Name: Josette Marie de Forrest
Name Meaning: Hebrew, "God will increase"
Maker / Sculpt: Dollmore Model Ha Yarn Cho
Faceup: Artist unknown
Provenance: Purchased secondhand from Koitten on Den of Angels site.
Date of Arrival: August 28, 2011
Age: 23
Nationality: French
Eye color: Forest green
Hair color: Dark brown-black
Flower: Violet, modesty
Season: Autumn
Gemstone: Amethyst, protection
Animal: Rabbit, sensitivity, paradox, fear
Major Arcana card: The Moon, illusion, the subconscious
Holiday: Candlemas
Favorite things: Chopin, coffee, croissants, Paris, pre-dawn, velvet, pea green, porcelain, pink, satin, roses, sewing, violet fragrance.
Background: Josette was born August 28, 1780 in Lyons, France. Her earliest memories are of spending time with her mother, Marie, and her mother's neighbor and close friend, Rose. The neighborhood presumed that Marie and Rose were both widows. However, Josette knew that her father was still alive; he had abandoned her mother and herself. Marie had told Josette little about him—only that he was an English sailor. Marie died when Josette was sixteen, in 1796. After her mother's death, Josette applied for and accepted work as a French tutor in England to earn money as well as to shield herself from the violence of the French Revolution. In the house where she worked as a tutor for young children, Josette fell in love with Bryony, her employer’s secretary, and they began a secret relationship. Their relationship ended when Bryony abruptly ended all contact with Josette, around the time that her twin brother appeared in her life.
Josette's twin brother, Josian, whom her mother had never mentioned, surfaced in her life, revealing the identity and history of their father, Matthew de Forrest, a well-to-do English landowner. Their father was now dead and Josian, whom their father had taken as an infant from Marie to be his heir, as he had been long ailing, was the master of a mansion and its surrounding property. Josian took over Josette's life, arranging for her to leave her place of work and live permanently at his residence. It was around this time that Josette's contact with Bryony ended abruptly. It was initially Bryony who had brought Josian and Josette together; however, Josian considered Bryony an unworthy suitor for Josette and commanded Bryony to cease all contact with Josette.
Josette was deeply angered when she discovered Josian was responsible for her break-up with Bryony. However, she later discovered that Bryony had had a long-time engagement during their relationship to a woman named Blanchefleur, and her anger toward Josian lessened since she no longer valued Bryony's memory as highly.
Josette married Konrad, a German markgraf, according to Josian's wishes, and settled with him in Germany in 1799, when she was 19 years old. Josette's love for Konrad developed gradually. However, she accepted his physical advances toward her early on in their relationship, and by the time they were engaged, she no longer missed Bryony.
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