The Story of *The Dutchess* Part 1

If you looked in from the outside Marie had had it all and most of all luck. She was young, beautiful beyond compare and came from a rich aristocratic family near the city of Rotterdam.

It had taken her mother an eternity of wishing and hoping to get pregnant. Her parents naturally had hoped for the eagerly desired son and heir of their estate and instead a daughter entered their lives. While they tried to hide the disappointment that it was, the little girl did notice it in the details of herevery day childhood. Instead of letting it get her down, however, she grew up to be a strong minded young lady who took pride in preferring facts to feelings and letting herself be guided by the knowledgeof the ancient. Many would say a bright and wonderful future was laid ahead of her after she was married at the age of fourteen to Duke Van De Gob. If you knew her story better you would have known it was however an arranged marriage imposed on her against her will. The creator of this union was her father, a powerful Lord with growing political aspirations. The luxurious wedding ceremony was not a celebration of love and how the Dutchess had spent her younger years imagining her most special day, it was a display of power and influence that supposedly came with her families name. To Marie this day had meant the world, to the rest of the world that day was a mere move on an unfathomably large chess board, with many steps preceeding this and many that would follow afterward. On that night and during the festive banquet, her new husband had spent his time getting very drunk fantasizing to the prospect of his new opportunities ahead. Much to everyones shock fate stepped in and as though it was willed the Duke fell on the stairs on his way to his wedding night. He had such an unfortunate fall that he broke his neck and died on the spot.

Completely overwhelmed by the course of the events, her fears for the night and the change of pace this meant for her life, Marie collapsed after being told of the death of her husband who had barely held the name for a total of 4 hours and 28 minutes. Marie always liked to look at people, yet could not identify herself with her peers. She was simply not the delicate fragile doll she observed most of the young noble ladies of her time to be or at least pretended they were when shopping for ribbons and sharing the latest gossip. And now, at the tender age of 14, she had been married off to a man who could have been her father, for whom she felt only disgust. And yet, in chaotic fashion fate was kind to her when it took away the horror of marriage on the darkest day of her life. When she woke up the morning after the wedding she had a faint feeling she had to take matters into her own hands for the first time in her life. Never again would she allow someone else to take over herlife and make decisions for her. Neither her father nor any other man whether he be rich or poor, influential or deceptive.

And it seems this was her moment. Now Marie would finally decide to gain some freedom to discover the world and most importantly to discretely love somebody of her choice. (This was quite normal among the European nobility of the 16th century.)

End Part 1 ...stay tuned