presents...
Gabrielle du Rachetisse is the niece of a Montaigne countess; her family and the Donatis are alike in age, lineage and power, so it was not a particularly wonderful or bad marriage on either side - perfectly respectable. Her father, a minor lord in his own right, has been very unhappy that his brother's widow has not returned the familial estates to his keeping. The resulting wrangling and maneuvering created the sort of home environment that means Gabrielle has had no trouble at all fitting into the Donati household. Married to Tomasso Donati at age 22, she has had one child (a Senzavista girl) by him so far. Tomasso does not seem inclined to seek out courtesans, which actually bothers her a bit. Raised in scandalously libertine Montaigne courts, the idea of taking lovers doesn't particuarly bother her (although she loathes the Vodacce double-standard on the matter), and she is concerned that her husband's fidelity will reflect badly on him. To ameliorate this as much as possible, she has done nothing at all to change her Montaigne habits of dress or conversation, playing the courtesan's role of well-educated and witty companion as well as performing the wife's more quiet and homey duties. She does not especially love her husband, but she likes and respects him well enough. She hates his mother Teodora with a deep and burning passion, though. The woman interferes. With everything, from the best way to sew on buttons to family politics. She is old, her husband is dead, and she is no longer lady of the house - why can't she figure that out? Gabrielle thought that she should be the chief woman until Antonio married; she can't dispute that his wives (Wives? The Vodacce are crazy!) ought to rule the roost. However she might feel about them, were they to be installed in that position, they couldn't possible be worse than Teodora. (Gabrielle is also more than a little afraid of the strega's Sorte abilities, which only fuels her hatred for the woman.) The three-year anniversary is apparently unlucky when Blanchards are involved. Tomasso ran off and got himself killed without half a thought how this would affect Gabrielle and Carlotta (Charlotte), their daughter. It wasn't a surprise, not really, although she'd hoped for a better outcome. She's not sure what to do next: stay in Vodacce or go home? Every time she thinks it's resolved, she changes her mind again, and she misses Tomasso more than she thought she would. At least that vicious old witch is finally out of the house - hopefully for good! Gabrielle retreated to her family home in Montaigne for some time to recuperate. At Francesca's suggestion, she may try to leave Charlotte there for good, so that the girl can be properly educated. She fully intended to return to Monfalcone to take up Tomasso's role as family negotiator, and to continue her alchemical research. She had quite a bit of an upset when her kind-eyed brother-in-law the priest proudly presented her with the mutilated body of another Unbound he'd discovered. Mateo Bianco had been leading a group of Legion-worshippers on Mondavi Island, holding control mostly through his innate charisma. Angelo had fairly well surgically removed the bulk of that, ruining the Bianco's dark good looks and cutting out his silver tongue. Gabrielle had fainted dead away. The idea was to provide her with a renewable source of Unbound blood for her experiments. That had earned her a visit from her esteemed mentor and regular correspondent, who was frankly thrilled. Gabrielle has been less so. In her own theory, she has always preferred to use blood given freely in what she considers to be holy work. To that end, she has begun trying to befriend Mateo and even bring him back to the arms of the Vaticine Church.
Gabrielle's most important strand these days is a Cups to her daughter, as Charlotte's future has been much on her mind. She has the Self-Controlled Arcana.
Photo Credit: "Portrait of a Lady," Dante Gabriel Rossetti, c. 1860
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