Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Guessing Game: The Secret

             Linengirl_2

She had a secret.

In the morning after her chores she quickly ran upstairs to clean up. She put on a crisp white blouse, laced a new ribbon in her bodice, and then she counted the hundred strokes as she brushed her hair. Today, like every market day, she would meet him.

She had a secret. It wasn’t in the egg basket, it wasn’t tied up in her apron either, nor was it his initials that she embroidered on her undergarments. It was all that she could do not to laugh as she walked to the square and stood by the fountain. She had a secret and today she would tell him.

Do you know what it is?

photo: A framed vintage postcard of a young girl at the marketplace.

Tomorrow I’ll announce the winner. Good Luck! Note: There isn’t a bun in the oven…look at that tiny waist…..

Comments

93 responses to “Guessing Game: The Secret”

  1. anna

    She was going to tell him of a rendez vous.

    Reply
  2. Paris Tarte

    There’s only ONE secret a girl can have…
    The bump is beginning to show.

    Reply
  3. Jeanne

    Ah the desires and dreams of young love.
    Was she with child?
    Blessings!
    Love Jeanne

    Reply
  4. Darla

    She spent all the egg money on a fancy pair of shoes.
    I’m really bad at guessing secrets but on the other hand I’m really good at keeping them.
    Darla

    Reply
  5. shabbyinthecity

    She was going to make him a really large quiche!

    Reply
  6. Marie-Noëlle

    She’s going to tell him he’s going to be a father….
    (She’s hiding her secret in her belly !?!)

    Reply
  7. carolyn

    Whatever her secret she certainly looks lovely.

    Reply
  8. My Melange

    She was going to tell him that she knows the answer to your guessing game!!! 🙂 My guess was bun in the oven…but that’s taken. Hmmm…maybe she bought him plane tickets for a secret trip to Europe..whooops..thats my daydreaming again!

    Reply
  9. Catalina

    She may go to the ball with him! Her parents finally accepted
    or…
    Her parents will not be at home tomorrow….

    Reply
  10. tut-tut

    She’s leaving for Paris!

    Reply
  11. patty van dorin

    she never liked the hens, gathering and selling the eggs. So she has sold the chickens, the farm and is moving to Paris. First she will take a job as an apprentice but soon she will own her own milinary shop. Still she working with feathers but now they will be brighly colored and exotic.

    Reply
  12. Penny

    She traded some of the eggs for champagne which she’s bringing in the metal pitcher (gee – hope the metal doesn’t change the taste, nor remove the bubbles from the champagne before she gets there). Oh, and the smile on her face — she sampled a bit of the ‘brew’ ahead of time!

    Reply
  13. Cre8Tiva

    She, the daughter of a blacksmith, who owned some few leagues of the barren Landes of Bourdeaux, had nought for a dowery and would soon be wed to an old farmer in exchange for a cow…

    Reply
  14. pam aries

    She has been secretly saving all the egg money and she just purchased a villa in the South of France..hidden in her apron are those same hens who laid all the eggs! She’s taking them with her!

    Reply
  15. ally bean

    I’m with Paris Tarte on this one. There’s a bun in the oven. That’s her secret.

    Reply
  16. candy

    Now that she knew he loved her for who she was, a seemingly lowly choregirl who gathered the eggs and carried water for the household, she could tell him of the fortune her mother had left her that was stuffed in the goosedown mattress. He’d wondered what the crackling sound was when they’d trysted there in the moonlight. It was time to tell.

    Reply
  17. rochambeau

    I think she has a crush on the man who always wears his jodhpurs while walking his potbelly pig!

    Reply
  18. patpaulk

    Initials on raindrops and underwear, I can hardly wait for the secret…

    Reply
  19. Dee

    ahhhhhhh…yes…of course! She is going to have a baby! Sure hope she doesn’t hurt herself carrying all that stuff and running up the stairs! OR…maybe she has something in the pitcher? Anyway…I love the vintage postcard!

    Reply
  20. angela marie

    She overheard the nighbor talking with her parents about the property they owned next to her parents, they were moving and going to sell. The girl could not wait to tell the man she has loved about this news. Everything was falling into place. They could marry and live next door close to her parents, so she could still help her father! She had to hurry before the news about the land being put up for sale gets out.

    Reply
  21. Carol

    A new family is in the making.

    Reply
  22. beachy

    She’s changed her mind. She’s gathering up all her worldy possessions, keeping the memory of her man on her undergarments, and is going off to become a nun ala Maria in the Sound of Music. Perhaps she, too, will prove to be too much of a free spirit, have a glance at the embroidery on her underpants one day, fond memories will be rekindled, then she’ll rush back to find her man. To be continued…

    Reply
  23. Paula

    Her secret…..her secret…..hmmmmmmmm……
    Her secret is that she has been planning for a time and a place where they can meet because she has been head over heels in love with him (from afar, of course) and she finally has the courage to tell him, no, *show* him what is in her heart. But just to hedge her bet she’s going to make a nice fancy french quiche out of the eggs and milk and herbs which she has infused with her magic potion that will cause him to love no one but her.

    Reply
  24. eb

    her secret…
    is a kiss
    it is on her lips
    her secret…
    is in her heart
    she is in love
    she brushes her lips
    on the back of his neck
    discreetly
    her secret…
    she has sealed
    with a kiss
    xox – eb.

    Reply
  25. Leau

    She had discovered her true identity! She wasn’t a chore girl but a princess that had been sent to live on the farm as an infant to protect her from her father’s enemies and now she would be queen! No more eggs and milk, now it would be cake and champagne. She is off to Paris to take her rightful place and wear those wonderful clothes and wigs and jewels. Will he go with her? That is the next secret!

    Reply
  26. CathyC

    Yes!! she’s going away to college!

    Reply
  27. Sheila

    Her ugly old husband was going away for a month…!
    ;D

    Reply
  28. Jeannene

    “Corey, I know you are having another guessing game going on”…
    I hope you find inspiration on my blog today, and i will be back to join the fun on your blog!!
    LOL
    Jeannene

    Reply
  29. Jeannene

    “SHE IS PREGNANT WITH HIS BABY!!”
    Jeannene

    Reply
  30. Rob Kistner

    …that she is really an orphaned ‘he’, who has been in hiding from a bitterly cruel aunt — but has discovered she (‘he’) has fallen in love the daughter of the man she (‘he’) is about to meet… AND — that she (‘he’) found a pair of this man’s underpants in her (‘his’) wash basket! They got there because she (‘he’) grabbed them accidentally one night running from the house of this man she (‘he’) is about to meet — when this man came home unexpectedly while she (‘he’) was in the throws of lovemaking with this man’s daughter. She (‘he’) embroidered this man’s initials on them so she (‘he’) wouldn’t forget who they belonged to. And, by the way, she (‘he’) has gotten the daughter of this man she (‘he’) is meeting — quite pregnant!

    Reply
  31. Brother Mathew

    Posting the highest score in the land on his BAC he was headed to Berkley in the fall. Her heart was broken. Sacrificing her own talents to be with him by selling eggs in the village she would show him. She too would attend Berkley and work her way though school by selling eggs in Sproul Plaza.

    Reply
  32. Marie-Noëlle

    …then she could hear the director ‘s voice: “Cut off! Now, Baby, do remember you’ve got a secret! Everybody must feel it in your look, in your attitude, … you’re bearing that b… secret with you, right?!?
    Let’s shoot it again!”.

    Reply
  33. Marie-Noëlle

    One of the hens laid a golden egg.

    Reply
  34. Brother Mathew

    She-he story is a good one.

    Reply
  35. Marie-Noëlle

    She would meet the priest of the village and tell him she wanted to give her life to God.

    Reply
  36. Cheryl

    She’s having his baby!!

    Reply
  37. Marie-Noëlle

    She is going to tell her lover that her husband fell down the well early in the morning …

    Reply
  38. Marie-Noëlle

    She is going to tell her lover that her husband fell down the well early in the morning …

    Reply
  39. Rosemary

    She is in love with him,
    and having his baby!
    Have a great weekend!
    Rosemary

    Reply
  40. Marie-Noëlle

    When the fields got unexpectedly flooded in the spring – and hence the crops got ruined-, she went to see old Gaspard in his remote shanty. She knew she was not allowed to go there but she wanted to ask for his help. She had to give him five hens (the fox wasn’t to be blamed! She had lied! She was sorry!). She heard Gaspard talk a strange language, she saw him look up and dance strangely… and he told her to go home.
    This morning, the one hen left laid all that basket of eggs, their cow gave all that milk…!
    HE will be surprised !!!

    Reply
  41. Marie-Noëlle

    She’s going to tell him that an American lady came all the way from California to take pictures of the French country people. She allowed the lady in, she let her take loads of pictures of her in the kitchen, about the farmyard, by the fountain… etc… and the lady gave her a “fortune” to thank her !!!
    __________________________________
    Hi MN
    This sounds familiar, and your guesses tell a fantastic story too boot!

    Reply
  42. Dawn

    She has decided that today is the day she will declare her love for him ~ today is the day he will know her true feelings as she can’t hide the truth any longer! Her heart belongs to him…

    Reply
  43. Hasmin

    Hmmm…that today was her birthday, and to celebrate, she will be using the milk that she purchased to bathe in!!!
    _________________________________
    Hi Hasmin
    Note:
    Hasmin was one of the winners last time.
    Have you ever had a milk bath?

    Reply
  44. Jenny Fillius

    I actually know of this woman,but I can’t remember her name. My sister would know, she keeps track of those sorts of things. Anyway, this gal was my great great aunt’s sister-in-law,I’m pretty sure. As I’ve heard tell,she ended up running away with this man at the market place, they were deeply in love. He was a violinist, and charming as ever. She had a secret recipe for egg custard and opened a cafe.

    Reply
  45. Hasmin

    Hi Corey, Nope, never had the luxury of bathing in milk, or honey, or champagne, or even chocolate! LOL!

    Reply
  46. JO

    Well I think this demonstrates where the origin on a baby sling started…there’s a baby in the apron

    Reply
  47. JO

    I don’t see my comment so here it is again. I believe we are seeing the fore runner of the baby sling. Her baby’s in her apron.

    Reply
  48. Elizabeth Meredith

    Her secret? That isn’t milk in her jug. Her brother has struck oil in their garden when he was digging for turnips. Now her father will stop insisting she marry their rich neighbour. She can marry her one, true love!

    Reply
  49. kerrie h..

    well, the secret really is in her apron. truth be told, she snuck into her older brother’s room before dawn and stole his bong. her big surprise for the achingly handsome market boy is that she’s whisking him away to the city to watch Laser Pink Floyd.
    ——————————————-
    Hi Maria
    Okay that is by far one wild imagination you’ve got going for this 19th century postcard chick! 😉

    Reply
  50. jann

    ok~here it is, Cory. She is leaving home and has the chickens hidden in her apron, or she has killed them first…whatever. She is taking the items she will need to start her new life!

    Reply
  51. Shelley

    My guess is… she has stolen the eggs, milk and probably the bread that is in her apron to feed her family…she is rushing home.

    Reply
  52. elsa

    that she is leaving him. she has had enough of his bull—- and she has found the man of her dreams!

    Reply
  53. elsa

    or that the milk she brings to sell every market day is really cow milk not goat.

    Reply
  54. Regina Clare Jane

    I think her secret is that she really is a princess who was dropped on the doorstep of this very lovely country couple who could not have any children of their own. Her adoptive parents were told to keep this secret from her until she was 21 and about to be married and that when she had found love with a man who truly loved her for her self and not because she was a princess, then she would inherit the bounties of her kingdom and her and her new husband would reign over the people with true love in their hearts for everyone, rich and poor…
    xo

    Reply
  55. Molly

    She is going to sky dive! 🙂
    I look forward to hearing the response… I like your guessing games!

    Reply
  56. Sally

    Her days of drudgery as kitchen maid are over, she just found out that she won the Pillsbury Bake-Off! 🙂

    Reply
  57. becca

    She is going to tell him she loves him!
    🙂

    Reply
  58. Ariane Cagle

    She really is Marie Antoinette and she’s tired of playing her games of being a milkmaid and wants to reveal her secret to her secret country lover.

    Reply
  59. Jihan

    “Honey…I’m really a MAN!” Yes, Claudette was really Claude.
    or…?
    The breakfast baguettes fell into the fountain- again! Silly girl.

    Reply
  60. susan

    i think she was just kissed for the first time. she has that “tipsy” look about her.

    Reply
  61. stephanie s

    well, as it turns out her initials are the same as his, so although she might have seemed to be pining away embroidering lovers initials on her underwear she really is just a practical gal.
    her secret? all her life, while plucking eggs out from underneath unsuspecting hens and milking those unforgiving goats, she sang, and that singing was finally going to buy her way out of that stinking village and onto the finest opera stages of europe. so, being as sensible as she was, she was on her way to meet her young lover in the town square to steal one last kiss and leave the milk and eggs at his feet. for she would be making this journey alone, leaving young pierre to live the balance of his life raising those damn chickens and goats himself.

    Reply
  62. JO

    The apron is a baby sling…still popular today

    Reply
  63. Vermont Husband

    She is going back to the fountain to tell him that she really DOES believe that he is the Messiah –
    xox – Vermont Husband.

    Reply
  64. Cherie

    She still smiled as she bundled his dirty laundry into her apron. When he arrives to meet her at the fountain she will unfurl the apron and as she drops the pile at his feet she will laugh gaily and announce her secret … “Au revoir, PaPa, I am off to join Le Folies Bergere.”

    Reply
  65. frenchgardenhouse

    lordy, what entries! How ever will you choose….
    (I’m much more into the wonderful FRAME!)
    🙂 Lidy

    Reply
  66. Mahala

    Her secret is that she has found out that she will get to live with her Aunt so that she will be close to him when he leaves to go away to school and they will not have to be apart after all. oh sweet love:)
    Mahala

    Reply
  67. adi

    Hi Friend,
    have been a regular here for quite some time. to correct that, have blogrolled u know.
    hope u’ll visit delhidreams soon.
    take care.

    Reply
  68. Bridget

    Thank you for your visit at my blog! I discover yours with great pleasure and really enjoy the “secret game circle”.It’s makes me think about french writer Guy de Maupassant.

    Reply
  69. Charlotte

    She got a tatoo of HIS initials the night before!!

    Reply
  70. marita

    she is going to announce him that she is leaving eggs and village behind her…starting a new life, building her own lovely home in ‘Provence’ painting and chanting her future life without him
    ‘au revoir’ 😉

    Reply
  71. Di Overton

    A Kiss

    Reply
  72. y

    She played a lottery and won. She is going to tell him about it, and give him all her eggs and the milk. She is hiding her winning ticket in her hair!

    Reply
  73. Paris Tarte

    HUMPH!
    Many girls hide their buns…
    Some HAVE to
    And won’t wear a bikini!

    Reply
  74. Mary-Noel

    She’s dumping her eggs and milk and going to go run the New York Marathon…

    Reply
  75. Mary-Know-it-all

    She’s going to lie down till she feels better…
    Then shes going to…?

    Reply
  76. Pere Noëlle

    She has some black cups to paint…
    OR ELSE!

    Reply
  77. Marie-France

    She’s going to give him a really large Kishe!

    Reply
  78. Annie

    A baby! That’s the secret! She’s going to have his baby.
    Enjoyed the story.

    Reply
  79. Kristy

    A scout from a top modelling agency wants her for the cover of French Vogue!

    Reply
  80. gautami

    She was leaving him.

    Reply
  81. colleen

    She has been his secret admirer all along.
    Or is she pregnant?

    Reply
  82. gemma

    She discovered a way through the labrynth

    Reply
  83. beachy

    I know I’ve already given you my “story” – but just glacing at this again reminded me of two Bible stories… the poor woman who went to the villagers for their remaining drops of oil and was able to fill her cruet full (notice your lady’s large “cruet”!) … and the loaves and the fishes (the loaves are hidden in her skirt… and she somehow got the story wrong and substituted eggs for the fish)! =) I guess it is getting close to the time for going to church and I’ve become a little religious this go around!

    Reply
  84. Mahala

    Her secret is that even though she is to marry another,she is in love with him and wants to be with him and is ready to run away with him.
    Mahala

    Reply
  85. Beverly

    She just realized that she’s gained 10 pounds, and she’s hiding it with her apron and basket of eggs…
    …oh wait a minute, that’s my secret!
    Still can’t think of one Corey!
    Sorry!

    Reply
  86. Patois

    Her name? Marie Callender. She’s got a heck of a recipe for peach cobbler, and she’s going to America to make her fortune.

    Reply
  87. Colette

    She had found the chicken that laid the golden eggs (that’s what’s in her apron). Now they could be together forever and never have to worry about the bills.

    Reply
  88. Merisi’s Vienna

    She going to tell Victor she’s had it with his indecision and was going to marry the guy from the other village, who had shown her what true love was by showering her with sexy underwear, embroidered with the trademark “V” from “Ye Olde Victoria’s Secret” garment shop.

    Reply
  89. Greenishlady

    I think I have visited that village!
    The secret… last night, a clump of thatch fell into her loft bedroom, and hidden in it she found seventeen gold coins. Now he will have money to buy out his indenture and they will be free to marry.

    Reply
  90. Lisa

    I also think she is carrying his child!

    Reply
  91. sundaycynce

    I really liked what greenishlady said, the second comment; and you had so many i finally quit reading them and don’t know if mine is the same as someone else’s; but I think her parents aren’t living and she lives with an aunt & uncle, or someone even more distant. She finally told the relatives she lives with that she and he love each other and that uncle/male relative gave his blessing and that’s her secret.

    Reply
  92. simple me

    you make me smile…
    how do you come up with these things
    like the french say … genial!

    Reply
  93. NancyCz

    LOVED your post!

    Reply

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