The Season of Light and Darkness
Plot: A story in which our beloved heroine Elizabeth Bennet is an unwanted child send to England.
Chapter 1 – The Births
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…
- Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities
May 5, 1789
It was the perfect Tuesday afternoon, or had the appearance of it. The city of Paris basked under the gentle sun, and its elite members strolled with
deliberate grace along the sidewalk. It was a usual scenery, the Champs-Elysees, the people, the fabulous clothes, the paupers on the street, everything
wove together to form the rich yet intangible texture called Paris.
Despite the not-so-recent bankruptcy of the French National Treasury, the nobles somehow still found ways to profit and carry on in their extravagant life
styles, such as suppression of the peasants through their rather corrupt and inefficient government.
However, it's never right to make false assumptions about the entire population through the action of the majority, and this principles found its application in
the existence of Le comte de Lafontaine, otherwise known as Jacques de Bennet, a liberal noble who fought in the American Revolution alongside Lafayette
and Washington, and who sought to implement many enlightened ideas in his duties, alleviating manorial dues from his peasants and providing basic
education for them. His noble actions gained him the fervent support and affection of his peasants, who will remain one of the few peasant populations to
stay loyal in the Great Fear movement.
15:00
It was the day that he'd been waiting for, the pinnacle of his wishes and aspirations. He, along with Lafayette, had called for an Estates General a few
months ago, and with it he carried all his hopes for liberal policies and national financial security, the very meeting which is taking place in the Versailles at
this moment. As Monsieur de Bennete stands up to make his speech in this enormous gathering of all the people in France with an ability to make a change,
baby cries can be heard through the chamber doors of his townhouse on the Champs-Elysees. A new Bennete is born, a tiny bundle of energy that
Jacqueline de Bennete fell in love with upon first sight. The baby herself is not extraordinary: she scarcely had any hair, and her little face was red and
contorted in her incessant crying.
Before her mother could spend much time admiring her newborn, a contraction of pain suddenly wracked her body, and she was forced to lay back down
again. Somehow, she knew that she wasn't meant to survive this childbirth, but she willingly took the risk out of her love for her husband and children. As a
thirty-two-year-old women, Jacqueline had a history of miscarriages and stillborns. She miscarried a baby girl at the age of twenty-five, and gave birth to a
pair of stillborn twins at twenty-seven. She thought that it was God's will for her to be childless, but Providence allowed her to be pregnant once more at the
risky age of thirty-two.
All in the pregnancy proceeded well except for the birth, which was two weeks ahead of her supposed due date, but that bode well for Jacqueline, who's
least desire was to see her husband worry at this critical period for his politics.
Another wave of pain hit Jacqueline, and she felt a warm liquid pooling between her legs, before it finally swallowed her into the welcomed presence of a
numbing blackness.
17:00
Jacques de Bennete took out his pocket watch again, a little impatient to go home and to see his wife. Whatever strong feelings he has about political
reforms, family comes first and it always will.
Deux semaines, ma cherie, deux semaines plus. (Two weeks, my darling, two more weeks.) M. de Bennete smiled and pocketed his watch again. Little known
to him, his envisioned dreams of a happy family is ruptured by the post-birth hemorrhage that will take his wife's life before he can get home.
18:00
The Estate-General drags on with the various complaints of Le Tier Etat (the Third Estate) and would continue on in this fashion for the next few hours, if not
the urgent knocking on the door by a messenger bearing the de Bennete livery. Before he could say anything, Jacques de Bennete had already understood
that catastrophe has hit his family. He rose quickly and, without a backward glance at the Estate General, called for his carriage.
19:00
It was too late. When he reached her bedside, looking for the sparkling and intelligent eyes that he first fell for, the glimmer was gone. All that was left was
a shell of the former creature that dwelt within, nothing left but for a cold and untouchable marble statue that was once the belle of Paris. Seeing
Jacqueline's lifeless form lying on the bed in contrast to the happily sleeping baby beside her, Jacques de Bennete finally let his anger, frustration, grief… all
these emotions out in a single surge of irrational hatred for the peaceful babe. He clenched his fists and stormed through the house to find his housekeeper,
Madame Vonsattel.
Madame, j'ai quelque chose à vous demander. (Madam, I have something to ask of you).
Eh bien sûr, monsieur le comte. (uhh Of course, my lord)
S'il vous plaît prendre ma fille en Angleterre, et votre fille va devenir sa compagne. Vous pouvez rester avec Edmund Burke, c'est un de mes amis. Je vais
vous donner l'argent pour le voyage et de l'éducation de cette fille. (Please take my daughter to England, and your daughter will become her companion. You
will stay with Edmund Burke, who is a friend of mine. I'll give you the money for the trip there and for the upbringing of this girl.)
Mais... Pourquoi Monsieur de Bennete ? ( But... Why Mr. Bennete ?)
Pourquoi ? Cette fille a tué sa mère, je ne veux pas voir cette fille. Ne discutez pas avec moi. (Why ? This girl killed her mother, I don't want to see her. Don't
argue with me.)
Oui, Monsieur. Mais la fille n'a pas un nom. (Yes, sir. But the girl needs a name.)
Oh je ne sais pas. Elizabeth. (Oh I don't know. Elizabeth)
With that, the count left the housekeeper at the door and turned towards his cellar to nurse a glass of brandy, or several.
The next morning, while the rest of Paris is still deep in slumber, the de Bennete carriage was seen departing Paris for the port, where Elizabeth de Bennete,
the 2-day-old baby would leave France, perhaps forever.
*Edmund Burke is a real person! He's more or less a royalist and he detested the French Revolution, so it would make sense for him to take in a member of the French aristocracy.
Dear Readers, I am conscious that my French is quite lacking, actually, so is my English. So I'd love to have native French speakers/high level French student to help me with all these! It'd also be great if you guys want to help me review my chapters before I post them up for public scrutiny.
Read & Review for a happier world please!