Family Reunions

Part TwoB

Confrontations

                Within an hour, everything had been packed and loaded onto the wagon and the three servants were sitting inside the one carriage.  Jacqueline was nowhere to be found.  All of a sudden, Marguerite remembered something from earlier.  "I forgot, Jacqueline left early this morning with Captain Laurent.  They were going into town to spend some time together.  I think she's falling in love with him."

                "Then we shall have to go into town to fetch her.  Baroness, Marguerite, by this afternoon, everything shall be known to the king and queen.  Be prepared for your punishment," Anthony said before he, Nicole, and Danielle turned and boarded the carriage where Ariella was waiting for them.

                The one carriage started off for the Manoir de la Fere, as did the wagon.  The carriage containing the four of them headed off toward the village surrounding Hautefort.

                Jacqueline walked through the town square with a lovesick Laurent by her side.  She had to admit that she was lovesick as well.  Laurent was everything she had ever wanted and more.  Unlike Marguerite who wanted to be queen, Jacqueline wanted to be in a marriage filled with happiness and love.

                Jacqueline sighed sadly.  She may be happy, but her stepsister was miserable.  She saw what had happened the night before.  She couldn't believe that her mother, her foster mother, could be so cruel.  And the fact that Danielle had been using the name of her mother wasn't so bad.

                All of a sudden, Jacqueline realized something.  "Oh my god!"

                "What is it, Jacqueline?" Laurent asked.

                "Danielle's mother is my true mother!  Nicole du Loncret is my real mother!" she exclaimed.

                "Your mother is Danielle's mother!  That means you are sisters, not stepsisters!" Laurent exclaims.

                "It means much more than that, Laurent.  It means our mother is out there.  I was stolen from her when I was young by the baroness's first husband.  My mother, I remember, had married a duke from this province when I was young and he adopted us.  My name became Diana du Loncret de la Fere," she said.

                "Your name is Diana, not Jacqueline?" Laurent asked.

                "The baroness gave me the name Jacqueline, but my given name is Diana," she explained to him.

                At that moment, a carriage entered the square.  It came to a stop near where Jacqueline, now revealed to Laurent as Diana, and Laurent were.

                The footman opened the carriage door and Danielle stepped out.  "Jacqueline!"

                "Danielle!" Diana exclaimed as she embraced her sister.  When they parted, she noticed her sister's regal clothing and jewelry.  "Something happened, didn't it?"

                "Of course something happened.  Last night, after I ran out of the masque, a carriage came up beside me and a woman called out my name.  It was my mother and she told me everything," Danielle said.

                "Where is she?" Diana asked.

                "Waiting inside the carriage for the two of us, since our stepfather wants to adopt you," Danielle told her with a wide smile on her face.

                "That is unnecessary, Danielle, because after last night, I realized that we are not stepsisters, we are sisters!  I am also the daughter of Nicole du Loncret," Diana said.

                Danielle's eyes widened instantly in realization.  "You are her daughter as well can only mean one thing.  You must be Diana!"

                "I am, little sister.  I am Diana and I am coming home," she said with a smile.

                "Your room has already been prepared and your things from Manoir De Barbarac haven been taken to our home," Danielle said before she escorted her sister into the carriage.  "Mother, Diana is home."

                Nicole was shocked by Danielle's words until she saw the young woman.  "Diana, my child, you are home!"

                "Yes, mother, I am," Diana said as she entered the carriage.  "Stepfather, Ariella, it's good to see you."

                Ariella and Anthony embraced their long lost daughter and sister.  "It's good to see you as well, Diana.  We finally found you.  Now we can do what we need to do.  Charles, to Hautefort!  We have a private audience with the queen!" Anthony commanded the carriage driver.

                The coachman took off, but not before Laurent grabbed onto Diana's hand and kissed it good-bye.  She waved good-bye to him as they head towards the castle.

                Queen Marie waited in the garden for Nicole.  She was interested in what her good friends Duchess Nicole and Duke Anthony de la Fere had to tell her.  She had been intrigued by the missive Nicole had sent her earlier that day by messenger.

                A female attendant of the queen came up to her at that moment.  "My lady, Duke and Duchess de la Fere and daughters are here."

                "Thank you," Marie says as the servant walks away, then escorts the family to the table, with Danielle and Diana holding back.  "Nicole, it's nice to see you again."

                "It's nice to see you as well, Marie," Nicole says to her good friend with a smile.

                "Lydia said daughters.  You must have found your lost daughters," Marie smiles at her friend.

                "Yes.  I wouldn't have found them if it hadn't been for Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent and your own son," Nicole said with a slight smile.

                "I don't understand," Marie says confusedly.

                "You will.  I would like to introduce my youngest daughters," Nicole says, discreetly waving Danielle and Diana over to the table.

                Marie gasps at the sight of both girls that approached the table.  "Marie, I would like you to meet my daughters, Diana Leonora du Loncret de la Fere and Danielle Nicole du Loncret de la Fere," Nicole says with a smile.

                "The young woman that my son turned away last night is your daughter.  Oh my goodness!  But how can this be?" Marie inquires.

                "Danielle is my youngest.  She was only a few months old when my marriage to Baron August du Barbarac was annulled.  I was told to take my children with me, but August wouldn't let me take Danielle, so I had no choice to leave her with him and hope to retrieve her at a later time," Nicole explained to her.

                "So she was there when the Baroness de Ghent married him and came to live with him," Marie said.

                "Yes, she was.  And a few days later, her father died and she was turned into a servant in her own home," Nicole explained to Marie.

                "That is a crime.  No child of a Baron deserves to be treated like a servant," Marie said with a frown.

                "She's not only a baron's daughter, but by tradition, she is a marquise," Nicole said.

                "That's right.  Your grandmother was a marquise, so your youngest daughter gains that title through your tradition," Marie realized.

                "Correct, Marie.  And now she has claimed her true title and is dressing in the clothes of her station," Nicole said seriously.

                At that moment, Henry himself entered the garden and sighted his mother sitting with what he thinks maybe are some friends of hers.  His thoughts were filled with truth.  He didn't care anymore.  He loved Danielle and he wanted to marry her, his father be damned.

                "Good morning mother," Henry greets his mother, then turns to the others.  "Duke and Duchess de la Fere, it is good to see you."  He turns to greet the others seated at the table.  "Hello, Ariella," he greets her before he notices Danielle and Diana sitting there and stares at them in shock.

                "Danielle, Jacqueline, what are you doing here?" he asks in wonder.

                "Henry, sit down and we will explain everything," Nicole says to him.

                Henry nods and sits down in the chair by the table and waits for Nicole to begin, but Danielle is the first to speak.  "Henry, Nicole is my mother.  I found her last night after I ran out of the masque."

                Henry is shocked by her words.  "How can she be your mother, Danielle?"

                "I will let mother explain it," Danielle says, turning to Nicole.

                "Henry, I had my marriage to Danielle's father annulled when Danielle was only a few months old.  I was told to take my daughters and my son with me, but August wouldn't let me take Danielle.  I had no choice but to leave her and hope to retrieve her later.  And Diana was taken when she was six by the Baroness's first husband and she was renamed Jacqueline," Nicole explained to Henry.

                Henry nods at her, now fully understanding everything.  Then his anger grows at what Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent had done to both Danielle and Diana through the years.  She would pay dearly for the mistreatment.

                Marie smiled at her son.  She could see that he understood why Danielle had done what she had done all this time.  She had been playing the part of a comtess and in truth she was a marquise by tradition.