| |
Secret of the
State
|
AUTHOR'S NOTE JULIETTE BENZONI
1998
This is a novel.
In accordance with a principle to which I remain
faithful, real characters mingle with those of
fiction in a way that I hope will be enjoyable.
However, while I have followed the course of
history as closely as possible, I have also used
the privilege of the novelist to add my own
personal perspective and to put forward certain
hypotheses, which are shared by other authors.
And then, after all, what if it were true?
ℐℬ
|
|
|
Synopsis :
La chambre de la
reine 1997
(The chamber
of the Queen)
Text translated from French by Linda,webmaster
Sylvie de Valaine, an adorable four year
old little girl that François de Vendôme, ten
years old, discovers on a June evening in 1626,
wandering in the forest of Anet, barefoot,
wearing a bloody shirt, will not be the
exception that proves the rule. She has just
escaped miraculously Richelieu's hands that
murdered her entire family ...
Raised by the Vendôme’s, Sylvie is made at
fifteen, maid of honor to the Queen who keeps on
plotting against Louis XIII and Richelieu and is
driven in very dangerous adventures.
Fortunately, François, with whom she is madly in
love but sees in her only a little girl, is
watching over her… |
|
|
 .
to the memory of
Princess Isabelle de Broglie who showed the
path.
ℐℬ |
|
|
|
Inscription
:
in the book of Linda Compagnoni Walther
(webmaster)
A ma Linda ! Et si s'était vrai? Affectueusement
Juliette (2014)
to my Linda
! And if it were true ?Affectionately
Juliette
[ création © Hélène Rouillé ]
Sylvie's
mother, Chiara de Valaines née Albizzi,
was a cousin of Queen Marie de Medici,
who was called from Florence to Paris by the
Queen. With a wink (as in some of her other
books), Juliette mentions this character again in the
saga
Le Bal des Poignards.
REMERCIEMENTS
I needed to read a lot of books to create the
trilogy that begins with this book. The list is
long, too long, and one novel does not justify
it.
Let's just say that it begins with 'La Vie
quotidienne au temps de Louis XIII' by Émile
Magne and 'the essential Vie de Louis XIII' by
Louis Vaunois, and continues through to the
admirable and fascinating 'Anne d'Autriche' by
Mme Claude Dulong, one of the finest texts ever
published on this troubled period (Hachette
Littérature).
But I would like to pay particular tribute here
to the fantastic amount of research and work
that went into 'Les Bâtards d'Henri IV' by
Jean-Paul Desprats, published in 1994 by
Librairie Académique Perrin. It saved me a lot
of pitfalls, and a lot of dust too, and these
are the kinds of things that should be
highlighted. To anyone who would like to have
certain facts or details clarified, I can only
recommend reading this fascinating work by a
true Benedictine.. ℐℬ |
|
|
|
|
Synopsis :
Le Roi des
Halles 1998
(The King of the Halls)
Text
translated from French by Linda,webmaster
How
much more
is
fate persisting
on
Sylvie de Valaines?
Not content to
have already killed her
mother, she is
thrown
into the clutches of
Laffemas
- the
executioner of Cardinal
Richelieu -
who
forces her to marry the willing La Ferrière,
who leaves the right of the “wedding night” to
his friend Laffemas (the mysterious murderer of
her mother) who rapes her. She is able to escape
and just as years back, François de Vendôme
finds her on the road, badly injured and decides
to act…
To hide her definitely from danger,
François takes Sylvie
under his protection and
decides to tell the
world that Sylvie is dead and brings her to
Belle-Isle,
before re-joining
his battalion.
Isolated, without
news,
Sylvie feels herself
totally abandoned
and
left to sink into
a dangerous
apathy.
She steps out of it when her
enemies, having
discovered the
subterfuge, start again
in pursuit of her… |
|
|
|
This book was finished at Saint-Mandé, November
5, 1997
Day of Saint Sylvie !
It says also: This story
find its achievement in the third book : The
Prisoner with the Mask.
«
The novelist wanders into the past with
disconcerting ease. No detail, no anecdote
escapes her... Juliette Benzoni is on first-name
terms with princes and receives confessions from
old stones. Her readers have the impression that
they are visiting the life in a castle. »
~
The critique of Sébastien Le Fol
~
[
in Le Figaro ] |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Synopsis :
Le prisonnier masqué
(The masked Prince) 1998
Text translated from French by Linda, webmaster
After
the death of her second husband, Sylvie de
Fontsomme had sworn never to see François de
Beaufort again and to live far from the
Court’s escapades. It is on family land that now
she raises her daughter Marie and little
Philippe, whose birth is kept secret.
But her hopes are in vain! The young King Louis
XIV has not forgotten her and demands her return
to the Court, where it will be impossible not to
cross the path of François, whom she had never
stopped loving and who seemed to have made peace
with the King after the follies of the Fronde. (Series
of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653,
during the minority of Louis XIV)
So she is again at the heart of everything she
thought she had finally fled, without forgetting
to mention the perfidious wheeling and dealing
of Colbert stalking tirelessly on behalf of her
friendship with the superintendent of the
Finances discharged: Nicolas Fouquet. |
|
Inscription in the Novel :
« At my
place, the secret is locked up in a house with
strong padlocks, the key to which is lost and
the door sealed". A Thousand and One Nights
♣ The
beautiful woman on the cover of Le prisonnier
masqué is a painting of
the Marquise de Montespan, one of the
mistresses of Louis XIV with whom he had six
children!
♣ Towards
the end of 'The Masked Prisoner', Sylvie de Fontsomme's daughter Marie marries an
Englishman, Lord Anthony Selton, in Versailles,
in the presence of Louis XIV. As avid readers of
Juliette Benzoni, we can assume that the author
is making a nod to
Marianne d'Asselnat,
whose
mother was Anne Selton of Selton Hall,
Devonshire, and who married the Marquis Pierre
d'Asselnat.
The France Loisirs
Book Club Editions 1998
and the
latest Editions by Pocket
2014 & 2015
♣ The books were also publied by: Grand Livre du
Mois, Éditions Gros Caractères V.D.B, Pocket
1999, Box set by Pocket 2001
SECRET d'ÉTAT / SECRET OF THE
STATE
La chambre de la reine - Le
roi des halles
Le prisonnier masqué
♣ The saga has also been translated in the
following countries :
The Editions of: Korea, Spain & Hungary
The Editions of : Portugal, Slovakia & Russia
|
Juliette Benzoni, a « Dumas in petticoats » |
extract
from the above article by ... Linda, webmaster
♣
Riding horses, tournaments and masked balls,
mansions and castles, tapestries and canopies,
state secrets and impossible loves in the latest
bestseller from « Queen ℐuliette »
 The
article by Cécile
Jaurès
Her fascination with history
dates back to her first manual, when, aged 9,
she discovered an engraving of Joan of Arc at
the stake. Since then, she has always wanted to
know more, to discover secrets, to come up with
hypotheses, to visit the places she describes to
immerse herself in them. Despite the centuries,
some things never change: the colour of the sky,
the nature, the atmosphere. While she makes use
of the novelist's privilege of not having to
provide proof, she takes care to be credible.
« Historical
accuracy is important, because readers are well
informed, thanks in particular to the TV
programmes that are targeted. In my books, I try
to entertain them but also to teach them
something ».
And that's undoubtedly the key to her success.
|
Juliette Benzoni stories about History |
♣
Juliette Benzoni is passionate about history,
and tells it in her own way. An inspired
chronicler, she has published the third volume
of Secrets d'État, entitled Le prisonnier masqué
(The Masked Prisoner).
The article of Chloé Radiguet
(1999)
♣ « In this third instalment of the Secret
d'Etat series, Juliette Benzoni once again
chronicles the court of Louis XIV... Noble
sentiments, blood, tears, mystery, providential
twists and turns, a thousand and one juicy
anecdotes, just the right amount of preciousness
to suit the times... Enhanced by her lively
writing, this is another potential bestseller
from the royal pen of Juliette Benzoni»
The critique of Marie Tourres
~
[ L'Express ]
... Louis XIII flirts with a violet-eyed
courtesan, while Cardinal Richelieu plots behind
her back. French history is seen through the
eyes of women, always enamoured. Juliette, alias
Fiora, Hortense or Sylvie, frolics at Valmy,
intrigues in the Louvre, seduces princes, but
never changes the course of history. Between
imaginary concubines, falsely natural children
and illegitimate love affairs, she lends the
crowned heads her wildly romantic dialogue. And
she always lands on her feet.
extract from an article by Pascale Nivelle, June
1999
~
[www.liberation.fr ]
|
|
My
little
Bijou's ... |
|
Extract
from « La chambre de la reine »
[ creation © Frédérique Aznag Zabée ]
Dialogue
between
Sylvie de Valaines and Cardinal
Richelieu
— Advise her * to keep quiet for ever
about what's happened over the last few months if she
wants to avoid any great misfortune. As for you, I'm
counting on your total silence! You should know that the
slightest untimely chatter would be a threat, not only
to your life but, above all, to that of this godfather
who is so dear to you! Did you understand me correctly?
Now very pale, Sylvie realised that everything
had been said, that the hearing was over, and she sank
into a deep reverence:
— I heard you, my lord!
she murmured, struggling to hold back her tears.
— Always remember that nothing is more deadly
than a State Secret!
* Cardinal Richelieu talks about Marie de
Hautefort
Extrait of « Le Roi des Halles »
[ Creation © Evelyne Diggelmann-Walther ]
Dialogue
between
The Queen of France and the five year old Louis
XIV
|
—
Sire,
she said with an emotion that brought back the
Spanish accent
—
see before you your mother and faithful
Subject ...
Then she stood up and motioned to François, who
bowed deeply:
—
This is the Duc de Beaufort, your cousin and
our friend, to whom I entrust you and your
brother. He will look after you well: he is the
most honest man in the kingdom.
The
child said nothing, but the smile he had had for
his mother faded, giving way to an unexpected
seriousness. He held out his hand, on which
François, kneeling, placed his lips. His hands
were trembling... |
Note :
In the trilogy « Secret d'État »,
Novelist Juliette Benzoni follows rumours that
the Duc de Beaufort was the real father of Louis
XIV and not King Louis XIII! |
|
[ creation © Frédérique Aznag Zabée ]
Dialogue
between
Sylvie de Valaines and the Duke of Beaufort
—
Sylvie, Sylvie, I beg you to listen to me!
Try to forget who we are and remember only the happy
days of yesteryear...
̶̶—
Then you didn't love me!" she said, trying to
free herself, but to no avail, because he held her
tight.
—
Or rather, I didn't know I loved you," he
corrected, "because I think I've always loved you, ever
since the first day I found a cute little girl wandering
barefoot in the forest of Anet. Remember... I took you
in my arms to bring you back to the castle and you
didn't struggle. On the contrary, you put your arm
around my neck and held me close...
Oh, what delicious memories! The dazzle of their first meeting! Sylvie
closed her eyes to revive them as François's words
breathed against her cheek. She was aware of the
infinite sweetness that invaded her. Yet she still tried
to fight, to loosen the tender grip that held her
captive:
—
Be quiet! ...for pity's sake! I shall scream...
— Scream, my love!
But he was already trapping her lips in a kiss
so ardent, so passionate that Sylvie thought she
was dying. Everything disappeared at once: the
place, the time, her conscience of who she was
and her conscience at all...
Extract of
« Le prisonnier masqué » |
[ creation © Frédérique Aznag Zabée ]
François de Bourbon-Vendôme, Duke of
Beaufort, named : Le Roi des Halles (The King of
the Halls)
|
A
little
bit
of
history... |
[ creation © Linda Compagnoni Walther ]
Françoise-Athénaïs
de
Rochechouart,
marquise de
Montespan
Daughter of
the marquis
de Mortemart,
In 1663 she
was married
to the
marquis de
Montespan,
by whom she
had two
children.
She was then
appointed
lady-in-waiting
to the queen
of France,
Marie-Thérèse
of Austria,
in 1664, and
became the
king Louis
XIV mistress
in 1667 and
had six
children
with him.
Her children
were later
legitimated. |
|
non-profit
site
© 2008
- 2024 catherinedemontsalvy.ch
All rights reserved
|
|
|
|
