The Wild Queen by Carolyn Meyer Page A

as poor as a beggar!”
    What can be said to such a jealous and spiteful person? I felt as though she had slapped me. I was about to utter some cruel words, but I thought of my mother and said only, “Madame, I am sorry for you.”
    Then I told my mistress of the wardrobe that if she saw the governess taking away any of my things without my explicit consent, she should inform me quietly. “If I want to give one of my gowns to the abbess or to any other worthy person, that is my right. Madame de Parois has nothing to say about it.”
    ***
    That was not the end of our battles. Parois insisted she had the authority to tell me what I could and could not wear. I was fond of jewels, like many girls of my age, and I could indulge my fondness because I had so many—several chests of costly necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings. One day I decided to put on a pearl necklace with a large sapphire that went nicely with the blue velvet gown I was wearing. As Magdalène, my maidservant, was clasping it around my neck, Madame de Parois noticed and frowned. No one could frown as deeply as my governess.
    â€œDo not wear that necklace, Marie,” she said.
“Je vous en prie—I
beg you.”
    Magdalène began to remove it, but I stopped her. “Do continue, Magdalène. I want to wear it.”
    â€œIt is not appropriate for you to wear that necklace to your lessons,” insisted my governess. My maidservant hesitated, looking from one to the other, unsure whom to obey.
    â€œIt is my necklace,” I said, “and I shall wear it if I wish.”
    I refused to surrender in this battle of wills, and so did my governess. “It is my responsibility to you, your mother, and the royal family of France to see that you are appropriately attired,” she barked, her jaw tightly clenched. “And I am instructing you that the necklace is not appropriate. Kindly remove it at once.”
    In a temper I seized a handful of rings and bracelets and defiantly began to put on all of them. Tears were streaming down the cheeks of poor frightened Magdalène, who had no idea what she should do.
    â€œYou leave me no choice but to report your willfulness and your disobedience to your lady mother!” The furious woman was seething with righteous anger.
    â€œComme vous voulez, madame!”
I told her in a saucy singsong. “Do as you like!”
    â€œYou are becoming a wild thing!” she cried passionately “Your behavior and your speech are unseemly!”
    â€œA wild thing, you say? Then I say, Good! I shall be as wild as you think I am. A wild queen!”
    To make my point, I wore the necklace and more than enough rings every day for a week. Meanwhile, Madame de Parois, true to her word, wrote to my mother. I knew this might not end well, and I also wrote to my mother, trying to win her support.
    Please, dearest Madame my mother,
I wrote beseechingly,
pay as little attention as you possibly can to the reports sent to you by my lady governess, Madame de Parois, on the issue of my wardrobe, over which I know that she has full authority, though it would seem such authority is
    no longer warranted, as I am now of an age where I may be trusted to make decisions on my own behalf on my manner of dress.
    I was not sure my mother would agree that at almost eleven I could be trusted in such matters, and I was sick with worry that my governess’s complaints would cause my mother a great deal of displeasure. Nothing in my life could distress me more than knowing the dearest person on earth, my mother, would love me less because of this thoroughly unpleasant person. What if Madame de Parois reported the conversation in which I had vowed to be a wild queen?
    As a result I fell seriously ill—and I was certain my illness
was
a result of the worry—and I even believed for a time that I might die. And if I did not die, I was convinced that I would not fully recover my health and