The First Wife of Bluebeard
A/N: Ok... the summary says it all... except the facts that I have dedicated it to one of my friends for making me upload it on ffc… You know who you are…… ( grins).
Disclaimer: The fairytale of Bluebeard does not belong to me….
Once upon a time, there lived two families. One family were very rich with grand houses over the town and country. Their house was divided into ten bedrooms and each had some silver or gold at some place in their room. In the extended kitchen below, there were gold and silver plates adorned with some décor around them, and some décor around the surfaces, walls, mirrors and lamps. However, this family had something unusual about them; each had a trace of blue somewhere. The father had a blue knee, the mother had a patch of blue where her hair covered her face, so it was rarely ever on view. Their son was the worst of all, he had some blue hair growing around his chin, and as he grew, it grew with him. This hair grew so wildly and quickly, that it turned into a blue beard and all the children were frightened of him. When his parents passed away, he was left on his own and none of the ladies would talk to him. Even when he passed by from a distance in the street, they shuddered and hurried along to get away.
The other family were middle class; they had a girl of the age 14. When the girl was born, she let out such heart- wrenching cries, that the mother scooped her up in her arms, cradled her and sang her a lullaby to send her off to sleep. When this girl grew up a bit, her father would sit her down and they would watch the stars passing in the sky; her father would label them, and she would be gazing up at them in awe. As she grew in age, she progressed from being a tiny little baby into a well- educated young woman who was very attractive. Something happened to change this young lady's life, when her parents were out in the far country somewhere; they had an accident and were killed; so that the girl's uncle had to take her in. The young lady would cry and cry at night causing her beautiful brown eyes and pale face to be stained with tears.
The years went by quickly, and both Bluebeard (he was nicknamed this) and the young lady (Rosette) were of a marriageable age. Bluebeard had managed to talk to the old aunty and uncle and expressed to them his desire of wanting Rosette for a wife. They were thrilled and said that they could get married immediately. Rosette agreed resentfully, and would only talk when it was necessary for her too. She wasn't frightened by his blue beard but was angry that he didn't ask her consent first. Rosette sat in the carriage quietly and twiddled her thumbs together, ignoring Bluebeard's attempt to start a conversation by answering with curt replies.
Bluebeard thought to himself, "Is it because of my blue beard that she doesn't talk, and isn't as good- natured and happy as she was before?"
So while the carriage drove them from her uncle's and auntie's house to his bigger and more expensive country house, by process of elimination, he realised that he would be able to use magic to get rid of his disturbing beard. A couple of days passed at the country house, and he had finally managed to get rid of his distinct physical fault. One morning, Rosette woke up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, looked beside her and there he was without a beard. She managed to contain her shock by raising a hand to her mouth to stop her gasp. Rosette pondered to herself, "maybe he is a good- natured man, if he managed to get rid of his beard for me". Rosette believed this was the case, and got over her stubbornness by talking to him and eventually she fell in love with him and couldn't have been happier.
One day, would change her life forever. A couple of months after their marriage, Bluebeard proclaimed to his wife, that he had business to do in a far away country. Rosette nodded and told him, truthfully, that she hoped he wouldn't be gone long. Bluebeard replied and said, "During the time I am absent from here, please invite some of your friends round and look around the house." "Here, are the keys to two large storerooms, and here is the key to where my gold and silver is kept. This key is to the caskets that contain my jewels, and this key is the master key which gives admittance to all the apartments. But this small key belongs to the closet door at the end of the long gallery. Go everywhere you want, but you must not, under any circumstances open this closet door. If you disobey me, expect a dreadful consequence". Rosette promised to follow these instructions, embraced him and left him on his way.
Her friends were very eager to see the house and all the expensive jewels, and gold that her husband had. They rushed speedily from one to the next, marvelling at all the riches she had now gained. Rosette could see their greedy eyes and managed to steer them away into the kitchen to cook them some lunch. She left the kitchen for a minute to get something she had left behind, yet she heard this faint beckoning coming to her from the closet. She battled with her mind, trying to push herself away from opening it, but her temptation was too strong, and she rushed down the gallery, turned the key in the lock trembling, and opened the door.
"Hello???" she called into the dark closet, and got no reply back. She carefully stepped into it, and found a faint light from somewhere. She walked over to it, and screamed at what she saw there. It was a dead body, covered in blood that had her husband's beard on it.
Her friends flurried out of the house, as soon as they heard her husband coming. His voice called out into the house not loudly but clearly, "Rosette, what has happened?"
He realised what had happened and furiously strode down the gallery, seeing her collapsed and breathing quickly next to the closet. His eyes flashed furiously, "you disobeyed me, and you opened the closet! I said go everywhere except the closet!!" Rosette whimpered slightly at his voice and didn't try to hide; she just looked into his eyes, whispered a slight sorry that she disobeyed him, and she prepared for the consequence, controlled herself, muttered a prayer to God and waited for her fate.
He came back with a cutlass and at the same time of killing her, let a tear fall down and choked out a sorry. Rosette stopped her scream and smiled faintly at his apology and then let herself go to the heavens above, where she would find her parents.