NOTE: Page numbers refer to the hardcover edition.
We do not know much about Mireille's parents, except that they died of
the plague (p. 6) in 1782 or so, when Mireille was seven years old, and
that they left Mireille to Montglane Abbey. I also assumed they lived in
Paris; it does not specifically say this in the book, but it seems very
likely. Now, if her parents were from Paris, why would they leave
Mireille to Montglane, of all places, when it was so remote and so far
away from Paris? If they wanted to leave her to a convent, there were
many convents in Paris to choose from.
Of course, Mireille was born with the 8 on her hand; her parents must
have seen it. But how would they know what it meant, unless they were in
the Game? So, if they had been in the Game, and knew what the 8 on her
hand meant, that would explain why they left her to Montglane instead of a
convent in Paris.
But it is also possible that they were not in the Game, and that they
sent her to Montglane for some other reason. We know that the Abbess of
Montglane knew Valentine's grandfather (p. 17); it's not clear whether he
was Mireille's grandfather, too, but I assumed he was. It is also unclear
how well they knew each other. If the Abbess had been a friend of
Mireille's family, that could be another explanation of why her parents
left her to Montglane; they did not have to be in the Game, or even know
anything about the Game or the chess set. If the Abbess had seen Mireille
when her parents were still alive, she would have known immediately what
the 8 on Mireille's hand meant, so she could have influenced Mireille's
parents' decision.
My own opinion, however, is that they were in the Game. It just seems
too much of a coincidence that they would have left her to Montglane, even
if the Abbess had been a friend. Also, the Abbess might have been their
friend because they were on the same side of the Game; that's what
happened with Napoleon's family. (Remember how she persuaded them to send
Elisa to St.-Cyr?) It is possible that the Abbess actually chose
Mireille's parents for the Game, as soon as she saw the 8 on Mireille's
hand. If Mireille's parents had been in the Game, what pieces were they?
My guess is that they were pawns; I think that if they had been more
important pieces, we would know more about them.
Now, if Mireille's parents were in the Game, was this true of
Catherine's parents as well? I doubt it; we know even less about
Catherine's parents than we do about Mireille's. We do not even know
whether they are alive or dead. Everything leads us to believe that
Catherine had a relatively "normal" childhood which, unlike Mireille's,
was not connected in any way with Montglane or the Game.
Copyright 1997 Vicki Kondelik.
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