Charles de Giverny, the Marquis de Vallois



Charles Jean-Baptiste Toussaint de Giverny, the Marquis de Vallois is a French nobleman from Normandy; a main character in The Gathering Dark.

Childhood
Charles was born on January 13th, 1754, the second child and oldest son of Olivier de Giverny, the Marquis de Vallois, and his wife Céline de Toussaint. His father was a vile, abusive man who often took his anger out on his wife and children. Charles was five years old when his father died in the Battle of Quebec while serving in the Seven Years War. (Book I; Ch 1) Following his father's death, Charles assumed the title of marquis and his widowed mother was left as the dowager of the estate until Charles's 21st birthday as per his father's will. (Book I, Ch 11)

During his childhood, Charles was a quiet, shy boy who spent most of his time studying with various tutors. He was taught to fence and play the violin, and while staying with his family in Paris between the ages of 12 and 13, he was tutored in both of these subjects by the famous Chevalier de Saint-George. (Book I, Ch 12)

Adolescence
At the age of 16, Charles left home to attend the University of Paris. He studied here for four years, focusing on ancient Greek history and literature, and to a lesser extent some military strategy. He returned home in May of 1774 at the age of 20. (Book I, Ch 8)

Céleste Ridelieu
Upon returning home from his university studies, Charles became acquainted with a maid in his household, 16-year-old Céleste Ridelieu. Although he was physically attracted to her, his interest in her was more intellectual. They first spoke to each other in the chateau's library where Céleste was dusting and became interested in a book she pulled off the shelf. Charles entered the room and asked her if she liked to read to which she answered that she didn't know how. He offered to teach her and she agreed. (Book I, Ch 8)

As their secret friendship grew it gradually turned into a secret romance ''(Book I, Chs 9 & 10). ''Since his mother was to be out of town for several months, Charles proposed marriage to C éleste because he knew his mother wouldn't be around to object. When C éleste agreed to marry him, Charles took on the responsibility of teaching her proper court etiquite so she would fit into the society of the aristocracy. Some weeks before their planned wedding date, C éleste informed Charles that she was pregnant, so they both agreed to make the date earlier (Book I, Ch 11).

However, Charles' mother returned home earlier than expected and learned of her son's plans to marry a common woman, and she was even more appalled upon discovering it was one of the maids she'd hired. His mother told him that under no circumstances was he to marry a common woman, and this was when he told her that he had to marry C éleste because she was pregnant. This only served to anger his mother even further, and she threatened him with a lettre de cachet when he became unreasonable. When even this failed to convince him, she then finally threatened to evict C é leste's family, who lived on the Vallois's land as tenants. After this last threat, Charles finally broke down and agreed to tell C é leste that he couldn't marry her and that she was relieved from the household staff. C éleste left in angry tears and Charles has been heart broken ever since he was forced to do this (Book I, Ch 11).

After C éleste left back to the village, she married her childhood friend, Émile Ambroise, after he agreed to raise her child as his own. Charles did visit C éleste once after their son was born so that he could see the child just once (Book I, Ch 11).

Absence from the Family Estate
In 1776, Charles finally decided he'd had enough of staying at home with his mother, so he left for Paris, staying in the family's town house.

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Personality
Charles is intellectual and idealistic. However, the failure of his idealism in real life has lead him to become pessimistic and cynical. He has liberal leanings for someone of the nobility and is often annoyed and even disgusted by the court's decadence and exclusiveness. He is the complete foil of his mother, who is the epitome of class-consciousness. While Charles is mainly reserved and introverted, he can be very sociable depending on who he is around.