Rose of Versailles 3 [The first half of bunko volume 2] Riyoko Ikeda Shuueisha Translated by Emily Horner emily@obliviousgirl.net November 2000 Forbidden Love Eh...for some reason I forgot to format this with {} to indicate people's thoughts, and didn't realize it until it would be too much work to go back and put them in. You can probably figure out for yourselves what's spoken and what's unspoken in the first 50 pages. Oscar : It's been four years, hasn't it? I didn't recognize you at first. Hans Axel : Rumors about you have spread as far as Sweden. I heard you'd been promoted to Captain of the guards...I heard about the extremely skilled woman leading them... Oscar : Fersen! Hans Axel : Oscar! The real reason that I've returned to France is to search for a partner in marriage, at my father's request. The oldest son of the general of Sweden's army and an advisor to the royal family can't remain single forever. Oscar : Marriage? Hans Axel : I'm not getting any younger... Two or three of the daughters of the Minister of Finance have been selected as candidates. Oscar : Are you going to see Lady Antoinette? Hans Axel : I'll pay a visit to the palace tomorrow. Has she changed? <> Hans Axel : She's beautiful, beautiful beyond compare, like a blooming flower, overflowing with dazzling elegance. Marie : Hans Axel von Fersen! Yes, I know him! He's an old friend, from long ago! <> Marie : Oh, Fersen! Is it really you? I knew...I knew that you'd come back to France! Crossing hundreds upon hundreds of nights, transcending the long time and distance that had separated them, the passion in the heart of Marie Antoinette, the 22-year-old Queen, was reborn. <> A moment filled with light, frozen in the flow of time... Oscar : She's just like she was four years ago! Maybe at least this way she'll separate herself from Countess Polignac a bit... <> Polignac : Count Fersen!? A young Swedish nobleman!? Lady Antoinette invited that young thing to the court while I was away giving birth? This is not good! If I don't keep my eyes on her, she'll start doing whatever she wants! What kind of a man is this Fersen? Well, since he's foreign, surely he won't know the proper rules of the court... --Countess Polignac is here! Marie : Countess Polignac! You came at just the right time! Marie : I've been talking to Oscar just now, and I think that I ought to quit gambling. Polignac : What? Marie : After all, it is against the law...and I lose all the time, and the country keeps getting further in debt... Polignac : I see...well, that's perfectly all right, we'll just have to find some other amusement. That Oscar! Stepping in where it wasn't her business! <> Marie : By the way, Oscar, I've heard a great deal of talk about a pretty young girl at your house. Oscar : She is a distant relative of my older sister's fiancé. Marie : Well, you definitely ought to bring her to the palace! Polignac : Even you!? Haven't you heart that she was very rude to my daughter at the ball? She even threw a fan at her! Oscar : Countess Polignac, it was Miss Charlotte who was at fault. <> Polignac : What? You're saying that my daughter was to blame? Oscar : Yes, she insulted Rosalie, and I would like her to apologize. Polignac : She would dare say that to me, when I can manipulate the Queen so easily? That's very dangerous, Oscar. If you interfere with me, I will have to do something...and I can do anything now. <> Oscar : And in the time of Charles VII, the Hundred Years' War finally came to an end. This was around the time of Joan of Arc. Rosalie : Yes, I understand. Oscar : You're working hard, and you remember everything so quickly. It's easy to teach you. I've already taught you the basics of history, literature, and etiquette. She's beautiful...you'd think she'd been a noble from birth... Rosalie : Oscar... Um, do you know of any noble women named Martine Gabrielle? <> Oscar : Hmm...Martine Gabrielle, and then what? What's her last name? Rosalie : I don't know! But--she's my real mother! My mother told me right before she died that I was the daughter of a noble woman! Oscar : Is that true? Why didn't you say so before? Rosalie : Because I couldn't believe it myself... But if she's still alive, I'd like to see her, even if it was just a glance... Oscar : Do you know, André? André : Martine Gabrielle? I feel like I've heard the name before... Oscar : All right, Rosalie! I'll do everything in my power to find out who this Martine Gabrielle is! Rosalie : Oscar! Oscar : Rosalie, sit down now and let's practice your pronunciation. You'll have to appear in the palace soon...the Queen said she'd like to meet you. Rosalie : The Queen!? <> Rosalie : No, I don't want to meet her! Oscar : Rosalie? Rosalie : Everyone said that we were suffering by not getting enough to eat because of her frivolities! Oscar : Sit down, Rosalie. Rosalie : No! She's mean, and silly, and as cold as a monster, and... Oscar : Sit down! <> Polignac : You look very beautiful, Charlotte! Just as I wished, you're the prettiest princess in the palace! Charlotte : That girl's coming with Oscar again today! Rosalie--was it that--isn't even a noble! Polignac : What are you worried about? No one could compare to you. --Hans Axel von Fersen has arrived! --Captain Oscar François de Jarjayes has arrived! --Look over that way, it's as pretty as a picture! --Truly! How beautiful! Charlotte : No one's looking at me, mother! --The King and the Queen have arrived! Marie : I felt as if my heart would stop just now! I wonder why? <> Marie : I have to calm down, everyone's staring at me! I have to calm down, or they'll think I'm strange! Good day, Oscar. Is that the girl you spoke of before? Oscar : Yes, Lady Antoinette. Charlotte : Mother! The Queen talked to someone else before talking to us! Polignac : What does this mean, Lady Antoinette? Marie : Enjoy yourself, Miss Rosalie La Molière. Rosalie : This is the Queen? She's not the person I thought she was, the one everyone in town talks about! She's as beautiful and as gentle as a goddess! Rosalie : It's an honour to meet you. Polignac : My Queen, let me introduce to you my daughter Charlotte. I trust you have not forgotten us? Marie : Countess Polignac! <> Rosalie : It's that woman! The one who killed my mother with her carriage and escaped while laughing! Polignac : This can't be! <> Rosalie : Sir Oscar! Oscar : Wait! Rosalie : Why? Let me go! Oscar : Do you want to be killed for nothing? Polignac : This girl...! Lady Antoinette, this girl is not nobility! Marie : Countess Polignac? Polignac : In Paris, I... <> Oscar : Well, Countess Polignac! Polignac : Oscar! Oscar : What did you say you did in Paris? Were you about to confess to the Queen that you ran her innocent mother over with a carriage in Paris? Remember this! This girl has been searching for you to avenge her mother! She was prepared to die right here for that! <> Polignac : No, it was a misunderstanding on my part, Lady Antoinette. I'm sorry for getting upset. Did she really come all this way to avenge her mother? Rosalie : I was so close...so close to getting my revenge...Why have I been practicing swordsmanship so far, if not for this? Oscar : You'd have had your revenge, but what then? You'd have been executed as well. Isn't that foolish? Do you value your own life so little that you'd be willing to kill Countess Polignac only to die yourself? <> Oscar : Don't die, Rosalie! You've become a member of the Jarjayes family, and I don't want to let you die! Rosalie : Oscar...Oscar! Oscar : No matter what happens, let's seek out this Martine Gabrielle. So just think of tomorrow, Rosalie. Hans Axel : I had no idea Oscar's anteroom was so large... <> --Aren't you ready yet? The people from the counts' houses have been waiting for some time. Hans Axel : Oscar! Damn! I got the wrong room! --How rude, Count Fersen! Hans Axel : I'm very sorry, I was mistaken about the room... <> --Queen? Marie : Pick up my fan, please... What a sweet surprise! Fersen suddenly flew in front of me, like Icarus, and I felt as if I would stop breathing! <> Oscar : You went into the Queen's room by mistake, you dolt? Hans Axel : Hey, who do you think I came here for? Oscar, be careful! Polignac is targeting you. Countess Polignac, the so-called "Shadow Queen," is capable of anything, so be careful, Oscar! On the special request of Queen Marie Antoinette, Fersen came to the palace dressed in the blue and white uniform of the Swedish military. A short while later... <> Marie : Wonderful! It suits you so well! Count Fersen, you look very good in those foreign clothes. --Look at how the Queen's looking at him! --She's a married woman! --Don't you find the Queen's kindness to Count Fersen strange? --It seems she's forgotten her own position! --If they were in love... <> Oscar : Ah! <> Oscar : André! Marie : Oscar! <> Hans Axel : Oscar! Oscar : I'm all right. But that was close. --Oh, that heavy chandelier! --What happened to it? It didn't seem that old! Oscar : Was it a coincidence? Marie : Oscar was--Oscar was-- Polignac : It's all right, your highness. Oscar : No...it's possible that... <> Nicolas : Are you sure it's all right for us to come in this far, Jeanne? Jeanne : Don't be stupid! Anyone can come in here as long as they have a hat and sword! Get a hold of yourself! The Queen will pass through the hall of mirrors soon, and then we'll try the same trick as before. --That was really dangerous, let's have all the chandeliers in the palace tested! Nicolas : The Queen is coming! Quick, Jeanne! Jeanne : All right! Nicolas : Jeanne! Wake up, my wife! Wake up, Jeanne! <> Oscar : You're... Nicolas : Captain! Wake up, Jeanne, we've got to get out of here! It's my captain! Goodbye! Oscar : A strange man...I normally wouldn't suspect him of anything, but he was acting a little oddly... Jeanne : Yes, I've gone to the palace and talked intimately with the Queen. I now understand that the reason she hates you results completely from a misunderstanding. Rouen : Oh, I'm so glad! Jeanne : You still cannot have an audience with her because of her mother in Austria, but she said she might reply if you would write her a letter. Rouen : I'm crying with happiness! I'm going home right now to write her a letter! --Sir Oscar! The Queen has called you. She says to come to Versailles at once because there is a matter she wishes to speak with you about. Oscar : What? The Queen? I wonder what it could be about. All right, I'll go right away. Rosalie : Sir Oscar! Please don't go! You promised you would help me with my grammar! Oscar : Rosalie...I'm sorry, but this is my job. Rosalie : No, your promise to me should come first! I've been studying so hard! <> Oscar : You don't understand, do you? Rosalie : Why is some whim of the Queen more important than your promise to me? Oscar : Rosalie! Rosalie : No! You're always going on about the Queen, the Queen. Oscar : Rosalie! Rosalie : I'm sorry. But...at least let me go with you... Oscar : All right, hurry up. Rosalie : You don't understand...you don't understand...the Queen has everything, and I have nothing but my feelings for you... <> Oscar : This is a little strange...they said that the Queen was at the Opera today. André : That was a wasted errand. Oscar : But don't you find it odd? <> Oscar : Damn! André, my sword--! Who are you? Who called you here? <> --Good, the girl's here too! Die! Oscar : Get away, Rosalie! You can drive the carriage back to to the house! Rosalie : I... <> Oscar : Rosalie! --Even though you're a woman... André : Oscar! Rosalie : Eeek! André : Oscar! --That'll finish him off! Hans Axel : Oscar! <> André : Sir Fersen! --Pull back, someone's coming! Hans Axel : Is Oscar all right? I stopped by her house and saw that she wasn't home, and thought maybe... Rosalie : If only I hadn't come along and gotten in the way! --Sir Oscar was attacked by a highwayman and got hurt! --It's a very serious wound; she was stabbed in the left shoulder. --And Miss Rosalie was attacked as well! --Are her wounds very deep? --Someone called her, pretending to be the Queen! <> Polignac : Charlotte, you came at just the right time. I was about to have an important talk with you. Charlotte : Mother... What did you do to Sir Oscar? Polignac : Don't be silly, Charlotte. Charlotte : I'm not! Last night, uncle came home with strange men with blood on their clothes! Polignac : That could have been an accident...yes, it was! Charlotte : You're lying to me, mother! Polignac : Be quiet, Charlotte! Polignac : {It's bad that they weren't able to kill her...and they had the chance to get that girl, too! But it is a serious wound, so she probably won't come to the palace for a while...} Now, stop with that nonsense and come here. I've decided that you're to marry Count De Guiche. It's thanks to your mother's influence that you'll be able to marry a Count. Charlotte : {Marriage!?} Marriage? You must be joking...I'm only eleven, mother... <> Polignac : Count De Guiche likes young girls. You mustn't be selfish! You can become a Countess! Charlotte : {No...that's too frightening...when Sir Oscar is still...} A month later, Oscar was able to return to court, still protecting her left shoulder. --Oscar François! --It's been so long! --Has her wound healed completely? --What scary eyes! --She must be in a bad mood! --Probably because of your shrill voice talking about her wound! <> Oscar : Rosalie, stay close by my side. I'm not the only one they were targeting. Rosalie : Yes, Sir Oscar. Marie : Oscar! I've been so worried about you! Are you all better now? We're trying to find the culprit as soon as possible! Oscar : Lady Antoinette... Polignac : Your Highness! Such a big fuss over someone who might have been a simple bandit! {What? There's no proof! No one can say anything as long as there isn't any proof!} Rosalie : She's watching Oscar...she might not even know what her own mother did... Oscar : Ow! André : Oscar! Oscar : I shouldn't be so careless. André : You should put your arm in a cast so it won't move! Charlotte : Your chair... Oscar : Miss Charlotte! Charlotte : Oscar, Sir...could I touch your left hand, please? <> --Poor Charlotte... --She's being forced to marry Count de Guiche. --The poor thing's only eleven years old. Charlotte : {Marriage!?} Hans Axel : This Regel is an English lady...she has a great deal of wealth and a high status, and I intend to write to my father in Sweden and arrange an engagement. Oscar : Is she beautiful? What about her character? Her hobbies? Her education? Hans Axel : I don't know a thing about those. The only problem for me is whether or not it will be profitable for my father. <> Oscar : Can you marry someone you don't even love, Fersen!? Hans Axel : Oscar...but can you marry someone if all you have is love? <> Marie : The Swedish ambassador... I haven't seen Count Fersen in my salon lately, has he fallen ill? --Look, the Queen's asking about Count Fersen again! --It's as if that's all she thinks about! Don't you find it strange? --Queen, Count Fersen is here to see you. Marie : {He's finally come! There are so many things I want to tell him! But they all disappear when I see his face...} What's wrong, Count Fersen? You haven't come to play cards at all. I've been worried. Hans Axel : Your Highness... <> Hans Axel : I am sorry. Talks about my engagement are progressing now... Marie : {Marriage!?} Well...congratulations...you must be very happy. And your fiancée...your fiancée... Oscar : Lady Antoinette! <> Marie : {Married...Fersen is to be married...Well, of course he is. What am I so surprised at? Why am I crying? No...the tears just come on their own...but my chest feels so tight! Fersen is to be married!} Oscar : Fersen! Why did you tell her? Why!? <> Hans Axel : How could I possibly tell her that I loved her!? She's the Queen...the wife of the King of France. It is treason against the King! Hans Axel : I fear what would happen if I allowed myself to get any closer to her...with these feelings... Oscar : Fersen... Rosalie : Where are you, Sir Oscar? {Miss Charlotte de Polignac...} <> Rosalie : {I hear that she's going to be married to Count de Guiche, even though she's only eleven...I feel sorry for her...} Charlotte... Charlotte : Rosalie La Molière... Rosalie : {She's completely innocent, and so young!} Polignac : What are you doing, Charlotte? Come here! Don't talk with that suspicious girl! <> Charlotte : That's cruel, mother! Rosalie La Molière is... Polignac : {Rosalie La Molière!?} Charlotte : Mother? Polignac : {La Molière!} Did you say Rosalie La Molière!? <> André : Oscar, Rosalie, this is urgent! I know who that woman is, Martine Gabrielle! It's the name of Countess Polignac! Martine Gabrielle de Polignac! <> Rosalie : Martine Gabrielle de Polignac!? Countess Polignac is my real mother!? Oscar : Are you sure you're not mistaken, André? André : I'm absolutely sure. I investigated all the nobles that could be called noble. <> Oscar : Rosalie! <> Polignac : Is Rosalie La Molière really that child? Rosalie is such a common name that it didn't even trouble me, but--if she really is Rosalie La Molière...then the woman hit by my carriage was... Polignac : La Molière, who worked as a maid in the house of Valois, to whom I entrusted Rosalie right after she was born. I have to be sure...oh, God! Oscar : Rosalie, it's me. May I come in? <> Oscar : If I had known it would turn out like this...if I had known that what I did would cause you so much pain...even when I taught you how to use a sword, I wanted time to persuade you not to seek revenge. I couldn't just abandon you, if you would have even become a prostitute... <> Oscar : But it seems that there's nothing left for me to do. There's not even anything I can do about your sadness. Rosalie : No, Oscar...If I hadn't met you then, my body would have been corrupted and I would be extremely poor. I'm so grateful that I can't even find the words to say it. If you hadn't been there... Please don't worry, I've made up my mind. My mother was a woman so poor she mostly only ate bread crumbs and even sold her underwear for food, but she did her best to raise me. <> Rosalie : I may be the daughter of Countess Polignac, but my mother was that gentle woman, La Molière. I feel that from the bottom of my heart! Oscar : Rosalie... Are you sure you're all right, coming to the ball? Rosalie : What about you, with your left arm the way it is? Oscar : {Fersen isn't here...} <> Rosalie : {No, she isn't my mother! I only have one mother!} <> Polignac : You... Rosalie : {I still think I'd like to kill her if I could! I could never call her my mother!} Polignac : {Rosalie...are you really my Rosalie?} Rosalie : {Charlotte...my little sister? She's my little sister, crying all by herself...} Rosalie : You love Oscar, don't you? Charlotte : Rosalie... Rosalie : You poor thing, having to get married so young...I understand. I love Oscar too...so much it hurts... Charlotte : Rosalie! You're so kind. I'm sorry for saying such hurtful things before. Charlotte : {No one else will get close to me because they're afraid of my mother's power...except for you, Rosalie...you're like a sister!} I don't want to get married! Rosalie : Charlotte! {Charlotte, Charlotte! My little sister, who cries at night thinking the same thoughts!} --How is this, Lady Jeanne? Jeanne : Very good! Anyone would think this was the beautiful handwriting of a lady! --I worked very hard on it! Jeanne : I'm sorry for making you wait, Rouen. Here is the reply from the Queen. Rouen : There's no mistake, this is the royal fleur-de-lis seal! I'm trembling all over! My dear Rouen, please forgive me for misunderstanding you earlier. I love your round face and your charming nose. I would like to continue corresponding secretly with you. I will never forget your devotion. Rouen : And then, her noble and beautiful signature! Marie Antoinette de France! Jeanne : {He's either naif or stupid, or both.} <> Jeanne : At any rate, Archbishop Rouen, the Queen has told me that she would like a donation of 50,000 livres as proof of your devotion. Rouen : Oh, that's hardly anything! I'll even add something extra to you as thanks! Jeanne : Oh, Rouen! Finally... Jeanne : Money, money, money! Fifty thousand livres! (600 million yen)[This would be around 6 million dollars today, not taking the exchange rate and inflation into account.] Nicolas : Jeanne, I think we should stop now. Using the Queen's name to embezzle money... Jeanne : Be quiet, Nicolas! {That was only a trial! I can get anything from that fool! I could be rich enough to live at Versailles!} Jeanne : {I've heard rumors that Rosalie was taken into the Jarjayes household...that she wears lovelier clothes than I do... I can't let her outdo me.} Hans Axel : I can't go in there, Oscar. I came because it was an opera sponsored by the King and I felt I had to, but...I'm sorry. Please understand, and go by yourself. Oscar : Fersen... <> Oscar : {Fersen, it somehow feels like those words pierce my heart... I wonder why...} --Queen, it will soon be time to go to the opera house. Marie : I'm sorry, but would you please leave me alone for a while? {I wonder where he is now, and what he's been doing since then...} <> <> Hans Axel : I'm sorry, your Highness! Marie : Hello...what happened with the talk of your marriage? Hans Axel : The engagement has been made official. Marie : Well, we shall have to celebrate that...I will inform the cabinet... I wish for your happiness. Hans Axel : Thank you, I will be happy. <> Marie : {Oh, who is it that will be held against your broad chest, held in your strong arms? No, I can't believe that you would make some strange woman your wife! Oh, why can't I say anything?} <> Marie : How can I close up my burning heart? Hans Axel : Highness! Marie : Fersen! Oh, my Fersen! Hans Axel : Highness! Marie : Please forget just for now that I am the Queen! I love you, Fersen! I can't help loving you! <> Hans Axel : {Lady Antoinette! How I've waited for this! Since the moment I first saw you, at 18 years old...} <> Perhaps their souls had been softly calling to each other ever since that night at the masquerade ball four years earlier...it had been destined by God that this time would come, and it was only a matter of when... <> Hans Axel : Please forgive me... Marie : {Don't say anything...} For the first time, Antoinette felt the bliss of passion running through her body. Marie : {I love you, I love you!} More than ever, she was alive. <> --Lately the Queen shines more brilliantly than ever. --Even Hebe, the goddess of youth, Flora, the goddess of flowers, or Psyche would pale by comparison. --Don't you know why? --You mean, the rumors about her and Count Fersen? --Really? They're lovers? --Not so loud! --But her husband is the King of France! <> Oscar : André, please request an audience for me with the Queen. André : An audience? Why such formality? Marie : What's wrong, Oscar? This is awfully formal... Oscar : I am ready to receive any punishment, but I am afraid that I must give you this warning. <> Oscar : Have you entirely forgotten your position as the mother and Queen of all the French people!? Rumors of your relationship with Count Fersen have spread throughout the court. Have you not thought of the risks that they will reach the King, and all the citizens? Furthermore, there are already those within the court who do not think well of you because of Countess Polignac and the gambling. <> Oscar : I beseech you to listen to me, for otherwise you will be in great danger! Marie : Oscar...thank you for worrying about me so much. But it seems that not even you understand...perhaps you cannot understand what a woman's heart seeks. <> Marie : I was only 14 when I was brought to France and married so that I could become the Crown Princess. I was just a playful child who had never known love. For the treaty between France and Austria, as the Crown Princess, the Queen, and the mother of the French people...all of this has made me forget what it is to be just a woman named Marie Antoinette. You are a woman as I am, Oscar François! You should understand this! I am a human first and a Queen second, a woman with a beating heart! I want to love and be loved just as any other woman does! <> Marie : Fersen was my first love! I spent all my youth just to meet him and fall in love with him. Not even God could stop my passion for him! The King is a wonderful person, modest and studious. I respect him very deeply...but that is not the same thing as love, though we are husband and wife! Even when I tried to amuse myself with singing and dancing and clothes, it couldn't make me forget the emptiness I felt! <> Oscar : {Though I am a woman just as she is, I could never understand her sadness and her pain!} Marie : Perhaps I should not have expected to find an understanding woman's heart in you... Oscar : A woman's heart? Oscar : André... André : Oscar... Oscar : {When I was 11, my father told me to devote myself entirely to protecting Lady Antoinette. But...} <> Oscar : {Even though I was so close to her, I was completely unable to protect her from getting wrapped up in the troubles and scandals of the world!} --It's Archbishop Rouen! --How unusual to see him at one of the Queen's balls! --The Queen truly dislikes him for being so shamelessly involved with women, despite being a priest! --Shh, I don't think he knows that himself! Marie : I'm going back to my room. I've had enough of seeing unpleasant men for today! --Your Highness? Rouen : Lady Antoinette? <> --This just in! The Queen is being unfaithful to the King with a foreign military officer! --And she doesn't even have an heir to the throne! --It must be some shameless young thing, trying to become a second Lady Polignac! --So the result of living in the lap of luxury is adultery! --Does she have any idea how people like us are living? Rouen : I gave her 50,000 livres, and got so many letters from the Queen to make it seem as if she liked me, and yet instead of smiling at me, she completely ignored me! What does this mean, Jeanne? Jeanne : My, you are impatient, Rouen! Listen to the gossip outside. The rumors say that she's becoming very friendly with a man. It would reflect badly on her to start associating with you just now. Rouen : Hmm...I guess you might be right... Jeanne : Why don't you write her a letter and send her a present? Of course, I'll give them to her for you. <> Polignac : What's wrong, Charlotte? That doesn't look like the face of a girl who's about to get married. And you've just received a letter of congratulations from the Queen, too. Charlotte : Mother...there's a weight on my shoulders. Polignac : All I wish for is your happiness, Charlotte. This marriage will bring you glory and happiness, and it will finally make the Polignac family one of the high-ranking noble families. <> Charlotte : {But I'm scared of marriage! Save me, Rosalie! I don't want to get married! I'd rather die!} --Really, if you don't start being a little calmer, your injury's never going to heal completely! Oscar : Yes, ma'am. Polignac : Charlotte! Charlotte! <> Polignac : Have you seen my Charlotte anywhere? --Lady Charlotte? She went off towards the courtyard... Rosalie : Sir Oscar! Please, look for Charlotte! She's been missing since this evening! Please find her! She's my little sister! Oscar : Charlotte! --Charlotte! Polignac : Charlotte, where are you? <> --Over there! Polignac : Charlotte! Charlotte, come down from there! Charlotte : {I'm sorry, mother. I hope that the next time I'm born, it won't be as a noble.} <> Oscar : Charlotte! <> Oscar : {I didn't make it in time...my left arm wouldn't work! Is this a divine punishment?} --Lady Polignac! --Lady Polignac! <> --Is it true that Charlotte didn't die in an accident? --She killed herself? --She died rather than marry Count de Guiche. --For a Christian, suicide is a sin against God and the country. --And she wouldn't be able to have a church funeral. --Lady Polignac is saying that it was an accident, but the truth... <> Polignac : It was an accident! My daughter Charlotte died in an accident! She didn't commit suicide! Rosalie : {Charlotte, my poor little sister. You didn't even live to be able to call me 'sister.'} <> Rosalie : {It must really be awful to be a noble. You're completely controlled by your family and traditions. I couldn't live if my humanity were denied like that.} André : There you are, Rosalie! Rosalie : André! André : Come down right away, there's someone here to see you from the Polignac family. Rosalie : What? --Miss Rosalie, I have come here to tell you that Lady Polignac would like to officially adopt you as her daughter and bring you to the Polignac house. Rosalie : {As her daughter? Then--she knows about me?} Please leave, and tell Lady Polignac that Rosalie does not think of her as her mother. --Miss Rosalie! <> --The reason that Lady Polignac abandoned you when you were small... Rosalie : Leave! My mother is dead! She was run over by Lady Polignac's carriage! And that woman ran away laughing! Go away, go away! Oscar : Rosalie! <> Rosalie : Sir Oscar...please don't go anywhere. I'll serve you for my whole life, but please, let me be with you always! I... <> Oscar : Rosalie, I want you to always care about your family and your little sister. I want you to leave here someday. Don't forget this--I am a woman. Rosalie : {Sir Oscar...} Oscar : Is it true that you've broken your engagement, Fersen? Hans Axel : Oscar...you became angry at me, once, for thinking that I had to marry someone--it matters not who--that I needed a wife as the heir of Count Fersen. It's different now. It might be unnatural, but that's all right. I've made up my mind to never marry. <> Oscar : Fersen!? Hans Axel : Don't say anything, Oscar. There's one woman whom I'd risk my soul for, whom I want to love for my whole life. A woman who risked everything to love me. I'll never be able to marry her. Hans Axel : That's why I'll never marry, as long as I live! That's what God has foreordained. Oscar : {Fersen...} Hans Axel : I suffer so much, every time I see Lady Antoinette! I love her so much! <> --Hey, look at this flier! --Is it interesting? --It's about the Queen's illicit affair with Count Fersen! --Let me see! --Ha ha ha! --It's a picture of the Queen, suffering in her adulterous affair! --Show it to me! <> --Captain! Oscar : Get back to your posts! Arrest whoever it is who's spreading these things around! {Fliers...so the rumors have spread to the citizens. This is what I had most feared...} <> --The Queen... --Of course! She would know where Count Fersen would be. --That Austrian's brought mud into the French royal family! Marie : {Oh, Fersen! How I wish that you could stay by me and hold me against your chest! How I wish that my entire body could be eyes just to look at you! It would be foolish to speak to you now. We must not even stare at each other. My name as the "Reine de France" (Queen of France) must tear through the love welling up within me.} <> Oscar : {I can't let this continue! I must do something!} The Queen's weekly balls, which had been stopped for a time in mourning for Charlotte, finally recommenced. Oscar : Are you ready, Rosalie? The carriage is waiting. Rosalie : Yes, I'm coming. <> Rosalie : {Sir Oscar's wearing her formal uniform? Then maybe...maybe she'll dance with me at the ball tonight?} --Look! It's Oscar in her dress uniform! --Maybe that means she'll dance tonight! --I would have spent more time dressing up if I had known! <> Marie : Oscar, what a stroke of good fortune to see you here in your dress uniform. Will you dance with a man tonight, or a woman? Oscar : Whichever you wish, Your Highness. <> --So the Queen's not just going to keep Fersen for herself, she's taking Oscar, too? --Unbelievable! Does she really think that we don't know anything? --Shh! Look how beautiful they are! Rosalie : Oscar... <> Rosalie : {Oh, Rosalie, how could you have been so foolish? What were you hoping for? You should have expected this from the start!} <> Rosalie : {Sir Oscar doesn't care for anyone but the Queen! I have to give up...but they were so beautiful, glittering like drops of sunlight as they danced! I should have known...} No matter how much I love her, I'll have to give up! <> Rosalie : André! André : Rosalie...you poor thing, I didn't know. But you'll be all right. You'll cry, and someday you'll fall in love with a man... My pain is greater than yours. I have to watch silently as another man captures Oscar's heart. <> Rosalie : Another man...captures Oscar's heart? André : I hoped desperately that someday she would realize how I felt, but I was left cursing the differences between us every day-- probably for the rest of my life... Rosalie : André... {I see now. You've been by Oscar's side for so long--I saw only her, and didn't realize it at all. But I'm so lonely...} At this time, across the Atlantic in America, the descendants of the pilgrims who had traveled from England in 1620 on the Mayflower fought for their independence from England, in the American Revolutionary War. --Yes, France is siding with America. --Is it true that we'll be sending soldiers to assist them? --They've already started recruiting volunteers. <> Rosalie : {They're sending soldiers to America? At least Oscar's in the royal guard, so it won't affect her.} Polignac : My Queen, your sadness is making the entire palace dreary. If it's because of Count Fersen, you have nothing to worry about. In high society, it's perfectly normal to have a lover outside of marriage. Marie : Lady Polignac! Polignac : I won't say this loudly, but I too am having an affair with my husband's best friend. He comforts me greatly. <> Polignac : Do what your heart desires. I'll help you from the shadows. Marie : Thank you, Lady Polignac. Polignac : Please do not forget your promise to come incognito to Paris tonight. Marie : Of course. Polignac : {Fersen is a modest and unambitious man. Her passion for him will make her forget the citizens and the economy, leaving the Polignac family free to do as it likes.} <> Polignac : Wait! Rosalie, wait! <> Polignac : You refused to come to our mansion... Rosalie : Was that wrong of me? You don't have the right to give me orders. Polignac : Yes I do! I am your mother! Rosalie : Like hell you are! Polignac : Rosa... Rosalie : I want Charlotte back! <> Rosalie : I want my little sister back! Then I'll go to your mansion! You still don't understand why she died! Polignac : Rosalie! Rosalie! <> Polignac : {Gentle white hands...a sweet scent...white hands that pressed at my heart... I was only a girl of fifteen when I fell in love with Count San Remy of Valois and he broke my heart. I found out that he was cheating on me with the maid, La Molière, and she had given birth to his daughter.} <> Polignac : {Soon afterwards, I became pregnant with Rosalie. What could I have done? Unmarried and knowing nothing of the world, I kept my pregnancy a secret from my parents. It was La Molière who saved me by taking my newborn daughter. Even though we should have been rivals, there were tears of sympathy in her eyes. Rosalie, even after marrying into the Polignac house, and giving birth to Charlotte, not a day went by without my thinking of you.} Polignac : {Why can't you forgive me?} Rouen : Jeanne...are you really sure that the money and letters I've been entrusting to you have been given to the Queen? Jeanne : How can you doubt it, Rouen? She's sent you letters in reply. Rouen : That's true, but the attitude of the letters seem to be different from that of the real Queen. Jeanne : Rouen, the Queen said that she would meet you in the Venus thicket of Versailles gardens four weeks from tonight. Do you still doubt me? Rouen : She really said that? We're to meet secretly--and at night? <> Nicolas : Jeanne, have you finally gone mad? How can you promise that priest that he'll meet the Queen? Jeanne : Look at this, Nicolas. Nicolas : The Queen? In our house? I'm the one who's going mad! Jeanne : Look closely. <> Jeanne : That girl is a Parisian prostitute named Olivia. Isn't she the exact image of the Queen? Oscar : You can go home and rest before me, André. I won't be home before tomorrow morning. André : What are you doing? I'll stay with you. <> Jeanne : Do you understand, Olivia? A very important priest is coming here. You'll give this rose to him and say "You understand how I feel, do you not?" Olivia : "You understand how I feel"...and then you'll really give me 15000 livres? Nicolas : Over here, Archbishop Rouen. Quietly! Rouen : Oh, you are even more beautiful than ever tonight! Olivia : You understand how I feel, do you not? Rouen : This rose is for me? I'm so happy! Nicolas : There are people coming! Leave at once, Rouen! <> Nicolas : Captain! Oscar : And the one behind you is Archbishop Rouen...what are you doing here in the middle of the night like this? Rouen : How rude! Nicolas : What a beautiful moonlit night, isn't it? André : What was that? Oscar : Normally I would have interrogated them further, but it was Archbishop Rouen! <> Rouen : The Queen met with me in secret in the Venus thicket! And she even gave me this red rose. What is it, if not proof of her feelings? I'll put it in a frame and treasure it forever! And then I'll build a rose walkway in my garden to commemorate this! Jeanne : That fool! Jeanne : Rouen, the Queen would like a gift of 60,000 livres for charity. Rouen : Certainly! Jeanne : Rouen, the Queen would like to borrow 100,000 livres. Rouen : Of course! Oscar : Fersen! I heard that you were volunteering to enter the Marquis de Lafayette's army in America. You can't possibly be serious! Fersen : It's true, Oscar. I'm going to America as Lafayette's aide next week. Oscar : Fersen! <> Oscar : That place is a battlefield! There's no guarantee that you'd come back alive! Fersen : I know that. I'm a soldier myself. I never thought I was going to America to have a good time. I'm sorry, Oscar, but I'm running away. If I stay here with Lady Antoinette, then she'll be dragged into a terrible scandal! I've already caused her so much pain... <> Fersen : I'm too young to deny the look of love in her eyes and supress the passion burning within me! There's nothing I can do for her but to put a distance of thousands of miles between us. I'm sorry, Oscar. Please take care of Lady Antoinette! Oscar : Fersen! <> --Count Fersen has volunteered to go fight in America? --Oh my! Tearing himself from the Queen to go to a distant and dangerous battlefield! --Does this mean those rumors were false? --It seems that there was nothing between them after all. Rouen : {Of course! The one that the Queen secretly loves is me!} Louis : So he's going to America... Marie : Your Highness... Louis : Unlike the other nobles, he was unambitious, and I thought of him as a good friend. It's too bad. In the days before his departure, Marie Antoinette could not take her eyes off Count Fersen. Whenever she saw him, here eyes would fill with tears. It was a tragic and hopeless parting. <> --Count Hans Axel von Fersen, Colonel of the Swedish Cavalry, is here. Hans Axel : Your Highness, I have come to say goodbye to you. I must leave for America. Marie : {Fersen...other lovers could have held each other tight, confirming their love. They could have shared tears and words of good-bye. But I must only pray for his safety and try to bear my loneliness!} <> Marie : {Just...try to bear my loneliness!} Fersen departed from the region of Brest and became the aide to the Marquis de Lafayette. He joined a warship supporting the 64th artillery regiment. In one of history's ironies, one of the greatest commanders of the French revolution was Lafayette himself. Oscar : {Excellent, Fersen. I know of no more noble action in the name of true love. Don't die, Fersen! Come back alive!} --Her Highness has arrived! Marie : I've come to complain to you about a person who had the audaciousness to kick me in the stomach! Louis : Huh? Marie : <> Louis : Are you...maybe... Marie : I'm finally with child! The baby just moved inside me. --The Queen is with child! --Sir Oscar! The Queen is with child! Oscar : What? --Maria Teresa! Lady Antoinette of France is with child! <> Teresa : She's finally become pregnant? My daughter will give birth to a heir to the throne of France? I've waited so long for this! It has always been my dream! I hope that it will be a Prince... News of the Queen's pregnancy swept through Europe in a matter of days, and at this happy news--the first in a long time--Antoinette's popularity rose. Oscar : {Lady Antoinette will be a mother soon.} Oscar : {I think--I hope--that her taste for fun and luxury will abate a bit. She'll be a mother...} According to old laws, the birth was attended by about fifty nobles from the court. The suffering of those people, in a crowded room for seven hours, was indescribable. <> --Waaaaaaaaaah! --It's over! --It's been born! --Is it a Prince? --How is Lady Antoinette? The hopes of the citizens and the court were in vain; a Princess had been born. Her name was Marie Therèse de France, the name of Antoinette's beloved Austrian mother, changed into French. <> --Your Highness, a jeweler has come to see you. --The reason I have come to see you, Your Highness, is that I have obtained a magnificent diamond necklace. Marie : A diamond necklace? --The late King Louis XV had ordered it from me as a present to his mistress, Lady Du Barry, but he died suddenly and now there's no one to take it. Marie : Oh, how wonderful! --Because of the high price, even most royal families could not afford it. It does cost 1,600,000 livres... Marie : 1,600,000 livres? --That would be all right, wouldn't it, my Queen? You could pay it in installments. Marie : Well...I already have many, many diamonds, and 1,600,000 livres could buy artillery and warships... <> How was it that, at a time like this, Marie Antoinette was able to guess that this diamond necklace would be the very thing to lead to her tragic downfall? Oscar : Your Highness, the general audience is beginning in the Mirror Room. <> Therèse : Don't go, Maman Reine [Queen Mommy]! Sing to me a little longer! Marie : I'm sorry, Marie Therèse. Please understand, your mother's busy. Therèse : No, Maman Reine! Oscar : Royal Princess... Therèse : Oshcar-big-brother! Oscar : By 'Oshcar-big-brother,' does she mean me? <> Marie : {This huge palace, buried in marble and statues of gold and silver...and this life lived out in front of nobles, with traditions and formalities that make it hard to breathe...oh, if I could only escape from here and live happily, surrounded by the people I love!} Among the numerous palaces in the huge garden of Versailles, the one that Marie Antoinette loved the best was Petit Trianon palace, which Louis XVI had given to her as a wedding present. It was a simple but beautiful building with a mere 7 or 8 rooms. <> Polignac : What? You're going to move to Petit Trianon, leaving the King behind? {This is very convenient! With the Queen gone from the palace, I'll be able to arrange things exactly as I like, without the interference of Oscar and the other nobles!} Marie : And I'll make a lovely pastoral garden around Petit Trianon, with a water mill and a farmhouse, and a pond with real ducks in it! Oscar : You mustn't! <> Oscar : Your Highness, you mustn't do it! The Queen of a country may not abandon the palace and the government! It would be a betrayal of the citizens of France! Please think of the happiness of your country's citizens before your own happiness, and stay at Versailles! It is your duty! Polignac : Come along, Queen. Marie : Yes... Oscar : Please, wait! Your Highness! <> Marie : {Oscar...why is she always opposed to everything that would make me happy? I do care deeply for her...I want her to come to Petit Trianon with me.} Oscar : {Lady Antoinette!} --She's gone to Petit Trianon? --She's abandoned Versailles? --And only Lady Polignac and a few other people she likes can come in? --What an insult! --What will happen to us nobles? We have long, distinguished histories! <> --She's making a fool of us! --Who will ever come to this palace again? --Even if I were asked, I would refuse! Teresa : {Antoinette, my Antoinette! What a foolish thing, forgetting your own position and duties! Great unhappiness will surely come to you now. It will be too late to regret it then, Antoinette! When will you open your eyes?} --Eek! Empress! --Mother! Mother, what happened? Teresa : {I don't want to watch as you fall into misery...} On November 29, 1780, the Empress of Austria, Maria Teresa, fell dangerously ill from hardening of the lungs. --Are you in pain, mother? Teresa : Ah, Josef...it isn't a bad way to die. <> Teresa : {God, you didn't let me see my daughter's child ascend to the French throne, but you did make one of my wishes come true by not letting me see my daughter fall into misery. God bless my children, Leopold, Maria Christina, Amelia, Maria Carolina...} <> Teresa : {And Marie Antoinette, Queen of France!} <> --Empress! --Maria Teresa! Maria Theresa, a woman who had fought many wars, believed deeply in God, built elementary schools for the poor and improved labor conditions, who believed talent was more important than one's bloodline, the Empress of the great nation of Austria, passed away at the age of 63. She worried about her beloved daughter Marie Antoinette until she breathed her last. --Lady Antoinette! --Queen! --Your mother--! <> --Please write a letter of condolences to your brother Joseph, the new Emperor. Marie : No! I can't do it! I can't see the letters I'm writing! <> Marie : Mother! Mother! Mother! The young Queen had lost her greatest support forever, and the dark, quiet footsteps of history started to creep up on her. <> Queen Marie Antoinette became pregnant again in 1781. Her second child was born quietly at 1:15 on the afternoon of October 22nd. It was the Prince that her late mother had wished so much for, Prince Louis Josephe Gusavier. --A Prince is born! --An heir to the throne! --Hooray for France! --Three cheers for the Queen! Oscar : Fire a hundred and one shots in celebration! <> But during the weeks of celebration, there were still many peasants who couldn't even buy bread to eat. --Now, this is something that I want the Queen to buy very much... <> --Jeanne, I've heard that you are very close to the Queen. I'd like you to reccomend it to her. Jeanne : {How it glitters with rainbow light! If all these diamonds could be mine, I'd live my whole life in such luxury! I absolutely must make it mine, even if I have to risk everything I have! I'll do it!} <> Jeanne : So you see, Rouen, the Queen wants this necklace very much, but the King will not let her buy it. She thinks that she could buy it secretly for herself and pay in installments, but she would need someone with status and property to insure the loan. Rouen : Then...maybe... Jeanne : Yes! That's brilliant! You could be that person! She certainly trusts you! <> Jeanne : There are many other men she could ask, but few have the status that you have. Rouen : All right! I will insure the loan! Jeanne : {I'll finally have it! The 1,600,000-livre diamond of my dreams and longing!} <> Rouen : Insured by Louis de Rouen...there! Now, be sure to give the necklace to the Queen, Jeanne. Here's the contract... and tell the Queen to be sure not to forget the first 400,000 livre payment. Jeanne : Yes, of course! <> Jeanne : Nicolas! I finally got the necklace! Now, to divide it up! Nicolas, you go to England and sell the diamonds. Letaut, you go to Switzerland. I'll stay in Paris to make sure Archbishop Rouen doesn't suspect anything. <> With her two lovely children, a few nobles whom she liked, beginning with Lady Polignac, far away from her duties as Queen in the beautiful Petit Trianon palace, Marie Antoinette lived at the peak of happiness... except for her worries over Fersen, fighting in far-away America. André : Oscar! Have you heard? England granted America its independence! Oscar : So...the revolutionary war is over. André : The soldiers are going to start coming back soon. The peace treaty is to be signed at Versailles. <> On November 29th, 1783, the treaty of Versailles was ratified! England recognized America's independence, and America's revolutionary war was brought to an end. Marie : {Fersen! Fersen's returning from America! He's coming back!} <> Oscar : {Why!? Almost all the soldiers are back in France...so why isn't Fersen back yet?} Rosalie : Sir Oscar, your hand! Oscar : {We've received no word of his death...} <> Oscar : {But if he's still alive, then he should already be back! What happened, Fersen?} André : Oscar, that's enough. You're drinking like a bottomless pit, even though you're a woman! André : If grandma ever finds out that I took you to a tavern in the first place, I'll... Oscar : André, what's wrong with me coming to a place you come to all the time? We're both human. To hell with status, dammit! What's so funny, André? André : Nothing! --You've got spirit! Have another glass! <> --Hey, look, everybody! There's a guy so beautiful he'd make Zeus drool! If he's in the army, he must be a subordinate officer...I'll bet even Narcissus didn't have a face this pretty! --Drink up, drink up! André : Stop it, you fools! --You'd better stay out of it. <> --What the hell do you think you're doing? --Who do you think you are, calling me a beautiful guy? If you lay one finger on me, I'll hit you so hard you won't be able to walk straight again! <> Robespierre:Aren't you being rather rought tonight, beautiful captain of the guard? Oscar : Maximillian de Robespierre! Robespierre:Hello! So our paths cross again. I've just come from Arras. I'm now a high-level graduate student of law in Paris. --A lawyer? One of the Queen's dogs? Robespierre:Don't get so excited, Bernard de Chatelet. <> --It's the captain of the guard! --A noble! --What's he doing here? --Kick him out! Oscar : Just go ahead and try! André : Oscar, no! --Why, you! Do you have any idea what we eat every day? André : Oscar, run! <> --The tavern's going to be ruined! Robespierre:Looks like you've got an exclusive story, Bernard. You'll be able to sell out your newspaper tomorrow with the story of how a noble caused a huge fight in a tavern. <> Oscar : Go to hell, Fersen! André : Oscar? Ow! Ouch ouch ouch... <> André : Oscar! You're not dead, Oscar, are you? You're awfully hot-blooded, Oscar. At least they didn't find out you were a woman. Let's see, we should get a carriage...damn! They took off with my wallet, too! Poor Oscar...no matter how you look, when I see how you suffer, you're unmistakeably a woman. There are times when the pain in one's heart is too much to bear... <> André : The stars are beautiful. I'll carry you in my arms like this until dawn.