Chapter 14

Few days later…

Oscar was just finishing making a phone call, and when she hung up, she smiled. "Everything seems to work out, after all"

"Hey, Oscar!" Sean was waiving at her, calling for her. She responded to him by smiling. All the memories started to come back to her, as she looked around her. They were at Versailles palace, once again. At the same place, where this all had begun. And that same, familiar feeling came to her, again, as she walked through the corridor, the feeling that she had been there before. In previous life.

Sean was standing there in the corridor, waiting for her, and once she came close, he went down on his knees…

"Sean…"

"Oscar" he smiled to her, taking her right hand…"I know, that the first time came rather suddenly, so…"

Oscar sighed.

"Oscar, you have captured my heart and soul, and I would be honoured if you would become my wife."

"Oh, Sean…"

"Oscar, I love you…"

"I love you, too. And yes! Yes! I will marry you!"

Sean got up, took her into his arms and kissed her passionately. Oscar´s heart beat fast as she kissed him back. It felt so good to be in his arms like that, loving him and caressing him. And be loved and caressed.

Then, suddenly they heard someone coughing nearby. And as they turned around, they saw an old man, who Oscar immediately recognised. "May I congratulate the young, happy couple" he said.

"Of course" Oscar smiled, and introduced him to her fiancé. "Sean, this is Charles, the man I was talking about" As had it turned out, her investigation on the burglary had led her to this man, Charles. He had been working here, at Versailles´ museum for decades before retiring, and he knew the place as well as he knew his own pockets. Oscar had remembered him, and somehow she had the feeling that this man knew more than he admitted, at the time. That is why she had contacted him to ask about her past, and her intuition had been right, he did know something…And that´s why they were all meeting here, today.

"Hello, I´m Sean. Nice to meet you, sir."

"Of my gosh! What a gentleman!" he smiled. "You really are a lucky lady, Oscar"

"I know" she smiled.

"Well, let´s move over to the second floor, there´s something I want to show you."

"Alright, lead the way" Oscar replied, taking Sean´s hand at the same time. The young couple followed the old man to the stairs, and to the second floor. There he took them into a room with a huge painting hanging on the wall.

"Oh my God!" Oscar shouted as she saw the painting.

"It´s really…" Sean started, but could not find the right words.

"…lookalike" Charles finished Sean´s sentence.

"Yes"

"This painting is from the late 18th century and it is a portray of a brave soldier, a captain of the Royal Guards and then the French Guards…"

Both Oscar and Sean were staring at the painting, they couldn´t let they eyes off it. The person there looked exactly like Oscar. Only dressed in very fine clothing and having sword in her hand, sitting on a beautiful, white horse.

"…Oscar François de Jarjayes…"

"Excuse me?!"

"Yes, that was her name. Very brave one, indeed. Lead the Storming of the Bastille in 1789"

"So, I was named after her…"

"Yes"

Oscar had finally got to know what had happened here, in Paris, 300 years ago, and how it connected to her family. But many questions still waited to be answered. Why had her father been hiding these secrets from her and from her entire family? Why their family had never returned to France? And above all, who was this blond, handsome man she had fallen in love with?

"I only know that our family history in England began, when our great great grandmother moved to England from France. Someone named Loulou…"

"Yes, well…" Charles started to explain, how the 18th century lady de Jarjayes had turned against the Royal couple, stormed into the Bastille and betrayed the trust of the Royal Family. And ever since then the two families had been enemies. The incident was never forgotten and never forgiven, until today…

"Until today?"

"Hmm" Charles nodded, looking at Sean at the same time. "I wonder…"

"What?" Oscar asked.

"Never mind. Maybe it´s my imagination that is running wild…"

"No, sir. I don´t think so" Sean replied. Because somehow he knew, he knew the way Charles was looking at him, that his intuition had been right. His dreams of Oscar weren´t just dreams, but memories from his past life, that life, when he had met her and falling in love with her. But something had happened, something that had prevented them being together. But what was it?

"I have this picture of a medallion…" Oscar started to tell about the strange medallion, which was found in their attic a long long time ago.

"Yes" Charles recognised the picture right away. "That´s the Dauphin"

"Dauphin?!"

"Yes, the son of Louis the 16th and Marie Antoinette, he had a very tragic life and he died at very young age."

"The Dauphin!"

Both Oscar and Sean seemed to have lost for words. They had expected something, but this…was beyond even their wildest imagination. Sean took hold of a nearby wall, this was all very strange. He had been the crown prince? And he had fallen in love with his guardian? A brave soldier for his parents? That would explain his dreams; that beautiful figure riding on a white horse, waiving her sword…

Oscar looked at Sean next to her. All this time she had felt drawn towards him, but she had never expected that he was a prince. Then, a silly memory came to her mind as she remembered her childhood. Her sister had always dreamed of meeting a prince, who would ride on a white horse, take her into his arms, and carry her back to his castle and marry her. She smiled, as she thought that she really had met a prince…

At that time, a young man came to interrupt them. He was one of the head of the museum there. Charles had, in fact, told the man of this visit, and he came to greet the guests. The man wanted to take them to a nearby manor, that had belonged to Oscar´s family, but which was now empty. As he showed the manor to the young couple, he asked Oscar if she had any plans on residing in Paris, or even at Versailles.

"Me? At Versailles?"

"Yes, after all, this manor did belong to your family…"

"Yes, but I just couldn´t…"

"I mean, not for free, of course. You would work here, at Versailles. Then, you would restore this building for you…and your family to live here…"

"Work at the palace?"

"Yes. The way you handled the burglary, proved that you are really professional…"

"But I blew it."

"Well, some things didn´t go according to plans, but then, you had a spy amongst your group, didn´t you?"

"Yes, unfortunately, we did…"

"And that wasn´t your fault."

"But…"

"No buts, I think…" he corrected "No, we think you would be just perfect to work for us, guard the Versailles palace, as your family had guarded it before."

"And live here?"

"Yes."

"Well…" she wondered "only if you hire Bernard Chatelet, too."

"What?!"