My Entry for the STACH Short Story Contest #16: 199 words, 10SBD prize pool

peculiarerhis (37)in #stach • 6 years ago

LIVE FREE – A TALE OF LOVE

Madeleine Courtois was undoubtedly the most talked-about woman in the ton. She was the French-born mistress of the most powerful man of the beau monde: the Duke of Cornwall. Fate had thrown the two together in a hunting party hosted by the Earl of Rotherham. The Duke had been an unhappy man stuck in a loveless marriage, and Madeleine, a lowly maid.

Love had blossomed and soon, the lovebirds started a relationship that set tongues wagging. The duchess, a heartless woman who loved not her husband but the fame and wealth her position brought her, had been none too pleased about it, spreading insulting tales in an effort to thoroughly besmirch Madeleine’s reputation.

Eventually, everyone realized that as scandalous and unbelievable as it sounded, the Duke really loved his French mistress. Madeleine herself couldn’t care less about the tales being bandied about. She was in love and she wanted to live free.

In a tea party one sunny afternoon, the Countess of Warwick had asked her in a moment of courage, ‘What about morality?”

“Morality?” Madeleine had scoffed, “I make a pact with morality, cherie. I never take it to bed with me.”