>> EXCERPT. Desiree’s Baby: A Skin Deep Tragedy. In “Desiree’s Baby,” Désirée marries the son of a wealthy, well-known and respected French Creole family. They have a child and in a side-by-side comparison, Desiree observes that her child and her slave’s child are of the same skin color. The reader can infer that the only real difference between the two is their family name and its trappings. Her husband, assuming it is Desiree who is of mixed blood, abandons her only to later find out it is he who is of mixed blood.