Affaire de Coeur

by Stephanie O’Hanlon

  How much of the details are we going to divulge? Were we going to tell them that I was sneaking him up to my bedchamber?

  I cleared my throat, taking another sip of my lemonade. An uncomfortable sweat came over me.

  “A man on the grounds? How do you know it was not just one of the equerries or a blacksmith or something? Someone new? You said he was coming from the stables,” Colette said. She obviously found it ridiculous that she was going to be confined to her own house, even though she said she wasn’t going to go out, for fear of further humiliation.

  The Marquis shook his white bagwigged head, “It was not one of the equerries, a blacksmith, or one of the other tradesmen. Also, it was far too late at night. No arguments, Colette. I mean it. There is a curfew and new rules. That is that, and you will obey them. You too, Madeleine.”

  I nodded. “You have no arguments from me.”

  He nodded. “Good.” He seemed surprised that I was not going to argue. Colette wanted to protest some more but he shook his head at her. “No. My word is law, Colette. This is my house.”

  He turned to walk out, and Colette jumped up, protesting. It did not matter that the Marquis put his foot down. She chased after him as he went into the salon.

  I felt a sudden wave of nausea come over me, thinking about how the servants saw Lucien! We were not as careful as we thought, though Brielle was the only one who knew it was Lucien for sure. As far as we knew, she had not said anything to anyone else.

  I stood up and walked through the house, which was just as stifling as outside if not a little cooler. I ran up the staircase and into my bedchamber. I pulled out some parchment and my quill, scratching away a note to Lucien. I told him to meet me at the new garden extension after dark. I looked around and folded the letter up. Wiping sweat from my forehead as I turned, I pulled the rope and rang for Brielle, who was up to me in a flash.

  “I need you to get this to Lucien as fast as you possibly can,” I said, handing her the letter. “I need something else, too. I need you to find the skeleton key for the house. Do you know where it is?”

  She nodded. “It is in the Marquis’s office.”

  I pursed my lips together, knowing the Marquis would be in his office all day. “Well, during our supper, you can sneak in and get it. He will be in the dining room with Colette and I.”

  She seemed hesitant but nodded. She took the letter and ran out of the room.

  I felt another wave of nausea. The August heat was making my head spin. I fanned myself quickly, trying to get some more air. I turned and poured myself a glass of water, which was surprising cold.

  Colette sauntered into the room. She walked over to my bed and sat down on it, as if in a daze.

  “Did you make any headway arguing?” I asked, placing my glass down and pouring more into it.

  She shook her head. “I am too tired to protest, anymore. I do not have the energy to care.”

  “So, what shall we do?” I asked, sipping at my water.

  “Nothing. It is too hot in the house. Let’s go find some shade somewhere.” She stood up as I sipped the last of my glass. I put it down on my bedside table and followed her out.

  We sat outside for quite a while, finding some shade by the path to the orchard and bit of forest under a large tree. We were there until the sun started to go down slowly and the breeze got a little cool. The Marquise called us in, so we gathered our things.

  We prepared for our supper. The whole time, my heart beat anxiously, hoping Brielle would be able to get the key in time for me to sneak out to meet Lucien.

  Colette sat at her usual place at the head of the table, nearest the door to the salon. The Marquis sat at the other end, and myself beside Colette as everything was dished out for us.

  “Have we locked the doors yet, Pa-pa?” Colette asked acidly.

  He nodded. “I have, and you two will go up to your respective bedchambers and stay there for the rest of the night.”

  “Now we are confined to our rooms?” Colette gasped, outraged.

  He nodded, again. “Yes, you are. My word is law, Colette. Please. That is enough about it. Either we talk about something else or not at all.”

  Colette was keen on not speaking at all. She went quiet as she picked around at her plate, barely eating anything. Her silence did not last long. She took a delicate breath as she began, again. “I plan on going to see Constanze, tomorrow. Is that something I will be allowed to do?”

  He looked at her, shooting daggers from his eyes as he nodded. “Yes, fine. As long as it is during the day and you are back before the doors are locked.”

  I looked to Colette, mouthing. “Constanze?”

  She nodded. “Don’t worry. You do not have to go. She just wants to know about the ball. I figure she should hear it from me as not to cause more rumors.”

  I looked back at my plate, relieved I would not have to see Constanze. I sat nervously for the rest of the meal. I tried to eat, though my attention was on the doorway. I kept hoping Brielle would come inside and signal me that she had found the key, and it was in her possession.

  “I am going up to my bedchamber, now. Excuse me.” Colette sighed, standing from the table.

  I stood with her, nodding in agreement. “I think I will also retire to my bedchamber.”

  The Marquis still had half of his food on his plate, shaking his hand at us, “Fine, good night.”

  We curtsied to him before we turned and left. Brielle walked up behind us. “Mademoiselle.”

  I looked at her, and Colette nodded before going on ahead. I ran up to Brielle, my voice quieting. “Did you get it?”

  She nodded as she reached into her little pocket and showed it to me before slipping it back in.

  I sighed in relief. “Give it to me, and I will keep it safe. Can you watch the Marquis and let me know when he has adjourned to his office?”

  She seemed hesitant, again. She was not sure if she could agree or not.

  I looked her in the eye. “I need to see him, Brielle. Someone has seen him on the grounds, and now the Marquis—”

  “Yes, I am aware of the new rules and curfew,” she said, looking down at her hands.

  “Then, you understand. I must see him and speak to him. I need to see him. We are going to come out with it in a day or so, but we must have a plan for such a thing. Do you understand?”

  She still was hesitant but nodded. “Yes, I do.” She reluctantly handed me the skeleton key.

  “Good,” I nodded. “I am going up to my bedchamber.”

  She nodded and walked back to the dining room as I turned and walked over to the staircase, up the stairs, ran to my bedchamber, and placed the key in my secrétaire so as not to get caught with it.

  I waited by my window as I looked out at the falling sunlight, absorbed by my turquoise gown. Since it was after eight in the evening, just a small amount of light was still present. An orange ring was the only source of light that faded to a yellow and then a light blue as it darkened out across the rest of the sky.

  Brielle came up and knocked on my door, my eyes only ripping away from the window as she nodded at me. “The Marquis is in his study, Mademoiselle.” She curtsied to me before placing my light shawl on the pink velvet chair, turning, and leaving the room.

  I sighed, again. I turned back to the window and looked out to the darkness that was now falling quite fast. I suddenly felt a fright overcome me. I saw a figure sneak along the path toward the pavilion structure that had been completed a few days ago. It was Lucien making his way to wait for me.

  By the time I worked up the courage and grabbed my shawl, the darkness was nearly completely surrounding the entire manor. I tiptoed my way down the staircase, running through the large hall over to the dining room. I rushed inside, hiding behind the lip of the wall.

  I peered around it to make sure no one saw me. The Marquis walked out of his office for a moment with papers in his hands. He had his eyes on them, scratching his head before he nodded and turned bac
k into the room.

  My heart was beating like a whole herd of wild horses, and my body shook with fright. I ran through the dining room to the salon, carefully unlocked the door, out onto the terrace, and down past the fountain to the path.

  For the first time since its completion, I saw the Marquise’s grand, garden extension—a large, domed structure with eight columns and large vines snaking their way around them. There were some small, stone fences in between four of the columns and more of the climbing vines reaching their way up to the roof.

  I ascended the few steps. Lucien stood waiting for me as he smiled. “I thought you would never come. What happened?”

  I swallowed hard, looking behind me and not seeing anyone in the darkness. “Some of the servants have seen you on the grounds. The Marquis has these stupid, new rules and a curfew because of it.”

  “Do they know it was me?” he asked, his eyes showing a small amount of fear for the first time.

  I shook my head. “No. Brielle says they don’t know it was you.”

  He sighed. “Oh. Well, good.”

  “It is not good.” I grabbed hold of his justaucorps underneath his Roquelaure cloak. I squeezed my fists, entirely aggravated. “We cannot see each other at all, now. There is no reason for you to see me during the day, and you cannot risk seeing me at night.”

  He stroked my cheek, looking down at me. He spoke calmly and slowly. “That just means we need to speed up our initial plan and tell everyone. We planned to do it around this time, anyway. Perhaps we should stop stalling and just do it.”

  I nodded, looking around the little pavilion. It was actually quite romantic and quaint. A stone bench sat in the middle, and two statues—one of Cupid and another of Psyche—were positioned between two of the bare columns.

  “Your father is supposed to be back soon, isn’t he?”

  I shook my head. “Not soon enough. It will be another two and a half weeks. He is to arrive on the twenty-fourth.”

  “Well, we can make it. We can deal with everything until then.”

  “What do we say? What do we tell everyone?” I asked, my heart speeding up, again.

  He licked his lips, looking around as he thought. “Well, that you are the woman I have been seeing. I thought that was obvious.”

  “What of you visiting me in the night? People are going to know that we have not been seeing each other during the day or in the evenings. How do we explain it?”

  “Our letters,” he said, smiling. “Do you not think it is possible that two people could fall in love through such things? We saw each other quite frequently. I never told anyone how or when I saw the lady I was interested in.”

  “Oh,” I said, looking down at his chest. “I suppose you are right. I am just worried about what people will say.”

  He frowned. “Well, you will need to get used to that, my love. They will be saying a lot of things once this comes out tomorrow.”

  I nodded, knowing he was right. A pain in my chest and an ache behind my eyes emerged from the aggravation of the situation. Seeing my pain, he leaned down and kissed me softly, passionately. It was something we would do if we were in my room. My mind suddenly slipped to the fact that I could not sneak him up to my room, tonight.

  “I should go,” he said, pulling away from me reluctantly.

  “Ugh, I hate this,” I said, trying to stop the tears in my eyes.

  He stroked my cheek. “I know, my love, but we cannot risk it. You know that. Right now, they probably think it is some prowler of sorts, here to steal something. Maybe they think some man is visiting upon the female servants.”

  “But…” The words died on my lips. I had no idea what I was going to say. There was no point in protesting. We could no longer be in my bedchamber. We no longer have the safety of falling asleep in each other’s arms, even if just for a few hours. “Well, what now?”

  “I’m trying to think of that, but no more visits to your bedchamber. I wish I could kidnap you and take you to my manor.” His thumb ran over my jaw as the rest of his hand cupped the side of my neck.

  I held onto his justaucorps, tears spilling down my cheeks.

  “Oh, please. Do not cry. You are never allowed to cry,” he said, his face twisted in anguish. “This is not goodbye…only good night, remember?”

  I nodded, trying to stop the flow of tears now making my cheeks wet. Though, as the warm wind blew across my face, it made it feel a little cool.

  He raised my chin, looked into my eyes, and shook his head. “No tears. This is far from over. In fact, it is really only just beginning. We need to think of where to go from here, all right?”

  I nodded again, swallowing the lump in my throat hard.

  “I will come by tomorrow, and we will announce it to the Du Lorme’s first. Have you sent word to your father?” he asked, his hands slipping to my waist.

  I nodded. “As we agreed, I sent the letter ,yesterday. I do not know when he will get it, but something tells me he will not know before everyone else like we had hoped.”

  “Well, we will apologize for that. Though, perhaps he will get it just in time. Tomorrow evening, we will go and announce it to my grandmother. I am sure word will spread fast, especially when she invites everyone to an event for us to properly come out to society.”

  “Well, look how fast Rose works with such things. I am surprised that she has not told anyone, yet.” I swallowed hard again, knowing how much was going to go on in the next few days, but I was prepared. I knew that in loving Lucien, I was going to have to live up to certain obligations and do certain things. There was no escaping it. As much as it seemed like it was far too much, I was strong enough to take it.

  “I promise you,” he started, looking into my eyes, “I will be with you every step of the way and not leave your side for a moment. This is you and I, this is us. All right?”

  I nodded, and he nodded along with me, pulling me to him and kissing my forehead. I could smell his cologne, and for the life of me, I couldn’t stop the flow of tears that escaped me!

  Lucien lifted my chin once again, leaned into me, and pushed his lips up against my own, just as he always did. He kissed me long and passionately. I wanted to be in his arms…no one else’s.

  Before I knew it, he pushed me up against one of the stone columns and lifted up my skirt. My chemise got caught underneath, and my hands fumbled to grab hold of it as he unhooked the fall front of his breeches. The column dug into my back, but I didn’t care. I knew that there was a possibility of this being the last time I would get to make love to Lucien without any cares at all in the back of my mind.

  I tried to keep as quiet as I could. I didn’t want any of the groundskeepers to find us, though it reminded me that Lucien finally got what he wanted. We were making love in the wilderness. My mind floated off, but it quickly came back to Lucien. Especially when his lips pressed against my own, stifling a moan from both of us.

  I had to admit, I actually appreciated the Marquise’s little temple of love.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I awoke at nine in the morning with a bruise on my back that constantly reminded me that not only did I not fall asleep in Lucien’s arms the night before, but the time was creeping closer and closer to Lucien’s and my announcement.

  Brielle let me sleep a little bit longer, as she knew the heat from the day before was taking its toll on me. The country was somehow far cooler.

  I sat and thought about home as Brielle helped me bathe. She then dried me off and curled my hair, setting it all atop my head before powdering it. Next, she dressed me in a light pink robe à la Française, with delicious, dark pink ruffles up the trim, on the bodice, and around the sleeves atop dainty, light pink lace and alternating with white lace.

  I pursed my lips as I went down to eat breakfast. It was nearly eleven when I did so. Surprisingly, the Marquis was sitting at the dining table, picking away at some brioche.

  “Good morning,” I said as I walked toward the salon, stopping fo
r a moment to greet the old man.

  He nodded. “Yes. Good morning, Madeleine.”

  “Has Colette left?” I asked, looking into the salon.

  He nodded. “Yes, about five minutes ago. You just missed her.”

  I nodded, walked into the salon, and sat at the little table. A maid came over and poured me a cup of tea.

  I looked around the room as I really thought about how I would phrase the news to Colette, considering how angry she would be that I hadn’t told her about Lucien and myself sooner. He agreed to be there around three in the afternoon, when Colette would surely be back from Constanze’s little lunch. She left at around eleven, how many hours would she be able to stand Constanze? I could barely stand her for five minutes.

  After my breakfast, I went up to the parlor, where all the doors were open to the balconies and letting in a cooler breeze than the day before. The day seemed to move fast. The anticipation of such an announcement made my stomach churn and my knee bounce beneath my gown. I tried to read but was unsuccessful.

  Colette walked in, her light blue robe à la Française taking up my sight as she sauntered into the room. Her face was still, but something shone behind her eyes.

  “How was your visit upon Constanze?” I asked, putting the book down. I looked at the clock quickly, seeing it was close to 2:30 p.m. Lucien would soon arrive.

  She walked over to me, cocking her head to the side as she looked me over. “It was interesting.”

  My brow furrowed. “Are you feeling any better, today?”

  “Not really,” she said blatantly. “I am actually not feeling very well at all…not at all.”

  “Do you want some water or to lie down?” I asked, standing from the sofa.

  She shook her head. “No. I think a turn on the grounds may be in order, perhaps go over to the new garden extension. Don’t you find that lovely little place enchanting, interesting?”

  I swallowed hard, shaking my head. “I…no, I don’t.”

  “Really? One would think in such a little temple of love that you would certainly appreciate it. After all, it is very private. Isn’t it?”