"Tell me, marquis, what was your childhood like? Do your best to reply completely in English, please." Major Huger asked as he watched the young Frenchman slap at his own bare skin, his shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows as a result of the heat, mosquitos flying into the coach as they rode to relentlessly bother the young man and bite him.
"Merde! C'est de conneries!" Lafayette grumbled in frustration as he swatted and scratched at his arms.
"Here, pull your sleeves down and the mosquitos won't get at your skin." The Major said, reaching over to help roll down Lafayette's sleeves for him. "Don't scratch at them too much. I know it itches terribly, but the more you scratch, your skin will get raw and you might end up scratching your skin open and hurting yourself.
Lafayette nodded and sighed a bit as he sat back in his seat, his leg bouncing restlessly.
"There should be a town coming up soon. We'll stretch our legs and get something for those bites of yours. Now, your childhood?"
"Well, I was born on the sixth of September. My family is known for being in the military. I don't remember my father at all. I've only ever seen portraits of him from when I was just a baby. He was killed in action in the Seven Years' War. As a child, I had tutors and training to be a musketeer. I was a bold child. When I was eight I attempted to hunt the, um, La Bête du Gévaudan. I don't know what the English is for that…" Lafayette attempted to explain.
"What was it?" The major questioned with a small cock of his head.
"It was terrible wolf-dog thing. It killed many people not too far from my home with its terrible teeth and nails." He tried to explain, making claws with his hands and baring his teeth a bit to illustrate the monster's ferocity.
"You tried to hunt a monster?"
"Yes. I'd grabbed a knife from the kitchen and tried to find it in the woods near my home. I fell into a little river and cut myself with the knife and Maman found me when she heard me crying. A few days later, the town newspaper posted a story on the silly boy who'd tried to hunt it down and I got very mad, so I wrote a mad editorial to the paper under a false name."
The major smiled a bit as Lafayette did his best to describe the memory to him in English, laughing a bit at the thought of a precocious little red haired boy running through the woods with cutlery with fire in his brown eyes, his young heart dead set on doing battle with an urban legend.
"Was the rest of your childhood as exciting as that?" he asked curiously.
"Not really. I was kept very busy with my lessons I was Maman and Papan's only child, so I had big shoes to fill. Maman died when I was 12 and Grandpère died not a month later and suddenly I was one of the wealthiest gentlemen in all France and Europe. When I was 14 I joined the King's Musketeers and started martial training at Versailles. Then, I married my dear Adrienne on April 11 three years ago. Since then, we've had our daughter and I came over here. Now I am here riding with you, and I feel the need to run until my legs ache." He explained, his long, skinny legs jittering restlessly where he sat.
"Well, you seem like you've had a long run, Marquis." The major said with a small smile to him.
"I haven't been able to run yet. We're still in this coach."
The major looked quizzically at him before smiling and laughing happily. "No, no, I meant that you've had an eventful life."
"Ah. I guess I have, yes." Lafayette replied with a small smile, glancing out the window and smiling even more when he saw a small town coming up. More than eager to get out of the coach and stretch his legs, he pulled his red hair up and tied it securely before putting his wig on once again.
The major watched as the man primped quickly, leaning out the window to let the driver know to stop in the town so they could stretch their legs and get something for Lafayette's mosquito bites. When he sat back in his seat, Lafayette had put his hat back on and was busy straightening his trail worn suit, primping and preening himself as much as possible for when he would be seen in passing by the people in the little town they'd stop in. It all seemed rather unnecessary, but he wasn't going to question the French aristocrat since he seemed more than happy with it all.
When they finally got to a stop, Lafayette got out of the coach first, shaking out his long, thin legs as he stood and stretched them once again.
"Ah, it feels good to stand again." He hummed as the major followed him out with ease.
"Yes, it does. Come along, let's get something for those bites." The major said, walking down the street towards the town's apothecary, the young Frenchman walking along beside him contently.
Lafayette got the door for the major when they arrived at the building, following him inside to talk with the druggist in charge.
"Hello, gentlemen. What can I help you with today?" the man behind the counter asked graciously.
"Hello. My friend here has been bitten by at least a hundred mosquitos in the past day or so. We were wondering if you might have something that might help." The major explained.
"May I see how bad it is?" the apothecary asked.
Lafayette nodded and pushed up his sleeves to expose his bitten forearms that were red from the bites and how much he'd been scratching at them.
The apothecary looked over the reddened skin thoughtfully. He then turned around, bringing out some basil and aloe vera leaves. "Here, rub these on the bites and it should soothe the itching and the swelling." He advised.
Lafayette nodded and smiled a bit to him. "I see. Thank you. How much do I pay you for this?"
The apothecary blinked at the heavy French accent, having assumed he was an Englishman. "Ah, we only accept British money, sir."
Lafayette blinked and looked into the bag of silver and gold livres he'd brought out, part of him wondering why he hadn't taken it into consideration to get English or Continental money before coming to America.
"I can cover it, we'll deal with your money later." The major said when he noticed the way the Frenchman's arched red eyebrows knit together.
Lafayette nodded and put his little sack of coins away as the major paid for the medicinal herbs while the apothecary packaged them up for the two of them.
"Perhaps I should have thought about money before coming here." Lafayette commented as they walked out together, walking with the major around a few blocks to stretch their legs and get exercise before they had to ride in the coach for another day.
The major smiled and laughed a bit at that and nodded. "Were you in a rather big hurry to get over here?" he asked curiously.
"Yes. I was chased through France and Spain until I bought my own ship and set out on my way." Lafayette replied with a small smile.
"You were chased? Why were you chased?" the major asked in shock, wondering what all the things were that the young aristocrat had done simply to cross the ocean to get to America.
"Well, you see, almost everyone told me I shouldn't come. My wife, my in-laws, King Louis. I wanted to come, though, so I left and they sent out a warrant for my arrest. So I fled to Spain and bought a ship there. I named it Victoire and left for the United States. I stopped in England for a bit first, though, where I spoke about liberating the colonies openly, had tea with King Charles, and left on my way again." Lafayette explained, looking over and smiling at the dumbfounded look on the major's face before laughing a bit.
Major Huger blinked at the story the young man told him about his journey to the New World, dumbfounded by the antics of the precocious teenager. "My God, Marquis. You will go down in history, that's for sure. Whether it's for your bravery or your reckless stupidity, I don't know for sure, though."
Lafayette just smiled wider and laughed happily as he walked with Major Huger back to their coach so they could continue on their way to Charleston. He settled into his seat with the major, letting the other man rub some of the basil leaves onto his reddened forearms to soothe the itch and redness. They chatted and relaxed together happily in the coach until the marquis felt his eyelids start to get rather heavy. He yawned and took off his hat and wig, keeping his hair up for the night before he crossed over to sit next to the major, just as he'd gotten into the habit of doing as they rode in the coach. He leaned against the other man and rested against him, letting the major wrap a blanket around their shoulders while he fell asleep and cuddled in.
Major Huger let Lafayette snuggle into him, as he could tell that the Frenchmen had started to grow a bit homesick, likely missing his wife's presence and their bed back home. He couldn't help but remember the way his own little son often snuggled into him like the young aristocrat did. Though, his son was a three year old and Lafayette was about nineteen. He couldn't help but wonder how his young son would react to their new foreign guest. Little Francis had generally been rather shy, especially around newcomers. However, Lafayette had said that he had a little baby girl of his own back in France, so he was more than likely rather good with kids.
After a while, he slipped asleep as well, the gentle shaking of the coach and the sound of Lafayette's soft breaths lulling him to sleep.
Lafayette woke up the next morning when he felt the major gently shaking his shoulder. "Mmm, qu'est-ce que c'est?" he asked tiredly as he blinked awake, looking over at the major next to him.
"We're nearing Charleston, Lafayette. We'll get to my home soon and we can have breakfast with my family." The man replied with a small smile to the younger man.
Lafayette nodded in understanding and stretched out his limbs with a yawn. He then got his wig and hat on once more, making sure everything was smoothed out and was presentable as they rode into the city together. In a few minutes, they pulled up to a nice, large home.
Lafayette got out after the major getting his trunk and looking over as a young woman with a small boy in her arms walked out to meet them.
"Mary, Francis!" The major said happily, moving to meet the pair, hugging and kissing them both while Lafayette hung behind a bit awkwardly.
"It's good to see you again, my dear. Did you have a good time in New York?" Mary asked curiously, eyeing the tall, skinny young man hovering near the coach.
"I did, but it's good to be home." Major Huger replied with a nod before turning back to Lafayette. "This is the marquis de Lafayette, by the way. I'm going to bring him to the little gathering and try to get him the connections he needs to get into Washington's army."
Mary blinked a bit at that looking over at the young, freckled man. "He's a marquis? Does he speak English? You know the Continental army's been turning away French men who don't speak any English."
"He's getting better at English, but it's a work in progress. He's an aristocrat from France who came all the way over here to fight for this country's independence." The major said to her, waving Lafayette over to the group easily.
Lafayette walked closer to the small group, rather tense and awkward.
"Lafayette, this is my wife, Mary, and our son Francis. Mary, Francis, this is Lafayette. He'll be here with us for a little while." The major said, introducing them all to each other.
"Bonjour, madame. Comment allez-vous?" Lafayette greeted politely.
"English, Lafayette." The major reminded gently.
"Hello. How are you?" Lafayette tried again.
Mary smiled softly to him. "I'm doing well. It's nice to meet you, monsieur Lafayette."
"Hello, little one." Lafayette said gently to Francis, smiling gently to the little boy whose green eyes reminded him of Henriette's.
Francis blinked at the greeting. "You say words funny." The boy said gently to the marquis.
Mary was about to lightly scold the child for making such a rude comment about the Frenchman's rather thick accent, though she was cut off when the marquis just smiled and laughed happily, nodding to the little boy.
"Oui, oui, it's true. Perhaps you can teach me more?" He replied to the little boy, who couldn't help but smile back to him.
"I'll try." Francis replied easily.
"It's good to meet you, I'm Lafayette." Lafayette said, offering his hand to the toddler.
"I'm Francis." The boy replied, taking hold of a few of the other's long, skinny fingers and shaking them contently.