The slender hands of Valentine de Villefort were clutching a small golden ring as she stared out upon the river Seine. Her mother had taken her here when she was a small child, and shown her the way the way the water had glittered with the light of the sun. Some of her favorite memories had taken place here, and she would always look forward to the next time they would come. But then, her mother had gotten sick, and slowly faded into death. Her father had remarried, and no longer had much time for her. Her grandfather was too sick to be much company for her. So she came here when she felt lonely.
The bright flags of France were flying high that day, on the Pont Neuf. The old bridge had been standing for over two hundred years, and it was where Valentine had come to reminisce. She was staring out at the river, lost in her thoughts, when a man was roughly shoved into her. She gasped as the breath was knocked from her, and saw, as if in a dream, her ring slip from her fingers and spin towards the water. Valentine lunged for it, and let out a sigh of relief as she felt her fingers close around it. But her chest froze in terror and she screamed as she realized that she was sliding off the bridge.
All of a sudden, she was pulled away from her demise. Someone's arms had wrapped around her waist, and were dragging her away from the side of the bridge. She fell limp into them, while the person laid her down by the banks of the river. After a few minutes, Valentine collected her bearings, and slowly got to her feet. She looked at her savior, a young man with a dark complexion.
"Thank you", she said, "I believe I am now indebted to you." She held her head high, and tried to seem regal. The man looked as though he was of a lower class than her, but she still did not want to make a fool of herself.
"The pleasure was all mine", the man replied, "Although I would not have had to save you if you had been more careful about your surroundings." He looked at her sternly.
Valentine felt affronted. "If you would really like to know, I had dropped something over the edge of the bridge, and I was trying to catch it."
"I don't see how any object could be worth your life."
Valentine looked at the little ring now cradled by her palm. "It was my mother's. She died years ago, and it was very precious to her." She sighed as she looked at it one last time, before slipping it into her pocket. Then she looked back up at the man. " I am being a bit too forward, aren't I. You haven't even told me your name."
The man smiled, then leaned forward to grasp her hand. As he brought it to his lips, he softly said, "My name is Maximilien Morrel. I'm very pleased to meet you."
Two Years Later
Valentine awoke to the sound of cathedral bells singing out for all to hear. This was going to be a fantastic day. Nothing could go wrong today. She must have been the most blessed person the world had ever seen to be given such a wonderful day as this one. Today was the most important day of her life. It was her wedding day.
She rushed over to the corner of her bedroom opposite her door, and pushed aside the dresser that was standing there. She fell to her knees, and slowly traced the floorboard with the tips of her fingers. Then, she dug her fingers into the crack and gently lifted up the plank of wood. Underneath it was a music box, decorated with weeping angels. She opened the box, and gazed upon hundreds of letters, all written by her love. And as she opened the first one, like she had done so many times before, her heart was truly filled with joy.