Margot Laval-Blois
| Margotpotrait.jpg | |
| Portrayed by Marion Cotillard / Benedetta Ramus | |
| Full Name | Margot Violet Vivienne Aquila Laval-Blois |
|---|---|
| Associated Noble House(s) | House du Laval, House d'Aubin |
| Date of Birth | 28th August 1783 |
| Father | Comte Jean-Baptiste Laval-Blois |
| Father's Rank | Comte du Laval |
| Mother | Charlotte Laval-Blois (née Poitiers) |
| Mother's Rank | Lady Charlotte |
| Town Residence | {{{residence}}} |
| Year of Debut | 1800 |
| Dowry | £40,000 |
Margot Laval-Blois is the eldest daughter of Comte Jean-Baptiste Laval-Blois and his wife, Charlotte. She is 27 years old and has a dowry of £40,000 due to her uncle and her own business savvy success and her frugal habits. New to England, the lovely and adept Lady Margot is determined to marry off her sister and find her cousin Jeannot d'Aubin, with whom she is staying, a wife of his own. Margot is played by Perry.
Family
- Jean-Baptiste Christian Laval-Blois, Comte du Laval b. 1743-1793 - father - deceased.
- Charlotte Magdelene Laval-Blois, née Poitiers, Comtesse du Laval b. 1760-1798 - mother - deceased.
- Emile August Laval-Blois, Baron du Laval, b. 1760 - uncle
- Alexandrine Laval-Blois b 1793 - sister -
- François Jean-Laurent Baptiste d’Aubin, Comte d’Aubin b. 1750 - Cousin by marriage.
- Marie-Claire d’Aubin, née de Razillac, Comtesse d'Aubin b. 1760 - Mother's cousin.
- Jean-Laurent d'Aubin, Vicomte d’Aubin b. 1785 - Cousin.
- Lunete d'Aubin, b. 1795 - cousin.
Background
1783 - 1811: France
Margot was born on a dreary, miserably hot late August day, to Jean-Baptiste and Charlotte Laval-Blois, a noblesse businessman and a lady of means. Her early childhood was quiet and strained as the brothers Laval-Blois argued increasingly until 1791 when some cousins warned the Comte he should flee France for the safety of his family. The family stayed, and in 1793, while Charlotte was pregnant with baby Alexandrine, Jean-Baptiste was killed, and Emile took charge of Charlotte and her daughters. Jean-Baptiste was killed in a rioting crowd in the company of other noblemen, while his younger brother incited rebellion with his more youthful compatriots elsewhere. Due to Emile’s long association and belief in their cause, Margot and her mother were allowed to stay with him. Later, when Emile had changed positions to the side of Napoleon’s compatriots, and eventually receiving new title of his own, the three Laval-Blois women were left to the countryside.
Margot, due to her mother’s ill health and her uncle’s various distractions, took charge of the family accounts and estate at the age of fourteen, caring for her sister as if Alexandrine were her own daughter instead. Her Uncle Emile remained busy with politics and his own circles; he made it quite clear he expected the Poitiers’ funds to continue funnelling to his purse, merchant and ship people that they were. Afterall, he wrote to Margot in one letter, had he not kept the Laval-Blois’ estate relatively intact for future use? Margot knew better than to say he’d done that only for himself.
Tutors came and went, governments changed, wars were fought, but the sisters stuck together, until Alexandrine was deemed old enough to take care of herself under her uncle’s wandering attention. Margot’s mother died a year after she took charge of the household, and Margot still blames her mother for her weakness. The girl’s uncle cared little for them or the responsibility of the Laval-Blois and Poitiers duties, thus setting it firmly on Margot’s shoulders. A young girl left with such a burden eventually must find a way to buck the yoke.
Upon her majority, she did. With Alexandrine old enough to watch after herself with the help of governesses and the like, Margot made her way into society, but found the company dull. Many young men took to travelling, and thus Margot was determined to do the same. Margot wandered the country and the continent for a time, findling various means to expand both the family business and her own horizons. France itself has many clubs and inns for a woman of means to spend her considerable wealth and charms in. All throughout childhood since their separation, Margot found the time to write to her younger relatives, pushing Alexandrine to do the same. She and Cousin Jeannot shared a particular report, though more heavily amused on Margot’s part. They met at one point since the cousins moved to England, and a good time was had all around.
Margot never found much use in courting when she had many other priorities, very few of them men. Theatre and dancing, however, were a tolerable side benefit of the whole process. She is loathe to let her freedom as an unattached woman, no matter her breeding, slip by so easily, at least until her little sister began attracting the wrong sort of attention. Margot has had offers in the past, but few she could not see would either ruin the business or ruin her uncle. Despite that she holds not great love for him, she feels she owes him something, even if it is only the lessons in independence he taught her.
Margot speaks French, English, German, Italian and has studied Latin and Greek. She has a head for math and a frightening grasp of economics and politics. Both sisters have a knack for trouble in their own ways, but it is Margot’s lack of husband and Alexandrine’s ‘free spirit’ that sends them to stay with their cousins in England.
1811: Current Season
Personality
Margot is a sharp, keen mind hidden behind a silver tongue and womanly figure. Practical in her running of business and estate matters, but a bit of a lush in her private dealings. She has accompanied both men and women in her time, and when young and free of the burden raising a hellion of a little sister, she goes through lovers like some go through dresses.
In society she does her best to remain courteous but distant unless she wants something from you. Much of her energy is otherwise occupied in ensuring Alexandrine doesn’t publicly ruin them both or their family. She is determined to see her sister married as quickly as possible and then see to herself, but Margot would not weep if she managed to keep herself to her own devices, spinster or no.
More of a Catholic by ear than by heart, she has a dab hand for gambling, drinking, smoking and various other vices you’d never know about until she let you find out. A few of her lovers know of her more exotic predilections, but few were ever in the position to cause her trouble over them, lest she send it back trifold.
Relationships
Staff
Friends
Enemies
Pets
Threads
Friday 17th May, 1811
- Je ne suis qu'une femme.[1]: Margot, Alexandrine, the staff and the dogs arrive at the d'Aubin London residence.