Affaire de Coeur

by Stephanie O’Hanlon

  I bowed my head lightly. “Madeleine Dumont.”

  “A pleasure,” he said, turning back to Colette. “Now, Mademoiselle du Lorme. What makes you think you have the right to challenge my authority in this area? Especially in my critique of you?”

  Her mouth fell agape. “What gives you the right?”

  He smirked, again. “Simple. I have studied under some of the best composers: Handel when I was just a child, Gluck, and most recently Haydn. Who have you studied under? What great composer has given you such divine knowledge to overthrow them, overthrow myself?”

  For once, Colette was silenced. She turned, her eyes pointed ahead of herself. Her rage simmered down as I winced lightly, ready for a blowup at any moment. Instead, she turned to him and took a delicate breath. Her voice, not filled with disdain but a light correction. Almost a critique of him. “I would not challenge such an opinion. You are right. It is not my place. My distaste for you has nothing to do with the opinion itself, but the way you carried it out. The use of such a tone to a lady, to a daughter of a man who is your better—your comrade, but your better still—is inappropriate.”

  Armand sat for a moment. Looking her over, his piercing light blue eyes on hers, a small smile pulled at the side of his mouth. “Ah, there. You have bettered me, Mademoiselle. I ask your apologies.” He stood, bowing before her, gently taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it.

  “Monsieur le Comte de Laurent,” the servant called out. All three of us looked toward the doorway to see Lucien de Laurent standing and looking around, his black and gold tricorne hat in his hand.

  The sound of his name being called aloud to the sight of him made my heart leap within me. I stumbled up as I nervously placed my cup back on the table, climbing over Colette’s gown. “Lucien! I mean…my lord,” I quickly corrected myself, curtseying to him.

  He smiled as he stepped into the room. “No, actually. You had it correct the first time, Mademoiselle. I prefer to hear you say my name rather than a title, which is not completely my own as my name is.”

  Colette stood up behind me, a sly smile on her face as she put her hands on my elbows. She looked over Lucien approvingly in his informal powder blue, Dutch velvet justaucorps and matching silk breeches. “Ah, Comte. You have made it. Maddy and I were worried you did not receive her note.”

  Lucien looked behind us to Armand who had stood, bowing to him before he stepped forward. “Yes. I apologize for not sending my valet ahead to give word, but I thought Madeleine would appreciate the surprise.”

  Colette regained herself. A strong, stubborn sense of pride came over her as she put on a smile. “Well, now that everyone is here, shall we go up to the parlor and enjoy some dinner?”

  She directed her question to the whole room, including the Vicomte, who smiled and put out his arm for her to lead the way.

  I looked down to Lucien’s hat, brushing a nonexistent strand of hair behind my ear before my eyes bounced around for one of the maids. “I should really find someone to take that for you.”

  He smiled lightly, that same, pursed smirk that made my heart skip up. “It is quite all right. Why don’t we follow your friends?”

  I nodded, my feet tripping over each other as I felt his hand on the small of my back. We followed Colette and Armand, who were already halfway up the staircase on their way to the parlor.

  A large gold and blue rug lay in the center of the room, which also had a light blue sofa and two matching armchairs over top of it that went with the blue paint on the walls. A glass top tea table sat in the middle of it. Mahogany wood accented all of the furniture and matched the paneling of the floor.

  Behind the little social area were the large windows with pale blue and white curtains, and violet, Dutch velvet drapes wrapped decoratively around the gilded railings. The enormous windows led out to the even grander center balcony of the house, which was large enough to have a table and chairs, but they were vacant nonetheless. Of course, on either side were smaller, thinner doors that led out to the other balconies, framed by the same matching curtains and drapes.

  To the left was the long dining table, sitting parallel to the wall. A large, gilded chandelier hung over top of it, and a matching chandelier was across the room on the right side. A little, round mahogany card table and matching little chairs with blue cushions sat in the right corner underneath it. On the left wall was the door to the games room, which only the Marquis and his business partners ever ventured into.

  Of course, little statues were all over the room on their own little wooden stands. Large crystal and porcelain vases filled with beautiful flowers decorated the room. Various family portraits, including one of Colette in a riding ensemble, covered the walls.

  We walked over to the table, which had a spread of various different foods, including pheasant, cold meats, fruit, and stew. Colette, of course, dove straight for the brioche and slathered it with butter before grabbing a block of cheese.

  She sat in the middle of the table, her back facing the wall and door to the games room. Armand sat to her left at the head of the table, only separated by a chair. Though, by the disdainful pout on Colette’s face, it was not nearly far enough.

  I sat across from her. Lucien looked to the empty seat to my left before he decided to sit at the end of the table, opposite Armand.

  The meal was pleasant enough, mostly quiet. Armand and Lucien seeming to hold a separate conversation from Colette and myself. I didn’t say much, and my eyes constantly drifted over to Lucien and a plate of delicately frosted petite fours and macarons before him.

  Shit. How am I going to get my hands on them without asking him?

  I didn’t want to speak to Lucien for fear I would say something stupid—I thought it best not to tempt fate and keep quiet. I knew I was incapable of doing as Colette said—seducing him—so, I thought it better to stick to what I knew, be myself.

  Colette kicked my foot from under the table. Her eyes widened as she motioned her head toward Lucien. I shook my head lightly, looking back to my plate. Nearly half the food dished out for me was still on it.

  Armand sat back in the chair, making himself quite at home. “So, Lucien. It was interesting seeing you at the performance last evening.”

  Lucien almost stifled a laugh, shaking his head. “Interesting?”

  “Well, you have been so sparse around that social circle. As I heard it while I was in Vienna, you kept your distance. Though, it is nice to see a familiar face among all the powdered wigs and rouged cheeks.” He looked over to Colette, who had a good bit of rouge on her cheeks. Her jaw stiffened once again as she gripped her fork.

  Lucien licked his lips lightly, sitting forward in his seat and resting his arm on the table. “It was rather dull while you were away. After all, you are usually the life of the party, are you not?” he teased, smiling lightly.

  Armand let out a laugh. “Ah, but it is just so true, isn’t it?”

  Colette mimicked Armand, causing me to smile lightly, stifling my own laugh.

  “Well, it seems that Mademoiselle Colette is ready for her first lesson, I should think,” Armand said, a look of devilish satisfaction on his face.

  Colette looked to him. “A lesson? Now?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Is that not what I am here for? Perhaps afterward, I will play my own rendition of the performance—a more appropriate one, as last night was too staccato for my liking.”

  Colette looked to me before she stood from the table, both men and myself standing as she did. “Fine. Maddy, why don’t you and the Comte stay here and converse. I would hate for you to hear my failed attempts to please the Vicomte.”

  I shook my head, my eyes pleading with Colette not to leave me.

  She gave me that all too familiar look of “Colette has spoken”, and I obeyed. She flashed a smile to Lucien before she walked around the table and ahead of Armand, snubbing his hand, extended for hers.

  As soon as they left the room, Lucien pushed the plate with
the delicious desserts on it toward me. My eyes went from the little pink, violet, and yellow cakes up to Lucien, who smirked to me.

  “I think you were eyeing these a moment or two ago,” he said, and his dizzying, dark blue eyes sparkled with wit.

  I shook my head, turning and nearly running for the sofa, where I sat down and folded my hands in my lap.

  He didn’t waste any time in walking over to me. Thankfully, he stayed standing and not sitting beside me. I was sure if he did sit beside me, I would either faint or jump back. Both were equally humiliating, and I would surely have died of embarrassment either way.

  “Have I…have I done something to offend you?” he asked, looking me over carefully.

  I looked up to him, surprised, and shook my head. “No. Oh, no. Nothing at all.”

  He seemed unsatisfied with that answer, placing his hand behind his back. “Do I frighten you?”

  “Well, no. Of course not,” I laughed.

  “Then, why do you run away? Why avert your eyes to my gaze?”

  I swallowed hard, looking down to my hands. What do I say? That the sheer fact that he was probably the most beautiful man I had ever seen and that I was so attracted to him, it sent me into the worst, nervous stutters?

  I took a minute, trying to compose my thoughts—much like Colette would do. “I just…I am not used to being alone in a room with a man.”

  “You were alone when I first saw you at the fête, surrounded by men,” he pointed out. “You looked rather comfortable. In fact, your mind was in your own world. I do not blame you. Any world is certainly better than one of Madame the Vicomtesse’s.”

  “Then, why make your appearance there? Especially after such a long time of no appearances at all.”

  “Ah. So, you have heard the rumors.” He smirked, looking back to me. “Aside from Armand and his comments.”

  I nodded. “I have heard some things, yes.”

  He walked over to me and sat down beside me on the sofa. “What have you heard, exactly?”

  I surprisingly held my composure and did not jump away. I shook my head. “I really shouldn’t.”

  He smirked again, looking about the room. “Well, you probably heard that I am favored by the King, yes? By his grandson, the Dauphin.”

  I nodded lightly. “I have.”

  He cleared his throat. “That is true. His highness enjoys hunting, and I am skilled at it, so I accompany him, as do many others. My family is among the closest to the King and has been with the Royal Family since the reign of Francis II. Let’s see. What else is there…”

  I kept my eyes to the floor and my chin down as my voice quietly rose. “There has been talk of a pension.”

  He smiled. “Ah, yes. That is also true. How much do people say I am worth?”

  “Fifty thousand livres,” I said quietly, fiddling with my fingers.

  “Ha!” he scoffed, turning as he stood up and shaking his head.

  I looked up to him. “That is not right? Is it less?”

  He looked to me, his bewilderingly beautiful eyes on mine. “It is just a bit more than that, actually.”

  My face scrunched in confusion. More? “How much more?”

  “One hundred and fifty thousand livres.”

  My whole body heaved at the thought of such a number. “What would a person need that much money for?”

  He stopped, turned, and looked at me, puzzled. He shook his head before he walked over to me, standing before me. “It is not mine. It is my grandmother’s pension. I barely see any of it until I fix her financial affairs. She is an old woman. She cannot deal with her affairs as she once did.”

  I nodded, remembering the one time I had met his grandmother while I was visiting with Colette. She was at a dinner party the Marquis had thrown nearly two years before. “She is a very nice woman. I met her a few years ago. She kept trying to feed me cakes and speaking of her spells in the country.”

  Lucien smiled. “That is grandma-ma.”

  I looked up as he sat down beside me, quite closely.

  “I have never seen you at court, Madeleine, or even any of those parties before. Why is that?”

  “I am not of the right station,” I said plainly, almost confused.

  “How do you mean?” He shook his head, his brow furrowing.

  “My father is a simple merchant. He does not have any titles or patents of nobility. He does not even have the money to acquire one. Colette has been my friend since childhood. Her grandmother lives in a small home by my own outside of Paris in the country. We used to play together as little girls. My father is in Sweden doing business. I needed a place to stay, and Colette offered for me to stay here.”

  “So, you have no money?”

  I smiled. “I am afraid not. It is true I enjoy living here, but I would be just as happy back at home.”

  He seemed humbled by my thought. His expression softened as he looked to my hands. “You care not for money?”

  I laughed lightly. “I think everyone cares for it. I just do not care as much as others. I do like the dresses, the fancy cakes, and going to fêtes, but I think that is because I have never done it before. So, it is all new for me. I am sure the novelty will wear off eventually.”

  His eyes met with mine, his arm along the back of the sofa, and my body extremely close to his. He leaned into me. My heart started beating frantically as his face came close to mine. His lips just touched my own as Colette’s voice rang out.

  “Maddy?”

  I turned away from him, standing up quickly as my face flushed scarlet. Colette stopped in the doorway.

  She looked to me and then to Lucien, who had his head pointed down to the sofa, almost aggravated. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting something.” She looked to me with an apologetic look, knowing that she had interrupted something.

  I shook my head lightly. “It is all right. You called?”

  Colette walked forward, and Lucien did not move from his spot. “Armand inquired as to if you would also like lessons. I know you had shown interest for the harpsichord.”

  I shook my head. “No, that’s all right. I will just watch you.”

  I turned to Lucien, who looked up to me. His eyes burned with something. Whether it was agitation or lust, I wasn’t sure.

  He stood up, nodding. “Well, shall we listen to Armand’s composition?”

  Chapter Seven

  “I am sorry, Maddy. I didn’t know that you two were…in a moment. Please forgive me!” Colette pleaded as we walked into the little boudoir. Both Lucien and Armand took their leave only moments before.

  “It is all right. I am actually glad you interrupted. I am quite sure that I would have fainted if another moment had passed. Then, I would have really looked like an idiot.”

  She was unsure of my kindness on the matter, watching as I sat down on the chaise longue, put my feet up, and rested my head against the back of it.

  “Well, what is it that he spoke to you about before he left?” she asked, sitting down on the end of the chaise longue, by my feet.

  I sat up, remembering Lucien’s voice and his bewildering eyes as he brought me aside and spoke to me. “He wanted to know if I would give him permission to write me.”

  Her eyebrows raised, and her eyes widened as she smiled. “That is wonderful! Yolande does not stand a chance!”

  I sighed heavily, pulling my legs off the chair and onto the floor. “I am not so sure. The pension, the one from the King…it is 150,000 livres.”

  She sat very still, not moving at all as her green eyes simply stared at me.

  “Colette?” I asked, looking over her, concerned. “Are you all right?”

  “That,” she began, her expression unchanging, “is a great deal of money.”

  I nodded, standing up and taking a deep breath. I let it out as I rolled my eyes. “All the more reason that Yolande is going to fight to the death on this. Would I sound insane if I said that I wish he didn’t have any money at all?”

  “Uh,
yes. You would. You would be stark-raving mad,” she said blatantly. “You wish he was a lowly peasant boy?”

  “It would certainly make things a lot easier.”

  “Why? How does him having money or not make anything at all easier? Why is it hard in the first place?”

  I walked over to the window, looking out to the large fountain and the back garden. All the flowers turned up into the early June sun. Birds fluttered in the water and soared through the trees. “Colette, think about it. Even if he does return my feelings, I cannot do anything about it. I cannot marry a Comte.”

  “Who the hell says you can’t?” she asked, standing up in outrage.

  I turned to her. “I am not of your class. You keep forgetting I was not born here, in Paris, or even in any of the respectable duchies or counties. My father is a merchant. My mother was a lowly seamstress. I have nothing to my name, Colette.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” she said, waving her hand in the air as she walked over to me. “Madeleine, men like Lucien always get what they want. There is nothing beyond their reach. There is nothing beyond Lucien’s reach.”

  I looked to the floor, my thoughts echoing in my mind. What if he doesn’t want me?

  “What about you and Armand? Fighting like cats one moment, then giggling and flirting shamelessly the next,” I said, trying to change the subject.

  “I was not flirting, and he is interesting. I admire his courage. I have never had a person, especially a man, speak to me like that,” she said, turning and looking out the window as I had.

  “You like him,” I smiled.

  She glared at me. “I do not! He is a terrible person. So snide. He slapped my hands when I was making mistakes on the harpsichord. That is why I ran up to find you. I wanted you to save me from the cruel punishment.”

  I smiled, looking out to the fountain and watching as the sunlight scattered through it.