"So bonne to see all your smiling faces, surely you will bright up our land, and the hearts of our men." Monsieur Le Fontaine said cheerfully.
Madame Dupont gave him a stern look. "But we must not forget you are her on a mission from the King of France himself! It is your job to find a man, become his wife and bear his children."
The girls had been taken by carriage to Montreal. Montreal was the centre of Nouvelle France, Rachel had been told, and she was very disappointed to realize just how small it was. Sure, there were shops and houses, but it was nothing compared to Paris.
After a brief tour of the town the girls had been brought to this banquet hall. It was here where would take place a formal dance and dinner with Montreal's finest men. The girls had been since introduced to Madame Dupont, a strict, no nonsense women, the complete opposite of cheery Monsieur Le Fontaine.
"The men will be arriving shortly, so if you could all arrange yourself at the tables across the room. No more than five girls per table, as we want men to join you! Allez!" Madame Dupont said sharply, snapping her fingers.
"Well, this is it." Rachel said nervously to Brittany. The knot in her stomach tightened.
"What if don't like him?" Brittany asked quickly. "Are we allowed to say no to somebody?"
"I think so." Rachel said uncertainly, sitting down at the closest table. Brittany took the seat to her left.
Three more girls joined them, each as nervous as the last. Then after a few minutes the doors to the hall were opened and a large crowd of men came in. They all lowered to their knee and bowed. Rachel and Brittany shared a perplexed look. But it seemed not all the girls were confused, Quinn and many of the upper class girls were giving the men a graceful curtsy. Rachel, Brittany and the others followed hastily.
A bell was rung and dinner began. Madame Dupont and Monsieur Le Fontaine were escorting men to different tables. Rachel waited anxiously, watching the men around her. Five men were brought to her table, each of the giving a slight bow and introduced themselves.
"Finn Hudson." Said the first man. He looked to be in his late twenties. He was extremely tall, towering over not only the girls but also the other men. he had dark hair and kind eyes. Rachel felt herself blush as he kissed her hand.
Next to introduce himself was Sam Evans. Sam was blond and young looking. He sat down quickly next to Brittany.
"Figures" Rachel thought bitterly to herself. Brittany looked gorgeous in her bright blue dress, a gift from another girl. She couldn't help but feel jealousy towards Brittany.
The third man sat down next to Rachel. Although he was really more of a boy, he couldn't be older than eighteen. He had an innocent face and large sea eyes. Rachel called them sea eyes because the color seemed ever changing, shades of blue, green and brown. It reminded Rachel of the ocean.
"I'm Kurt Hummel." He said in a very deep voice that didn't match his sweet face at all.
"Rachel Berry." Rachel smiled.
The two were silent for a few moments.
"I'm the son of a blacksmith, the best in Montreal." Kurt said quickly. "I'll get the shop one day." He added. "I-uh- also have land. Yeah, lots of land, and a real nice house on the land."
Rachel noticed he kept playing with his hands, he seemed as nervous as her.
"That's nice." Rachel said. She looked around at the other couples. Brittany and Sam were doing far more eating than talking. The other men at her table seemed to be doing all the talking, while the girls sat there nodding politely. All the conversations had the same overall theme; money, land and businesses.
"So." Rachel turned back to Kurt. "Do you ever read?"
"Read?" Kurt asked surprised. "Yes! I adore Shakespeare. I've read all this work. Hamlet is my favorite, although Othello is a close second."
"I performed Othello!" Rachel said excitedly. "Back in France my friends and I at the inn used to put on shows for the townspeople. I was Emilia." She smiled.
"Inn?" Kurt asked. Rachel's smile faded. "Oh, well.." She trailed off and decided to just be honest with him. "I worked as a maid there. My family isn't so rich."
"That's fine!" Kurt said quickly. "I didn't mean it in a bad way, I was just curious. I actually think women of little means are actually better!" Rachel raised her eyebrows. "No, hear me out!" Kurt continued. "Rich girls can be snobby, and not very pleasant." He leaned closer to her. "Earlier I almost sat down at that table to our left- no don't look!- next to this Quinn girl, until I heard her make about five complaints in twenty seconds!" The two of them snickered quietly together.
The rest of the meal carried on pleasantly. Kurt and Rachel spent the whole time talking, and avoiding stares from the other couples who seemed more than confused at their informal behavior. They discussed everything from literature, "Anyone who says Don Quixote is better than Guzmán de Alfarache is crazy!", to music, "Both folklore and classical have there own special features". The only thing they did not discuss was marriage. That is, until Rachel brought it up.
"What are you looking for in a wife?" Rachel said halfway through her blueberry pie.
"Oh..." Kurt's voice trailed off and he glanced to the table beside them. Rachel scanned the girls there, who was he looking at?
"I don't really know." He finally mumbled.
"Oh, okay." Rachel looked down at her pie, her feelings crushed. She'd thought they were really having fun, but all of a sudden Kurt didn't seem very interested in her. As they ate their pie Rachel watched him. He kept stealing glances at that other table. She couldn't figure out who he was looking at, but she guessed it was the pretty red haired girl talking to a curly haired boy.
A few minutes later waiters appeared and whisked away their food and tables, opening up a dance floor. Rachel looked around for Kurt, perhaps he would ask her to dance. But he had disappeared.
"A dance, mon cherie?"
Rachel turned around to see a tall man holding out his hand.
"Monsieur Sebastian Smythe." He said, his voice smooth and velvety.
"Rachel Berry." Rachel said, feeling the blush rise in her cheeks once again.
"Enchante"
Sebastian took her hand and lead her to the dance floor. At home they danced all the time, but they danced quick jigs, none of this slow type of dancing Sebastian called "The Waltz".
"As a successful businessman, it is time for me to find a wife. I've an extremely large house and it needs rigorous and constant care. I need children, a half dozen or so perhaps. Boys are a must have, to carry on the noble Smythe name. And girls, to be married away with generous dowries to the most successful men, who can become business partners to my firm. I run my most successful and highest prestiged law firm in Montreal. It is located in the center of town, but my estate is in a quiet area.." Sebastian droned on and on, Rachel found it hard to pay attention.
Rachel found herself instead, looking off to the drink table, where Kurt appeared to be in a heated discussion with the curly haired boy from the table beside theirs. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see their faces. Kurt looked upset, he appeared to be pleading with the other boy, trying to convince him of something. The Curly haired boy just kept shaking his head and running his hands threw his hair, he looked very distressed.
"One moment." Rachel muttered, pulling away from Sebastian, who, lets face it, she was never going to marry him, she'd end up going fifty years and never be able to get a single word in.
Rachel navigated the dance floor towards Kurt. As she drew closer she noticed something strange. Kurt wasn't talking in the deep voice he'd used to speak with Rachel, he was taking now in a much higher voice.
"Blaine, please, we can leave this place, go somewhere else!"
"Where?" Blaine hissed. "There's nowhere we can go that we can-" He cut himself off, noticing Rachel standing there.
"Uh, hi." Rachel said awkwardly. "I was just coming to say hi to Kurt, we were talking earlier."
"It's fine." Blaine said. "We weren't talking about anything important anyways."
"Blaine, please-" Kurt called as Blaine sped away. Kurt leaned against the wall and sighed in frustration.
"Are you okay?" Rachel asked.
"What? Yes."
"Why did you change your voice?"
"Oh, that." Kurt looked around them. "Well, promise you won't tell?"
"Promise." Rachel said earnestly.
"I have a high voice, I know, it's strange. And a girl would never marry a boy who sounds like me, or so everyone tells me." He added bitterly.
"I don't think that's true." Rachel said shyly, slipping her hand into Kurt's. He pulled away quickly.
"What's wrong with me" Rachel demanded, crossing her arms. "Everytime I bring up anything related to us as a couple you get all quiet and turn away! Am I too ugly for you or something?" Rachel could tell she was yelling but she didn't care. Tears prickled in her eyes.
"No, no, no!" Kurt said quietly. "It's just, well, it's not you, it's girls in general..no, nevermind."
"What are you talking about?"
"I-It's nothing, I shouldn't have said anything. I really do like you, Rachel, and I want to see you again. Promise me that we can see each other again?"
"I suppose." Rachel said slowly, biting her lip.
"But for now, it looks like you've another suitor." Kurt said, a smile playing on his lips.
Rachel turned around to find Finn Hudson, the boy from her table, standing there holding a rose.
"For you, a rose for a rose." He said.