Part 4
Eventually, Danielle celebrated her fourteenth birthday. Although she was extremely excited, the day was dampened by the fact that she was leaving to start boarding school the next morning. Normally, they didn’t admit pupils in the middle of the year, but the King got his way about everything. The only good thing about boarding school was that her friend Jacqueline was already there.
Her father had a ball planed for the evening, but the rest of the day was hers to enjoy. She tried to spend as much time as she could with her brother. She did spend some time with her mother, but she avoided her father at all cost. She knew that if it weren’t for him she would have been able to stay in her comfortable home. He always seemed to disagree with what she wanted to do.
At the moment, she was sitting in the garden with her brother having one of their open chats. They were brother and sister, but to them they seemed more like good friends. “Henry, it is simply not fair. You always get to do all of the fun things. All I ever get to do is learn how to sew and the ‘proper’ way for me to act. I want to learn to fight with a sword too.”
Henry smiled, “But you do know how to fight with a sword. In fact, you are almost as good as I was at it at your age.”
She smiles back, “Shh, no one knows about you teaching me how to use a sword. Besides, you know that is not what I am talking about. You never had to go to a boarding school. I am glad of that because I don’t know how I would have survived with out you, but I do not want to go.”
“We all have our burdens. You have to go to boarding school, and I have to run France. I would take boarding school over the responsibility of running a country any day. Besides, it is only for two years and you will be aloud to come back during the summer. Also, your best friend is there.”
Danielle looked him in the eye, “My best friend is here.” There was a moment of silence which Danielle felt was her duty to end. “I am glad about being able to spend more time with Jacqueline, but I also have to deal with Marguerite. That girl just rubs me the wrong way. Especially how she has been trying to win you over since she was eight. Promise me that you will never give into her uncharming charms.”
“That is one promise that I will make to you. Although, one day I will marry the girl of my dreams.”
Danielle spoke sarcastically, “She will either be the girl of your dreams or the girl of your father’s dreams.”
“He is your father too.”
Danielle jokes, “Sometimes I have my doubts.”
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The next day Danielle left. Her mother had tears in her eyes; everyone else had a sour look on their face. None of them were satisfied with how things were turning out. Danielle traveled all day and night for two days straight. On the third day, she reached her school and received a warm greeting from everyone she saw. Part of her had to wonder how many of them were only being nice to her because of who she was.
When she saw Marguerite, she was embraced by a hug. Marguerite then gave this speech, “It has been so long since we have seen each other. When I heard you were coming here, I was simply ecstatic. We shall have a marvelous time here. I guarantee it. I have even arranged it so that I can tutor you until you catch up in all of your subjects.”
Danielle pulled away; she did not even like being in the same room as Marguerite let alone hugging her. She then gave her a very royal response. “It was very kind of you to offer to do so much for me, but I am afraid that it will not be necessary. My governess has already taught me what I would have learned if I came her. Now if you will excuse me.” Danielle left Marguerite with out saying another word.
A few minutes later she spotted Jacqueline. The two girls were like magnets. They immediately embraced. “It has been much too long since I have seen you Jacqueline. I really truly have missed you.”
They pulled back so that they could see each other. “As I have missed you. This place has just improved greatly in my mind. I have so many people who I would like for you to meet. I know that this place will never be home to either of us, but we can still enjoy the time we have together.”
The next few years brought the two of them closer together. They had many chats about life back at home. Jacqueline had described what life was like in her house. “Papa never loved my Mother. He admits that to me now. The only reason that he ever married her was because he took sympathy on her children, especially me. His original hope had been to undo mother’s work on Marguerite, but it was impossible. In the end, he ended up saving me from her and letting me learn all of the great authors, such as Plato.”
Danielle was always jealous of the fact that Jacqueline was able to learn anything she wanted. If only her father was more like Auguste, he was truly a blessing for Jacqueline. Without him, she would have been a shy child. “Your father reminds me a lot of Henry. He is always looking out for me the same way that your father looks out for you. With out them, the two of else would be lost.”
Jacqueline nods her agreement. “No matter what I do, I can’t help but to feel sorry for the two of you. Neither of you will ever know who is truly your friend and who is just trying to take advantage of you.”
“That isn’t true, but I know for a fact that you are a true friend. Sure, I will have to be extra careful when I pick my husband, of course that is assuming my father doesn’t have one lined up for me already.”
“That is exactly what I am talking about! Papa lets me make my own choices in life. Sure he likes it if I run them by him first, but either way he supports me. If I wanted to marry a servant, he would approve as long as I promised him that I would be happy.”
For the two of them, the next year and a half flew by. Danielle heard constantly from her brother who was starting to travel the world in order to fulfill his duties as the Crowned Prince. Unfortunately, his trips never brought him near her.
During the summer before her sixteenth birthday, he was rarely home. Ever spare second he had he would spend with her. She wouldn’t admit it to him, but she really missed him. Her brother was all grown up while she was still a child. Already she could see the ladies of the court start throw themselves at him, and not only because he was a Prince.
The more she saw her brother grow up the more she wished to. Sure she was well accomplished, but to everyone she was just a little girl. No men cast a second look her way. She may be a Princess, but the men were looking for something to look at not a child.
When Danielle left to finish up the last bit of school, she was a bit depressed. Things had not been going her way for what seemed like a lifetime. Every time she was happy something would change, and she would quickly lose that happiness. Going back to school helped her deal with her brother starting to desert her, but it didn’t help with much more.
Marguerite had long given up trying to get to Henry through Danielle, and now had become Danielle’s worse enemy. Danielle knew that Marguerite loved to gossip, and she was almost positive that she was her favorite topic.
It was a great relief for the semester to end. It was to be her last at this place. From now on, she would be allowed to stay at the home she loved so dearly, and yet her home had slowly started to grow to be strange to her. On leaving day, she heard a carriage roll up. She thought nothing of it because many of the girls were leaving at semester, including the Ghents.
Suddenly, she heard girls scream something she couldn’t quite make out. She looked out on the lawn to see what was the big deal, and stepping out of the Royal carriage was her brother. The pupils of the school were swarming him. Danielle could not help but to laugh.
She told her maid to finish packing what little was left and to bring it down to the carriage. She then went across the hall and knocked on Jacqueline’s door. They said their good-byes and she headed downstairs. By the time she had gotten downstairs, the excitement had died down quite a bit, but a few girls still lingered. Danielle’s eye fell on Marguerite who was being overly flirtatious like usual. In the back of her mind she thought, there is now way that Marguerite is good enough for my brother, and she started to approach them.