Mistress Cygnette

Name Given at Birth: Genevieve Marguerite Marie d’Valois

Nicknames: Mistress Cygnette

Hometown or where you were born: Fontainebleau, France

Current Residence: Madame Red’s Brothel, "The Blarney Cock"

Age: 27

Class: I was born into French royalty, but fell from grace after an indiscretion with the Captain of Cardinal Gabriel de Gramont’s personal guard. (I married a particular Spaniard, who shall remain anonymous, who did not appreciate his new wife being unchaste. C’est la vie!)

What do you do, your main function in life/society: I bring pleasure to the lives of the good (and not so good) men of Canterbury.

Have you ever gone skinny-dipping / do you know how to swim: Oui, I do indeed know how to swim. As for skinny-dipping? Only when offered the appropriate coinage.

Do you make fun of people: Bien sur! But only when it is deserved.

Favorite Color: Bright royal purple; it reminds me of my childhood at Fontainebleau.

Have you ever committed or been convicted of a crime: That would depend on one’s perception of a crime. My husband thought my loss of virtue (or lack of it to begin with!) to be quite criminal, but I found it quite the contrary. It quite opened me up to a new world, so to speak.

Closest friends/How did you meet: My closest and dearest friends are the women of the brothel, they could not be closer to me if we were true flesh-and-blood sisters; Mistresses Rose, Azure, Azucena, Notty, Cognac, Copia, Saffron, Coquette, Sable, Angel, Raven, Mynx, Red herself, and the Virgins. Let it suffice to say I met them working in the brothel, and learned much of what I know from a few of them.

One Pillow or two: Now that would all depend on how many happen to share my bed on any given night.

Pets: The brothel has its fair share of pussies running around; to keep out the mice of course.

Favorite Type of Music: I am quite fond of a good jig or reel; anything to get the heart pumping, blood flowing, and breath quickening.

Hobbies/Pastimes: I quite enjoy going for a good ride, especially in the evening.

Personal Hygiene: I bathe as often as necessary. Sometimes a few times in a night, depending on my clients’ tastes.

Favorite Food: Venison with a good mead.

Are your parents alive, do you get along with them: My father is alive, though my mother passed on years ago. I love my father dearly, as he loves me, though he is the one who sent me to Red’s Brothel (he happens to be one of her greatest clients) after my Spaniard cast me out…something about treason…

If your parents are dead, when and how did they die: I do not recall the year precisely in which my mother passed, though I do recall that it was from the milk sickness.

Favorite place to relax: Upon my own bed…once it is empty of course.

Favorite Holy Day / Why: I would have to choose Easter. It gives me hope that any man can rise again!

Favorite Drink: I adore a good mead.

What's your bedtime: Mon dieu! Now that would depend on which bedtime you might be referring to! I usually bed for the first time around eventide; I usually go to sleep at daybreak.

What, if anything, do you usually wear on your feet: I wear a pair of quite pillowy black leather sandals.

Are you married or single: As my marriage was annulled by the Pope himself, I suppose that would make me single.

Do you have a family / who are they: My blood family resides to this day at Fontainebleau (they shall remain nameless to protect their reputations). My adopted family lives with me in the brothel, all of whom I have already named.

Favorite Entertainment: That would either be watching Coquette bounce, or Azure intellectually decimate those around her; how funny that they seem to forget that certain women are educated too!

Favorite Subject in School or Chore growing up: I always greatly enjoyed reading the latest humanist authors; More, Bruni, Petrarch, and Machiavelli just to name a few.

Least Favorite Subject in School or Chore growing up: Learning the humanist languages of Greek and Latin was always quite difficult for me.

Favorite Sport: Jousting, bien sur!!! The riding, the long hard lances…how exhilarating!

Most Humiliating Moment: Being drug in front of the French court, and my father, in nothing more than my chemise as my ex-husband denounced me as a harlot.

Proudest Moment: The very first time I earned coinage on my own.

Craziest Person or silliest you know: Mistress Coquette...the woman literally bounces down the lanes, and will do just about anything to entertain herself. I seem to recall an incident with a tree…

What do you look for in the opposite sex: A large, bulging, heavy purse.

In our Hierarchical Society everybody has somebody "over" them, Who is your immediate "overlord": Madame Red is she by whom I am employed, and forever indebted. Beyond that, whoever purchases my services may be over me…or under me…

Favorite Sport to watch: As I have already covered jousting, I suppose next would be watching Mistresses Rose and Angel wrestling each other to the ground.

Do you remember your first kiss: Oui, I do and will never forget it as long as I live. I was at a banquet and ball in honor of Cardinal Gramont’s new captain, Renard Rochefort. My Renard asked for the pleasure of dancing with me, I naturally accepted, and we danced palm-to-palm all night. We finally found the perfect moment to steal away from everyone; he pulled me into an abandoned hallway and kissed me so deeply my knees buckled beneath me. It was this same night that I lost my virtue…I have always been quite eager.

Do you keep in touch with your childhood friends: Unfortunately I am unable to. They want nothing more to do with me for fear that my current role in life would tarnish their reputations if they were to associate with me.

Where is your favorite "Vacation" spot: Last year one of my wealthy clients purchased exclusive rights to me for a few months and scuttled me away to Corsica with him. It was a lovely time.

Have you ever been overseas: Darling, I was born overseas. And also traveled quite extensively as a child.

Do you have Dirt/Mud floors or Stone: Wood actually…nice hard wood floors.

What is your bed made of: The softest of down feathers. When one makes their living on their back (or knees or hands or…well, I am sure you get the idea) it is imperative to have the most comfortable of beds.

How many people sleep in your bed: That depends on how many are paying for my services at a given time.

10 Things Everybody Should Know About Me:

1. I love my new life and would not trade it for anything.

2. Speaking French has become one of my marketable assets, so only do so for paying customers.

3. I love the other whores like family (they are the only family I have now).

4. I am an enthusiastic student of the humanist scholars.

5. If ever I should tease you or give you a hard time, remember that if I did not like you I would not waste my time.

6. This is my fourth year in Madame Red’s employ.

7. I read, write, and speak English, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and Greek.

8. I love to intellectually spar. With a certain Thomas (no, not More) we once compared "Utopia" with "The Prince." Impossible, you say? Why not at all, say I.

9. I am Catholic.

10. My father’s name is Francois, if that means anything to you.

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