Chapter Two: Reluctance
"The bread is burned, the eggs are hard and the juice is flat. Louise kindly tell me what in heavens name happened while I was out." The Baroness's feigned kindness was lost on the two elderly servants. Louise and Paulette exchanged frightened glances as the elder frantically searched for the proper words.
"Forgive us Madam. Paulette and I are doing the best we can but without Dani …"
"ah ba ba ba ba. Silence." Paulette's planned testimonial to the valuable nature of their young former servant was cut short by the Baroness' accented hush of silence. "There will be no more talk of that girl in my house. Is that quite understood, ladies?"
"Yes Madam." Paulette and Louise said together.
"Now then, Louise, you were saying." Louise stammered for a moment, tripping over her words. "Paulette do you think you can manage intelligent speech?" the Baroness blurted exasperated.
"Well Madam," Paulette thought for a moment bittered by Rodmilla's insensitivity, "you see, we were quite overwhelmed this morning."
"I see. Well ladies, if you cannot perform your duties then perhaps I should send you to the poor house and find people who can. I better see some improvement." The Baroness nodded to her daughters, a signal that they were free to begin eating. The two girls picked at the food together, though in a different manner. Jacqueline was determined to make the best of it and chewed happily on the soft end of the bread. She realized that the juice didn't taste so bad when mixed with a full mouth of ham. Marguerite on the other hand pouted snobbishly at the bread and nearly choked on the juice. The eggs, she decided were better if you mashed them up and used them to smear all over the bowl.
"The Eggs better not be this hard in the palace." She sneered.
"No darling, I don't suppose they will be. The King has the power to hang his servants" the Baroness cast a weary eye to the elderly woman in the corners.
Jacqueline, although intelligent, but somewhat naive looked at her mother and sister, a puzzled expression on her face. "When will you ever eat breakfast at the palace?"
"When I wake up in the arms of the Prince" Marguerite snickered. The Baroness and her elder daughter giggled as Jacqueline's cheeks pinked a little.
"Oh. Why do you think the Prince will pick you?" The giggling stopped. Rodmilla glared at her daughter.
"Because dear, the Prince has wonderful taste."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"Because Laurent, I have horrible taste." A grin spread across both men's faces at the thought.
"It can't be too bad if you're racing off to find Danielle." Henry thought for a moment. Remembering all the hours he wasted talking with that witch Marguerite. Hours he could have, no, should have spent with Danielle.
"There's good reason for that, Laurent. Danielle isn't a woman. She's an angle." Henry's grin grew wider.
"That's sweet, your Highness, if you don't mind me saying so." Laurent said brimming with joy at the sight of his dear friends obvious happiness.
"Not at all. Besides you don't have that bad of taste yourself." Laurent blushed, his eyes shifting from Henry's face down to his saddle.
"Why whatever do you mean, Milord?"
"Oh come on, man. There's no reason to be shy. I've seen the way you two look at each other. Jacqueline's quite a catch."
"I'm quite found of our time together, Sire."
"I'm sure you are. She's a wonderful lady."
"It seems, Sire, that we both are quite lucky these days."
"That we are, Laurent. That we are."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"Can you believe the way that evil woman and her wretched daughter were speaking of His Highness?" Louise was busy scrubbing the rest of the dishes and Paulette was chopping apples for this evening's cider.
"I know." Paulette agreed.
"Speaking of him as if he were some kind of rare stallion to be captured and broken."
"I know," Paulette turned to Louise, her face sincere, "do you want to hear something awful, though?" Louise nodded, "I think he deserves it after the way he treated that poor girl."
"Paulette!" Louise was stunned.
"I don't care if he's the Crown Prince of France or not, if that horrible boy can be so cruel to a sweet thing like Danielle then I feel that he deserves every single one of Marguerite's sneers."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"She's a SERVANT!" Francis continued pacing frantically back and forth across his bedroom.
"She's a WOMAN, Francis. A woman your son happens to be in love with." Marie sighed softly, staring out her bedroom window. She had been so happy to see Henry walk out of church that morning a free man. She had never seen her son as happy as he had been the last few days. That was, until the masque. She could feel Henry's heart breaking as if it was her own.
The two days after Danielle's confession he had sulked about the castle like a zombie. His entire line of communication had been reduced to glaring and a few well placed mutters.
She had tried talking to her son but he refused to respond. He didn't argue, didn't bicker, instead he remain silent. So imagine how surprised she was she realized Henry was laughing at the alter. The joy was radiating off her face when he dashed out of the church to search for his true love.
"He loves her. Fine. Good for him. But he's the Crown Prince of France!! He has obligations, responsibilities! And as his wife she will have certain responsibilities as well! We can't have some peasant conversing with the King of England at our table."
"For the last week she's been posing as a Countess, Francis." The King stopped pacing and joined his wife at the window table. "Henry, the Royal Guard, Nobleman and other Servants alike were all fooled."
"What's your point?"
"My point is, that whether we like it or not Henry is out searching for Danielle at this moment. And should he find her, he will no doubt propose. She, I assume will accept. He will bring her here and ask our permission to be married. So, we can either accept this, help her fine tune her manners and refine her skill, or we can watch Henry fade away inch by inch. Day by Day."
Francis grumbled and waved his hand at his wife. An apparent gesture of defeat. He got up from the table and headed out the door, but before it closed Marie heard her husband say to his serviceman "Plan a quick, intimate wedding. The bride and groom are on their way."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The Manor of the Baroness De Ghent finally appeared in the horizon as Henry, Laurent, and the Royal Guardsmen breeched the hill. Henry smiled to himself happily. It seemed like they had been riding for hours. Leave it to his father to bait him with a match of wits and delay the happiest moment of his life. Henry's grin grew wider as he remembered the look on The King's awestruck face that morning. When Henry had debated him in front of everyone. But that conversation stopped as soon after it had begun. For as soon as Henry spied the Baroness board her carriage with her two daughters and the driver pull away, Henry had started running. Surly the Baroness would be impressed by his offer for Danielle's hand in marriage. He would offer their farm the needed monies to support the servants and keep the building and the grounds in good order. He'd pardon the rest of her dept and everyone would be happy.
The only hinge in his offer was Marguerite. In the few days before the masque the Baroness and her eldest daughter were certainly trying to win the Prince's affections. At first Henry enjoyed the attention. Say what you want about Marguerite but she was quite the beauty. Beautiful, cunning, and in it for his money. Just like all the other women who'd tried to win his heart over the years. What a waste of time. As far as Henry could see the only reason the Baroness would deny him Danielle was out of spite for overlooking her daughter. However Henry had a plan for that too. Henry would upgrade each woman's title by one degree and assure the Baroness that Marguerite shall have her choice of any other wealthy man in the court. She wouldn't be a Princess, but it was a step up. The Baroness would assume she's getting the better end of the bargain, but Henry, he knew different. What use was money if it was a burden and not a privilege?
And if that didn't work he'd find something to use against the Baroness, convince his parents to strip her and Marguerite of their titles, and seize the farm. That way he and Danielle could run the farm themselves.
He realized what had to be done the minute he'd started laughing at the alter. He'd set his would be bride free, find the Baroness, make his offer, of course she'd accept, and then he and the Baroness would ride off and fetch Danielle. But by the time Laurent had prepared his horse and the Royal Guardsmen were notified and readied the Baroness was long gone. Henry did not despair when the search came up empty. Instead the group simply headed towards the manor. After all, where else would they be?
So as the seconds turned into minutes and minutes slowly clumped to hours Henry road on. He had imagined his reunion with Danielle a hundred times in his head. Trying to plan a repentance speech for any situation. His favorite image was of Danielle picking apples somewhere in the large orchard. He'd come riding up to her like a hero straight out his favorite storybooks. She'd see him and smile. Then after brief conversation and a few insatiable kisses they would ride off to the castle and be married. He imagined another equally romantic, but more entertaining scenario that began much like the first. Only, in this one after she'd accepted his proposal, she and Henry would fill up two buckets of compost from the pile outback sneak into the manor and empty the buckets into Marguerite and the Baroness's bed. Then they'd hide in some secret corner and when they heard the women scream in shock, they'd laugh and run out of the manor, jump on the horses and ride away giggling.
However, Henry knew he must also prepare for the other extreme. Danielle, being the quick-witted, stubborn girl she was, may not be so easily won over. He couldn't count on his dimples and soft words to do everything. He may need to argue his way back into her good graces. So as he rode closer and closer and closer to the Manor, he'd tried to imagine all the different arguments Danielle could use against him, and how he could counter it. She had lied to him, but she had done it out of determination to save a man's life. And, she had tried to tell him the truth; he just didn't seem to want to hear it. He, on the other hand, had made a fool out of her. He could have just accepted her for what she was, but no, instead he publicly berated and humiliated her. What a fool, what a coward he was. Perhaps he didn't deserve her forgiveness but he was going to try like hell.
The party of six rode up to the gate of the manor and Henry could see one of the servants plucking weeds from the garden. It was Paulette. He turned to the other members before passing through the opened gate, "stay a few yards behind me as we ride up. I want to do as much of this alone as possible. If I need your assistance I shall summon you." The rest of the men nodded. Henry took the lead as they rode up the driveway. The servant in the Garden barely flinched as he dismounted a few feet from her.
Henry strode up to her, anticipation and love brimming in his heart. Paulette stood before him and curtsied. No matter what her feelings were, she had better manors then to disrespect the Crown Prince of France.
"Madam," Henry started bowing his head slightly to acknowledge her curtsy, "I'm here to inquire upon a girl. A servant by the name of Danielle." Henry could easily see the uneasiness Paulette tried to hide. "Please, I mean her no harm." Paulette's snort was so forceful and quick Henry's eyes widened noticeably.
"You mean, your Highness, that you mean her no more harm then what's already been done."
"I suppose I deserved that." Henry cast his eyes downward.
"Yes you did. And if my opinion means a damn you deserve a lot more. Do you know what that little girl did for you? What risks she took. Oh Lord, take me now. I have half a mind to put you over my knee and spank you!" Paulette's face had reddened noticeably. Her anger intense and full of passion. She was right. Henry knew it. So he stood there and let every word sink into his conscious. He knew that no matter how it ending went, it was his fault. Everything was his fault. After and long silence, Paulette realized that Henry was not going to argue. She looked up at him, his eyes cast downward, fixated on the stones of the driveway. With a surge of shame she saw that his eyes glistened with unshed tears. Sensing her stare, Henry locked eyes with hers. And in the moment, somehow, they silently understood each other. "Oh Lord, don't cry my boy. I didn't mean to hurt you. You don't understand where I'm coming from is all. Louise, Maurice and I raised Danielle after her father passed on. She's like our child, and see her… well you already know."
Henry was confused. "But the Baroness is Danielle's stepmother, am I wrong?" Paulette nodded, "so why would the servants be left to take care of her? I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Sire, I'm afraid there are many things you don't understand."