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January 19, 2010

Desiree's Baby


Here you can read Raquel's continuation of Desiree's Baby story.
At that moment, Armand’s heart almost stopped. He couldn’t believe what he was reading and he had a mixture of feelings. On one hand, he felt a big distaste of himself and his family and was shamed of his own behavior when he realized that his son was a quadroon. But on the other hand, he was so proud of himself and so coward, that he didn’t want to bear a public dishonor. So, after thinking of the advantages and disadvantages of revealing his own origins, despite the fact that he was really in love with her wife, he burnt the letter in the bonfire.
In the meanwhile, nobody had seen Desiree nor her baby anymore. Madame Valmonde didn’t know about her daughter’s leaving until the rumors were spread by the servants all around the area. And she started a big search. But it was too late… because when Desiree left her husband’s house she decided that if her blood wasn’t pure enough and it was a shame for any good family, her beloved mother wasn’t going to stand such a humiliation. As a result she decided to finish with the pain throwing herself into the river with the baby in her arms.

1 comment:

Susana said...

When Armand finished reading the letter from his mother, he realized the great injustice that he had committed with his wife and son. However, his hate for black people was bigger than the love for his wife. Therefore, he decided to throw the letter in the bonfire while damning his mother. `How did my father love her and live with her?’ He wondered ` I belong to one of the oldest families in Louisiana, I am proud to be white’ He said to himself that nobody should know the truth of his origins.
Meanwhile Desiree and her baby were getting to Valmonde house. Monsieur Valmonde had found them in the bayou. Desiree had fainted with the baby in her arms. Repeating the story he had taken them to Valmonde. His wife had told him how cruel the destiny had been to Desiree, she had been abandoned twice.
With the passing of time and the love of her parents and baby, Desiree became happy again and forgot Armand.
One day a new teacher arrived in Valmonde, Jacques, a handsome and friendly man who came from Paris. He and Desiree became good friends and spent long hours together. After several months they fell in love with each other. Despite Desiree’s pain, they decided to leave Louisiana in order to live together without problems.
One month later Madame Valmonde received a letter from Desiree in which she said that she was very happy with Jacques and her son.
Instead, Armand was bitter about his horrible blood and lived alone for the rest of his life.