The Dramatis Personae:
John Singer Sargent
A 9 out of 10 on the gorgeousness scale. Dresses immaculately. Not only a talented painter, but a hard worker. He's a brilliant strategist. He understands how to read the emotions that play across a person's face and capture them in paint. He's an expatriot who spent his childhood travelling around Europe so he speaks four languages without an accent. His loyalty to his country and his extraordinary gifts catch the eye of the U.S. Secret Service (at the time their main task was investigating counterfeiting). So he's kind of a proto-CIA agent. At the time this story takes place, he has been living in Paris for ten years and is a rising star in the art world hoping to take top prize in the upcoming Salon (the cultural event of the year).
Amelie Gautreau (Madame X)
Spoiled daughter of a Creole family who may or may not have stolen a wagon load of gold in the last days of the Civil War. She is a professional beauty who married Pierre Gautreau ostensibly for his money. Her great goal in life is to scale the heights of European society and plumb the depths of sexual taboos. Above is the painting Sargent did of her.
Sargent is assigned to investigate the missing Confederate gold. To do this, he infiltrates the Gautreau household as a portrait painter. After arousing the lustful vengeance of Amelie and the suspicion of Pierre, Sargent gets some bad information that leads him to the Gautreau bank (which is a trap). He prepares to rob the bank, aided by Tesla, and while casing the joint, discovers a counterfeiting gang operating out of the bank. As he trails one of the gang members, he gets beaten or shot or something and seriously wounded. How does it end? He breaks into the bank, realizes the gold is gone and he’s trapped. Okay, I know how it ends, but I can't just TELL you that? I've got to show you.
6 comments:
So uh this is muse approved. Now start writing the actual story. This has lots of vim and excitement. I want to read it in your elegant prose.
I was doing great until you said he was going to rob the bank. (!). I guess I just didn't see that skill set in his backstory!!! You could set it up like that scene in the movie "The Sting" where the banker is shooed out of his office by painters, and then the bank is scammed into being the front for a con. Just my (unasked for) two sense worth, but I could see him being a con-man as much as anything else. I love having JSS lead a double life, one fraught with political intrigue, physical danger, and beautiful women. I wish SOOO bad that there could be some kind of "clues" or "messages" in the paintings that he creates, but I don't think they are enigmatic enough for that.
"rob a bank" may be too strong a word. "strategize a heist" is more like it. He will have some cool skills and gadgets, but it's his planning that will get him through it only scathed and not dead. I need to watch The Sting now, that is more what I'm aiming for.
you have to bring in that character that JSS did a painting of in red ( DR. someone, can't remember his name) he is such a cool evil character.
Hmm, well this is a lot different! It's gone from a Jane Austen to an Agatha Christie. I don't know anything about John Singer Sergeant, but I would like to read a story that *could* be true. Like Da Vinci code. I'm reading it going, no way! Did Da Vinci really paint all that on purpose? I should look it up! So as long as this is done with a touchstone in reality to make it plausible on some level, that will inspire wonder in the reader. If its is based on only his name, I'd rather it wasn't a real person at all. But, like I said, I know nothing about this man other that what I've read from you.
I liked the ideas you had that focused on the paintings. Will that still be in this version?
Yeah, this is more of a "could be" true story. I was thinking of making him a completely fictional character, but this is more fun. And that is the goal here. Adrienne has fun. Ta da!
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