Now, the triplets must have taken a lot out of Queen Marie, because (although they tried mightily) she and King Jean did not have any other children for years and years.
Finally, 17 years to the day after the Princes were born, the Queen gave birth to her daughter, Princess Desiree.
Time passed (as it is wont to do) and the three princes all married princesses from the neighboring kingdoms and started raising families of their own. But Desiree seemed to be interested in nothing except her garden and music and the burbling sound of running water.
Now, when she turned 16, Queen Marie asked Desiree if she had thought of getting married. But Desiree did not want to marry and said so in no uncertain terms -- so the Queen let the matter drop for a year.
On the day before her 17th birthday, both of her parents came to her and said that it was time that she married. But, since they loved her very much, they let her know that she could pick her own husband. Her brothers had all married for political reasons -- and were quite happy -- but there were no more alliances that needed to be made, so she could marry the man of her choice.
Desiree's choice, however, was to never marry. Finally, a compromise was struck. A "quest" was proposed. Desiree agreed to marry whoever successfully completed the quest BUT, if no one was successful by sunset on her 18th birthday, she would never marry, but would go into a nunnery for the rest of her life.
Her parents knew that this was the best deal they could get out of Desiree. The quest (as usual) was to last for "a year and a day" and whoever could present Desiree with a blue rose would win her hand in marriage.
Now her brothers loved her very much -- and did not want to see her shut up in a nunnery for the rest of her life. Princes Abelard and Bertram approached a handsome young merchant (named Rene) who they knew, pointed out the advantages of a royal connection and asked him to seek Desiree's hand. He agreed.
Meanwhile, Prince Charles, who was in the army, urged his protoge, a dashing young officer (named Franz), who had long loved Desiree from afar, to seek her hand -- and he leaped at the chance.
In addition, many others joined the quest. Most notable among them was a brilliant scholar (named Gerard). He was handsome and kind and very intelligent. His only fault was that he knew all of this and thought quite highly of himself. Indeed, he could already picture in his mind the Princess asking if he would be her husband -- and he had his answer ready, "YES!").
Rene (the merchant), took all of his savings and mortgaged his property to raise enough money to buy a very famous Oriental painting called the "Blue Rose". The question was, would it arrive in time? It had to come west over the "silk route" through the fabled city of Samarkand --and only arrived the day before Desiree's birthday.
Franz (the officer) led his soldiers on campaign and captured a rather loathsome nobleman, whom he ransomed for the nobleman's prized possession, a huge sapphire. Then he went to Amsterdam and had the gem cut into the likeness of a rose, which also arrived the day before the completion of the Quest.
Gerard (the scholar) applied his knowledge of chemistry to find the right combination of chemicals to change the color of a white rose into a wonderful robin's-egg blue. And he managed to do this without changing the rose's bouquet! He was so confident that he continued to practice his answer to the Princess, "YES!" (Besides, he was ready well before the Quest deadline).
So . . . who do you think that Desiree will select? Let's see . . .
On the morning of her 18th birthday, Desiree, her parents and her three brothers gathered to meet the Questers.
Rene, who was the choice of Crown Prince Abelard and Prince Bertram, approached Desiree first. He presented her with the painting . . . All were astounded by its beauty, but as Desiree, drawn in closer to admire it breathed in, all she smelled was dust and paint.
"Oh", she said, "This is just paint and canvas, not a true flower." This so shocked Rene (who had gambled everything on winning Desiree's hand) that he clutched his chest, had a heart attack and died!
Franz, however, was a soldier and was not put off by death. He approached the Princess and told her of his long love for her. (And, to be honest, this moved Desiree -- who had began to think that spending the rest of her life in a nunnery might not be the best thing for her). Being rewarded with her smile, he opened his hand and offered her the sapphire cut into the shape of a rose.
All gasped at it's beauty, and Desiree reached out to touch it -- but she cut her finger on the sharp gem and blurted out (without thinking), "it's a gem, not a flower". At these words, Franz hand spazmed in pain and his great strength shattered the gem and the shards cut his hand very badly -- which caused him to step back, trip and fall down the steps, break his neck and die.
Desiree was in tears. She really hadn't intended to reject Franz. The more she thought about it, the better marriage looked. And here two men had died for her. She resolved to accept the next suitor who was even close to giving her a blue rose.
The scholar Gerard (who had practiced his "YES!" many times) was next. He praised her beauty and then, whisked a silken cloth away revealing a wonderful blue rose.
"Oh" said Desiree. "Oh, oh" said her parents. "Oh, oh, oh" said her brothers.
"It's blue" said the King. "Blue" said the Queen. "Blue, blue, blue" said the princes three.
"It's beautiful", whispered Desiree. "Beautiful" said everyone else (except for Gerard who was practising his "YES!").
And the rose smelled so good that (as this was going on) a butterfly landed on the rose -- but the chemicals burned it and it fell writhing to the ground.
Desiree was shocked, "This is poison. Gerard did you intend to poison me?"
Gerard knew what the question would be, so he really wasn't listening. "YES!" he said with a grin. And the three princes' swords flashed out and cut Gerard's head off -- and he fell down dead.
Now, for some reason, all of the other suitors disappeared -- I suppose because the first three ended up dead -- and none of the rest had gifts nearly as good.
Only Desiree, her parents, her three brothers . . . and, of course, three corpses remained in the courtyard.
Desiree was stunned. Here she had finally decided to marry and she had no suitors -- and, in mere hours she would have to go into a nunnery. In her misery, she fled into her garden.
As she approached it, she could hear the most beautiful wooden flute, interweaving a melody with the burbling brook that ran through her garden. She followed the sound and peeking around a tree, saw the musician.
"Oh", she murmured. It was only one of the garden boys, the one named Jacques. He as a rather homely looking man, jolly, but quiet. He had, for many years listened while Desiree chatted away about whatever came to her mind.
Hearing her he stopped playing and rose. Seeing that she was in tears, he asked what had happened -- and she related the story of the Quest and the three dead suitors.
"Well", said Jacques, "at least you won't have to marry -- that should please you"
"No", said Desiree. "I've changed my mind. I DO want to marry -- but there are no suitors left. And so, at sunset I will go into a nunnery for the rest of my life, because no one can fulfill the Quest before then."
"Sure they can." said Jacques, "I could do it myself".
And suddenly Princess Desiree realized that she loved Jacques. He was a homely garden boy, but she loved gardening too; and he was kind and jolly and a very good listener. He had often helped her with his quiet wisdom -- and, really, he was not very much older than she was.
"Jacques", she said. "If you can do so, please do. I would love to have you as my husband".
"Are you sure?" he asked; and when she assured him, he said, "Very well, go to your father, I'll meet you a half an hour before sunset.
She did as he bid, saying only that another suitor was coming. And so all assembled once again.
Then, Jacques, washed and wearing his lowly best, arrived carrying a pot containing a droopy white rose.
"It's White" said the Queen. "White" said the King; "White, white, white" said the princes three.
"Wrong!" said Jacques. "This is a rose from the Princess' favorite garden. And see how it is drooping. The flower knows that Desiree is about to be shut away from the world in just a few minutes . . . if she cannot get a husband by sunset."
Desiree's family suddenly grew thoughtful -- for they did not want that (and the sun was very low in the sky).
"No, this rose droops with sadness. And, remember, blue is not just a color, it is also an emotion. This rose is "blue" because it will never see Princess Desiree again." Then, kneeling down, he said, "So, here Princess of my humble heart, take this blue rose from my hand."
And Desiree took it, saying, "Truly, this is a blue rose . . . "
"blue" breathed the King; "Blue" said the Queen; "blue, Blue, BLUE!" shouted her brothers.
" . . . and truly, Jacques, thou shalt be my husband!"
And so it was that they were married and tended their garden and (help me out here) "lived happily ever after".
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This page was created on May 7, 2000