".You talk a lot for a woman moreover for a beautiful woman ."
"You speak highly for a pirate nonetheless for a captain ."
"Nothing seems to be true then "
"Appearances are mean to blur the authenticity of our soul . Don't you think ?."
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The sun was slowly peaking the tip of its nose above the horizon. The first rays were penetrating the cabin, one by one, bringing a little more light than before. As the obscurity was abandoning the room, more details emerged.
There he was, looking at her, analysing her sleeping figure, bundled up in his sheets. From afar, she looked so peaceful as if the previous hours were just an ephemeral nightmare which would evaporate as soon as her eyes would open. Laying on his side of the bed, facing her, his eyes moved across the parts of her skin which weren't covered by the crimson silk duvet.
Mirroring her social status, her body did never held scars of poverty or malnutrition. It was the complete opposite. Her porcelain like skin carry no marks of long toil in the burning sun. Like a pearl she was glowing without even trying. She had flesh where it was needed with childish plump rosy cheeks contrasting with her woman like chest. From soft facial features to her woman like body, his instinct was telling him that the woman he saved didn't exceed the 20's.
Never stopping his eyes from catching every single detail, he could discern the outline of her bosom through the flimsy material of her nightgown. A sight that wasn't displeasing his eyes but it couldn't quench his manly instinct of possessiveness.
He had this unquenchable thirst to lay his fingers on her skin, to touch, to feel for the first time the warm and the delicacy of an untouched skin. But the sight of purplish areas across her throat and left cheek, tainting her milky skin like Chinese ink on paper, stopped his hand from going further.
Diverting his eyes from the bruise on her cheek, they fell on her reddish nose. Hours before, when he entered his room again after the incident, he found her asleep and curled up in a ball against his bed, her head lying on the cover, tears tainting her cheeks. Holding pity on her sleeping figure, he scooped her in his arms before laying her in his bed, covering with his bedsheets.
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My slumber came to an end as I fluttered my eyes to wake up. I was met with the sun already high in the sky. Rising from the lying position I was in, I sat on the bed, my head resting on my knees and my back against the headboard. Suddenly, a striking pain resurfaced from my back, letting a hiss escape from my lips. Lying against a hard surface wasn't the best move so I just sat curled up in the middle of the bed.
The cabin in front of me revealed itself as the light unveiled every single detail my eyes missed. Last night I failed to notice the bookshelves on my right which contained an impressive collection of books and the banquette under the window which appeared to be a very suitable place for reading. Later, maybe should I accord myself some time to explore his collection?
But now I need to get a grip on myself. Actually, I can't even describe what I am feeling right now. Everything seems to confuse me, sincerely I don't know if I am still dreaming or not, but from the lingering pain in my body, my slumber is not the reason for it.
A mixture of fear and apprehensiveness stood intact in my mind, I had been captured and I couldn't imagine what will happen to me. This thought arose a state of uncertainty about how I should act in the futur, it was like running blindly in a forest. Tears started to fall from my eyes. Last night or this morning, currently everything look alike for me, was a disaster, the reaction I had didn't suit a lady of my rank, I had shown to much of my personality and too much of my real emotions, something dangerous in the environment I live. The fear was something natural but he saw it, he saw my tears, the emotions I had deep inside, something others had ever seen, my weaknesses.
Grasping the sheet in my bandaged hands, I fixed harshly my reflection in a mirror lying in the opposite side of the cabin. My reflection disgusted me, I had purple areas on my neck and cheek, I had bandages covering pieces of my skin, my hair was disheveled and tears decorated my eyes. I looked like a mess, me Victoria Stanford. The obnoxious feeling of betraying the principles, the rules I taught myself was burning me from the inside. I wasn't proud of myself and even Father or Mother wouldn't be proud to see me like this, I had keep my dignity and the honour of my family.
I spend hours and hours studying, reading, spying what the others had tried to hide from me. The time has come for me to finally use all the knowledge I had in military, dissimulation and the art of persuasion. God bless my father for speaking to loudly and Choderlos de Laclos for writing Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
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Important informations in the book (please read it) •Les Liaisons Dangereuses is an amazing book written at the end of the 18th century (anachronism hello) by Choderlos de Laclos. It deals with the libertinism and the Enlightenment in France. Y/N take la Marquise de Merteuil as a rôle model because she's pretty independent for a woman in her century and is an extremely good manipulator (something useful for Y/N). I heavily recommend you to read this book because it's one of my favourites if not at least read the resume on Wikipedia because there're might be some references in the future😏.
•I will do this kind of explanations for all the books who will appear in this story because it will be mainly french littérature (french culture was the boss at that time😎) so you might be unaware of what shit they're talking about. Same thing for historical facts.
•Women in the 18th century are pretty much seen as objects and (especially in the high class) needed to stay virgin till they were married (no shit Sherlock). I explain it well enough in this chapter why it was so important. I personally do not tolerate sexism but since it was the norme centuries ago so please bear it with me. (Hello historical accuracy).
Thank you for reading my story It makes me really happy knowing Some people might like what I'm writing even though it's the first book I wrote in my life. Lot and lot of love from France 💜💜
