A Midnight Dance (50 page)

 

Caleçon
s—Drawers/underwear.

 

Chamber
s—Another word for private apartments. A lord’s or lady’s chambers consisted of a bedroom, a sitting room, a bathroom, and a
cabinet
(office). Some chambers were bigger and more elaborate than others. Some
cabinets
were so large, they were used for private meetings.

 

Chèr
e—Dear one. Endearment for a woman (
cher
for a man).

 

Chéri
e—Darling or cherished one. Endearment for a woman
(chéri
for a man).

 

Comt
e—Count.

 

Comtess
e—Countess.

 

Die
u—God.

 

Fronde, the
—A civil uprising that started in 1648 and ended in 1653. Incited by power-hungry nobles, they almost dethroned their boy King. (Louis XIV was only ten years old when it began.) Louis was forced to flee Paris in the night with his mother and live in exile for a while. He never forgot what he and his mother endured during this tense, tumultuous time. He developed a lifelong dislike and mistrust for the aristocracy. Intent on being absolute ruler, he spent his reign intimidating them.

 

Frondeur—
Someone who is a traitor to the Crown, having been part of the uprising against the young King Louis XIV.

 

Hôte
l—A mansion located in the city. The upper class and the wealthy bourgeois (middle class) often had a mansion in Paris (
hôtel
) in addition to their palatial country estates (
château
).

 

Lettre de Cache
t—Order/letter of confinement—without trial—signed by the King with the royal seal (
cachet
).

 

Ma bell
e—My beauty. Endearment for a woman.

 

Merd
e—Shit.

 

Seigneur Die
u—Lord God.

 

Tesora
(Italian)—Darling.

 

Awakened by a Kiss
The Princess in His Bed
A Midnight Dance