The Farmer's Daughter

The Dress

In the midst of all my pain, grandmother still had her audacity. As if celebrating the sudden change within me, she had a whole wardrobe waiting for me in my chamber's sitting room. Dresses of silk in many different colors hung in multiple racks. Beautiful cotton soft shoes in violets and pinks. It was everything I never had. And looking at it then, it was nothing I truly wanted. "Grand-mere," I cautiously entered the room as my eyes wandered from one side of the room to the other, "qu'est-ce que c'est?"

Suddenly, a servant jumped up from behind a pile of clothes making me curse loudly. "Une dame ne maudit pas!" A lady does not curse. I wince at my grandmother's chiding, but I decided to ignore it. "Grand-mere, what is all this? What's it for?" The servants rustled around the room, removing certain items of clothing. By God, this is a grande mess. "It's for you, Marie-Annette," grandmother told me as if it was obvious-which maybe it was, but I wasn't in my right mind. "Uh, porqoui? I didn't agree for all of this."

Grandmother emerges from the dozens of racks. "You are here. That is enough." I scoffed in disbelief. "Non, non. I came here to get away from my troubles at the farm, not to play dress up." I played with the dresses on the closest rack. "I haven't agreed to be your lady daughter nor move to the city to become one." I heard a loud whack from the other end of the room. I did my best not to be too startled by it. "First, I would become your lady mother," she corrects me, "and second, you coming here is the first step in learning about this life. Your true life." That time I rolled my eyes. "My real life is out there, grand-mere. In any case, why do you need me to try on all these dresses?"

The excess of luxury in one room could feed three towns like Pierre-mont, I thought. In all honestly, I didn't know if that was inherently possible, but it felt like it was then and there. "Pour la fete des coeurs! What else?" I felt my heart drop. I forgot all about the festival of hearts. Tim's face surfaced in my mind. My broken heart was enough to drown me above water. "I wasn't planning on going, actually," I said in a quiet voice. What was the point of going to the festival of hearts when my heart wasn't here for me to celebrate with? "You must go! In fact, I demand it. It will be your first outing as Lady DuPont."

I felt a headache coming on. Duchesse Marie-Celeste was definitely not the person to go against. "Fine, grand-mere," I relent. "I will try the dresses on, but do not expect me to go to the festival." Grandmother nodded at the servant, who had accumulated a pile of beautiful garments in her arms. "Agreed." After that, it was a whirl of dresses and colors. Silk, cotton, tulle. And, since I was already trying on dresses, grandmother took advantage and measured me for a proper corset. I let it all happen and I tried them all on. Some were too big, while others were too small.

No matter how hard grandmother tried to force me to make a decision, I always found something wrong. The moment grandmother got tired with me; I made a quick escape. I strolled the streets of Pierre-mont, making my way to Madame's boutique. My grandmother doesn't understand how badly I do not want to attend la fete. She doesn't understand how no amount of luxury could make me go.

Relief washes over me as I entered the boutique. "Madame?" I called out, dropping my satchel on the floor. "Annette? Est-ce vous?" I smiled. Her voice always had a calming effect on me. "Oui, madame, c'est moi." I eyed the sewing table warily. There are only a few left to finish before tomorrow. I hate that I left her doing all this work by herself. "A stranger left something for you here," she yelled from somewhere in the back. "For me?" I asked confused. "Ou est-il?"

"It's the parcel on the front counter!"

A parcel? I turned towards the counter and immediately saw it. How could I not? It was pastel violet with a pink ribbon tied around it. It is Madame's signature. I couldn't have been more confused by this strange gift. With gently fingers, I untied the ribbon. The parcel crinkled under my touch as I lifted them carefully. I gasped the moment I saw the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. "Is this..?" Madame placed a hand on my shoulder. "That boy loves you. He paid the full price of the dress, even when I proposed to lower it." I rubbed the fabric in between my fingers. So soft and delicate. The beading shined silver with the light.

A tear slowly rolled down my face. "Tim bought this dress? For me?" He was here! Why didn't he see me? Why was he still in Pierre-mont? "Oui, ma fille. He bought it and asked me to give it to you specifically for la fete des coeurs." He wants me to go? My need for answers was endless but it didn't matter. Tim was in Pierre-mont and he wanted me to go to the festival. "Oh!" Madame suddenly exclaimed, rushing off to one of her racks filled with tops and exclusive accessories. "He also asked that you went with this!" She handed me a handcrafted mask with the same beading as my dress.

"A mask?" I ran my thumb over the delicate design. "Aren't nobles going with masks in honor of their missing families?" I never told him about mama so why exactly would he want me to wear this? "Oui, he asked me what else would go with the dress," she shrugged her shoulders, "I suggested the mask and he agreed." It was beautiful with violets and silvers. It was crafted to mimic the wings of a monarch butterfly. "Et? Will you go to la fete?" I smiled at the violet dress as joy warmed my heart. I felt it beat louder and louder. Timothee is here and, surely, he'll wait for me at the festival too. I won't miss my chance to see him again.