Post by Maurice de Bouchard on Oct 23, 2008 15:44:45 GMT -5
Name: Maurice de Bouchard
Age: 27
Height: 6’2”
Gender: Male
Race: D’Angeline (Camaeline)
Home Province: Camlach
Appearance:
Maurice takes much after his father, especially in the way of looks. He has blonde hair, peppered with a hint of honey-brown, that takes on a natural light wave. His eyes are a deeper green than his fathers around the outside, but have flecks of yellow around the centre, one of the few traits he inherited from his mother. His lips are small, with a fuller bottom lip than upper, and his smile is brilliant, the kind that expands to the corners of his eyes and makes his face light up. For those who are fortunate enough to witness this, it is contagious as well as mesmerizing. His nose is a little long, but dead straight, and he sports eyebrows that have a light natural arch. His features are not overly chiselled, but neither are they plump or soft. He stands a sturdy 6’2” like his father, with square shoulders that are not too broad and a body that is lithe in musculature. He is slender but still exudes masculinity, especially with his height advantage and his rather brooding visage.
Personality:
Maurice is a kind man but plagued with a quick temper. He didn’t have much of a childhood, and spent some time in the military in his later years, making him act in a manner that is mainly all business and to the point. He is very protective and possessive of things that are his, or that he deems to belong to him. Maurice feels he is the responsible man of the family, having practically raised himself and his sister, Louise, with aid from the house help, while his father went through his depression over losing his mother. Therefore, although he is a loving brother to his younger sister, he is extremely protective, and has been known to let loose his wrathful anger on anyone who dared attempt to cross her or ruin her future in any way, shape or form. Aside from when it comes to family matters, Maurice is a loveable character, although he has been known to break a few hearts in his wake. He is fairly mysterious, and women can hardly ever figure him out. Maurice is a very disciplined and in-control man. If he is not in control of a situation, or is unable to gain control of it, he quickly extracts himself from it. This often occurred in his love life. He is secretive and generally quiet, especially in large crowds, making him seem much an introvert, but due to his physical presence, more people fear him than think him a weakling. When he does speak, he is all wisdom… almost too much wisdom for his 26 years.
History:
Maurice is the first of two children born to Duc Lazare de Bouchard and Louise Razael de Bouchard. His early childhood, before the birth of his sister, was full of discipline. His father, having had spent time in the military, and Camaelian through and through, was one who strove to instil manliness and a sense of responsibility and morality in his son, even though he himself was not necessarily the epitome of moral behaviour. His mother treated him with the utmost kindness and sensitivity, always there to smooth whatever feathers his father may have ruffled, and to cheer the boy up when such instances arose. Granted, his childhood was strict, but he did enjoy some of it playing with other boys and teasing the girls that he had come to know. He was taught privately at home, which separated him from his young peers, causing him to become quiet with time. However, all this changed at the age of 10, when his mother passed away during childbirth, leaving behind an infant daughter (whom his father named Louise after his now deceased wife), a broken-down husband and a young, scared Maurice.
After the birth of his sister, he was forced to be the man of the house, stepping up to the plate. This meant that his studies would have to take a break, and that learning to be a child would be on indefinite hiatus. He, along with the maids and servants of the household, was in charge of looking after baby Louise and keeping up appearances, especially considering the family’s status, all while he watched his father drink himself into a depressing state, when he was actually present at the estate.
Some time passed and Maurice was able to reinstate his education, Louise being a toddler at this point. His father had curbed his drinking, but was still not a present father figure for Louise. This caused Maurice to take on that responsibility even more so as he watched his little sister go through the phases of childhood. When his sister was old enough to start taking lessons and take on a teacher, Maurice allowed himself to loosen his hold on her and start to explore himself. He had not known himself outside of the capacity as an acting Duc and a young father.
In his late teens, on his 18th birthday he lost his virginity to his first love interest, a scullery maid from one of the neighbouring estates who was barely 16. He kept the situation at a hush, promising the poor girl all manner of things to keep her silence. She fell in love, but he didn’t. He eventually very matter-of-factly called all appearances off with her, telling her straight that he never loved her and would never love her. He was sorry for what he had made her believe, but he was done, and he had the final word. Truth be told, he felt the only people he may ever love in any manner at all would be his sister and his mother. Until such a woman came into the picture, however, he was content with breaking hearts. He had finally let his guard down and started to live, when his father told him of his intentions to marry a woman from Eisande that he had met in the City of Elua during the winter season. Not only was Maurice upset that his father had decided to marry a woman six years his junior (thus making her much younger than Lazare himself), but he was also upset for what he believed was a shaming of the memory of his mother. Maurice tried to refuse to attend the wedding, but changed his mind when he thought of leaving his sister to attend the wedding alone.
In the year of Maurice’s 24th birthday, his father wed the woman he had not met until the day of the wedding. He could see that his father may have thought her beautiful, but aside from that she seemed mean-spirited, conniving and unhappy. In short, he didn’t like her.
Future years showed that he was right about her character, when they would frequently bump heads regarding who was to make orders in the estate. He would give the servants one set of instructions and she would attempt to usurp them with her own. This rivalry continued until the day he left for military duty, leaving the woman to have run of the house and plant whatever seeds of deceit he was sure she could. He was content working as a military man like his father had, gaining a measure of distinction and self-discipline. He could have stayed there and let the woman do as she wished with the estate if it wasn’t for two things: his little sister, and the orders he received releasing him from his duty due to his father’s death and his imminent responsibilities back home to contend with the Duchesse.