My great-great-grandmother’s portrait hung in the university up until the Revolution. By then, the truth of their romance had been reduced to a simple fairy tale. And, while Cinderella and her prince did live happily ever after, the point, gentlemen, is that they lived.

More from Ever After

• A fish and a bird may marry, but where would they live?
• Just breathe.
• That's not fair! You've found my weakness, but I've yet to find yours!
• What bothers you more stepmother? That I am common? Or that I am competition?
• You will give me back my dress, sir.
• I will go down in history as the man who opened a door.