unprepared in the world. If you were gifted with all the traits and qualities that attract love to you, you better know how to hide them, because beauty can be deadly. If you think that by making others fall in love with you, you will shield yourself from love, well know that by giving too much, you always end up taking." So yes, long story short, this is meant to be more than just a fairy love story, but a warning for girls that too young, too beautiful, too unprepared, throw themselves in the world of love, adult and serious romance, and have to be confronted with the many dangers in it.

8 ) On a more "traditional love story" side, this fairytale accumulates ALL the story devices typical of romances of the type to avoid having the two lovers meet each other. In fact, this is the entire point of this story, the apex and climax and culmination: when princess Desired and prince Warrior can finally see each other in person, and talk to each other. At first you had the exchange of portraits and the sending of ambassadors, then you had the fake princess Long-Thorn hijacking the planned meeting, then the two lovers finally got under the same roof, but not only ignored each other's existence, even when meeting each other they didn't recognize themselves thanks t the doe curse... So when they finally see themselves as humans and touch each other as humans and talk a full dialogue, the story is complete and the curse is broken

9 ) Note however that despite the seemingly virtuous and chaste moral added at the end, madame d'Aulnoy does write the character of a more proactive and manipulative princess that "plays" her male lover. It is she that is happy with his caresses and petting and allows herself to be "touched" of the sort, and it is she that sneaks up by her lover's asleep body, and again the terms of the curse are clear - by day she is forced to become a beast, and to do as beasts do, aka to wander in the woods, aka to return to the world of savagery, primal desire and bestial behavior. On the other side, something that might escape a reader at first glance is that prince Warrior is not supposed to be a "prince Charmng" of the traditional genre. As I said, we are inside d'Aulnoy's second book of fairy tales, and so she reached a point where she plays with the conventions of the genre. In the whole hunt story, we have a brutal lover who tries to kill, seriously wounds though he heals it afterward) and ties up with knots his lover, treating her like a prey and a beast (well, because she IS, but you know) - and there is also the use of the peep-hole by Becafigue that solves the whole problem indeed, but by the undignified way of spying into women's bedrooms (Becafigue had already a not so good behavior when he acted as Warrior's ambassador, encouraging Desired's parents to ignore the "powerless" and "silly fairies" and disobey Tulip's warnings - and in the world of fairy tales one should NEVER underestimate the power of fairies)

But that's just for the second part of the story. In the first part, prince Warrior's behavior is also to be criticized. In fact, it is quite ironic that he is called "Warrior" and introduced as the winner of "three battles", because the first part of his character act has him acting as un-warrior, if not un-manly as possible. He becomes a love-stricken mess, he locks himself in his room talking to a portrait, he despairs of not being able to be with his love, he spends his day dreaming, and doing nothing, and wasting away, with no appetite for anything, making himself sick over lethargy and depression - and so fragile that he can't even wait three months for his loved one to come without fearing he would die. And even worse, when his hopes and dreams of love are crushed, he acts as a selfish coward by simply abandoning his parents, his throne, his court and duties, leaving secretly at night with just one letter behind to explain everything to his parents, and isolating himself from the world in desire to just cry on his own fate forever in some isolated place... We've got some emo teen in love vbes here.

10 ) This fairytale is very "medieval" like in tone. Beyond the "fairy christening" scene that is reused everywhere ever since Perrault and inherits from similar medieval scenes, a la Perceforest, the entire topic of the hunter going after a supernatural, white animal he cannot capture is an iconic topos of medieval literature. Typically this doubles or is tied to the hunter meeting some mysterious woman in the woods, preferably near a fountain, who might take him to a wonderful palace - but this happens rather to Desired's mother, who meets a fairy at a fountain, and is then taken to the six fairies' magical castle.

11 ) In terms of folkloric inspiration, if we use the Catalogue Delarue-Tenèze (a local form of the ATU Index but exclusively covering French fairytales), this story is clearly a literary take on the story type 403, "The substituted fiancee", "The fake fiancee". More specifically, it is a literary take on the 403-B (characterized by the metamorphosis of the real fiancee replaced by a fake one), though there is one element typical of the 403-A (the fact that the prince falls in love with a portrait). While inspired by it, madame d'Aulnoy clearly adds several purely literary elements that make this story very unique. For example the scene of the "fairy-gifts" and the "fairy-curse" at Desired's birth, or the presence of a first fiancee for the prince in the person of the princess Black, two elements united by the character of the Crayfish Fairy or Fairy of the Fountain - this all comes from d'Aulnoy's mind, and is traditonnaly not found in French folktales. And this was clearly placed here only to complicate the originally straightforward story into something much more focused on a "twist-and-turn romance".

#the white doe #the hind of the woods #french fairytales #literary fairytales #french fairy tales #madame d'aulnoy #d'aulnoy fairytales #fairytale analysis

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