A Terrible Scandal
El Staplador (elstaplador)
Summary:
'The possibility that Mlle. Louise d'Armilly might one day appear on the stage meant that Mlle. Danglars, although she received her at home, did not appear with her in public.' - The Count of Monte Cristo, ch. 53
(Somebody had to explain that to Mlle. Danglars...)
Notes:
For the Ladiesbingo prompt 'It will be a terrible scandal'.
The pretty clock on the mantelpiece
chimed the half hour and broke the sulky quiet. Hermine Danglars was the
first to speak. 'You had better go and dress. The Vicomte will be
calling for us shortly, and you spoke most particularly of your desire
to hear Madame Prévost's first aria.'
'I shan't,' said Eugénie. 'I won't stir a step without Louise.'
Why, Hermine wondered, must the child be so unreasonable? Surely it was obvious that the situation was impossible. 'It's out of the question, Eugénie. To receive your friend in your father's house, that's one thing, but to be seen with her in public, that's quite another.'
Eugénie scowled. 'It's ridiculous.'
Mademoiselle d'Armilly herself was not present, having removed herself from the scene at the first sign of trouble with a grace and delicacy that Hermine envied on Eugénie's behalf.
'It simply won't do,' she said patiently. 'You tell me that Mademoiselle d'Armilly intends to go on the stage.'
Eugénie's face glowed. 'Yes, and surely the more opera that she sees from one side of the curtain, the better she'll be when she's on the other.'
'Eugénie! We are not a charitable body for the education of destitute musicians.'
'Why not? Papa can afford it.'
The provoking child! She might have been a decade younger than she really was, with her constant why? Hermine, doing her very best to keep her temper, said, 'That has nothing to do with it.'
'I don't see how.'
Hermine sighed. 'Let me explain. You are our only child, and everything that your father and I do, we do for your sake. We wish to secure your future, Eugénie! Your painting, your verse, your music – they're all desirable accomplishments, and we are pleased with the talent and dedication you show to them. And it's good for you to be seen at the opera and to learn how to behave in society.'
'I don't care about any of that,' Eugénie said.
'That much is obvious,' Hermine retorted. 'Nevertheless, it's a fact of this world that we live in. We acceded to your request to have Mademoiselle d'Armilly here both in order to please you and in order to improve your musical skills yet further. But letting you be seen with her at the opera would undo all of that good work.'
'Do you doubt her propriety?' The girl seemed genuinely puzzled.
'Not in the slightest; we would not have received her here if we did. But for as long as a career on the stage remains a possibility for her, you cannot be seen to associate with her in public. It would be a terrible scandal. And I'm afraid, Eugénie, that if your lack of maidenly decorum, renders you unable to understand that, then you must just take my word for it. Mademoiselle d'Armilly is not coming with us.'
Eugénie regarded her mother with an angry stare. Hermine returned it coolly. 'I shan't ask the Vicomte to wait for you.'
The slam of the door set the ornaments rattling. Hermine said nothing. That was a battle for another day.
* * *
Two scant years later, the Baron was bankrupt, the Baroness was in hysterics, the house was in uproar, and nobody paid any heed to where Louise d'Armilly was going. Eugénie, dressed already for travelling in men's clothes, paused for a brief moment in the act of cutting off her long black hair, seeing in her mind's eye the journey that lay ahead of them, and the stories that would be told in Paris. 'It will be a terrible scandal,' she murmured to herself, and she laughed.
'I shan't,' said Eugénie. 'I won't stir a step without Louise.'
Why, Hermine wondered, must the child be so unreasonable? Surely it was obvious that the situation was impossible. 'It's out of the question, Eugénie. To receive your friend in your father's house, that's one thing, but to be seen with her in public, that's quite another.'
Eugénie scowled. 'It's ridiculous.'
Mademoiselle d'Armilly herself was not present, having removed herself from the scene at the first sign of trouble with a grace and delicacy that Hermine envied on Eugénie's behalf.
'It simply won't do,' she said patiently. 'You tell me that Mademoiselle d'Armilly intends to go on the stage.'
Eugénie's face glowed. 'Yes, and surely the more opera that she sees from one side of the curtain, the better she'll be when she's on the other.'
'Eugénie! We are not a charitable body for the education of destitute musicians.'
'Why not? Papa can afford it.'
The provoking child! She might have been a decade younger than she really was, with her constant why? Hermine, doing her very best to keep her temper, said, 'That has nothing to do with it.'
'I don't see how.'
Hermine sighed. 'Let me explain. You are our only child, and everything that your father and I do, we do for your sake. We wish to secure your future, Eugénie! Your painting, your verse, your music – they're all desirable accomplishments, and we are pleased with the talent and dedication you show to them. And it's good for you to be seen at the opera and to learn how to behave in society.'
'I don't care about any of that,' Eugénie said.
'That much is obvious,' Hermine retorted. 'Nevertheless, it's a fact of this world that we live in. We acceded to your request to have Mademoiselle d'Armilly here both in order to please you and in order to improve your musical skills yet further. But letting you be seen with her at the opera would undo all of that good work.'
'Do you doubt her propriety?' The girl seemed genuinely puzzled.
'Not in the slightest; we would not have received her here if we did. But for as long as a career on the stage remains a possibility for her, you cannot be seen to associate with her in public. It would be a terrible scandal. And I'm afraid, Eugénie, that if your lack of maidenly decorum, renders you unable to understand that, then you must just take my word for it. Mademoiselle d'Armilly is not coming with us.'
Eugénie regarded her mother with an angry stare. Hermine returned it coolly. 'I shan't ask the Vicomte to wait for you.'
The slam of the door set the ornaments rattling. Hermine said nothing. That was a battle for another day.
* * *
Two scant years later, the Baron was bankrupt, the Baroness was in hysterics, the house was in uproar, and nobody paid any heed to where Louise d'Armilly was going. Eugénie, dressed already for travelling in men's clothes, paused for a brief moment in the act of cutting off her long black hair, seeing in her mind's eye the journey that lay ahead of them, and the stories that would be told in Paris. 'It will be a terrible scandal,' she murmured to herself, and she laughed.
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