Sometimes being strong is simply being kind....

 One of Aesop's Fables tells of the contest between the Wind and the Sun, 

as to which is the more powerful.

The winner was to be the one who could remove the traveller's cloak.

The Wind blew furiously to blow the traveller's cloak off, but the harder he blew, the tighter the traveller clutched his cloak round himself.   

Then the Sun began to shine. The traveller loosened his cloak. When the Sun beamed, the traveller took his cloak off, enjoying the warm weather.

 Two very different families feature in A Lady's Honour, the latest Montailhac family tale. One has a member driven by ambition for higher office; so the family must always appear elegant, well mannered and united - in public, that is. Home life is sadly lacking in affection and shared interests.  

The other family is ruled firmly but with genuine warmth and consideration for their needs and wishes. 

This is my version of the Aesop story, which includes adventures, pets, villains as well as wine and roses - to symbolise the French and English parts of the story

Rosa Mundi, a striped Gallica, believed to date from 12th century
 [photo by Libby Norman] courtesy of Wikipedia

Label of Grande Cuvée 1531 de Aimery, a Crémant de Limoux,
a sparkling wine from southwestern France, courtesy of Wikipedia

Chalk and cheese....?

Or in a more modern fashion .......

Enemies to lovers.

Joachim, the youngest of the three Montailhac brothers is [usually] a perfect gentleman. Athletic, hard-working and keen to prove himself, Joachim supervises his father's estates and livestock. Given the harsh terrain in the Pyrenees, it's a full-time job.

When two troubled girls  - his mother's guests - arrive for a visit, they add horribly to his workload. Sophie, the younger sister, is totally out of control. Within 24 hours of arriving, she sets the whole household by the ears. 

The older sister, Nell, is so pinched and sullen, Joachim calls her 'Miss Dismal' to himself. Any conversation between them ends in misunderstanding or disagreement. 

For Joachim, being gentlemanly keeps getting ever more difficult. 

Nell is suffering from depression. Hostile to everyone, she can't help her snappy response to Joachim, especially as he is not only gentlemanly but most attractive. NOT what she wants at all.

It's going to take something very unexpected to shake these two out of their dislike into some kind of alliance.  

                                                     A Lady's Honour

                                                     a new Montailhac story

Now, about that pair of visitors...

Meet Nell and Sophie, the Outcasts, but don't expect to like them

 In my post on The Third Brother, a couple of weeks back, I mentioned that 1818 is the year Joachim is in charge of running the family estate and his burning ambition is to prove he can manage everything perfectly.

What Joachim doesn't expect is the upheaval caused by his mother's visitors - two sisters who bring a coach-load of problems with them. For a start, their actual coach arrives many hours late in Toulouse, where Joachim and his friend Bertrand have come to meet them and escort them on the last part of the journey into the Pyrenees to the family home.

 Not only has Joachim lost a day he can ill afford to spare, the two girls immediately make a bad impression. One is a beauty but attention-seeking and a desperate flirt. The other is all buttoned-up, sullen and dressed from head to foot in grey.

At the inn where they stop, Bertrand has already made up his mind about them. He tells Joachim:

‘My friend, I don’t envy you being saddled with that pair for months. I couldn’t put up with either of them for a week, even.’ He perched on the windowsill and raked his fingers through his mop of curly brown hair.

Joachim poured water into the basin and dipped his head in it. He splashed water over his neck and shoulders, emerged with a sigh of relief and groped for a towel. ‘Aren’t you being a bit hasty? Only yesterday you said you were planning to marry one of them to restore your family fortunes.’

Bertrand stretched, moving his neck from side to side until it creaked. ‘Yes, well, that’s before we’d set eyes on them - and ears. All that shouting in the coach! Now, I assure you, even if they were as rich as Croesus, I’m not interested.'

Sophie [the flirt] goes on to scandalise the whole household within 24 hours of arriving, while Nell remains a grey shadow, locked in her unresponsive gloom. Privately, Joachim thinks it's no wonder their father and his new wife cast these two horrors out. Only now they are going to be an extra problem for his mother and that will really annoy him. And when Joachim's temper is roused, things can get very uncomfortable. 

Items that play a significant role in the story

It's not just people and places that make up a story. 

Certain objects also have huge importance.

In A Lady's Honour, the hero, Joachim de Montailhac, is an energetic young man, in charge of running his father's estate. Always busy with an outdoor life, his choice of ornaments is simple. However, he treasures this jade stickpin, given to him by his oldest brother, Henri. At one point in the story, this item takes on a huge importance.

His father, the Marquis de Fontanes, is heavily involved in local affairs as well as the political life of the south-west of France. Much of his time is spent writing letters, too secret even to be entrusted to his secretary. Of course, he has a desk writing set, with ink, pens, wafers and a sand shaker [to dry the ink]. 

www.elcoleccionistaeclectico.com

 Joachim fiddles absentmindedly with these little pots, revealing his inner turmoil to his father.


 The Marquise de Fontanes is an elegant Turkish lady, always immaculately dressed. Her favourite accessory is her fan - well, over the years she has collected a large number of them, so there is always one to match her dress. When Nell wants to bring a gift for the marquise, the only problem is what type of fan to choose. She selects a simple but charming one, made of mother of pearl and lace.

Of course, the ladies in the story possess some jewels. The marquise has a fine collection and by the end of the story Nell inherits some valuable items. Enough for a separate post, especially as the wicked lady of the tale also has a fabulous collection of gems.

The Third Brother

The Marquis de Fontanes and his Turkish wife, Princess Mihriban [Miri]

have five children. 

Both their daughters and two of their three sons have found their life partners

and are happily settled.

That leaves Joachim, the youngest son.  

 Twelve years younger than his oldest brother, everyone still sees Joachim as a boy. And "everyone" means not just his loving family, but all the people on his father's estate.
So, this year, when both his brothers are away and his father is busy with political affairs, now is his chance to prove he is capable of managing every aspect of the work involved.

          "  This year was his first time of being in charge of running the whole estate and he was determined to make a success of it. He could put up with the steward being somewhat patronising over dealing with the accounts. But it was embarrassing to know he was under constant inspection by every person on the estate, from the grooms and stablehands to the shepherds and the peasants in the mining village. He took a deep breath. I’ll make everything work as well as ever, if not better.  "    A Lady's Honour

Of course, he didn't allow for added complications, involving a pair of visitors who upset matters in a range of ways.       But we'll get to them later.

Two details about Joachim that are important in the story -

He wears a cologne that has a spicy and invigorating scent [it's called Carmelite Water,
made using cloves, lemon, lemon balm and brandy].

He treasures his jade stickpin, an 18th birthday gift

from his oldest brother, Henri, 

Can you help my hero?

Joachim is the youngest in the family, the only one still at home -a chateau. 
He is in charge of maintaining his father's estates, both the land and the livestock. Hardworking, athletic and earnest, he hasn't had much time for dalliance or developing a relationship with a girl... until now. 

At last he seems to have found someone who has similar ideals and who is athletic enough to keep pace with all his outdoor tasks and the riding involved. So far, so good. But falling in love with him is not enough, unless he can get her to love the wild and remote region in which he lives. So what beauty spots will win her heart and make her want to spend her life here?

The mountains 

or the lakes

or perhaps the little towns close to his home

                         

Which scenes would you advise him to show her ?

               

                                                                                     

Read an extract from my Work in Progress: "A Lady's Honour"

Joachim is escorting his mother's guests from Toulouse to the family home, the chateau de Fontanes, in the French Pyrenees. Of the two young ladies, one is sulking and one is permanently fuming. Major Hugo Dawlish is unwell after being attacked by unknown villains the previous evening. 

Joachim could scarcely believe his good luck the following morning. Nobody had been attacked overnight.  Everyone appeared for breakfast at the time he had stated. Everyone was ready to leave at the agreed time and the journey went smoothly through the first few stages. There were no sounds of quarrelling coming from the young ladies. They made no grumbles about the winding roads, and on the steep hills where the horses pulled the coach at a snail’s pace, they got out to walk. Joachim heard their admiring comments about the picturesque scenery and felt pleased. This was better. And soon they would be home. His mother would know how to calm Sophie and more importantly, how to brighten up Miss Dismal, both in her spirits and her attire.

            This was his second day in her company and so far she had not smiled once. Even when he pointed out another breath-taking view as they walked up one of the steep inclines, her pinched expression never relaxed. He wanted to shout at her to show some enthusiasm. And her clothes only added to the general impression of gloom. He cast an eye over her light grey gown and the darker grey pelisse she wore. Her bonnet was a simple straw one, with no ribbons or flowers to brighten it up. Joachim gave a wry smile as he imagined his sister Margot’s reaction to this dreary outfit. She was always so fashionable. It was a good thing she lived too far away to see these visitors during their stay at Fontanes.

There was not much traffic on the road and no sign of any evil-doers. Joachim’s chief concern was whether Hugo would manage to ride for the remaining part of the journey. He was evidently in pain, his head down with his chin tucked against his throat and taking no notice of the scenery. Since their last change of horses, Bertrand was riding next to him, while Joachim went ahead of the coach. But now, as they entered the town of Tarascon, Joachim let the coach overtake him. He exclaimed in dismay when he saw Hugo swaying in the saddle, and hurriedly came close alongside, ready to catch him if need be.

‘The coaching inn is just the other side of the river, Hugo,’ he said. ‘You’ll be glad of a rest, I think.’

There was no reply. Hugo seemed scarcely to hear him. They slowed their horses to a walk and crossed the bridge. The familiar sight of the round castella on the hill above the Ariege River was a welcome reminder that they were now only an hour from home. They rode into the yard of the Castella Inn and dismounted. Bertrand cleared his throat, and when Joachim looked, jerked his head towards Hugo, who was leaning against his horse, face as white as paper and eyes screwed up. They took him firmly by the arms.

‘Just a few steps,’ said Bertrand, ‘nearly there.’

‘Sorry,’ mumbled Hugo, dragging his feet and flopping against them with each step. They guided him into a private parlour and deposited him in an armchair.    

‘Whatever is wrong?’ cried Sophie, rushing over to stare. She pressed both hands over her mouth in alarm. Nell followed her and Joachim was surprised at how her face softened as she bent over the sick man and examined the wound. She touched the broken skin very gently.  Hugo’s mouth tightened and Joachim winced for him.

(c) Beth Elliott 2018

Tarascon-sur-Ariège

                             

                                           Looking upstream from the bridge-

            The Tour du Castella, built in 1775, on the site of the medieval castle 

            [which was pulled down by order of Cardinal Richelieu]

        

                The Ariège river, looking downstream from the bridge