CROWN PRINCE | LES MISÉRABLES

04.

[eighteen twenty-eight
5 years later]

I was sitting in my bedroom, waiting for Madame Louisa to come upstairs. I was put in timeout because I was late, like every day. 5 years have passed since our last trip to Paris and we weren't going anywhere in the near future.

My outer appearance changed over the years. I grew taller, my black hair got longer and my skin became paler. I got up and walked to a mirror. My reflection reflected my body or more like my green dress with flowers on.

I was still small, but taller than 5 years ago, my hair was going down my waist. I was average size but the tight corset made my waist appear tinier.

The door opened and Madame Louisa came inside.

"What are you doing?"
"Looking in the mirror."
"I can see. You look beautiful. I can't wait for you to get married."
"Madame, I don't want to marry."
"You're too young for marriage anyways. Now come. Practice starts in 5 minutes.", she said, leaving my room.

I followed her into the music room. Well, the music room was a small library that belonged to my mother. She let it rebuild so she could create music. Now it was our music room to honor her.

All of my siblings already sat on the wooden floor, waiting for practice to begin. I sat down between Delilah and Martin.

"So, what will we sing today?", Madame Louisa asked, sitting down in the chair.
"Maybe Papas favorite song?", Delilah suggested.
"But we've sung it the last four practice times already."
"Edelweiss is a beautiful song. And it has a special meaning for papa."

"Gusta is right. We should sing something different.", I chimed in.
"But what should we sing, Lisl?", our 5-year-old sister Yvonne asked.
"We could sing Do-Re-Mi? We haven't sung the syllables in a long time. To fresh up the memory.", Madame Louisa asked.

"Yes, please.", Finley begged.
"Well, should we go outside for a bit?", she asked, taking her guitar.

We got up and ran into the garden. We ran past grandmother, who just juggled with four plates. Delilah and I helped her set the plates on the table before the fell to the ground.

We joined our siblings in the garden. We walked into the forest, to a small meadow where we used to play with our mother. We sat down in the grass. It was a warm day, the sun stood high in the sky, which meant that it was almost lunchtime.

"So how does this work? Is it Re-Mi-Do?", Madame asked the smaller children.

They shook their heads and laughed.

"It's Do-Re-Mi!", Finley yelled towards Madame Louisa.
"Really? Is it? Well, let me try something."

She tuned her guitar to get the right sound.

"Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. When you read you begin with..."
"ABC", Yvonne exclaimed.
"That's right. When you sing you begin with Do, Re, Mi, Do, Re, Mi. The first three notes just happen to be Do, Re, Mi, Do, Re, Mi
Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Te."

She stopped playing the guitar.

"Oh let's see if I can make it easier. Do- A deer, a female deer. Re- A drop of golden sun. Mi- A name I call myself. Fa- A long, long way to run. So- A needle pulling thread. La- A note to follow so. Te- A drink with jam and bread. That will bring us back to Do, oh, oh, oh.

"Do- A deer, a female deer.", Yvonne sang.
"Re- A drop of golden sun.", Delilah added.
"Mi- A name I call myself.", Caroline sang.
"Fa- A long, long way to run.", Finley and Martin added.
"So- A needle pulling thread.", Augusta sang.
"La- A note to follow so.", Albert added.
"Te- A drink with jam and bread.", I finished.

"That will bring us back to Do, oh, oh, oh. Do- A deer, a female deer. Re- A drop of golden sun. Mi- A name I call myself. Fa- A long, long way to run. So- A needle pulling thread. La- A note to follow so. Te- A drink with jam and bread. That will bring us back to Do, oh, oh, oh", we sang in unison as we ran back down to the house as it has begun to rain.

We continued to sing in the rain and having the time of our lives. Oh how much we missed singing.

"That will bring us back to Do... Re... Mi... Fa... So... La... Ti... Do. So, Do, La, Fa, Mi, Do, Re. So, Do, La, Fa, Mi, Do, Re. La, So, Fa, Mi, Re... Tiiiiii, Doooo. So, Do.", we finished in the garden.

We were soaked to the bone.

"Children, get inside, at once.", our father yelled.

He was mad because we disobeyed the most important rule in the house: no music. We stepped back inside the house and there he was, with his fist clenched tightly.

"Madame, how many times do I have to remind you that my children are not allowed to sing?"
"I am a music teacher, Baron. I'm not only a governess. And the children need to grow up with music.", she said.

Father looked at us.

"Get changed out of the wet clothes and dry off your hair.", he said before we all disappeared into our rooms.

Grandmother prepared the fireplace to warm up the house.

***

There was a knock on the door.

"Bonjour, can I help you?"
"Oui, I need to speak to the Baron. Tell him it's urgent."
"Aye Aye sir.", she said, saluting the stranger.

He looked a bit shocked but quickly shook the gesture off. He entered our house and looked around.

"Please follow me.", grandmother said.

He did as she said and followed her. I could not see the man properly. But a few strands of blonde hair stuck out of the hat the man was wearing.

***

"Who is that man?", I asked.
"Oh Lisl, it's not important.", she said.
"I will be upstairs, reading a book."
"Do that. Do you want to have an apple?"
"No thank you."
"I didn't mean to make this a question. Take the apple."
"Thank you, Grandmother.", I said, giving her a kiss on her cheek.

I left the living room.