(NOTE: page numbers refer to the hardcover edition)
When Mireille and Valentine were seven years old, they lost their
parents; it was the Abbess of Montglane who really brought them up. The
abbess and Valentine were the two most important people in Mireille's life
at the beginning of the book. Probably, the abbess was the closest thing
to a parent that Mireille and Valentine had (if this makes any sense).
Although we don't see much of this in the book, I'm sure that the abbess
was in charge of Mireille's education. Unfortunately, we don't know how
much Mireille learned at Montglane and how much she learned after she
left. For example, I am almost certain that Mireille knew Latin. She had
to read Newton's papers before figuring out the formula; Newton wrote in
Latin. Also, she is familiar with the story of Dido and Aeneas (p. 254),
but of course it is possible that she read the Aeneid in French
instead of Latin. Would there have been a copy of the Aeneid at a
convent, though? She might have read it after she left Montglane; David
probably would have had a copy. (In French or Latin? That's what I don't
know.)
Did the abbess teach Mireille English? We know that Mireille speaks
English very well (p. 436), but we don't know where she learned it.
According to a book I read recently, girls who went to convent schools at
this time did not learn foreign languages--modern foreign languages, that
is; it was pretty common for the older girls, especially, to learn Latin.
(This book, by the way, is L'Education des filles aux temps des
Lumières, by Martine Sonnet. For those of you who don't know
French, the title means The Education of Girls in the Age of
Enlightenment; unfortunately, it has not been translated into English,
but, if you do know French, it is well worth reading.) Anyway, if
Mireille did not learn English when she was at the convent, where would
she have learned it? At David's house? That is one possibility, but, as
David says, he could not find a governess for Mireille and Valentine: "I
have searched all over Paris for a suitable governess to continue their
education" (p. 50). So it sounds as if the girls' education was somewhat
neglected after they left Montglane. The only other possibility I can
think of is that Mireille learned English on the ship, on the way to
England, but this doesn't seem very likely; she wasn't on the ship long
enough for that. Shahin was with her, too, and he did not learn English.
My own opinion is that the abbess taught her privately; she probably knew
that Mireille was more intelligent than Valentine (and the other girls at
the convent? We don't know anything about them). So, since Mireille was
more intelligent, the abbess might have taught her things that she didn't
teach Valentine and the other girls.
Of course the abbess knew all along who Mireille was. As soon
as she saw the 8 on Mireille's hand, she would have known that Mireille
was the next Black Queen. The abbess wanted to keep this a secret from
the White team (as long as she possibly could; she knew the White team
would find out eventually), so at first she made it seem like Valentine
was more important than Mireille. In the very first chapter, she makes
Valentine, not Mireille, a collection point where the other nuns can leave
pieces if they have to flee the country (p. 17). When Sister Claude comes
to Paris from Caen, just before the massacres, it is Valentine that she
tries to see (p. 150). And, of course, Valentine is the one who was
killed for what she knew about the pieces.
This brings up some questions, though. The abbess made Valentine seem
like the more important of the two girls in order to distract the White
team, but did she realize that this would lead to Valentine's death?
Also, did Marat know all along that Mireille was more important than
Valentine? If he had known, would he have had Mireille killed in the
massacres along with Valentine? I think he knew that both girls were
important, but at first he might have thought (as the abbess wanted him
to?) that Valentine was more important. Then, during the confrontation
with Mireille at the prison, he might have seen the 8 on Mireille's hand
and realized who Mireille was. (And then he killed Valentine anyway, even
though he knew she wasn't as important as Mireille. This just shows how
evil he was.)
After Valentine's death, the abbess and Mireille become very angry with
each other. I think this is more the abbess' fault than Mireille's. At
one point, the abbess shows a surprising lack of concern for Mireille.
When she is talking to Catherine the Great, the abbess says, "One of the
players is missing, along with some pieces. I must recover them... Eight
pieces were in Paris when this young woman disappeared." (p. 301-302).
This makes it seem as if the abbess cared more about the pieces than about
Mireille. You would think the abbess would show more concern for the girl
she had brought up since the age of seven!
Later, when Mireille is in the desert, the abbess writes her an angry
letter: "In learning of your absence from Paris, I feared not only for
you, but for the fate of that which God placed within your guardianship--a
responsibility I discover you've spurned. I am in despair for those of
your Sisters who may have fled to that city seeking your aid when you were
not there to help them..." (p. 345). Did the abbess know what danger
Mireille was in, from Marat? Yes, she did, as the next paragraph of her
letter makes clear: "I remind you"--does Mireille need reminding?--"that
we face powerful adversaries who will halt at nothing to achieve their
ends--who've organized their opposition while we've been blown by the
winds of fate." (p. 345). Knowing of the danger to Mireille makes the
abbess' lack of concern even worse. How could Mireille have stayed in
Paris when Marat was after her? If Marat had killed her, the pieces would
not have been safe; Marat would have had them! I do not understand what
the abbess was thinking here.
Mireille's anger with the abbess is much more understandable than the
abbess' anger with her. Mireille says to Corday: "I marvel at the
temerity of our abbess--a woman entrusted by God with the souls of fifty
women, women cloistered from the world, who believed in her as in their
own lives. She told us the pieces were dangerous--but not that we'd be
hunted down and killed for them! What sort of shepherd leads his own
sheep to the slaughter?" (p. 351). Mireille is right, of course; the
abbess told the nuns they were in danger, but not how much danger.
It's possible that she did it for their own protection, but still,
Mireille has a right to be angry with the abbess after what happened to
Valentine.
Although Mireille is angry with the abbess, it does not last long. She
spends at least two years looking for her (see my article about what
Mireille was doing between 1794 and 1798, for my opinion on how long
Mireille spent looking for the abbess). Then, when Mireille finally finds
her, the abbess is about to die; this is one of the most emotional scenes
in the whole book. It is obvious that the abbess is no longer angry with
Mireille, either. They are reconciled, but only when it is too late.
Copyright 1997 Vicki Kondelik.
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