The anniversary ball seemed so far away now to Louis, the Palace had stopped only for a couple of days of celebration before once more the cogs of the machine had started to turn with haste anew. The time had almost given room for them to forget all of it, had Louis not held to the memories like they were treasures of the most beautiful and rarest of items in the world. How could he not?
It had been as they had retired from the evening of the ball that the silent worry had touched his brow, Vanessa had sensed it as she changed for bed, her eyes finding his glazed over as he looked without seeing as the picture on the wall before him. No words had been spoken in that moment, there were no use for words, no need to voice the concerns that had already been felt by them both.
The maids had left quietly, almost knowing that the need to be alone was much more punctuated than usual, and as Vanessa's hands met his at the buttons on the nightwear he'd been working to do up, Louis' body awoke once more, his eyes refocusing. The slender fingers of his wife's finished the buttons effortlessly, before gently smoothing the material across his chest, careful to ready the are for her head as she gently rested her head there. No words, no need to break the silence as they stood together, as they always had, and always would. Louis' arms gently wrapped around her slender frame as his lips pressed the softest of kisses in to her hair just above her forehead.
"Je vais arranger ça," Louis had whispered softly, hoping to calm not only Vanessa's nerves, but his own. The presentation of their eldest daughter that evening had not gone amiss, and though Louis didn't believe it to be his son's active intentions to cause worry or pain to either one of them -- Jacques would never harm the family, no matter what he did or did not know -- there was no denying that something would be coming.
Sleep had come late in to the evening, neither one of them being able to rest despite Louis' promise to fix it, but for days, nothing had been brought forth by their son. Perhaps too preoccupied with Mimosa around the Palace, or else unsure on how to broach the subject, Louis had been waiting for the conversation to come.
Waiting, and ready.
It had come late in August, Mimosa's day had been scheduled to spend with her grandmere, Jacques' day to be spent with his Papa. There was always work to be done, and -- Louis would always think this with a swell of pride in his chest -- Jacques never shrugged away from his responsibilities, wanting to understand all of the information presented to him, in order that he could do all of this well by himself when the time came. Of course, managing such a large amount of countries was never going to be a one person job, but Louis hoped their daughter would be home with them when the need arose.
The morning had been spent well, looking in to the management of the assets with various members of staff, Jacques' inputs and questions had led to small alterations being made that all parties agreed was going to be beneficial to them all. The younger man was learning well, and Louis had been proud of him, to say the least. Everything Ven and he had worked for was not going to go to waste in their son's hands, he would make the Clement name stronger than before, Louis was sure of it.
"Papa," Jacques started, putting down his cup on the desk. They had been working quietly for a short time now, pausing only when the drinks had been presented to them.
"Oui?" Louis had returned, reading through the profit figures of the last quarter on the page before him.
"I wanted to ask you something, Papa." Jacques continued, and Louis' eyes stopped moving across the page, looking up to his son instead. A single nod denoted his son should continue on with his line of questioning. Jacques' features were showing his own discomfort, the indecision of asking the question he wished to, but the determination to see his idea through regardless. "I want you to know I'm not asking out of defiance, Papa. You've never asked me to not ask, though, so I hope you will forgive me if I am pushing the line."
The feeling of dread swept through the older Clement in that moment, the Lord Clement knowing what was coming, and still not feeling ready to explain to his son. But he would, because there was no need to hide it any more.
"When Mimosa came to the Palace, Maman and you asked us to treat Mimosa like one of us, protect her, love her, and not let her ever feel like she didn't belong here." Jacques continued, pausing with a look of uncertainty. "I didn't question why, I did as you asked of me. Elenore tried her best, too, but she didn't understand enough..." The younger man shook his head, clearly not wishing to speak badly of his sister, but trying to show they had both tried, even with varying degrees of success.
"I've met Mimosa's Maman. As have you, actually, Azalea Harrington was at your anniversary ball a few weeks ago." Jacques paused once more, allowing a moment for the unspoken point that Louis had known who the witch was. He conceded the point in near silence, waiting for Jacques to continue. "I appreciate you haven't told us whilst we were growing up, Papa, and I know that what I'm asking now is not going to be easy. Who is Mimosa to us, Papa?"
The lump had formed firmly in Louis' throat in that moment, his eyes holding his son's for a moment before he placed the papers in his hand back upon his desk, and sat up straighter. He had promised Ven he would fix this, and there was only one way of completing that promise.
"You're much too clever for your own good, sometimes." Louis would open with, the pride in his voice quite clear. Even if Jacques was opening a very old wound with what he was saying, he had worked through most of the puzzle himself. The truth was all that was left now.
"Your Maman and I have been together since we were born," Louis started, watching his son's frame relax, knowing that he was not going to be told off, or refused the answers he was looking for. "We were... destined to be together from that point. My own Grandmere had us betrothed from that point in order to ensure we would both grow up knowing our duty to one another." The mild look of confusion touched Jacques' features in that moment, once again showing he was much too clever for his own good. "Your Uncle was very sickly from an infant, the likelihood he would survive long enough to take over from our parents was doubtful, and my Grandmere was much too clever, like you, to allow time to be wasted upon a union that would not last."
Jacques' response came as only a nod, patiently waiting for the next part.
"I am fifty three now," Louis continued. "To be married for only twenty five years, when you've been betrothed since birth would seem to be very little, non? Your Maman and I were to be married at eighteen, when we graduated from Beauxbatons, but I never graduated from the school.
"There was an incident at school, for which you will find no note of in their history, that led to my expulsion from the school. They had very little choice in the matter, and upon my Grandmere finding out what I had done, she sent me from the Palace to the military." Louis explained, watching the story fall in to place from his son's features. They didn't need to explicitly say what had happened, Jacques was more than clever enough to fill in the pieces of the puzzle.
"I never got to say goodbye to your Maman before I left, we were forced apart. Your Maman retired from the Palace to her family home in Woodstock the moment she graduated from Beauxbatons, and I had been sent out in to the world away from here." Louis explained, keeping his voice as even as he could because even now, discussing the separation from Ven was too raw to experience, too painful to speak of, but this was the only way to make this work.
"Your Maman refused to see anyone until I returned. She refused to marry others, the threat of me never returning not jarring her in to another course. Your Maman held our love above all else, and remained true to our promise to only love the other," Louis continued, clearing his throat slightly before he continued. "Your Papa, I'm sorry to say, was not such a good man. The military toured quite often, sending us across the world in the ten year stint I endured.
"I was in America in the winter of nineteen ninety two, and I met a young lady in my time there." Louis continued, trying to contain the pain as he continued. "She fell pregnant due to my recklessness and refused to give up the child. She didn't understand the cost it would would be to me, nor my family, so she kept the child. I couldn't bring myself to take action against the child, and thus, Azalea was born. The woman and her friend decided to keep her, though I don't really know the story of the child's upbringing.
"I had shamed my family, I had betrayed your Maman, and I didn't want the child to cause more pain to the house than she already had. I returned to your Maman in nineteen ninety eight with a heavy heart, and the hope she would forgive my infidelity one day." Louis finalised, letting out a soft sigh and for a moment allowing the study they resided in to fall quiet.
"We didn't tell you when you were younger because it was already painful for your Maman to remember that time. Mimosa is my granddaughter, I cannot change that fact, and your Maman is graciously accepting of my shortfalls. That is why Mimosa is part of our family, as our Ward. But Mimosa must never know, and you must never speak of this in front of your Maman. I have broken her heart enough for one life time, and we do not need to hurt her more."
Louis finalised it all with the soft plea of understanding from his son, who's eyes had not left him. No interruptions had come, the only sign of his distaste for the subject the subtle tension in his arms that gave away the anger he wouldn't openly show anywhere else.
"Maman forgave you." Jacques spoke very gently, almost much too gently. The dangerous edge of the Clement temper lying dormant in his son was gently rising, but he didn't act upon it. Only the slight change in the kinetic energy of the room denoted Jacques' feelings, but Louis would forgive him a hundred times over, the boy believed him, and that was enough. "So I will, too."
The younger Clement rose to his feet in that moment, taking up his papers and moving to the door. Louis made no move to stop him, knowing that his son would not speak of this again outside this room. Jacques paused at the door, though, turning back to look at his father.
"Mimosa and Azalea will never know from me, but I will make sure both of them have the full support of our house, as long as I live." Without another word, Jacques departed the room, gently closing the door behind him and leaving Louis on his own. The man's own hands were shaking in that moment, the fear of telling his son the almost truth but ultimate lie flooding through his system. It was the only way, though, he could never have their children thinking ill of their Maman.
Vanessa Jhalak Clement had suffered enough for one life time.
________________________________________________~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~
Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3 
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