The Farmer's Daughter

A Talk with Grandmother

One of the many things my mama told me about my grandmother in the years before her passing was that she was a strict woman. She loved all things orderly and tidy. She was also a happy woman with her husband and daughter. After all these years, I wondered what she would be like now. I wondered if she would be happy to see me. I wondered if we held any resemblance to each other. That was all I could think about as we made walked to the richer part of the town. It made me nervous coming all the way out here. I constantly observed my surroundings in fear of being recognized.

"This way, mademoiselle." He beckoned me with his hands outstretched to a beautiful house. Well, it appeared to be a house. My stomach turned. I let him guide me up the steps while I took it all in. There were rose bushes at the entrance. They were the biggest buds of roses I had ever seen. The windows and balconies all had violets and lilies growing out and around them. The nature was a part of the house. The door opened to reveal a grande foyer with a brilliant chandelier hanging from a tiled ceiling. "Please wait here while I go announce your presence to Lady DuPont." I wordlessly nodded at him as he left.

I've never been in this part of Pierre-mont before. Usually, the richer families occupied these parts. Was this grandmother's house? Was she always close by? "Madesmoiselle DuPont?" I turned to the voice. "She's ready for you." I gently touched my locket and sent a silent prayer to mama. Look, mama! Grandmother and I are just about to meet. I hope you're happy, smiling down at us. I walked alongside the poshly dressed servant into an expensively decorated sitting area. There were many portraits hanging on the walls with decorative violet wallpaper. Tables and longue chairs filled the empty spaces with soft carpeting on the wooden floors. The entire room was bigger than our dining room.

"S'asseoir."

Her voice was firm, smooth. She coolly sipped her tea without looking in my direction. I got the message immediately. I regally bowed for the Duchess and made my way to her table. A servant appeared from the shadows, pulling the chair for me as I came near. "Thank you." I sat down across my grandmother. "En francais, s'il vous plait," she corrected me. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, clearing my throat. "Erm, merci." We fall silent. A clock somewhere in the house tiked and toked, reverberating through the walls. My grandmother sipped her tea in her own fashion while I sat patiently waiting. "Vous n'aimez pas la the?"

"I'm not thirsty, madame," I answered with my hands fidgeting nervously under the table, "but I thank you all the same." Grandmother placed her teacup on the saucer and finally looked at me. I was able to see her face clearly. Mama was the image of grandmother, except her hair was darker than mama's. "En francais, Marie-Annette." She corrected me again with a clipped tone. "Je suis ta grand-mere pas une etrangere. Tu m'appellaras grand-mere." I took a shaky breath and responded, "Oui, grand-mere." She nodded her head, pleased at my response. Grandmother was a bit cold, detached.

She sighed, folding her hands on the table. "Bien, parle-moi de ta mere et de ta vie a Pierre-mont." Tell me about your mother and your life here in Pierre-mont. I told her everything about mama. About her life here in Pierre-mont. When she met papa and how they fell in love and got married. Then...her death. It was hard to talk about that. Grandmother eyed the locket around my neck. "Your mama gave you the locket in the end?" The sudden language switch caught me off guard. Grandmother spoke English very well with a slight French accent. You wouldn't be able to catch it if you weren't French.

"Yes," I softly say. "She wanted me to have it. She said that one day I would be recognized, and I would need it." I played with the locket as I thought about mama. "She was right, it seems. She was always right." It's a shame that she never the mama that I knew. Grandmother only had her for a little while compared to papa's and my time with her. "Oui, Annette was a smart child. A survivor too, it seems." I agreed with her. Mama didn't tell me much about her journey to Pierre-mont, but I can imagine how tough it must've been. "Et ton pere?"

"My papa is just a simple farmer."

"An English farmer." Her harsh tone was like a slap in the face. The distain is clear in her expression. My walls went up in an instant. "Yes, my papa is an English farmer, but he was also the man mama chose to marry and have me with." I leaned forward, meeting the eyes that appeared eerily familiar to mama's. "Elle aimait papa, Duchesse DuPont. She loved him, whether you like it or not." Grandmother's eyes turned sharp. "You do not speak to me that way, Marie-Annette. Je suis ta grand-mere!" I humorlessly laugh. She cannot be serious, I thought. I don't even know you and you speak ill of my papa. Non! I could not stand for it. "I do not know you, Duchesse. You do not know me or my papa. I may be your blood but you are yet to be my family." I pushed my chair back ending our conversation before I said something I would regret.

"We are not done, Marie-Annette," she sternly says as I stood up. "We have other matters to speak of." I shook my head no. I didn't want to hear anything else that came from this lady. "I want you to come with me to the city and study to become a lady of court. Marry someone of better stature." I scoffed at her audacity. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Je ne veux pas epouser quelqu'un de la cour. That's not something I want! I'm already in love and I don't care if he's rich or poor. My mama almost died because of the family she was born too. I'm not risking my own because you ask it of me. Au revoir, Duchesse."

I stormed out of the sitting room without a second glance. I left the beautiful house and walked all the way back to the boutique shop. The moment I walked in she knew something happened. "Qu'est-il arrive a ma fille heureuse, ah? What happened?" I dropped myself onto a chair feeling the disappointment sunk in and I wasn't as surprised as I thought I would be. In the end, I knew that this would end this way.

"I had a talk with grandmother."