Ep. 7 - Biography of Gail Gannette-Brecklin
Gail Gannette-Brecklin is the typical poor little rich girl.
Spoiled by her over-indulgent mother who was racked by guilt for having to send her children to spend the better part of their lives in boarding schools abroad and would stop by and visit with large spending sprees and feeding their heads that as they are rich, they should expect to get everything they wanted handed to them just by asking.
Ignored by her businessman father who took more stock in his sons than his daughters who would never carry on his name and always stressing to his daughters they bring no shame to his family. For Gail, love was indulging in anything that caught her fancy for the moment and moving on to the next thrill to fill that vacant space in her life crying out for the attention she desired and never received.
Pierre and Gwendolyn had 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls. Gail was the oldest daughter as well as the oldest child. Pierre was highly disappointed that she was born first. In his mind, the firstborn should always be a son. The second child was a son, but had ways that were quite effeminate that he hoped would not bring about behaviour to cause shame to the family. Gwendolyn then had two more girls and finally the last one born was a boy who came with great difficulties that made him sickly and caused her to become infertile.
All of Pierre's children were a disappointment to him, but he did tend to favour his youngest son, Evander. He was the only child kept out of boarding school and had a tutor teach him between business transactions with his father. Pierre made it well known to his other children that Evander would be the one to inherit the business when he died and only if the rest of them followed his high expectations they could receive a handsome inheritance. Should they bring shame to the family, they should plan on moving away because as of that moment they would be disowned.
Gail always felt like her real family was the one in Paris where she stayed in between breaks from the school schedule. Almost every three months her mother would stay for a few weeks for the sole purpose of seeing she and her sisters and brother had the latest stylish clothing, books, and handcrafted toys. Pierre was too busy to come for a visit and was often relieved when his wife would be out of town so he could have fun on his own terms.
Gwendolyn would dote on her children and hated to discipline them in the short time she had to spend with them, so all the progeny thought they could get away with anything, so long as they stayed in France. Going home was a different matter.
Gail longed to have her father pay more attention to her. When she was at home, she would try to approach her father and cuddle up to him, but he would always brush her away or demand she fetched a servant to fix his tea. He could not be bothered to notice her or the rest of her siblings unless they misbehaved. It was only then that Pierre would talk to them at any length, usually in a berating and demeaning way, but Gail was so desperate even that was better than nothing.
When Gail had her 13th birthday, she was allowed to come home for a celebration and for her baptism. Up to that time, she had always been protected from the rest of the population and never allowed to mingle among others that were not deemed socially acceptable by family standards. Before the baptism could commence, she had to attend several meetings along with others in her age group from town, that included the children of some of the very rich and some of the very poor in town.
There was a boy that caught Gail's eye, William Cannon, son of the minister. While they were both supposed to pay attention to the minister giving them the lessons, instead they were flirting with each other across the room. After one of the many classes, Pierre came to get his daughter as the servant was deathly ill and could not make it. He noticed his daughter holding hands with this boy outside as they shared a kiss. Pierre marched quickly to the pair and grabbed his daughter roughly by the arm practically dragging her to the carriage. He lectured her the entire time about staying away from that son of a commoner and from boys in general. This kind of behaviour would lead to her shame. He so graciously threw around the word, "slut," to describe his daughter and reprimanded her not to go near that boy again.
She came home in tears and was unconsolable as she ran to her room followed by her mother who was ordered to shut her up. In Gail's room, her mother said, "Father only wants what is best for you. Right now boys are not something you should focus on. You could have any man you want when the time comes, but you deserve only the best and should not settle for the common man that will only bring you heartache. You want a man who will treat you like a princess."
"But Mother, he really likes me and we weren't doing anything wrong. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek which wasn't anything more than I get from my brothers."
"Young lady, you were out in a public area. Anyone could have seen you. Your father has another boy in mind for you to be with when you are older, but if you develop a reputation as a tramp, no one of real class will ever want you."
"Don't I get a say in whom I marry? Who does Father want me to be with?"
"You know the Branson boy whose father is part owner in the international shipping company, that will be your future husband, God willing."
"I don't have any feelings for him. He is so boring and all he does is talk about himself. He treats girls like servants. I even heard him tell his sisters their job will be to get married, have lots of children and tend to the house."
"Well, what more do you want? This is a girl's life. What were you hoping for when you got older?"
"I want to travel around the world and see all I can see. Then if I find a man that I truly love I could settle down and he would treat me like a queen with a lot of servants to tend to the home and any children we would have... and hopefully he won't want children for many years so we can enjoy each other without someone else wanting to get between us."
"Be realistic, dear. If you are lucky, you will have a husband who is rich enough to supply you with all the servants you want to help you out, but in the end you are his helpmate and you have your wifely duties whether you want them or not. Those duties are whatever your husband gives you. Be glad young Branson comes from a very wealthy family with high moral values. He will be a decent husband."
"Oh, Mother, you just don't understand. I don't want to even think about getting married. I just want to have some fun. I wasn't planning on marrying that boy, we were just having fun. He was really nice."
"But he is of the wrong sort. His father earns an income that barely keeps a roof over his family's head and clothes on their back. They live on the charity of the church members which pay them in tithes to do their duties to the community. They are not supposed to think of wealth and wouldn't have the first idea about what to do with it. He could never make you happy in the long term."
"But what is so wrong about having a bit of fun with him now?"
"Boys like that have one thing on their mind. One thing leads to another and you will find yourself in a family way having to marry him. You do not want to be stuck with a boy like that for life, do you?"
"I would rather be with him than that Branson boy."
"Why don't you go to sleep and think about what I said. It is best you don't do anything to anger your father any more tonight. You know when you kids upset him he takes it out on me."
"Why do I get the feeling the Branson boy will do the same with me? Can't you see that it feels like I have been issued a punishment to last a lifetime and I have no say in the matter? I don't want to be like all the other women in town that have to be dumber than the men in order to get their attention. I want them to want me for who I am."
"Things don't work that way. Men are born smarter than woman and their job is to protect us. You had better learn that or you will have a difficult life. Sleep well, dear. Get that boy out of your mind. Your baptism will be in a week and you will go back to France. By the time you return here in winter, he will have forgotten all about you."
Gail had a stubborn streak. She was brought up with the idea that she could have anything she wanted in life, but now she finds out there are serious limitations on what to expect. She was not happy with the situation and wanted comfort from a friendly person who seemed to understand her. When the rest of the family and all the servants turned in for the night, Gail sneaked out of the mansion to go to the home of the minister to find her new friend.
Gail peeked into the windows until she found the room where he slept with three of his brothers. She carefully pried open the window and crawled inside and went to William's bed. She covered his mouth and woke him up. He slowly came to consciousness and was pleasantly surprised to see her. She motioned for him to follow her.
They went to the church which was supposed to be empty at night. While inside, they talked for a long time about what they wanted from life. They had so much in common and the longer they spoke, the more they felt a strong passion that needed to be fulfilled. The embracing of the hands led to intense kissing and that led to groping and discarding clothes on the pews until the two were stripped down to their skivvies. On the floor, they rolled about on each other rubbing up against each other as they explored each others bodies.
They were so consumed with each other, they were not paying attention to the time. A group of ministers were about ready to commence with morning prayers in the chapel, but to their surprise, they found the young couple in the throes of passion in the middle of intercourse. Quickly, William's father broke up the fornication going on in his church. He sent one of the ministers to get Mr. Gannette.
The young couple were sent to separate rooms in the church. William was lectured and beaten by his father. For his part in this scandal, he would be refused baptism and church privileges. He would be made to work in the shelter for the poor for one year so he could count his blessings.
Pierre arrived at the church with a darkness on his face as he stormed towards the ministers, "Where is that little slut?" He demanded.
"Please keep your calm. This is a church, have some respect."
"What exactly has she done? I was told she has committed an act of fornication with a boy. Is this true?"
"Yes, sir, I'm afraid it is true."
"Then I was correct. She is a slut."
"I'm afraid after this incident we cannot recommend her for baptism."
"Right now, that is the last thing on my mind. Give me my daughter now. She is going to a convent in France until she truly repents."
The long trip back to France with her father by her side was uncomfortable, but at least he finally was paying some attention to her. He canceled all his business appointments for two weeks and kept Evander at home in the care of Mother. Gail spent the entire trip trying to get her father to speak lovingly to her and stop treating her like garbage. She could not succeed in her goal. He dropped her off at the door of the nunnery and left her there with nothing. He ordered his wife and the rest of the family to cut off all communication with her for the next two years so she would learn her lesson.
Gail learned quickly how to live a double life. Around the nuns she could pretend to be pious and serene, full of the love of God. When they turned in for the night, she would often sneak out and have fun with the local ruffians and smoke, drink, and engage in sex with multiple partners. She would come home before the nuns woke up, washed herself and beat them to the chapel where they would find her saying prayers. For all they knew, this was one sorry little girl who had learned her lesson. They knew nothing of her reputation on the outside.
By the time of her 15th birthday, she was baptised in the Catholic church and sent back to boarding school where she was finally reunited with her brother and sisters. Her mother made a special trip with Evander to welcome her back to the family. Pierre was still absent from her life, but she tried not to let it get the best of her. Supposedly, her behaviour with William has made it impossible for her to ever be with that Branson boy. She was quite relieved and hoped she would be tainted with the rest of his rich business associates sons. She would rather be a spinster and free than married as a slave to a man she did not love.
Upon returning home to Kensington Falls, she was greeted by her father with a firm handshake as he welcomed her back in his own way. All was forgiven, but not forgotten. He made it very clear she was to have nothing to do with the men or boys in town until she was ready for marriage. Her father was so paranoid about the intentions of young men that he even fired a farmhand who approached his daughters offering his services.
Around her father's home, she was a good girl trying to appease him. He was at least starting to come around and accept her as a person. His main concern was she stayed on the straight and narrow so she could marry into a proper family and not cause any further shame.
Once Gail returned to Paris, she went back to her carefree ways. Even her sisters could not be contained when they had money, good looks, a powerful family name, and a world of fun around them at night. They all learned from Gail's mistakes to be careful when on the prowl.