Spring 1608-1612

When the Queen found she was pregnant again, the entire Royal Family and their close friends, followed by their trusted servants left the Court and moved to their spring Residence, where Isabelle was going to give birth.

Even if they already had three beautiful children (two daughters and a son), both the Queen and the King were happy about their fourth baby and hoped for a younger brother for the Crown Prince.

Madame Royale, Princess Blanche de Croy, a very talented pianist.

At their arrival at the Spring Residence, the Royal Family met with Guigues d'Albon and his young wife, Marie Victoire.They were spending the spring there too, so the two noble families decided to enjoy the warm season together, away from the crowded and restless Royal Court back from Paris.

Marie Victoire also had a little surprise for the Queen, offering her the latter-day fad: a little black girl from Senegal, named Zanzi.

The young Senegalese charmed everyone, being full of life and befriending the nobles' children, especially Princess Blanche de Croy.Queen Isabella adored her gift and soon started to treat her as her own daughter.

Madame Royale playing chess with her new friend, Zanzi.

Zanzi wore the same dresses as the Princess and also attended dance and music lessons with the Royal children.

Madame Royal at her violin lessons.

Zanzi, spending some time with young Princess Angelique.

Unfortunately, in 1907, the Crown Prince got measles and in only a few weeks died.The King and the Queen were devastated by the child's tragic death and Princess' Cecile's birth didn't manage to comfort the mourning parents.Not even Zanzi's nimble attitude didn't seem to bring the smile back on their faces.

Soon after those events, everyone returned to the Court, where, in 1611 Prince Jean Gaston de Croy, Count of Barcelona, was born and everyone seemed a little more confident about the Kingdom's future.

The Queen, pregnant for the fifth time.

In 1912, Madame Royale (King Philip and Queen Isabellas'oldest daughter, Blanche de Croy) was betrothed to Maximilian de Valois.But Madame Royale and Maximilian's antagonist tempers predicted a stirring marriage.

Young Madame Royale with her sister, Cecile de Croy.

Winter 1604-1608

Devastated by his wife's tragic death, the recently widowed Marquis Guigues Levieux d'Albon returned to his old habits.He started spending incalculable sums of money at the French Royal Court, gambling, sleeping with different women (from noble ladies with immaculate reputations to the last prostitute).He regained his scandalous reputation in a few months.

Worried about his sanity and even physical health (but more worried for the Marquis' fortune), his friends convinced him to accept a young lady from the Court as his wife.

Marie Victoire de Noailles arrived at her husband's countryside domains in a late winter evening, tired and bored from the long tramp between Paris and Poitou.But the sludge where her heels sinked from her first step outside the carriage and the disturbing odor were not exactly welcome committee that she expected to see.

Her husband, now dressed as a normal poor nobleman from the countryside welcomed her with a frown and an insult about her inappropriate vestment for such a long voyage.Of course, the late hour when she arrived and all the mess that her valets created when they started unloading the carriage and store her chests and furniture, plus the fact that the noise woke up and scared the numerous children didn't create the best impression about the newcomer lady of the house.

Marie Victoire's first night in that castle wasn't far better.Her feet were cold and painful from the long journey and her husband's attitude didn't seem to improve too much from the moment she arrived.

The next few weeks were a series of disappointments.There weren't enough servants in the castle, the existent servants were lazy and more like a bunch of ill-mannered peasant than a valet and the children were all bad mannered and too noisy, by Marie Victoire's standards.

Guigues didn't seem to hear his wife complaining about everything and spent most of his time locked in the study room.In a couple of years she was going to change ... he calmly thought, comparing the spoiled little new Marquise with the elegant, yet temperate Gotelana.

By the moment Marie Victoire seemed to surrender and accept the livelihood there, the couple received an invitation at the Royal Court.

In the midst of luxury her husband looked completely changed: his smile was again charming and his attitude became mysterious and elegant.He flirted with many women but spent most of his time in his wife's company, allowing her any indulgence.They spent three months like this and, by the time they returned, Marie Victoire was more in love with her husband than anytime in her life.She was also very pregnant.

In 1608 she gave birth to two beautiful twin girls, Isabelle and Sophie.

Winter 1604-1608

Soon after his wife was accused of witchcraft and executed, Junien started searching for a new mother for his son.

He met the young Jenne Martin, a servant who worked for the Valois family as their Scullery Maid.The jealous girl was already blinded by her obsession for her master and, after his last refusal, she decided to accept Junien's proposal.

The two of them soon got married and she left Maximilian's domains and moved in with Junien and his son.

Well, their first night as a husband and wife wasn't exactly how Jenne expected it to be.After their religious ceremony at the church, Junien radically transformed into a new man, violent and discontented by everything.He raped his young bride, unimpressed by her cries.

And so the two of them started their life together ...

Winter 1604-1608

It hasn't been exactly the greatest winter for the poor serfs.

Little baby Anne (Marcelet and Chrestienne's second daughter) died in the winter of 1606.Poor parents thought that after loosing one child, God will be merciful to them, but no, they lost little Anne (only 4 years old when she tragically died of smallpox ), only to be followed by her younger sister, Mariot, the next year (winter of 1607).Her parents were devastated.

Even so, their children's tragic death didn't impress the assessor, who insisted that they had to pay their taxes to the Court.Chrestienne cried and begged for a little more time, just until the crops will be ready to be harvested, but the heartless man took almost everything from their hovel, letting the family only with the clothes they were wearing.

Chrestienne's fourth pregnancy didn't make the things easier for them either.

By the end of the winter, she gave birth to Haiete.Unfortunately, the the mother died of childbed fever a week later, leaving poor Marcelet alone with their baby.

assesor - an official who evaluates property for the purpose of taxing it (I translated it from my language, where the definition is "Officer in charge of collecting taxes from people" ).

childbed fever - A bacterial infection of the female reproductive organs following childbirth.