La Danse de la Victoire
Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast.
Author's Note: This is a one-shot followup to my novel Eistier. It is my headcanon on what happens to the two main characters. Read that story first.
In the Palais de Versailles, Anno Domini 1855. Summer.
Emperor Napoleon III spared no expense for the state visit of Queen Victoria of England. This included a grand ball and dinner at the old palace of Versailles. Guests in glittering attire wandered the marble halls once again while faint strains of music and polite conversation pervaded everything.
In amongst the twelve hundred notables invited wandered two people, a man and a woman arm-in-arm. They were dressed well, though they were far from highly fashionable or opulent. The man, who appeared to be in his forties, drew some attention due to his faint limp and a somewhat unconventional hairstyle: his faintly gray-streaked hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck in a fashion that recalled the palace's original occupants. The woman, in her early thirties, was lovely and graceful but otherwise unremarkable in this crowd of French and English courtiers and dignitaries. If closely observed, the pair seemed recognized by no one from either side. In the crowd no one thought to ask them their names or rank.
Unlike most of the people around them, they seemed entirely focused on their surroundings rather than other guests. They stopped to look at every painting on the walls and even paused to remark softly to one another on some features the other guests overlooked, such as banisters and even door moldings.
"Do you think anyone will notice that we weren't precisely invited?" the woman whispered to the man.
"No," he whispered back. "It seems some things haven't changed here. So long as you're properly dressed to suit the occasion, anyone is allowed in Versailles."
"That and no one knows the grounds like you do anymore," she replied.
"Perhaps," he said with a mischievous smile. "Besides, I wanted to see what's become of my former inheritance after sixty years away. With things so busy for the royal visit, it seemed the best time to slip inside with no one the wiser or asking questions."
"Is this really what it was like?" the woman asked, glancing around.
"The clothes were completely different, of course, and most of the rooms don't look like they did back then. This is all new furniture and some things about the rooms themselves were changed, I imagine to accommodate Louis-Philippe's art gallery. It's all certainly far cleaner than it ever was when I was a boy. But—" He paused, and closed his eyes. "Tonight is probably as close as things will ever get to being the way they were back then. Possibly they will never be this close again."
She eyed him, then nodded slowly. "I think I finally understand why you insisted that it be tonight, even though we spent half our savings on these clothes we'll likely never wear again." She smoothed a gloved hand down her silk skirt.
"Dear wife, you've never looked more stunning. Do not deny me the pleasure of seeing you thus arrayed at least…once more before we die. You may even choose the occasion."
"Flatterer." She looked at him fondly. "I suppose once a courtier, always a courtier."
"No matter that he is a humble bookseller now," the man said.
"Not so humble," the woman reminded him. "We wouldn't be here wearing these magnificent clothes out of only half our savings if we were doing poorly at the trade."
"Always a bright side, with you." He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm once again and they continued their wanderings, noticed by few and paying attention to nothing but one another and the palace itself.
They ended in the famous Hall of Mirrors, in time to join the crowd observing the dance floor. Only two couples waltzed there: Queen Victoria with the Emperor and the Queen's consort Prince Albert with Empress Eugénie. Soon, however, the music ended to great applause. Another waltz was struck up as the royal couples left the dance floor.
The man held out a hand to the woman. She spared a nervous glance for his bad leg but he shook his head. "I'll manage. I managed in Vienna."
Clearly dubious but nevertheless trusting, the woman took his hand and allowed him to lead her onto the floor. Her face showed surprise, however, when he pulled her in close for a proper Viennese-style waltz.
"I believe I've underestimated you," she whispered, and then they were dancing. Soon they caught a few eyes; not many on the floor were in as close contact as this pair and the man at least had clearly spent time at the Austrian court. Despite favoring one leg he danced with some skill and his partner was managing to keep the pace gracefully. However, they only danced one dance and slipped away into the crowd afterwards before anyone could look more closely. They were soon forgotten as more dances followed and the mysterious couple did not reappear on the floor.
The couple themselves were to be found strolling with other couples in the extensive gardens, enjoying the warm summer evening air. When the other couples drifted inside to dinner, they remained, perfectly content just to be with one another.
Eventually they found themselves in an overgrown grove of trees. The man walked a few steps ahead of them woman, looking around him while she waited.
"Do you regret it?" she asked after a silence.
"I regret my ignorance, and the terrible things I did in that ignorance and deliberate blindness. I have much longer than a normal man's lifetime to reflect on that, and to try to make up for it by doing what good I can in the world with my limited influence. But I can't entirely regret the bargain. There have been blessings along with the curse." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.
"Come out of there, beloved. I would prefer to darn these clothes as little as possible and there are too many thorns for my comfort."
"You must admit each tear was worth it. You told me you always longed to go to a ball such as this when you were a girl. Now you have, at least once."
"I have no regrets, either."
Together, they disappeared once again into the growing darkness around the grounds of Versailles.
Author's Note, Part 2: I do like my happy endings, as much as I do my cliffhangers. I've tried to at least hint at what Belle and Xavier's lives are like now that they are basically average citizens of mid-nineteenth century Europe. I also felt it would bring some closure to Xavier to have him return to Versailles anonymously. The art museum closed with the fall of Louis-Philippe's regime in 1848, which was too soon for my mental timeline. I like having a callback to their first waltz, anyway, with him having gained much dance experience (and life experience) in Vienna and them now being equal partners.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were indeed hosted at Versailles in August of 1855 by Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie, which resulted in a treaty between the two nations. This marked the beginning of the use of the palace for diplomatic purposes again, which continued into the twentieth century. Today the palace is open to tourists and I hope someday to visit it myself.
Over and out,
SamoaPhoenix9