num_pages: 246
description: As a child Prince Leopold Villeneuve unleashed his aristocratic cruelty on an old woman by the bank of the River Chaud. On his eighteenth birthday the old crone returns to find the same ignorant boy in the body of a beautiful young man. In a night shrouded in mystery his parents King Alaric and Queen Adele died and Leopold himself disappeared. For years villagers are frozen in fear of a mysterious and terrifying creature that haunts the town at night.Armand Babineaux once the wealthiest merchant in the village of Fontainbleu must secure his daughter Jolie to the unpleasant but enormously wealthy Quentin Garamonde or condemn her to a life of servitude and poverty. His eldest daughter Mireille has already married well but Jolie will be left all alone in the world if he does nothing to safeguard her future. Once the task is done he must travel to Port Lucerne to recover his last ship or face the same fate in his old age. On his return trip he is caught in a winter storm and finds himself far from the beaten path at the foot of Villeneuve Castle.Armand seeks shelter in the castle and once inside he is forced to confront the reality of what happened to the royal family so many years ago. The next morning when he picks a beautiful rose for Jolie he is brought face to face with the creature of local legend and must make a decision that will change all of their lives forever.
language: English
title: Beauty and the Beast
publisher: None