Cécile: Gates of Gold

Doctor Revel, My Father

The next day after Mass, Cécile throws herself upon her small bed while Madame sits down to write a letter. Cécile wishes sleep would come over her, but thoughts of her father fill her head. Suddenly, Cécile cannot wait anymore. “Madame, please tell me the truth about my father.”

Madame slowly turns to face Cécile. After confirming Cécile wishes to know the truth, she whispers for Cécile to come close.

It is true, Cécile’s father is Doctor Revel. She recognized him that summer day she had fallen.

Madame remembers what led to Doctor Revel’s banishment. They were at Marly. She was feeling ill, but her husband was doing just fine. And then suddenly, he got sick. Doctor Fagon performed two rounds of bloodletting, and then fed him more liquids. But he only got worse. When Doctor Fagon called for a third round of bloodletting, Doctor Revel stood in his way. He exclaimed that the bloodletting was killing the man! Doctor Fagon ordered Cécile’s father to be silent, but he refused. He stood in between the patient and the doctor, until he eventually picked up the doctor’s knife and threw it across the room.

After that, Madame was removed from the room. The next day, she learned her husband had died, and Doctor Revel was banished to the Bastille. She never saw him again until ten years later, when she took a tumble from her horse.

Cécile realizes something. She is twelve. But if her father was banished only ten years ago, that means she wasn’t born in Rileaux, but at court!

Madame confirms she had met Cécile’s mother, just once. She was of a noble family that soon fell into financial disgrace. And with all of this new information, Cécile begins to cry.