Post by debreos on Jan 29, 2020 19:56:58 GMT
Like many events in his life, the birth of Guillaume Fitzbraose was a matter of luck…..
“What were you thinking!” shouted Marquis de Braose at his teenage son, as his estate manager closed the door behind him.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” his son returned shamefacedly. “Elena and I had just had a bit too much cider, we started playing ‘show and tell’ and, well, things went a bit too far.”
“Understatement of the year!” his father muttered. “Why couldn’t it have been with one of the maids? The daughter of my estate manager – at the moment, given our straitened circumstances he is more valuable to me than you are!”
“I’ll marry her, of course,” Eduarde began.
Sadly, his mother died when he was 22, in one of the periodic epidemics which afflicted the area, as did his employer. His legal father made it clear that he was no longer welcome; his birth father the Marquis had married, and had several legitimate children of his own to care for, and could offer no help. He therefore decided to leave, and seek his fortune in the Capital.
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“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” his son returned shamefacedly. “Elena and I had just had a bit too much cider, we started playing ‘show and tell’ and, well, things went a bit too far.”
“Understatement of the year!” his father muttered. “Why couldn’t it have been with one of the maids? The daughter of my estate manager – at the moment, given our straitened circumstances he is more valuable to me than you are!”
“I’ll marry her, of course,” Eduarde began.
“The hell you will!” his father interrupted. “The only good thing you can do for this family is marry well – either an heiress or a rich widow. You’re not wasting your life because you couldn’t keep your pantaloons buttoned! What you will do is help her marry a decent man – your allowance for the next year will go towards her dowry. Now get out of my sight!”
Later that week, Eduarde managed to speak to the beautiful Elena alone in a shop in Amiens. “I’m sorry, my dear, but my father refuses to let us wed. Nevertheless I promise you I will acknowledge your child, and have it raised properly, even if I cannot be its true father.”
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Elena was brought to bed of her child in 1608, a boy she was allowed to name Guillaume Fitzbraose, after the child’s grandfather and father. Shortly afterwards she was married to Gaston Lefevre, a notaire who was taken on as an assistant to her father, to help run the estate and to handle the legal affairs of the Marquis. Although not happy at his wife having a bastard son, he accepted it as part of the price for his marriage and his employment.
Guillaume grew up notably more privileged in his education than most of his age group. Not only did he enjoy a decent education, he also assisted his father in his legal affairs, and his grandfather in estate matters. He developed a flair for organisation, and appeared to have a wonderful memory, being able to quote almost word for word from books he had read. When, at the age of ten, his father acceded to the family estates on the death of the old Marquis, he found himself granted a free pass to the library in the chateau, which was filled with literature of all kinds, particularly plays and Italian opera. This fascinated him, and he managed to earn a few coins by helping as a prompter at the theatre in Amiens, where it was often the case that he knew the words better than the actors themselves!
The theatre was, however, one of his pleasures; to earn a living, he was apprenticed to one of the local advocates, and even appeared in a few small cases representing poor clients who could not afford proper representation. Some of these were more successful than others; the case of The Lady in Red being the most famous (see Letter of Introduction). In many cases, though, his lack of tact and ability to rub people up the wrong way were his downfall.
