Family Reunion
Part 1
Explanations
Danielle ran down the road away from the palace, wanting to get as far away from what had happened at the palace as she could. If only she had told Henry the truth earlier, this may not have happened.
At that moment a carriage came by carrying a young woman with long red hair like Danielle's. She pointed out Danielle to her mother who sat across from her in the carriage and her stepfather. The mother turned and looked at Danielle running down the road and instantly recognized her as well.
"Danielle!" she called out to her.
Danielle turned, surprised. She wouldn't think anyone would be calling to her, beyond maybe Da Vinci. She barely could see into the carriage and see the woman who had called to her. Her eyes widened at the sight of the older woman. "Mother?"
Nicole nodded her assent to her youngest daughter. "Yes, Danielle. It is me," she said as she had the driver stop the carriage and open the door to bring Danielle on board.
Nicole and her eldest daughter switched places in the carriage so that Nicole could sit beside Danielle. Danielle slid into the seat and instantly embraced her mother. Nicole embraced Danielle as well. The four of them sat silently as it carried them to an estate about four miles away from Manoir De Barbarac.
The carriage stopped in front of a grand house, even larger than the manor that Danielle had grown up in. The driver came down from his seat and helped his mistresses and master out of the carriage. The group then approached the house, where a servant met them.
"Duchess, Ariella, Duke, and…" the servant said, at a loss for words.
"Her name, Marie, is Danielle. She is my youngest daughter," Nicole said when her daughter did not speak. She turned and saw Danielle's shock. "Do not worry, my dear, I will explain all." She turned back to Marie. "Have the men prepare a room for my daughter and have the woman find some suitable dresses for her to wear until I can get a seamstress here to make her some new gowns!" she commanded. Marie then set off to work, getting a room ready for their youngest mistress.
The four stepped into the sitting room, where another servant had placed an old blanket over a chair for Danielle to sit on while she still wore the dress. In an instant, Nicole recognized the gown her daughter wore. "Annabella!" she called out. Another servant entered the room. "Tomorrow, find a cleaner in town that can restore the gown my daughter is wearing now. It is part of her dowry and she deserves to be able to wear it for her big day." The servant nodded and stepped out of the room.
"Danielle, my dear, I would like to introduce you to your family. This gentleman is your stepfather Duke Anthony de la Fere and this young woman is your eldest sister Ariella Marina Alexandra Du Loncret de la Fere," Nicole said in introduction.
Danielle instantly nodded at the introduction. Ariella stepped forward to embrace her youngest sister warmly, then stepped back to allow Anthony to do the same. "Welcome home Danielle," he said warmly to her. He had known about Danielle for years and had looked forward to the day when he would finally meet her and they would bring her home.
They parted and they all sat down. "Danielle, you also have a brother named Michael Maurice Du Loncret de la Fere and a sister named Diana Leonora Du Loncret de la Fere. Michael is at the university in Paris, that is where we just were, visiting him. Your sister was kidnapped when she was six. We haven't been able to find her at all," Nicole explained to Danielle.
Danielle nodded. She understood why she didn't see her other siblings. One was away, and the other had been kidnapped. "Mother, are you going to explain how this happened? Why did papa lie to me?"
"Because he didn't want to admit the truth. The truth that it was his fault for the fact that we were no longer together. He is the one who committed adultery when you were only two months old and caused me to get our marriage annulled. He was the one who wouldn't let me take our youngest child with me when I left. I was told to take all four children, but he forced me to leave you behind. He said it wasn't fair that he was being punished for a carnal lust, but the bishop, cardinal, and pope thought differently. Adultery is a mortal sin and your father knows that. God creates temptation, it's true, but it does not condone you pursuing that temptation. And he did and the church at my request ended our marriage, making it as if we were never married," Nicole said with conviction.
"Mother is right, Danielle. Father had no right to pursue a mistress if he wanted and loved our mother. She did what she needed to do," Ariella spoke up at that moment, determination to make her sister believe her in her eyes.
"I believe you and I understand. But I need to ask you what my true name is. Who am I really?" Danielle asked.
"Your true name Danielle is Danielle Nicole Du Loncret de la Fere. When I fell in love and married Anthony, the church allowed him to adopt all my children. So all four of your names contain my last name as well as Anthony's," Nicole explained to her daughter. "All of you each have titles with your names as well, because of tradition. The females in the family carry on the titles of the females before them, depending on who is the eldest, and the sons in the de la Fere house carry the station two below that of their father or stepfather."
"What kind of titles, mother?" Danielle inquired.
Ariella answered first. "Titles of nobility, Danielle. Like my title is that of Marquise. Diana's is Marquise as well. Michael's is earl and yours is also Marquise," she explained to her sister.
Danielle sat up shocked at this information. "I'm higher in station than I thought I was! And I was being treated like a servant by my stepmother, Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent!"
Nicole became enfuried at that information. "She treated you like a servant! She will pay for this! You are of higher noble blood than she or her horrible daughter, Marguerite, will ever have!"
"Is that why you were running down the road, Danielle? Did the baroness do something?" Ariella asked.
"Yes. For the past week, literally behind the baroness's back, I've been seeing Prince Henry in secret, using the name Nicole Du Loncret and saying I was a comtesse. Well, tonight was a masque in honor of Leonardo Da Vinci as well as to announce Henry's betrothal to the girl of his choice. His choice would have been Marguerite I assume if I wouldn't have gone there. But Da Vinci helped get me to the masque and I planned on telling Henry the truth, but Rodmilla spilled it first, not letting me tell him the whole story. He wouldn't even let me explain to him why I did it! He just believed what she had said!" Danielle exclaimed, crying for the second time that night.
"You have every right to use that name, Danielle, because Du Loncret is part of your last name and Nicole is your middle name. I just can't believe how that woman can be so cold. And Henry, not listening to you. That doesn't sound like him at all. I will have to contact Marie in the morning and give her a full explanation. Maybe he'll listen to her," Nicole said.
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Henry can be as hardheaded as his father," Anthony said. "I think we should retire for the night and get everything taken care of tomorrow." He called in the same servant, Marie, which had met them at the door. "Is Danielle's room completed?"
"Yes, Master Anthony, it is. And there is a nightgown laid out on the bed for her and several gowns we were able to find that Mistress Ariella no longer wears," Marie said.
"Then escort her there and help her prepare for the night. And let her sleep a little later tomorrow morning. She's had a tough night as it is," Anthony commands.
Marie escorts Danielle out of the room, but not before Nicole asks, "Danielle, would you like any of the servants from Manoir de Barbarac to be brought here?"
"Yes, all three of them. Louise, Maurice, and Paulette. I'd like to see how the baroness fairs without any servants around the house," Danielle said. "And maybe also you could get Jacqueline here. The baroness treats her as if she's second best to Marguerite and she's not!"
"I will see what I can do. Goodnight, my child," Nicole says as they exit the room and Marie escorts her to her suite. She walks in and is amazed at the beauty of it all. She hadn't been in that nice of a room since her father had died!
Danielle walked through the sitting room and entered the bedroom. There, on the bed, lay a light blue silk nightgown. She quickly slipped it on with Marie's help, then laid her mother's dress on a chair. "I hope your gown can be salvaged, my lady. It is quite beautiful."
"It's mother's wedding gown from when she married my father."
"And the slipper? Where is the other one?" Marie asked.
"I guess I lost it when I was running out of the palace," Danielle said.
"We will find it, don't worry mistress," Marie said. "Now, let's ready you for bed. It is very late."
Danielle nodded. Marie washed her hair, which was full of some sand from her fall outside the palace and was clumped from the rain that had started to fall right before she had been noticed. Marie then combed out the clean hair and helped with the washing of Danielle's face before helping the young woman into her new bed.
"Goodnight, Mistress Danielle. Sleep tight," Marie said as she blew out the candle by the bedside.
"Goodnight, Marie," Danielle said before the young servant left the room. She sighed, smiled at the fact that she had been united with her mother, and laid her head on the large pillows and fell asleep.