Chapter 3—Another Broken Engagement
It was after two o'clock in the morning when Comte de Bayard decided to close his investigation of Danielle and called a meeting to go over the facts. Jacques had found old guest lists showing that Auguste de Barbarac and his wife Nicole had been invited to royal functions. Also, Jacques had found that the Manoir de Barbarac was titled to Auguste de Barbarac. Nicolas had already told Comte de Bayard about meeting some gypsies and their interesting story of how Danielle had rescued Henry.
Several courtiers remembered meeting Auguste's first wife, Nicole. Words used to describe her included strikingly beautiful, charming, and graceful. Apparently Nicole was from another Province and had never revealed much about her family.
Comte de Bayard himself had talked to a widowed courtier who remembered asking Nicole about her family. "What did she tell you?" he asked.
"It must have been twenty years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. She was not someone you would forget. She was more than beautiful; she was so passionate and full of life. There was something about her--she would stand out in any crowd. She told me she was from another province, that her father was interested in horses, and that her mother had a flower garden that she had loved to tend. The next thing I knew I was telling her about my family. She was so interested in what I was telling her that I didn't realize until later that I never found out much about her family. Sometime later, during one of my trips, I met someone that had heard she was the daughter of high-ranking Nobles and that her parents were upset because Nicole married Auguste instead of some duc."
After giving each person an opportunity to tell what he or she had learned, Comte de Bayard expressed his appreciation for their help and then, after dismissing everyone else, asked Barron du Bellay to assist in writing the report. Two hours later, Comte de Bayard was satisfied with the final writing of the report. Walking up to the guard stationed outside the Kings quarters, the Comte handed the report to the guard and said, "Please see to it that the King gets this after he wakes up."
The next morning, one of the King's attendants handed him the report and said, "Your Majesty, Comte de Bayard left this for you."
King Francis read it over and then handed Marie the report on Danielle which read:
The girl's name is Danielle de Barbarac. She is about eighteen years of age. Her father, Auguste de Barbarac, was a prosperous businessman and owner of the Manoir de Barbarac. He died ten years ago, a few days after marrying Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent. Nicole de Lancret, the girl's mother, died soon after giving birth to Danielle. Nicole was described as a lady of exceptional beauty, grace and charm. According to one unconfirmed account, Nicole was the daughter of high-ranking nobles. We have been unable to confirm if either of Danielle's parents had had any titles, but they did have court privileges.
After the death of her father, Danielle de Barbarac was relocated to the servants' quarters and was raised by servants. At first, Baroness de Ghent mostly ignored Danielle. However, the Manoir de Barbarac suffered serious decline under the stewardship of Baroness de Ghent, and within a few years, after the loss most of the other servants, Danielle became an unpaid servant to Baroness de Ghent. Apparently, Danielle had taken on the role without complaint. However, two days ago, in a dispute about a dress that belonged to Danielle's mother, Danielle struck Marguerite, causing bruising around her eye. For this, Danielle was severely beaten.
Later that day, in another dispute over the same dress, the baroness locked Danielle in a cellar. She remained locked in the cellar, without food or water, for over a day until last night Gustave, a local artist and friend to Danielle, contacted Signore da Vinci. It was Signore da Vinci who opened the door to the cellar and encouraged Danielle to come to the Masque. Signore da Vinci also made the wings that she was wearing.
According to Baroness de Ghent, Danielle is very common and not fit for any position other than a servant. In contrast, Signore da Vinci says Danielle is an exceptionally intelligent and resourceful girl and believes her to be Henry's match.
Without disputing the opinion of Baroness de Ghent, two events within the last week indicates that Danielle is certainly resourceful.
First, the Baroness had sold one of her servants to pay her taxes. This servant, an old man named Maurice, had then been sold to Cartier and was bound for the Americas. Maurice had been a servant at Danielle's home since before she was born. He is like family to her. After Prince Henry gave her 20 gold francs, Danielle dressed as a courtier in order to purchase the freedom of the servant. She knew the penalty for dressing above her station; however, she was willing to take that risk in order to obtain freedom for the servant. Prince Henry arrived during a dispute she was having with the wagon master over the servant. Danielle convinced Prince Henry to order the release of the servant. Apparently, Prince Henry was quite taken with the girl and asked her for her name. Rather than giving her true identity and risking being thrown in the stocks, she gave Prince Henry the name of her mother and led him to believe she was a comtesse.
Second, as a result of that first meeting, Prince Henry, while still believing Danielle to be Comtesse Nicole de Lancret, met her again a couple of days ago and invited her to the Franciscan library. After leaving the library, Prince Henry may have been in some danger when, after getting lost, he fought with one gypsy and was surrounded by other gypsies. However, the gypsy leader agreed to let Danielle go. She then got the gypsy leader to swear that she could take with her anything she could carry. Apparently, the gypsies had her gown and believed she would choose to take her gown. Instead she lifted Prince Henry on her back and started carrying him off. Her quick thinking defused the situation and resulted in Prince Henry and Danielle making friends with the gypsies.
After reading the report, Queen Maria was almost certain that Rodmilla and Marguerite deliberately lied to her regarding an engagement to a Belgium and the cause of Marguerite's bruised eye.
Henry arrived a little late for breakfast, but the King was in such a good mood over the upcoming marriage between Henry and Princess Gabriella that he said nothing.
Queen Marie noticed that Henry was not his usual cheerful self and said, "Henry, how are you feeling? I trust you slept well."
Henry had tossed and turned most of the night thinking about Danielle and replied, "Well, I have had nights when I've slept better, but I'm fine."
"I believe you might be interested in reading this report about Danielle de Barbarac." Queen Marie says as she handed Henry the report.
Queen Marie observes Henry while he read the report and concludes correctly that he still had strong feelings for Danielle. Henry was angry with Danielle when he agreed to marry Princess Gabriella. Henry, like most young men, was impulsive and prone to make rash decisions. However, this time, before the Queen had time to suggest to him that he consider his decision to marry the Princess, King Francis quickly accepted it. The King had for months been negotiating a treaty that included a contract for marriage between Prince Henry and Princess Gabriella; therefore, with the investment of so much time and effort, Henry's decision to marry the Princess was one the King also wanted.
A few minutes later a page enters and said, "Sire, a letter from the Ambassador of Spain.
King Francis reads the letter, which read in part:
"… We feel you have not been forthcoming in the type of girl best suited for your son as indicated by his interest in Danielle de Barbarac. Clearly Danielle is a very spirited girl of exceptional beauty. Princess Gabriella on the other hand is demure and is not a flashy girl, having more of an inner beauty.
"We feel the Prince would be much happier with Duchess Violante Fernández, the daughter of one of the King's cousins. She is extraordinarily beautiful with an intense spirit to match her red hair and blazing eyes. Truly a jewel worthy of any prince…"
King Francis realized the Spanish were at the masque, that they witnessed the spectacle and then did their own investigation of Danielle. Nevertheless, reading the letter again did not do anything to improve the slow burn King Francis was feeling.
Noticing his expression, Marie asked, "Francis, is anything the matter?"
The King handed the letter to Marie and says, "Henry can destroy in a few minutes several months' worth of negotiations."
"What did I do now?" Henry asked, but the King just looked at him and shook his head.
Gathering that it was something in the letter, Henry asked, "Is the Ambassador accusing me of anything?"
"Son, I believe this will answer your question." Marie says as she handed Henry the letter.
Henry read the letter and wondered if it could be his way of getting out of his agreement to marry Princess Gabriella. After his anger had subsided, Henry had realized that Danielle had not intended to deceive him, but he also knew that his father would hold him to his agreement to marry Gabriella. As a servant to the Crown, Prince Henry knew the King would insist that his specific obligations mandated that he to do his duty and marry the Princess.
"What does this letter mean?" Henry wanted to know.
"It means that the Spanish would be insulted if they allowed Princess Gabriella to play second fiddle to a servant girl. That's two broken engagements in less than eight hours. Henry, at this rate you are going to be fortunate to even find a girl willing to be your wife." King Francis replied.
"Do the Spanish really expect me to marry Duchess Fernández?"
"Son, I am sure the Spanish would be happy for you to marry the Duchess since that would save their Princess from marrying an addled-brained Prince who proposes to servant girls. However, I don't believe it is a serious proposal, and I think the Ambassador is just buying time to inform the Spanish King of the facts concerning you and that servant girl.
"What this means is that the treaty and marriage contract are going to require additional negotiations, but I believe the Spanish King may still agree to the marriage contract between you and Princess Gabriella."
"Well, since the Spanish don't really expect me to marry Duchess Fernández, I believe we should oblige them and forget about any marriage between me and Princess Gabriella." Henry replied.
"France needs this trade agreement with the Spanish."
"Father, I'm sure Spain needs it as much as France does, and a marriage doesn't have anything to do with trade, so there is no need to include a marriage in your treaty."
"The marriage will guarantee that the Spanish will honor the treaty."
"Father, if you make a treaty with the Spanish, I'm sure you would honor the treaty even if my marriage to the Princess wasn't part of the agreement. Surely you don't believe the Spanish King is any less honorable."
King Francis might have agreed with Henry's line of reasoning if he had not invested months of negotiations a marriage between Henry and Gabriella. However, after so much effort he was not willing to reconsider, so he replied sternly, "Henry the particulars of the treaty are not open to discussion."
Henry realized that King Francis was upset over the Ambassador's letter and that now was not the best time to push the issue. Instead, he said to Marie, "Mother, I don't believe Danielle is just a servant. Based on this report, she wasn't born a servant, her mother was of noble blood, and her father was a prosperous landowner. Do you think I was unfair to her last night?"
"Son, it might have been best if you had given her a chance to explain, but she is partly to blame because she did mislead you about her identity. Still, it seems to me if anyone should to be blamed, that most of the blame should belong to Baroness de Ghent for not only turning her stepdaughter into a servant but for instigating the incident."
Changing the subject, the Queen asked, "Francis, I hope you don't mind but I wish to do my own investigation of Danielle. I also wish to investigate some of the things Rodmilla and Marguerite told me."
"Why? I believe we already know everything that is important."
"Well, I would like to know more about the character of Danielle, and I believe Rodmilla and Marguerite may have lied to me regarding Danielle."
The King, still upset over the ambassador's letter but not wishing to be bothered with trivialities says, "I fail to understand this fascination over some servant girl but, if you feel you must, go ahead."
That was all the approval the Queen needed. First, she was upset that anyone would deliberately lie to her, especially where it concerned her son. Second, she realized that Henry was very much attracted to Danielle. Further, she saw that Danielle was quite a remarkable girl, and, although not a comtesse, the status of her parents and even her position as Rodmilla's stepdaughter was enough in the Queen's mind to make Danielle an acceptable choice for Henry. However, as a mother she wished to know all about the character of anyone her son was interested in and desired to have a person-to-person meeting to make her own evaluation. Therefore, after breakfast in a meeting with her advisors it was decided that the following actions would be taken:
Because of the suspected lies, Rodmilla and then Marguerite would be questioned in private, after taking their oath. Rodmilla would be furious about taking an oath, but no matter. The reply would be, "Madame, it is policy and no one is questioning your truthfulness."
After her statement was taken, Rodmilla would be told that Marguerite, Jacqueline, and the servants would also be questioned in private. As pointed out by one of the advisors, Rodmilla would be insulted because the method and the additional questioning would imply her honesty was suspect. Further, one advisor noted that she would probably insist that she had already provided all the information, and questioning her daughters and servants would just cause confusion. Again, the reply would be that it was policy.
Rodmilla and Marguerite would be asked to explain their comments about their cousin, Comtesse Nicole de Lancret, her engagement to a Belgian and recent travel by boat, and about the bruise to Marguerite's eye. Other questions would be about Danielle.
During questioning and again afterwards, everyone would be told that the statements were for the Queen only and should anyone have questions regarding their statements their answer shall be, "Ask the Queen." Furthermore, in front of the household and servants, Rodmilla was to be told that she is not to question her daughters or servants regarding their statements and that any questions or punishment regarding what was said would be reported to the Queen as a direct disobedience to the Queen's orders.
Except for any such disobedience, the queen agreed with her advisors that no immediate action would be taken against Rodmilla or Marguerite. Should either of their statements be incriminating, it was just as well to let them worry about it for a few days.
Danielle would be invited to return with the staff for tea with the Queen.
Bishop de Portal would be asked to question Gustave about Danielle's character and about their relationship.
Because of his stature, the Queen would personally speak with the Signore da Vinci.