LADY OSCAR

She looked out the window in anger as she crushed the scroll in her hand. She couldn't believe Girodere would be so impertinent. She told him the way friends talk to each other that she could not marry him and at this point she wasn't sure she wanted to get married. She had far been too involved with her responsibilities as the head of the French Army.

She was having her afternoon tea at the Jarjeyes Mansion, her best friend Andre was with her. They were enjoying a quiet afternoon of tete-a-tete when the king's messenger arrived at the mansion gates and announced the king's message. It was unbelievable that she spilled her tea on the study table when her hand quivered at the news.

She ran out into the front hall and grabbed the messenger's scroll before anyone could stop her. She wanted to read it with her own eyes.

"How courageous! That's the spirit. I do want a son-in-law who knows how to get what he wants," said General Jarjeyes with a pleased smile.

Oscar looked at her father sternly. "I call that tacky... and a low blow hit on a friend. I'm gonna slice him into pieces with my sword if I get my hands on him."

Her father was unperturbed by her outburst. He shrugged off and reminded her it was the King's Order and therefore she must obey. "Besides," added her father, " It's about time you act more like a Lady than a commanding army officer. You're not getting any younger. I kept blaming myself for bringing you up like a man that you have foregone the joys of a married life."

"I'm happy the way I am, father," she replied in a more fiercer tone than she intended that she immediately apologized to her father.

Oscar was so furious she was running into her head how she would defeat the despicable Girodere. She would rather enter the nunnery than consent to be his wife. She thinks of him more as an older brother and the prospect of being his wife was unspeakable. She was seeing a new side of him-his arrogance.

How could a trusted friend do this to her? Her feminine heart got the better of her at the moment. With unshed tears she looked at Andre who stood at the top of the stairs watching the stage performance on the main hall.

"Andre, oh Andre, my friend" she said, " If you were in his shoes, would you have done the same thing? Would you have forced yourself in my life knowing I do not wish to marry you?"