Hey Guys!!! It's finally time for the ball, i can't believe i'm almost at 100 reads!! i never thought that anyoen would ever wast their time reading my work! please comment and vote, i want to know what you guys think!!!
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The ball was beautiful, the gold room was shining with light as fair maidens in colourful dresses and handsome gentlemen with puffy white wigs whirled their way around the floor in a graceful dance.
Fabienne walked in, escorted by one of the queens other ladies in waiting Madame Alair who was a pretty little dark creature that had been brought back for the queen from one of the foreign countries that her advisors visited.
She had been educating Fabienne about the ways of the court. And trailing behind her was Idette; she had been allowed to bring one maid of her choice to wait on her during her evening.
All of the servants attending were dressed in plain white dresses in a simple fancy style that was different from their everyday attire. Fabienne had lent Idette a couple of her light pink hair bows that she had tied into her shining black hair.
She walked further into the room and heard Alair send Idette away to stand along the wall with all the other servants, then she stepped forward and looped her arm through Fabienne’s and they set off at a steady pace
“now my dear, even though you are young we must still put in a show, go stand over there by your sisters and make yourself look desirable, you have a pretty face. Before you know it you will be whirling around the room with your own handsome gentleman”
she insisted. Then she ran off giggling into the arms of her lover, and they moved off to a quiet corner of the room. Dazed and confused she moved off to join Francette, Aveline and Therese who were all leaning against the wall looking stunning.
Her eyes were instantly drawn to Therese who was looking breath taking, and she noticed that there were a large amount of people, mostly men, gawking at her.
She was elegantly dressed in a Canary yellow dress that seemed to almost become part of her; it was tightly fitted at her chest and waist and blossomed out around her hips.
She had lacy gloves and a lace trimming on her sleeves which ended just above her elbow. Her glossy hair had been piled up on her head in a styled pouf of curls with a few loosely styled wisps of hair hanging around her neck and face.
She seemed to be deep in thought until she saw Fabienne walking towards her, then her face lit up with a glowing smile and she embraced her, enclosing her in lace and lavender perfume.
She looked across to her other sisters once she had prised Therese’s hands off her. Aveline was gorgeous in a Lavender dress which complimented her eyes, Aveline had been very sick her whole life so she was glad to see that she had a bit more meat on her bones. And then there was Francette who was standing seductively against a pillar and showing way too much cleavage for their mother to approve of.
Her dress was made of a dark blue satin, with golden thread detailing designs up and down her sleeves. Her hair had been built up high with pads of horse hair and she had at least 5 feathers poking out of it awkwardly, in Fabienne’s opinion she looked like nothing more than a Pute (Prostitute).
She greeted Aveline with a friendly hug and gave Francette a small nod of recognition before going to stand beside Therese. She looked at her sister and whispered
“I see all these men standing around you but I do not see your dashing Fiancée, does he not like balls?”.
“I’m not sure” she said with a concerned scan of the room “he said he would be here but I don’t know….” She drifted off, looking disappointed.
suddenly she heard a cough behind them and standing there, was a handsome Militaire.
“Mon Amour!!”
Therese Rejoiced, leaping into his arms “I thought you would never come”. They laughed as they embraced and then Therese pulled herself away from him, but they were still holding hands and standing intimately close, as if they feared to let go of each other.
“Oh”
Therese sighed, her cheeks were flushed and she had a hand resting against her hair to stop it from falling out. “How rude I am, Bastien, this is my little sister Fabienne. The one I told you so much about in my letters”.
Fabienne looked up at the man; she guessed he was just a few years older than Therese. He had a wig on but she could see light auburn curls peeking out from the sides where it had not been secured properly.
He had bright blue eyes and light stubble growing on his jaw line. He was tall and muscular with long legs and wide shoulders. He gave a respectful bow to her and said
“I see that beauty runs in your family Mon Cher”.
“Oh my, remember it is me you are marrying”
Therese giggled as she dragged him into the centre of the room to dance. Fabienne sighed, she was happy to see her sister so in love but now she felt a bit lonely.
Standing by herself off to the side of the room she was observing all the people dancing and chatting when suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped and spun around to find the queen standing there with a childishgrin lighting up her face. She squealed and bent down to hug Fabienne.
“Oh Bibi, isn’t the ball beautiful. And look at all these handsome young men; I must say that the soldier dancing with your older sister is quite dashing himself!!!”
She giggled and pulled away from Fabienne and then motioning to the group of people around her “Bibi these are my good friends Madame Eustacia, Madame Geneva, Madame Gilaberte, Monsieur Bedoir and my Sister Duchess Maria Christina.
Fabienne was stunned, apart from the queens brother no other siblings of the queen had ever entered Versailles, and her sister didn’t particularly look like she was enjoying being here. She gave a curtsy to the queen and said
“your majesty I would love to stay and talk but I believe that I should go find my mother. She is probably looking for me and I don’t want to keep her waiting”
the queen smiled at her and replied
“of course Bibi, but you must remember to come find me later, I must introduce you to a couple of people I know”.
Fabienne gave another curtsy and hurried away but she walked slow enough to hear the queen’s sister say in stuttering French
“Why she is a tiny little thing, but you can see that if you give her a year she will blossom”
“I know”
the queen replied
“that’s why she is one of my ladies so I can shape her to be someone useful, she will be useful in time”. Fabienne walked away, leaving the sound of their laughing behind her.
She searched through the crowded room for her mother until she finally found her scolding Francette in a little side chamber off the main ball room.
“I’ve told you many times, I do not want you parading around like you are trying to sell yourself, I want my daughters to behave like the proper ladies you were raised to be, look at your sisters!!! Have you seen Aveline, sitting quietly chatting with other ladies, While you drape yourself against a wall looking like you would go to bed with anyone man who even looks at you!!! Tomorrow at our family lunch I want you to be dressed properly, your father will be there and I don’t think he will appreciate seeing his daughter dressed like a prostitute!!” and as her mother turned on her heel to leave she saw Fabienne standing in the door way “oh ma chère, I’m sorry I did not see you there, I’ve been looking for you all evening, shall we go back to the ball ”
Her mother grabbed her arm to lead her out of the room and said over her shoulder
“oh and Francette, you are no longer needed at this ball, I trust you can escort yourself back to your chamber and stay there until tomorrow when I come fetch you”
Fabienne knew that Francette had a rebellious nature but no one in their right mind would cross their mother when she was angry. She led her mother over to one of the love seats in a quiet corner of the room.
“Oh My”
her mother sighed as she eased herself down onto the red velvet cushions
“what an evening, so my dear have you seen any dashing young men that take your fancy yet? I saw that your sister has found one”
“No Maman, I haven’t had a chance to even dance yet but I think I should go see the queen now, would you like to come?”
she asked.
“No Mon Bébé, I’m very tired so I think I will retire to my chamber, would you please tell Therese if you see her”
“yes mama”
she replied, helping her mother to stand up, giving her a kiss on the cheek and then walking off in search of the queen.
It didn’t take her long to find her, the Ball had quieted down as many people had either left or gone to bed so it was obvious when she saw the queen sitting in the corner of the room laughing and chattering with a few of the other ladies, Fabienne could see that she was drunk and no one seemed to care.
She quickly ran up to the queen and shook her shoulder
“Your majesty, please you must go to bed. It is getting late and you must get your rest”
The queen looked up at her and started to giggle drunkenly
“oh!!!! Bibi!!! Pet, what do you mean, the ball is just st…st….starting!!!!”
she broke off into another fit of hysterical giggles. Fabienne sighed, she knew she could not leave the queen here but she also didn’t know if she could help the queen to her room, she had a thought, she knew that Aveline’s room was closer to the ball room then the queens and she was so kind hearted that she didn’t think she would mind if she brought the queen there for the night.
So she guided her towards the door with her arm sturdily around the queen’s waist, when she was just about to walk out the queen’s advisor ran up to her and hissed in a hushed voice
“child, what are you doing!! The queen is expected to stay here”
Fabienne replied in a cool voice
“Monsieur, the queen is drunk and if she stays here then she will embarrass herself”
she gave him a stern look and then he waved her off with a look of displeasure on his face. She managed to haul the queen down the hallway into Aveline’s room where the door was ajar. Aveline looked up in surprise; she was sitting in the corner of her room reading
“oh Mon bibi what have you done!!!!”. Fabienne tried to catch her breath as she plopped the queen down on an armchair
“Aveline…Please, she is drunk and you know the courtiers will seize any chance they get to point out her flaws!!”
Fabienne looked over at the queen who was already starting to droop in the chair but was still making little giggling noises. Aveline sighed, staring at the queen with a look on her face which Fabienne knew too well.
It looked like Aveline had two views fighting in her head, what her mother might think of the matter and what the right thing would be to do by the queen. She rushed over to Aveline and knelt in front of her chair “Please Sister, you know you would do the same thing if you were me, I’m begging you….”
“Alright, go to the closet and get my new night gown, it’s a bit large on me so it should fit her, I’ll get her undressed”
together they managed to get the queen into one of Aveline’s new woollen night gowns and tucked into bed. Then Aveline turned to Fabienne with a motherly look on her face that she loved so much
“go get some sleep Bibi, the royal garden lunch isn’t until the late afternoon tomorrow so I will have time to get her to her room before the servants open the curtains in the morning.”
Fabienne hugged her sister and muttered
“thankyou Dear Sister”