Becoming Lisette: A Novel (The Queen's Painter an Historical Romance Book 1)

by Rebecca Glenn

  “I told you never to come to my house. You have to leave now,” Le Sèvre said in a voice that he was trying to keep hushed, but not succeeding. Lisette clearly heard every word.

  “But it is urgent. I had to tell you that Jacques was arrested,” the woman said in a loud whisper.

  “Keep your voice down, Madame Gervais. You did not need to come to my house to tell me this news. We can discuss it tomorrow morning at the store.”

  “But the inspector is going to send him away without a trial unless he gives them information tonight. You need to come with me now,” Madame Gervais insisted. There was an urgent desperation in her voice.

  Le Sèvre was silent. Then Lisette heard him say, “I am going out, Henri. I don’t know when I will return. Fetch my coat.”

  Lisette tip-toed back up the stairs so that she wouldn’t be seen when Le Sèvre came into the foyer. She crouched down behind one of the large banisters at the top of the staircase. From that position, she could see down to the foyer, but it would be difficult for her to be spotted, especially if she was quiet.

  Lisette watched the pair head for the front door. When Madame Gervais turned toward the staircase, Lisette scrutinized her face. She recognized the woman. But where had she seen her? Le Sèvre went out first with Madame Gervais following. Lisette remained hidden behind the banister until she was sure that enough time had passed. Where have I seen Madame Gervais? she wondered. Then it came to her. Madame Gervais had been the servant woman who had met with Le Sèvre in the Tuileries gardens that day many months ago, before her mother had married Le Sèvre.

  Lisette thought back and remembered seeing the servant woman slip something into Le Sèvre’s pocket. It had all seemed so clandestine, but Lisette had not been able to explain it. She didn’t know what Le Sèvre had been doing with the woman then and she didn’t know what they were doing together now. Lisette couldn’t explain their relationship. Was she Le Sèvre’s lover?

  Lisette waited until the servants cleared the foyer and it was quiet. Detained long enough, she headed for the front door. I need to see Le Brun tonight, she thought.

  Hastily, Lisette made her way out of the house and onto the Rue Saint-Honoré. She immediately tried to hail a carriage. She noticed there were very few that passed. She looked at her papa’s pocket watch. She had been delayed too long. Everyone was now hurrying to the evening’s performances. Lisette was out at one of the busiest times of the night. She decided to walk a little farther down the Rue Saint-Honoré. Maybe I will have better luck here, she hoped. Lisette raised her hand again. Then again and again. Not a single carriage stopped for her. She looked at her watch once more. Le Brun will be leaving his shop soon, she realized. I am going to have to walk. Lisette would have to move swiftly if she was going to arrive at Le Brun’s safely on foot.

  At least the main streets are still well lit, she thought. Only sporadic lamps had exhausted their oil supplies. There would be no shortcuts tonight. Lisette would stay on the main thoroughfares. She moved as fast as she could, while remaining alert for approaching threats. She avoided getting too close to anyone who appeared suspicious. When she could see Le Brun’s shop, she quickened her pace.

  “Why you are a lovely little thing. Let me see your face.” Out of nowhere, a large, burly man approached her. The man had a low, raspy voice. He was dressed in rags and smelled of Sulphur, like the filth on the streets. His face was sullied with mud.

  Lisette lowered her head and ran.

  The man pursued her.

  Please have your front door unlocked. Please be there. Please…, Lisette thought as she raced away.

  Lisette reached Le Brun’s shop and immediately tugged at the door, but it was locked. She whipped around. The brutish man was nearly upon her. Lisette pounded on the door with her fist. “Le Brun, open the door!”

  She turned again but didn’t see anyone. He was gone. Lisette released her breath.

  Then she felt a hand on her arm.

  “You are quick for a girl. Come here, my pretty one!” The man gripped her arm trying to lead her away.

  Before she knew what was happening, the door opened and Lisette felt herself being pulled with a stronger force into the shop.

  “Le Brun!” Lisette had never been so happy to see him.

  Le Brun shooed the man with his hand. “Get out of here! Or else I’ll summon the sergent…there’s a watch house just around the corner,” Le Brun said to the scoundrel.

  Lisette didn’t recognize the harshness in Le Brun’s voice. She watched the man dash away and Le Brun promptly locked the door.

  “Mademoiselle Vigée! Why would you risk coming here at night?” Le Brun looked genuinely concerned.

  “To talk about Monsieur Le Sèvre.” Lisette needed answers tonight.

  Le Brun’s expression immediately changed. He now looked irritated. “I’m sorry, but there is nothing I can do about him.”

  “Nothing you can do?”

  “Monsieur Le Sèvre is your legal guardian. Under the law, he has the right to collect all of your earnings. He can do as he pleases with your money. It is his right. I cannot do anything to change the law.”

  “But you didn’t seem terribly concerned about the law before.”

  Le Brun looked past her as he spoke. “It is out of my hands. From now on, I can’t sell your paintings. Don’t come here again.”

  Lisette hadn’t expected Le Brun to give her such an unsatisfactory explanation. Once again, her step-father had inserted himself into her world…into a place where he didn’t belong.

  She met Le Brun’s eyes. “There is nothing else to say. Good night.”

  Lisette headed toward the door. She wasn’t eager to go back out into the night alone. I’ll find a lantern man, Lisette thought. She reached into her pocket bag to ensure she had sufficient coins to pay their modest fee for escorting her safely home. With the path well lit by the lanterns they carried, Lisette felt confident she could avoid harm.

  “Wait.” Le Brun came after her.

  Has he changed his mind? Lisette hoped. For a brief moment, Lisette wondered if he might still want to help her, regardless of Le Sèvre.

  “You cannot walk home. It is too dangerous.”

  “I will hire a lantern man,” she replied.

  “No, let me find you a carriage,” said Le Brun avoiding her gaze.

  Chapter Nineteen

  June 1, 1773

  Lisette had stayed awake for most of the night considering Le Brun’s words, From now on, I can’t sell your paintings. Don’t come here again. Le Sèvre was gradually taking everything that mattered away from her. Still in bed, she glanced over to her easel. I’d be taking too much of a risk, she thought. Le Sèvre will find out.

  Lisette remained in bed until she heard Le Sèvre leave for the day.

  She finally rose and dressed herself. She put on a simple, pale pink satin dress that closed in the front and was edged with delicate white lace. Lisette put her sketchpad and some money in her pocket bag that was safely hidden beneath her dress. She hadn’t yet decided where she would go today. As long as it isn’t here, she thought. Lisette needed a distraction.

  She was on her way out of the house when her mother cornered her in the front vestibule. “Lisette, you look lovely today. It is nice to see you wearing one of your newer ensembles. Although if you will be out tonight, you will want to change to a formal gown.”

  Lisette nodded.

  Now aware of the fashion “rules,” her mother was keen to enforce them. This morning, Jeanne was dressed more like a courtier than the wife of a wealthy marchand. She donned a striped emerald and ivory silk robe à l'anglaise and a matching silk gauze kerchief which crossed at her breasts and then tied at the back of her waist. The newer open gown design was worn by the most fashionable women at Versailles. Jeanne’s hair was swept up revealing large emerald drop earrings.

  “You look fetching today as well, Mother. Are those new earrings?”

  “Yes, a gift from Le Sèvre,”
her mother said, lowering her eyes and hiding her arms behind her back. Jeanne always seemed to be wearing new jewelry whenever she had fresh bruises. She looked back up at Lisette, “Where are you going? You are never home lately. I would like to spend the morning with you.”

  Lisette regarded her mother. Jeanne was right, they hadn’t spent much time together since her mother’s marriage to Le Sèvre. When her papa was alive, Lisette had often enjoyed the company of both her papa and her mother. With her brother away at school, the three of them would visit the Luxembourg Palace and gardens. They also went to the fairs together − the Saint-Germain Fair in the winter and the Saint-Laurent Fair and Saint-Ovide Fair in the summer. Lisette hoped that she and her mother might continue their traditions even without her papa.

  “Shall we go to the Saint-Ovide Fair? I overheard some ladies in the gardens discussing how enchanting the fair’s cafés are this year, especially Le Chat Café,” Lisette said. Being respectable places for well-born ladies, she knew her mother would agree to visit a café at the Saint-Ovide Fair. Both men and women frequented fair cafés, unlike the permanent cafés in Paris, which only men patronized.

  “Let’s go. It sounds very fashionable,” her mother said.

  Lisette shook her head in agreement. She knew her mother could not resist following the advice of the noble ladies from the Palais-Royal gardens.

  Then Jeanne added, “I will buy you a hot chocolate.”

  Lisette had never tasted the expensive drink. “Mother, are you sure?”

  “Of course. Today, we will be well-dressed ladies sipping what the court ladies drink every day.” Her mother smiled at her.

  Eager to begin their outing, Lisette linked arms with her mother. Jeanne winced at Lisette’s touch.

  “Mother, are you hurt?” Lisette asked her.

  Jeanne pulled her arm out of Lisette’s and took several steps back into the room. “Let’s wait for Le Sèvre to return. He won’t be long. We can all go as a family, like we used to do with Louis.”

  Since their marriage, Jeanne wanted to include Le Sèvre in everything. Lisette wanted to be with her mother, but only her. Lisette had no intention of spending time with Le Sèvre today. He would never take her papa’s place. She had to think quickly to get out of this excursion that was now going to include him.

  Lisette hastened toward the front door. “Mother, I forgot! I have to meet with the Duchesse de Chartres to discuss her next portrait sitting. I must go. We will visit the fair another day.” Lisette didn’t wait for her mother’s response. She hurriedly left the house.

  As Lisette traversed the Rue Saint-Honoré, her thoughts returned to Le Brun’s words: Under the law he has the right to collect all of your earnings…It is out of my hands. She stopped herself. I don’t want to think about Le Sèvre or Le Brun today.

  Lisette decided to go to the fair by herself. The Saint-Ovide Fair was a reasonable distance from Le Sèvre’s house. Located in the Place Louis-XV, west of the Tuileries gardens, it was much closer than the Saint-Laurent Fair, which was outside the old city walls and just beyond the Porte Saint-Martin.

  Lisette strolled down the Rue Saint-Honoré, toward the Saint-Ovide Fair.

  Lisette reached the Saint-Ovide Fair in well under thirty minutes. She heard the raucous noises of the fair before she saw any of it. Lisette entered a new world as she walked past the fair attractions and booths. The sights alone were enough to stimulate the senses: a monkey playing a hurdy-gurdy, tight-rope walkers on ropes overhead, acrobats leaping all around, puppeteers manipulating marionettes, and dwarfs and clowns mingling among the crowd.

  Lisette noticed the fair was smaller than the previous year. There were fewer shops in the bazaar. She saw a smattering of vendors in their wooden stalls selling perfumes, Venetian mirrors, gloves, paintings, Moroccan leather and knives. There were also fewer pavilions offering games of chance. Lisette spied one billiard hall and two enclosures where cards and dice games were played.

  She walked deeper into the narrow passageways in between the booths. Lisette hadn’t yet seen any cafés. There were plenty of vendors roaming the crowds selling all manner of drinks and treats to eat, but she couldn’t find any cafés or taverns.

  She was approached by several women who were selling spiced breads, fruit, hard cider and eau-de-vie. She wasn’t interested in losing her senses to spirits like hard cider or eau-de-vie. Lisette wanted to sit in a café and sip a hot drink. She lowered her head to dodge the vendors. They were relentless and would follow fair patrons until they had been acknowledged. She was also careful to avoid any contact with the young boys, whom everyone knew were pickpockets. They often staged an accidental encounter to steal items from unsuspecting fairgoers.

  The fairs were notorious for illicit activity. There were not only simple pickpockets, but dangerous thieves, hucksters and prostitutes. The taverns and cabarets were frequently in trouble with the police and commissaires charged with keeping order. Still, the fairs in Paris generally remained a respectable place for everyone to enjoy, even nobles and princes.

  After a few more minutes of searching, Lisette found the cafés. She peered up and read a small rectangular sign nailed to the front of a temporary wooden structure: Le Chat Café. There was a large silhouette of a black cat underneath the words. Lisette had never been to a café without her mother or her papa. Together, they had frequented the cafés during their visits to the fairs. Her mother had always pointed out the inappropriateness of unescorted women. If I go inside, I’ll be one of those women, she realized. Then she remembered that her mother had insisted on including Le Sèvre. Lisette went inside.

  As soon as she walked in, her nose was overwhelmed by the smell of coffee. After a few minutes of breathing in the strong aroma, it became less jarring and more pleasing. The smell was energizing and yet comforting at the same time.

  She scanned the café. The front tables were packed with people, so Lisette headed toward the back where it was emptier. She sat at an open table. A young serving girl handed her a sheet of the available drinks. It listed the different ways the coffee was served, including with or without milk. The café also offered cups of hot chocolate and even drinks that mixed chocolate with coffee. Lisette then noticed the prices. The hot chocolate was the most expensive item on the list. Her mother had wanted to buy her a cup with Le Sèvre’s money. Lisette dug around her pocket bag. She felt a few dozen copper sous coins. More than enough, she thought.

  “I’ll have a cup of the hot chocolate.”

  “Yes, Mademoiselle. You will like it. It is the Dauphine’s drink of choice. I haven’t yet heard of a Parisian who hasn’t liked it,” the girl said and then rushed away.

  Lisette imagined the Dauphine sitting in Versailles sipping hot chocolate. She had heard the ladies in the gardens discussing the Dauphine often. They were skeptical of her. Being a foreigner, and one from a country that had recently been at war with France, Marie-Antoinette had not been readily accepted by the French people. Lisette had never met an Austrian before, or a Dauphine. She was hesitant to rely on the opinion of garden gossip and decided to reserve judgment on the Dauphine. She certainly wouldn’t avoid hot chocolate because particular well-born ladies disapproved of Marie-Antoinette. If the future Queen of France enjoys hot chocolate, and she can have any drink she pleases, then I’ll probably like it too, Lisette decided.

  Waiting for her drink, she surveyed the crowded café. There were men animatedly discussing politics, laborers enjoying their day off, merchants’ wives gossiping about Guild business and, to Lisette’s surprise, another young woman sitting by herself. The woman was reading a book. Lisette looked closer. The book was Julie, or the New Héloïse, by Rousseau. Lisette smiled as she remembered Monsieur Robert’s opinion on it. He would be disgusted. A story about a woman who had freely chosen her lover, the novel enjoyed the most scandalous reputation. Lisette considered approaching the woman to ask where she had purchased her copy of the novel. Being very popular, it was hard to find. Lise
tte had heard the ladies in the garden saying that the publishers couldn’t print it fast enough for the high demand, so they rented the book by the day and even by the hour.

  On the other side of the woman with the novel was a young couple talking quietly. To Lisette, the woman resembled Helen of Troy. I’ll sketch her likeness, she decided. Always searching for ways to master the faces in her allegory and history paintings, Lisette took out her sketchbook and pencil. As she began to sketch, the woman’s lover glared at Lisette. She needed to be less conspicuous, so she used the mirror on the wall to watch them. Even though it was a temporary structure, the proprietors had taken great pains to replicate the permanent coffee houses sprinkled throughout the city. There were mirrors on each side of the pavilion, which made the space seem much bigger. That’s better, she thought. Lisette could now stare at the woman and sketch her without being impolite.

  She was half-finished with the sketch when the serving girl returned with her order. Lisette set down her sketchbook and inspected the drink. It was an unsavory brown color, but the aroma emanating from it was sweet and pleasant. Lisette brought the cup to her lips. Because of the hot steam escaping from the drink, she slowly tipped it, taking a small sip. Lisette felt the warm, sweet liquid hit her tongue and then easily slide down her throat. It was like nothing else she had ever tasted. Delicious! she thought. She immediately took another sip, and then another. Lisette wondered if it tasted so delightful because she had bought it with her own money.

  “Is it proper for a young woman such as yourself to be sitting alone in this café?” Lisette heard a deep male voice. She was so engrossed in her drink that she hadn’t noticed a man approach her table.

  She glanced up. It was Capitaine Amante Fabien de Chaumont. Lisette hadn’t seen him since their encounter at Vernet’s exhibition at the Louvre, nearly a year ago. He appeared the same. As the year had passed, Lisette had thought about him less frequently. Still, her throat tightened and she didn’t know what to say to him. She had not expected to see him there. Lisette felt unprepared.