The Women of Chateau Lafayette

After Lafayette submits his declaration, the king refuses it, and the citizens revolt by dismantling the Bastille. As a result, Paris is in turmoil, and Adrienne is called upon by the leaders of Paris, who want to know whether Gilbert (who is still in Versailles) will defend the people and lead the new nation. Adrienne accepts on his behalf, and Gilbert later ratifies this when he returns. Adrienne then organizes her home as an officers’ mess and feeds soldiers while Gilbert rides out every morning to try and restore order in the city. Eventually, the king comes to Paris and surrenders himself into Gilbert’s power. He accepts the Revolutionary cockade in Paris’s colors (red and blue), and Gilbert combines it with the white ribbon of the monarchy, creating the tricolor flag worn by patriots thereafter.

However, the mob remains furious, and Gilbert nearly resigns over the killing of an innocent man. Then, when the Hôtel de Ville is captured by fishwives, Gilbert is threatened with death while defending the king’s life. The king is overthrown, and he accepts the declaration, but the mob infiltrates the palace and demands the queen’s head. Only when Gilbert makes a show of bowing to the queen and making her wear the cockade does the mob relent. Gilbert suspects that Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, is encouraging the mob to take over the throne; he warns Philippe to leave because Paris is not safe for anyone with royal blood. When Adrienne visits the queen, Marie Antoinette is resentful of her circumstances. Meanwhile, the whole city prepares for the Fête de la Fédération to celebrate the constitution, and hundreds of thousands attend and swear the oath of allegiance to the constitution, its king, and the nation. Adrienne believes that the Revolution has won.

The war has reached America, as Germans have bombed manufacturing areas in New York. Willie has returned to New York, and when he and Beatrice are alone, he tells her that in his last conversation with Victor, her nephew implied that he knew he was going to die in the war. Beatrice doesn’t believe that Victor had thoughts of dying, but before she can fully voice her opinion, Willie begins to sob—a first in their marriage. Condolences for her nephew pour in, and Beatrice decides to take the family to Bar Habor. Before they leave, she notices the heavy scent of liquor on Willie’s breath. When she comments on the frequency of his drinking, he tells her that he still feels phantom pains from his missing leg and insists that doctors would have him on morphine to dull the pain if he did not drink. A few days into their trip, however, Willie is drunk before noon and becomes bad-tempered with his son, Billy. The next day, as they go about in their yacht, Beatrice tells Willie of her toy shop idea to sell the French dolls for the Lafayette Fund. Willie snidely tells her not to behave like a silly woman who does not understand the real needs of war. They fight and argue, and Beatrice forces Willie to have the yacht turned around. Though he is drunk, Willie drives them back home, and he crashes the car.

At Mass in August 1942, the priest denounces the recent roundups of Jews and foreigners and intimates that religious liberty needs protecting. Marthe is enraged to learn that children are being rounded up. She visits Madame Pinton and convinces her to allow the other Kohn children to be admitted to the preventorium under new identities in order to protect them. Madame Pinton initially hesitates, as identity cards have changed and are stamped differently now. Marthe resolves to make a perfect copy of the stamp. Her first attempts fail, and as the deadline for new admissions approaches, the government enforces conscription. The household management teacher, Faustine, viciously points out that Sam and Marthe will be conscripted soon if Marthe cannot find a man to make an honest woman out of her. Marthe throws an apple at her, and Faustine implies that her relationship with Anna is unnatural. Anna defends Marthe, but when they are alone, she confronts Marthe for her frequent thefts of alcohol and implores her to apologize, lest what she believes are disgusting rumors about them spread. Hurt, Marthe reluctantly agrees to keep away from Faustine and spends all her time making the new identity cards. Finally, she succeeds. Under the pretense of an apology, she bargains to replace Faustine on her errands and goes to Madame Pinton’s house, where she finalizes the cards with the children’s fingerprints. They plan to apply to the preventorium on admission day, and when Marthe returns to the castle, she cannot bring herself to burn the fake stamp she has crafted. When she hides it in a hat box, she finds a picture of a middle-aged man with the name Furlaud written on the back.

In June 1791, rumors spread that Gilbert and Marie Antoinette were having an affair. Rising politicians such as Maximilien Robespierre demand inquiries, and suddenly, the king goes missing. The mob emerges again, and few believe that the king has been abducted as the official announcement claims. Just as Gilbert manages to fight his way to the National Assembly, Adrienne receives a missive containing a statement by the king wherein he denounces the constitution, bemoans his lost privileges, and believes himself above accountability for his expenditures. The king is eventually found, and Gilbert takes him into custody. The king reveals that he was always insincere in his dealings with Lafayette and the public. Anger against the king rises, and Adrienne’s family disperses to safety, while persecution begins against nonjuring priests. However, Adrienne’s faith does not allow her to accept this violence against priests who will not swear to uphold the law of the nation over the law of God, and though Gilbert asks her to compromise, she refuses. Furious, he does not speak with her for days, but when the new bishop visits and instructs him to crush her spirit, Gilbert refuses to do so. Anarchy and violence descend when Gilbert is at the Champ de Mars, and a mob approaches Adrienne’s house, yelling for her death. Gilbert’s men defend her until he returns. He tells her of the massacre that occurred at the Champ des Mars and how powerless he was to stop it. When the king signs a new constitution and a tentative peace is held, the Lafayettes return to Chavaniac.

Two months after the car accident, Beatrice avoids Willie by immersing herself in work for the Fund and organizing an Allied Ball. No one was hurt in the crash, but she can no longer face him, nor can she live with him. Her symptoms after the crash indicated a miscarriage, and she was told to avoid pregnancy or risk complications. Now, when she returns home after the ball, Willie is waiting for her at her home. He announces that he is going to buy Chavaniac for her. Though he doesn’t seem interested in living there, he gives her the idea of making it into a museum. Much to his displeasure, Beatrice goes with him to France to finalize the sale. He is miserable during the trip and drinks too often, but he tries to show that he values Beatrice’s happiness over his own by meeting her friends when they arrive and attempting to stay sober. The war has been hard on Emily, Clara, and Marie-Louise, as the number of widows and refugee children continues to increase rapidly. At dinner, Clara points out that the Lafayette family will not sell the estate without unanimous agreement in the family, and one of the most reluctant members just so happens to be serving in the war. Beatrice decides to enlist Max’s help to meet Lafayette’s descendant.

Marthe has been snooping in Madame Beatrice’s old hat boxes and finds the love letters between her and Maxime Furlaud. When Marthe presses the baroness for information on a possible connection to Minerva Furlaud, the baroness is adamant that this is not a story she can tell. Sergeant Travert appears with another gendarme, and though everyone believes they mean to arrest the boys, they ask for Marthe.

Before they leave Paris, Gilbert is presented with a second ceremonial sword made from the iron bolts of the Bastille. Pauline, Adrienne’s sister, plans to leave the country and staunchly proclaims herself on the side of royalists, rebuking the constitution. Still, she entreats Gilbert to move to America, where Adrienne and the children might be safe. With uneasy hearts, the Lafayettes leave Paris, but they revel in returning to Chavaniac and make it their home. By Christmas, however, Gilbert is called upon to take control of 50,000 troops to defend France against counterrevolutionary forces. Adrienne wants to follow him to the border, but he leaves her with the task of safeguarding the castle. The new government of France declares war on Austria and promptly loses. Mutiny follows, and the Noailles find themselves between factions. When Gilbert requests that Adrienne and the children join him at the border, she decides to remain in Chavaniac instead.

In a secluded room, Travert interrogates Marthe about a man with the surname of Beaufort, whom he arrested in the forest. Though Uriah has been uncooperative and refuses to reveal anything, Travert correctly guesses that Marthe made the fake cards and warns her of her carelessness. He reveals that he, too, is defying the Nazi regime, though he can only commit small acts of rebellion. When Marthe asks what reason they should give for his visit, he tells her to say that he has come to propose to her. Marthe is aware that he has been interested in her, but she is still taken aback. Travert lists the benefits of being his wife, chief among them the fact that no one would suspect the gendarme’s wife of working against the regime.

In Amiens, Beatrice reunites with Max to track down Lafayette’s descendant. Their reunion is bittersweet, as they each still hold feelings for each other. A staff nurse approaches Max with a young baby that he has named Marthe: an orphan from a destroyed village. Beatrice decides to take the child to Clara. She then proceeds to meet Commandant Chambrun, Lafayette’s descendant. He is initially resistant to the idea of selling the estate since Beatrice intends to make the castle a monument to what she believes to be the last war. As they talk, Beatrice is struck with an idea. She proposes to make the chateau a sanctuary and a school for displaced children and orphans. The commandant gives her his blessing. With Marthe in tow, Beatrice returns to Paris, and her friends are ecstatic at her idea for the castle. They all celebrate Christmas together, but Willie is feeling ill by the end. From a letter she has received, Beatrice learns that Max stopped by to check on her sons for her in New York. She then opens a sealed letter that Max gave her before leaving Amiens, wherein he thanks her for saving his life and confesses his love for her. Emily gives birth to a baby girl named Anna in the new year, and when she returns home that night, Beatrice finds Willie unresponsive in bed; a needle and a vial are on his bedside table.

In August 1792, the National Guard arrives at Chavaniac with the intention of burning it down, but Adrienne circumvents the danger by offering them food and lodging. Meanwhile, Paris is embroiled in civil war under the Jacobins’ government, led by Robespierre. Due to a mutiny among the troops, Gilbert is on the run and has left France. Adrienne prepares for the inevitable seizing of his assets and the violence that will now be directed at her and her children. She sends her son away with his tutor to safety, burns her correspondences with Lafayette, and hides his ceremonial swords. Just as she arranges for the castle to be put under civic seal, she receives news that Gilbert has been captured by the Austrians. Adrienne goes to Brioude to stand in a tribunal and is acquitted of the charges against her on account of being Lafayette’s wife. When she returns to Chavaniac, an armed mob comes for her. They ransack the castle and take her, Anastasie, and Gilbert’s aunt with them to be tried in a different court in Le Puy.

Beatrice discovers that Willie has been taking morphine for his pain. She confides in Clara that she struggles with her now loveless marriage, and instead of confronting the problem with him, she once again occupies herself with her work. She visits Chavaniac to determine the extent of the construction work needed. Like Adrienne before her, she falls in love with the castle despite its need of many repairs. As she assesses the rebuilding materials, staffing needs, and construction plans, she decides to include a new addition to the grounds.

Marthe marries Yves Travert despite Anna’s objections because she knows doing so will allow her to implement her forgeries and avoid the scrutiny of prying eyes. After the ceremony, she and Travert go to a nice hotel. Marthe is nervous since she does not know Travert well. However, he is a keen man and insists on having a conversation about her love for Henri and for Anna. When he mentions Anna, Marthe panics and fears the worst, but Travert gathers her in his arm and quiets her fears, letting her cry. When she tries to have sex with him, he warns her that he will not be the man she wants him to be—a man who hurts her and becomes a focal point for her resentments. They have sex for the first time, and as they lie together afterward, the radio announces that the Americans have landed in North Africa.