Saturday, January 24, 2009

His Royal Mistress

I was born in 1757 and orphaned shortly thereafter, both of my parents having died from the pox. Brought to Versailles as a chambermaid, I was trained in the arts of service and etiquette, to tend to the needs of the future Dauphine. The King, Louis XV, took delights with me and often favored me to treats and special extensions that he forwent his own born. He remarked that I possessed a certain "Je ne sais quoi" that enraptured him, and assuredly one day I would hold captive the hearts of all who came into the folds of my beauty.

But in all my years surrounded by Courtiers and dashing your suitors, there was only heart I coveted, that of his son, Louis-Auguste. Through all the lavish celebrations in the Hall of Mirrors, the entreaties to dance from foreign Princes, the ever-flowing champagne and promises of finery from the Orient, I was still enraptured with Louis.

Louis and I used to chase each other around the Orangery in secret, stealing kisses from one another, and professing to love each other until our deaths. It was upon the eve of his father's death that Louis-Auguste ravaged me completely in those Orangery groves, all the while those annoying peacocks milled about. He swore in the moment of his release that I would forever be his Queen, not in title of course, but in his heart.

When that Austrian whore, Maria Antonia arrived in France to marry the Dauphin, I along with all the residents of Versailles immediately noticed the striking resemblance between us. The Courtiers swore I was the more remarkable, with my fiery eyes so blue that the Gods felt envy their skies were not as beautiful.

I was quickly ushered away under the cover of night at the Dauphine's orders, hoping that the King would soon forget me. I was married to a certain Compte du Ravissante. Thus I, Countess du Ravissante was born. My Louis married the whore when we were still but young adults, but never forgot his passion for me. Upon his coronation as King his first official act was to claim me as his official mistress. Thus, I became Madame du Ravissante, Official Royal Mistress to the King - no longer a mere chambermaid in service to the court. Now I was free to wander the corridors and passageways of the Palace of Versailles as I sought fit and to service only one member of the royal family, the King himself.

Maria Antonia, Marie Antoinette, as we French called her, was stricken with grief for many years as her womb refused to perform its only duty - to bear my beloved Louis an heir to the throne to France. Had only I been Queen, I would have born him ten sons in that time, in fact Louis and I did indeed bare three children of our own, but in secret. He tolerated the Queen only because of their marriage, but it was my body that he adored, that he worshipped, that he lived for. He likened her bed to that of a coffin, so cold and seemingly like death, that after reluctantly depositing his seed in her, he came running to our bed to remove all traces of her upon his flesh.

She found her only joys in parties and in fashion. The high fluffy powdered coiffures, 'Louis' high-heeled mules, jeweled encrusted necklaces, and tight fitting bodices so as to fluff out the bosom, those were devices I had been using to intrigue the King for years. And that whole affair with the necklace, which would ultimately be her undoing, was a gift from the King to me.

She deserved her fate, I say. All her parading around in opulence acting as though she had started the trends of the day when it was I who influenced the fashions of the times. She often reminded me of those annoying peacocks in the Orangery whom often disturbed Louis and I as we made love among the fountains and fruits.

It was no remorse of mine when the mobs stormed the Palace looking to carry her head off on a stake. How dare she order them to eat cake when they were starving. Actually, she never said that - it was I who spread the rumor, for cheap laughs, while she stammered and flustered about at the insinuations of her treason toward the French people. But you know how gossip spreads like wildfire with bored nobles in court and starving mobs in the streets. They beheaded her soon after, but not before the soldiers ripped my beloved Louis from my very arms while we were embraced. I ran down the stairs as they carried him off all the while trying to use my feminine ploys to gain his release. My efforts in vain, my Louis was stripped of his title and his head. Even as "Citizen Louis Capet", I loved him no less than I did when he was King Louis XVI.

I cried endless tears on the day he parted from this world, my eyes as red as the blood which flowed from his severed head after the guillotine's fatal blow. I dipped my handkerchief into his blood and mixed it with some of my own in remembrance of our love. I have carried this bloodied handkerchief on my person ever since, and in fact did wave it tauntingly in Marie-Antoinette's face before her beheading many months following his. But no tears did I shed for that whore, La Putain, Notre ReineChienne, Marie Antoinette.

Even now, in my old age, as I sit by the fire in my tiny salon by the Seine and gaze out the window across to the Place de La Concorde, I can still hear the cheers of the angry mobs as they ended the tyranny of the Nobility and laid her head to tumble through the streets of Paris. Having retired my services as Official Mistress to the King, I became a constant companion to a wealthy hero of the French Revolution and now spend my days in repose and reflection.

Until the day of my death, Louis-Auguste, King Louis XVI, Le Roi de France, Citizen Louis Capet will rest in my heart as my one true love and I, Sophie-Helene, Chambermaid to the Queen, Madame du Ravissante, Official Royal Mistress, and Seule Amour of the King, will remain ever faithful to our vows made those days long ago, in the Orangery of the Palace of Versailles.



*~* All photos were taken at : Palace of Versailles

His Royal Mistress wore :

** Hair : "Stained" in Razzerberry/Black Tip from Cherberry Tipped pack, L$225
** Eyes : solid blue eyes from solid eyes pack, L$80 for 11 colors
** Eye Lashes : "Stargazer" in pink, L$150 for 9 colors
Hair, Eyes, Eye Lashes by Helena Stringer of The Stringer Mausoleum and Shrine
The Stringer Mausoleum and Shrine

** Dress : Fall Collection Set 6, L$350, by Digit Darkes
Digit Darkes

** Shoes : Prima'Donna Hyper-Gems Heels, L$200
** Necklace : Rose Garden Heart necklace with Hyper-Gems, L$390
Shoes and Necklace by JD Hansen of JCNY Collection
JCNY Collection

** Skin : "Tart" in Ginger Tone by Launa Fauna of Chai Skins, L$250
Chai Skins Outlet

4 comments:

Helena Stringer said...

I so enjoy your stories, maybe some day I'll have a bit of time, and can be as fanciful. At least for now I can just sit back and wait, to see what you pump out next!

Meta Constantine said...

Truly wonderful narrative with an exquisite backdrop to compel it along, thoroughly researched as well, I must say. All the finery befitting and equally on par, looking forward to anything you do in the near future.

Rylan Carling said...

That was so terrific! Great read!!!

Giving Them The Boot (and other things...) said...

Holy cheese puffs!
Helena, Meta, and Rylan - you just made my day.
Thank you for your comments.
I promise to do my best to keep you all enthralled and salivating for more.

<3 Arh