The Lancaster House in the French Revolution

Chapter 2

Ndeye sat silent, still and proper, near the end of the table housing her mother and elder brother. Her father was rambling again to Lloyd on the ridiculousness of the students' prospects on rebelling. He often did so; ramble that is. The subject often changed but only three themes interested Monsieur Lancaster: politics, religion, and, lastly, money. If it did not relate to one of the three topics, you may as well talk to a tree and expect more thoughtful answers. Ndeye had grown tired of such things as politics and religion were incessant and caused a fuss; leaving money but that only bored or saddened her. The Lancaster house was one of great wealth; many say excessively so. M. Lancaster could never get enough though. Some people say he is greedy, other say he's merely successful, Ndeye knew the truth though: he father was a gluttonous, greedy swine who merely inherited success. Why her mother married such a man, other than riches and reputation (undoubtedly the reason why), was lost on Ndeye.

Now, Ndeye and Mme. Lancaster were inseparable and almost undefinable as they looked and behaved so similarly. Ndeye and Mme. Lancaster looked as nearly as two people could: Light, nearly silver, platinum hair, tiny frames in height and size epitomizing petite, and sharp angles. Looking at them brings to mind snowflakes with their delicate and nearly geometric beauty. The main difference the women have that is detectable to the ignorant eye was Ndeye's eyes. They were unique within themselves and captured the attention of all; they were an ice green that looked almost like a mint green layered in frosty glass. They carried the same grace, intelligence, and compassion. Both loved to teach as Mme. Lancaster was one of them few female professors in France at the time and Ndeye, or Mms. Lancaster, spent her time tutoring those of much wealth or those of none. Mother and daughter together brought a beautiful thought for mind and eye.

This leaves the rest of the Lancaster house to the two brothers. Jared was the elder and Lloyd, the younger, his age matching Ndeye's down to the day. Jared was born deaf. As if this was not hard enough, his father was so appalled at his disability he refused to even call him his first son. For the first three years of his life, no one but his nanny and sometimes his mother (when she could escape the suspicious eyes of her husband) made contact with him. So when the twins were born, one cannot imagine the joy and grief he felt. Ndeye immediately took a liking to him and they grew up together; Ndeye and him learned sign language to communicate and Ndeye even began to teach him French before their father shut them down. This brings us to the less tragic story of Lloyd. Since Jared had failed in M. Lancaster's eyes, Lloyd took his place. He was put through school and attends a prestigious university. He was given the best of lives and the grandest of everything. Yet, Lloyd in not a happy person; he did not care for his father nor his brother or even money. He wanted only to construct clocks or toys or other nick-knacks.

The Lancaster house never hosted a moment of silence with such dramatic characters. Never had a single family held in so much "unknown" tension; each person vehement in his or her beliefs. If one entered their home and was able to look past the first ornate illusion, an impressive feat in itself and even more impressive to have the care and energy to decipher the tricky people, they would see a family, like one normal, but how divided they were as well: it would seem as the Lancaster kingdom were divided in two with the father and son then mother, daughter, and brother being the warring tribes. This was nearly impossible to see though as these were the best thespians one could find in a lifetime or even two.