Once Upon a Time

This is the second AEA story in the series

The story takes place in the autumn of the year 1528 in and around the province of Hautefort.  It is right after Henri, Nicole and Jeanee’s 17th birthdays, which are respectively, Jul 9 (for the twins) and Aug 9 (Jeanee’s).  

Once upon a Time

By Susan Friedman

Once upon a time, in the province of Hautefort, France, there lived a Prince and Princess by the name of Henry and Danielle.  Legend has it that they met, several times, by chance. At their second meeting, Danielle posed as a countess to rescue her servant, Maurice. He was sold to help the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, her stepmother, pay her taxes. A great ball was held at the castle, several days later, in honor of the artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci.

Danielle arrived at half past 11 only to be embarrassed by Rodmilla and thrown out by Henry when Rodmilla announced that she had been her servant.    But Henry was in love with the wise and beautiful Danielle.  When Maurice and Jacqueline told him she was sold to Pierre le Pieu, he left immediately to rescue her.  He carried with him the only thing he had left of her, her glass slipper.  She had left it behind running from the castle.

When Henry, Laurant, and three Royal Guards arrived at le Pieu’s chateau, he saw Danielle coming out the front door.  She had rescued herself.  That’s what Henry loved the most about Danielle.  She was a freethinking, independent woman, something unheard of in the 16th century.  He proposed to her and they were married in a private ceremony.  Then the two of them hatched up the perfect revenge, something the villagers still talk about.  They stripped Rodmilla and Marguerite, Rodmilla’s oldest daughter and Danielle’s stepsister, of their titles and made them servants in the royal laundry.

With Rodmilla and Marguerite out of the way, Henry and Danielle were free to start their own family. They had five children.  The oldest, the twins Henri Francois and Nicole Paulette, two middle children, Louis Auguste and Marie-Louise, and their youngest, Danielle Jacqueline. 

Laurant de Richaud, Henry’s bodyguard and Captain of the Royal Guards, had proposed to Jacqueline, Rodmilla’s younger daughter.  They were married, along with Henry and Danielle at Saint-Etienne’s cathedral, not far from the province.  Laurant and Jacqueline had six children.  Beginning with the oldest Jeanee Danielle, Michelle Louise, Armand Michel, Phillippe Louis, Jean-Claude, and the youngest, Gabrielle Marguerite.

This is the story of how Prince Henri Francois fell in love and married Princess Jeanee Danielle.

Prologue

It always seemed to Danielle that there was always something different about Henri and Jeanee’s relationship. They always seemed to be apart from the others, right from the very start.  First of all, they were cousins.  In name only, mind you, but they were still cousins.  Jacqueline, after all, was her stepsister.  Both couples tried to raise them as cousins, Henri always calling Jacqueline and Laurant, his “aunt” and “uncle” and Jeanee had been raised to do the same, but somehow it escaped them. 

In the beginning, the four oldest, twins Henri and Nicole along with Jeanee and Michelle were tutored together, at the manor. As the family grew, a small school had been set up, each into age groups. After school, the four of them would always get together, laughing, and playing with each other. That’s how it was, for a while anyway.  Nicole and Michelle always paired off leaving Henri and Jeanee to themselves.  It was always innocent games, nothing ever could lead you to believe that they had been romantically involved, until one warm autumn day…

Chapter 1

17 year old Henri Francois was standing on a hill, sword held high in victory. He had beaten the enemy once again.  He had just rescued Princess Jeanee from yet another brush with his rival, the Marquis Alexandre du Bois.  This time he thwarted a kidnapping attempt.  He had gotten her up on his horse and rode like the wind to the ruins where Father Thomas married them on the spot. He was just about to kiss her when he heard a voice call out.

“Henri, what are you doing down there?”

Henri was jolted from his daydream.  He looked up and saw his twin sister, Nicole Paulette staring down at him.

“Is there something wrong, Nicole?” Henri stood up.  He was sitting on the sand far too long.

She laughed.  “Always thinking something’s wrong lately, aren’t you?”

Henri stared at her.  He was just about to say something, but she interrupted his thoughts.

“Come, we’re all getting together for afternoon dinner. Mama told me to find you.”

“You knew where I was?”

“Of course.  Down at the riverbank where you always go, or where you both go. You’re always saving Jeanee from something, aren’t you?”
Henri Francois turned red.  “You know about that?”  Even though they were twins, they barely looked alike.  They shared a resemblance to their mother, Danielle, Princess of France, but while Nicole had dark red, almost brown hair, Henri had his father’s dark, black hair.  Nicole had brown eyes while Henri shared his parent’s deep green.

Nicole just smiled.  “It will be at our manor. Everyone will be there, including Jeanee.”

Henri was lost in thought.  It took him a few minutes to come around.

“Listen, Nicole,” Henri said.  They were starting to walk toward the manor house.  “You know Mama is not in anyway related to Jacqueline.”

Nicole stared at him.  “You really do like her, don’t you?”

They stopped walking.  Henri looked at his sister, not saying anything for a long time. He looked down at the ground, then picked his head up.

“We’ve been sneaking off to be alone with each other for almost a year.  It’s been in different places, not just the riverbank. I’m in love with her.”

“You mean, love? Really?”

Henri nodded.  “If I could just get rid of that idiot, Alexandre, the world would be a much better place.”

Nicole smiled and shook her head.  “Henri Francois! What am I to do with you?” She was imitating her mother, Danielle.  “Aunt Jacqueline has this all planned out.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind having a prince in the family, not just any nobleman.”  He sighed.

“She already considers you her family, Henri.”  Nicole looked at him. “Why don’t you talk to them about it? The answer might surprise you.”

  

But Henri shook his head. “ I’m not ready yet.  Please, Nicole, promise me you won’t say anything to Mama and Papa?  I don’t believe they would be too pleased about this.”

Nicole smiled.  “Have I ever, dear brother?”  They resumed their walk.

Chapter 2

Henri sat in his favorite armchair staring. He hadn’t even realized he was doing it. 

Across the room sat 17 year old Jeanee de Richaud. She was playing his parent’s new harpsichord.  He couldn’t keep his eyes off her.  He tried not to make it obvious, but it wasn’t working.  She kept picking her head up every so often to smile at him.
She is beautiful, he thought.  She had her mother’s dark brown hair and blue eyes, but that was it.  She didn’t resemble either of them.  Even Aunt Jacqueline admitted that.  They were a month apart in years, Henri being the oldest.

“Henri?”

Henri turned in the direction of the voice. When he saw who it was, he smiled. 

His 11-year old sister, Danielle, smiled back.  She waved and ran away, just long enough to divert his attention.  When he looked up, Jeanee had disappeared.

“Henri.”  This time it was Nicole. She was smiling gesturing toward the door.“ By her side was little Danielle Jacqueline.  “She’s waiting in the garden.”

Henri smiled and hugged them, one at time.  “Thanks, Nicole, Danielle. Where would I be without you?” 

Chapter 3

Jeanee was indeed waiting for him.  She didn’t even wait for him to reach her.

They hugged and kissed each other, then she broke away.

“Have you told them yet?” she asked.

“Jeanee, it’s too soon.”  He tried to put his arms around her, but she backed off.

“What do you mean ‘too soon.’  It’s been three days and Alex is growing impatient with me.  I don’t know what to tell him.   I can’t stand being without you for another day, Henri.” 

“I’ll tell them tonight, Jeanee, I promise.”

“Now, how many times have I heard that before?”

Henri smiled and touched her cheek.  “I mean it this time.”

“Maybe we should tell them together, you and I.” Jeanee said “that way the news would be easier to take.”

Henri looked at her.  “You may be right, my love. “  He picked her hand up to his lips and kissed it. 

They heard footsteps behind them.  They separated and turned. 

Chapter 4

Standing there was the Marquis Alexandre du Bois, Duke Jules du Bois’ son.
“Jeanee,” he said in his deep, loud booming voice.  He didn’t even look at Henri.  “I knew I would find you here, though I thought you’d be alone.”  Alexandre just turned twenty-one.  He was a good-looking man, not as beautiful as Henri, but was still handsome in his own way.  His long dark brown hair was tied in a queue and his eyes were a beautiful deep blue.            

“Why, Henri,” he said, finally acknowledging him with a smile. “I did not see you.”

Henri ignored him. 

“Come, Jeanee, let’s go inside.  It’s getting cold.”

Henri headed for the manor, but Jeanee did not follow.  She stood by the Marquis' side, watching him.  As soon as he disappeared, Jeanee turned to Alex. 

“What makes you think that I would even remotely want to have anything to do with you?”

“Jeanee, please.” Alex said.  “Don’t shut me out like this. You know how I feel. All I really want is to be a part of your family.”

“Well,” Jeanee said.  “I might as well tell you now that we do not have any kind of future together whatsoever.” 

A very puzzled Marquis Alexandre du Bois watched as she turned and walked toward the manor.

Chapter 5

Princess Danielle was watching this whole exchange between her son and her niece.  What was going on between those two?   Why were they being so secretive?  She couldn’t get anything out of Nicole. She would speak to the both of them later, but right now she had other matters to attend to.  A few months ago, King Francis, Henry’s father, had become very ill.  He never fully recovered and the court physician had advised him that it be better for his health to give up the throne.  Queen Marie agreed and called for a meeting with the Prince and Princess.  It was decided that the King would step down next year.  The coronation and reception would coincide with Henri and Nicole’s eighteenth birthday.

Henry and Danielle rode to the castle almost every night to visit with the King and Queen and tonight was no exception.  It was where Henry had planned to go after that she was excited about.  They hadn’t been there in days.  She smiled just thinking about it.

No sooner had Jeanee walked toward the manor that Henri grabbed her. He was standing on the side of the manor against the wall.   She shook off his arm.  “What do you think you’re doing? “ she said.
“Look, Jeanee, “ Henri said, a little angrily, “We need to talk and we can’t do it here.”

“We should talk to our parents first, Henri.”

“We can’t tonight.  My parents just left to visit my grandparents.”

Jeanee sighed. Another excuse. “Where do you suppose we should go?”

“The ruins.  It’s a beautiful place.  I hear you can see the sunrise from the top of the hill.”

Jeanee smiled, thinking about it, but the smile soon disappeared.  She looked at Henri. 

“It involves staying out all night, doesn’t it? We can’t…”

“They’ll never know.  They never return until morning anyway.  We’ll tell them then. I promise.”

Jeanee smiled, even though she still didn’t trust him.  “All right, Henri,” she answered.

Chapter 6

It was getting dark.  The ruins were a frightening place at night to some people, but not to Henri and Jeanee.  They found a quiet spot in the corner of the main sanctuary where they argued for over an hour, finally coming to the conclusion to tell their parents in the morning. After making love, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.  

Not too much later, there was the sound of horse’s hooves.  The noise was so loud it woke Henri.  He waited until they passed and was surprised when they didn’t.  He soon heard talking and laughing.  Someone was entering the ruined cathedral.  He tried to awaken Jeanee.  When she opened her eyes, he told her what was happening.

Suddenly, a voice called out.  “Hello, is anyone there?”  Henri couldn’t believe his ears.  It sounded just like his father.  

“Come, Jeanee. Hurry”

“Hello,” the deep voice called out again.  Henri saw the torchlight getting closer to where they were.   He had just risen to his feet when he saw two people standing in the ruined entrance to the sanctuary.   Henri looked up and found he was staring at the surprised faces of his parents.
Chapter 7

“Henri, Jeanee,” Princess Danielle asked looking from one to the other. “What are you two doing here?” Henri had managed to slip on his breeches, but Jeanee didn’t have such luck.  She had quickly thrown on Henri’s shirt.  

“I can explain,” Henri said.

“Well, someone had better.”  Henry called out, stepping closer.  He handed the torch to Danielle.  Now where had he heard this before?  He’d always told Danielle that if he ever had children, he would never behave like his father.

Jeanee and I are…” His voice trailed off.  He couldn’t believe that this was where his parents had been coming all this time.  “What are you doing here and where did you get those clothes?”

Henry and Danielle had on what they referred to as their “gypsy clothes.” 18 years ago they traded clothes with the gypsies as a sign of their friendship.  Every time they went to Amboise, they dressed in these clothes. 

Henry was about to say something when Jeanee spoke up.

“We were married, uncle, three days ago at the monastery.”

Henry turned to Danielle.  She hadn’t said anything since they walked in.  “Did you know about this?”

“I believe that Father Thomas mentioned it to me two days ago at the monastery when I returned Nicole’s book.  I just assumed it was the truth.”  She shrugged her shoulders.

Henry tried to hide his smile.  She was always one up on him.  He had to admit that’s why he fell in love with her in the first place.

The smile disappeared as he turned back to his children.

“Why didn’t you just come to us?” Henry asked his son, gently.

“Your father’s right, children.”  Danielle said.  “You shouldn’t keep us guessing like this.”

Henri stared at the both of them.

“At least put some clothes on.”  Henry smiled.  He was trying to keep a straight face.    

“You’re not angry?”  Henri said.  He turned to Jeanee who was standing next to him.
“I am, for not telling us first.”  Henry smiled and held his arms out to Jeanee.  “Welcome to our family, Jeanee,” he said as she came into them, “not that you were ever a stranger.”

“But, Mama, you and Aunt Jacqueline, I mean, we’re cousins.” Henri said.

“Jacqueline and Marguerite are my stepsisters, Henri.  We were all raised together, that’s all.”

“Come, Henri, Jeanee,” Henry said, releasing Jeanee, “the hour has grown late.  We should return to the manor and explain this to your parents.” 

He took hold of Danielle’s hand and began to turn around, when he stopped and turned back toward Henri.

“Oh, I almost forgot.  You asked two questions earlier.  Well, I guess I should answer them. We traded clothes with the gypsies 18 years ago, a sign of our friendship.”  He turned to Danielle and smiled.  He took the torch from her. “As for the other reason,” Henry said, turning back to his son, still smiling, ”it’s really none of your business.”  With that, Henry and Danielle turned around and walked out of the church.  Henri Francois and Jeanee Danielle were still staring at each other in shock.  They started to follow his parents outside when they realized they hardly had any clothes on.

Chapter 8

The next morning, Henri and Jeanee called their parents together for a meeting at the manor.

“We wanted to explain why we did what we did.” Henri looked at Jeanee, then at his parents and his aunt and uncle.  He took a deep breath and began to speak. 

“I first noticed Jeanee at our confirmation.  She had changed so much from what I remembered growing up.  We spent more and more time alone together, studying, reading and discussing things.  We found that we had a lot in common and we wanted the same things.  I noticed how intelligent, witty and charming she was. At every reception I have ever gone to, it seemed that every woman my age threw themselves at me, wanting nothing more than to marry a prince. That was the one thing that Jeanee never did.” 

He stopped, almost embarrassed to go on.  Jeanee nudged his elbow.  “Then there was that day when…”

“When what?” Henry said, standing up.

“Papa, it was nothing.  Once, while we were at the riverbank, we took a swim together.”

Henry sat down again, a little relieved.  “Henri, you know you can’t swim.”
“I know, Papa.  I really didn’t want to admit that to Jeanee because she is such a good swimmer. I was able to dog paddle out a little when I panicked. All of a sudden, I felt I couldn’t breathe.  I became shaky and frightened. I called out to Jeanee, but I thought she was out too far to hear me.  The next thing I remember was lying on the sand.  She pulled me out of the water, Papa. She saved my life.  I was embarrassed about it, a woman saving my life.  I swore that I would make it up to her as soon as I had the opportunity.”  He looked at his father.  “This is the first time I’ve even spoken about it, to anyone.”

He put his head down, took a deep breath and picked it up again.

“I hadn’t noticed how beautiful Jeanee was until I was 16.  She never liked any of the men that you picked for her, Aunt Jacqueline. Whenever I saw her with any of them, I felt something that I never felt before. One day, when we went riding, Alexandre stopped us in the woods.  He wanted to talk to Jeanee.  She told him she wasn’t interested, but he kept after her.  I had just about had enough and said so, but Jeanee stopped me.  Ever since then, I’ve been dreaming up situations to save her from.”

“Don’t worry about saving her so much, son,” Henry said.  “She can do fine on her own.”  

Henri looked at Jeanee, who looked back at him. It was the “wait until we’re alone, Henri” look.  He turned back to the four of them and continued.

“You see I didn’t want her to be with him. I know now the feeling is called jealousy.  I wanted her to be with me.  I never realized how much I had come to love her.  When I proposed and she accepted we were so excited we hadn’t even thought about what you might say. We knew that we weren’t really related, but we didn’t think that you would let us get married.  You had tried so hard to bring us all up as if we were.   So we ran away to the monastery. We did it on impulse and we know that we were wrong. We were intending to tell you, but I didn’t know how to bring it up. We humbly beg your forgiveness and ask for your blessing.”     

The four of them sat there, not knowing what to say.  Danielle and Jacqueline stood up. Jacqueline spoke first.  “Jeanee, Alexandre wasn’t interested in you at all.  All he wanted was your advice about Michelle.  I believe he wants to marry her.”  Danielle spoke next.  “You know that you have all our blessings, children.  We want you to know that we are very proud of you.  We have made arrangements for a church wedding at Saint-Etienne’s and later, for a ball to be held in your honor, that’s if you’ll accept.”

Henri and Jeanee looked at each other in surprise.  They quickly agreed.

Epilogue

Danielle cried as she watched her son and daughter-in-law at the reception later.  She remembered her own wedding and reception.  It was only eighteen years ago.
My, she thought, how time does fly.  She couldn’t believe her oldest had just gotten married. 

Suddenly, she felt two arms encircle her chest.  She turned around.  There was Henry, looking down at her, smiling.  He wiped away the tears on her cheek with his finger.  “That’s the first,” he said, “we have four more others to contend with.”   

“Henry Francis, what a nasty thing to say.”  Danielle smiled.  They both laughed.

“You know, when Henri told us about Jeanee saving him at the riverbank, I couldn’t help remembering when we were stuck in the woods and ran into the gypsies.  That was only the first time you saved my life, Princess.  You are very special to me and I love you so much.”

Danielle smiled up at him.  “I love you too, milord.  Now, I have a favor to ask, sir, what about those ruins?“

Henry grinned.  “What about them?  Do you think it’s safe to go tonight?”

Danielle nodded.  “I believe, milord, that they are.”

Henry let go and took her hand.  “Come then,” he said, “let us get ready.”  They turned and walked toward their apartments.