The Castle INTRODUCTION
Welcome to "The Castle"; an epic of love, respect and fidelity.
This story takes place in the early 1700's in France.
Susan D'Aubigne was born in a then small village right in the heart of the Ariege, France; she was the sole daughter of the local Doctor Paul D'Aubigne, doctor for the province. As far as she could remember, her village was the hosting support group of the most famous tourist attraction (Always viewed from a distance) in the whole area. The Castle Foix - Ariege, it stood on a high hill out of town, its silhouette visible for miles around, as famous as the architecture was to the locals, the tales of the goings on in the castle was carried on by word of mouth for generations. In full heart of Ariege , Foix holds the attention of the visitor by the image of the three turns of its castle, drawn up on its majestic rock, and by the superb and tormented site. Even today enjoying a healthy and pleasant climate, quality of life of a town of 10 000 inhabitants in full heart of nature, Foix , Prefecture of Ariege, combine many assets as a town of beauty and intrigue.
Every one wished to see inside the walls, yet none seemed to be ever invited. From time to time, carriages brought guests to the castle from cities from all over France and beyond. They stayed for a few days then left, never talking to the locals or to anyone outside of the castle walls, this led to the intrigue of the whole affair. Once in a while the mayor and town officials attended special affairs at the castle, their participations added a cloak of secrecy and protection to the count and his castle. Once or twice the local legal authority in town particularly the police chief, also attended these affairs. This participation of someone in authority led credence to the fact that no one, ever asked for an investigation of the rumors of lewd or illicit activities within the castle. It was under this protective banner that excited Susan D'Aubigne when she received an invitation from the count himself to participate in the upcoming Winter Solstice festival to be held within the castle walls. Since receiving her personal invitation Susan would look up to the crest of the hill seeing the castle in a different light. The count had invited her, personally. "How did he know who she was?" mused Susan. She had never been introduced to the count. "Why invite her?" She thought to herself. She asked her father who also was never invited. "Papa, why did the count invite me? What is so special about me Papa?"
The good doctor had knew but held back from telling her, he so loved his daughter, and thought to himself that if the count wanted her to attend, this was truly a special for their family. Perhaps someone local recommended Susan to the count, "Who knows?" The doctor said to himself and to Susan. This could be a golden opportunity for the doctor and his family, surely a recommendation from the count would bring grand revenue to the doctor as well. "What's the harm?" mused the doctor.
The night finally arrived, and a carriage was sent by the count to Doctor D'Aubigne's house to pick up Susan and whisk her away to the castle. Susan waved bye to her parents, they waved and threw kisses to Susan as she was driven away. After almost an hour, the carriage pulled up to the front gate. The driver got off of the coach and knocked at the door. The door opened slowly as Henri the house's man-servant pulled it open. "Welcome Madame D'Aubigne!" Spoke Henri to the lady acting as her escort; he helped her from the couch and into the castles' main hall. Another servant took her coat, and she was led to the "great room" where all of the special guests were gathered awaiting their host the count.
The count walked down the stone circular staircase into the 'great room', and heads turned, voices were muffled, everyone was in awe and anticipation of his words to the group. Susan moved through the crowd to the front of the gathering. She watched the count, how he carried himself, how he was dressed, and the words he chose for this special gathering. The count recognized a few of the people, others were strangers to him and he noted down names and personal information for future reference.
He spoke..."Friends and guests, tonight is a special night at Castle Foix - Ariege!, Tonight we celebrate Winter Solstice, please come to the table a feast awaits." They followed him to the long table, and began to partake in the finest wines, and eat the finest foods ever prepared. Sue ate and drank with gusto, soon the room began to spin, as she was beginning to doze off she heard the count speak of her to the group, she heard her name mentioned several times, "That's nice of him!" thought Susan. Then she blacked out, she remembered nothing more that evening until......
To Be Continued:
From Backpacker2 (backpacker19452yahoo.com) Comments most welcome.