Chapter 7
Maurizt stayed with de Jarjayes family, but he was kept away from the curious eyes. His existence was a secret. Oscar´s father engaged himself into work and avoided his family as much as he could. And he didn´t want even to see the boy. He had told them the truth and there was nothing to add. They knew they needed to find the truth behind Maurizt fast…
André was the one, who went to Paris to look for further information about the boy´s past and to look for his real father. André´s absence suited Oscar just fine.
The next few days Oscar tried her best to avoid thinking about André. But that proved to be difficult; after all he was her valet and when all of a sudden he wasn´t companying her, that raised questions. Everyone was eager to know, what had happened. "He took some time off from work" she answered them. At the palace she could concentrate on her duties, but at home it was different. It seemed that everything and everyone was reminding of him…
As she was enjoining her cup of tea in her balcony, Loulou came to her. When Oscar asked what was the matter, she just told her she was bored. She had used to André´s presence.
"how lucky you are, Aunt Oscar" she said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you have André all by yourself"
"That´s…" she was blushing "he´s my servant. That´s all!" it seemed as she was defending herself.
"Really?" she questioned.
Oscar just nodded.
"But he is still handsome" she argued "I like him better than count von Fersen"
Oscar was shocked. Did Loulou know about her feeling towards Fersen?! No, that was impossible. She had never told anyone about it. Well, except for André…
"I wish I had a lover like him!" she was dreaming."Too bad that you cannot marry him…"
"Loulou!" Oscar came to. How could she say those things?! She was only a child.
"When I grow up, I want to get married" she started telling about her dreams.
"You have plenty of time before that"
"I know, but I don´t want to end as an old maiden like you"
"Loulou!" André´s grandmother came to scold her. "You mustn't say those things about our lady Oscar!"
"But it´s the truth!" she argued and ran away.
"I´m sorry mademoiselle"
"It´s all right" she said …"it´s alright" but was it? What if Loulou thought that André was her lover?"No" she shook her head. She was too young to even know about those things.
"I wish André was here to keep an eye on the children" she sighed.
"Not André, again!" Oscar thought.
But that wasn´t end of her suffering because later in the evening, when her father came to dinner, he was expecting André to serve him. But instead, a servant, who was still quite new, placed the food on the table, in the wrong way. The general watched the servant for awhile, and then asked "where´s André?!" he had accustomed that everything was in its place, and this new comer still didn´t know anything. "Where is he, when I need him? He can serve the dinner!" he yelled.
"Well, he´s not here!" Oscar yelled and left the dining room.
"What´s with her?" the general asked his wife. She just shook her head.
Later, Maurizt came into her room. "Why are you sad?" he asked her.
"I´m not sad, I´m just…"
"Do you miss your friend?" he asked.
"No, it´s…" she tried to deny it.
"Look" he said and showed his hand. There was a tin solder "he gave me this"
"How nice of him" she smiled. She remembered all too well the time, when she and he played with those tin soldiers…
Meanwhile André had found himself company; he had been listening to one of the speeches Bernard Chatelet had given and he was more than impressed, so he went to talk to him. They found many common interests and talked for many hours. "Why don´t you join us?" Bernard asked André, but he refused. "Why not? You're a servant. You have no time for yourself. You live amongst the nobles, and yet you are treated different than them…" he started.
"No. I…am treated very well. I get enough money, delicious food…and…"
"But you have no freedom. If you want to get married, or…"
"No, I don´t. I´m happy the way I am. I…never even considered the possibility, besides…I don´t mind if I don´t have much free time…" André tried to explain.
"Why?" he questioned him "you are but a young and healthy man…most of men of your age are already married…"
"…"
"Unless…" a sudden thought came into his mind.
"Unless what?"
"That lady de Jarjayes is quite good looking, if you like that kind of women…Say,you´re not…interested in her, are you?"
"…"
"I see…So, that´s why"
"Bernard…"
"Don´t worry! I´m not going to spill the beans!" he laughed, but then he noticed the time " But it´s getting rather late…but…"
"What is it?"
"I was living with some friends, but…" it started to be rather difficult to lead a double life…"I don´t know, if I can go there…" Bernard said. Only a few days ago he was almost caught, and he didn´t want to risk it again.
"There´s a friend of ours living in Paris, she might let you stay in her house for a few days. Her name is Rosalie."
As André made a new friend and searched every lead there was about Maurizt, Oscar started to feel lonely…It had been few days already, but she hadn´t heard from him. But when the night came…
She was just about to go to bed, when she heard a voice calling her…"My mademoiselle Oscar"
It came from the balcony, so she headed that way, but saw only a shadow. It was him…pretending to be her admirer…
"What are you doing here?" she asked. She was angry, because it has been days since she last saw him. He hadn´t contacted her.
"I wanted to check if everything was alright, mademoiselle. You haven´t reply to my letter…" he was happy to see her again. Even if it were only a few days, but he still had missed her.
"What do you want me to say?!" she was tired "Besides you didn´t exactly leave your address" she was tired of playing that stupid game. As if she didn´t know who he was. And she was tired of…being alone?
"I just need to know that you`re ok" he replied.
"Why don´t you just leave me alone!" she yelled."Get out of my head" she thought to herself.
All of a sudden he just grabbed her into his arms and kissed her.
She had to catch her breath. Why were his kisses…so…burning?
"I´m sorry" he said when he let her go"I don´t know what came over me…" he knew alright. He just wanted to hold her in his arms.
"Please…" she started "you can´t…we can´t…do this. It´s not right." she said tears in her eyes.
"I know" he said with a melancholic tone. He knew better than anyone that this masquerade should come to an end, but he had been avoiding it, until now"…Just one last kiss. Then I´ll never bother you again"
For his surprised, it was her, who kissed him…"I've missed you so much" she thought.
"Goodbye, milady. I'll always love you" he whispered into her ear and then he left.
On the next day André came back. He told all about his time with Rosalie and Bernard. "They seemed to be attracted to each other" he had noticed. He had also found some information about Maurizt mother, but still there wasn´t enough clues to tell the name of his father. "We´ll keep looking" Oscar had replied. Now that André was back, and her "admirer" was gone, everything seemed to go back into their place, but…
One night…
Oscar couldn´t sleep. She was still thinking about him. The words of her mother´s still echoed in her mind…
"…if he is the one who makes you happy, then I´ll give you my blessing…"
"Oh, mother. I wish it would be that simple…" she thought. There was no point for her to even try to sleep, so she got dressed and went downstairs to get another book to read. Maybe that would keep her mind occupied. She quietly entered the study and closed the door behind her. As she stepped towards the bookshelf to reach for a book, the door opened. It was her father.
"Father, couldn´t you sleep?" she asked him with a little bit of insinuation in her voice. He just stared at her looking frustrated.
"Mauritz…" Oscar started but she was interrupted by her father "Shut up!" he yelled angrily. "You, too, believe that…"
"…"
It was right that moment, when Madame de Jarjayes walked into the room shutting the door behind her. "Did I interrupt something?" she asked curiously.
"We weren´t talking about anything important" the General answered.
"Nothing important?!" Oscar thought. Wasn´t it important to help poor Mauritz? He had just lost his mother and was looking for his father. Wasn´t that important?! Oscar got angry.
"Father" she tried to calm herself "what about Mauritz?" she asked him.
"Not again! I haven´t done anything wrong! That bastard isn´t my son!" he yelled "For Christ sake! I would never…"
"Never what?"
"He is a commoner! His mother was a commoner! What do you think I would start an affair with a commoner?!" he yelled at Oscar.
Oscar was shocked. How could he say something like that? As if commoners didn´t mean anything…
"Oh, I see…" Oscar´s mother started. Her voice was calm and collected, as if she was planning something…"So you would start an affair with a noble?"
"What?!" he yelled "I didn´t mean it like that!" he tried to defend himself.
"Really? How can I be sure?" she asked.
It was the first time that the general didn´t know what to reply to his wife. What had gotten into her? Normally she wouldn´t be like that. She had never questioned him before.
"Father" Oscar needed to know…"isn´t commoners like us? Don´t they deserve to be treated like us?" she questioned him.
What was going on in his daughter´s mind right that moment? Why would she ask something like that? She perfectly well knew the answer…"No" he started "people were born into different estates, because of reason" he continued "a king is born a king, and to rule his kingdom he needs nobles, like us, to serve him…" then he continued to commoners, like peasants who provided food for the king and for the nobles. For him, it was important for nobles to have servants to show their wealth…That was it. Oscar had enough. "What about André?!" she asked "Did you let him come here, so that you would show how wealthy you were? And perhaps show how compassioned you could be by letting an orphan boy from the country side to live here?!"
Why this conversation now went to André? The general had no idea. "I asked André´s grandmother to bring the boy here to be your guardian. Who knows what might had happened to you in the military if you didn´t have someone to protect you!" he started to be annoyed by this questioning.
"So, you think I couldn´t manage on my own?!" Oscar was now more upset than ever.
"You were born a girl! And even raised as a boy, you are still physically weaker than man! And that gives them a change to hurt you!"
"André…" Oscar started, but …
"André is our servant, and your valet. He is here for your protection. I gave him home, food and clothing. And for that he will protect you whatever the cost. "
Did her father really think André only as servant, who owes his life for them?! Nothing more?! Now she exploded.
"André isn´t just someone, who protects me or brings my tea" she yelled "he is my best friend" she was tired of her father seeing André like that, as if he meant nothing "I grew up with him!"
"But commoner is still a commoner!" her father explained "even if he grew up with you, he is not like you!"
How could he say that?!
André was her companion, with whom she had shared both good and bad moments. It´s with him that she had spend most of her time. Her father hadn´t been around much. So how could her father think of him like that?! Oscar remembered what her mother had told her not long ago "He loves you just the way you are." And she had been right. He didn´t judge people by their class they were born into, but rather by their nature and personality. And it was he who seemed to love her unconditionally, and he would never leave her…Right?
Her eyes suddenly got wide opened and her heart jumped into her throat…
She was surprised of her emotions…
Because…
…It was then, when she realized that she loved him, too. They were the same.
Just that moment a loud noise came from outside. Something must have happened. The general was about to go and have a look, when Oscar suddenly said…
"Father, I want to marry…" words she had never thought of saying, escaped from her mouth without her thinking further…
"What?!" he was surprised. Ever since Oscar was born, she was raised to become a general. There was never talk about marriage. If she would marry, it would mean the end of her career. "Naturally. A pregnant woman couldn´t lead a military life" thought the general.
He turned towards Oscar. "What´s this all about?" he asked her. "Why all of a sudden bringing this up?"
"I´m in love and I want to marry…"
Well, now! His daughter was in love? Really?!What a pleasant surprise! She was the only one of his daughters, who fell in love and wanted to marry. The other daughters had to be forced into marrying. He had thought of Oscar continuing his career, but now…It would be even better if she would give birth to a boy, a real successor of his lineage. And it would be even better if the man Oscar loved, was a rich duke or a count. It would make their family even more powerful. He smiled.
"So, Oscar. Who is it? Is he a duke?"
"No"
"Baron?"
"No"
"Count?"
"No, father" she started to get bored with this…"It´s André" she answered.
Oscar and her mother watched the face of her father, waiting for some sort of sign of anger. But, no. That didn´t come. Instead, he stayed quiet for a while, before answering…
"Oscar, this is no time for jokes"
"This isn´t a joke, father. I want to marry André"
"Have you lost your mind?!" he yelled. "He is our stableman!"
"We know that, dear. There´s no reason for raising your voice" Madame replied.
"Did you know about this?!" His face was deep red from anger.
"Yes, I did. And I gave them my blessing."
"What?! How dare you! You have no right to do that! Not behind my back! I´m the master here!"… he started "I brought him into the manor to work, not to seduce my daughter!" the day had started badly, but it was only going to get even worse. First, there was this accusation about him being the father to a bastard son, and now, his daughter wanted to marry their stableman! "What a nightmare" He thought and started to look for his pistol. He had to end this nonsense once and for all, and if it meant blood, so beat it. He thought.
