Vintage Love

by Clarissa Ross

  Once again her repose was interrupted by nightmares. This time she dreamed of the naked young men at the vicomte’s, as well as her moments of terror in the onrushing carriage. Several times she wakened in near hysteria, to fall back into a fitful slumber.

  She was aroused in the sunlit morning by the door to her room being thrown open. Lucinda, still in a dressing robe, her dark hair tumbled pleasantly about her shoulders, ran into the room and over to her bedside.

  “Dear Enid!” she cried, and kissed her on the cheek.

  Enid smiled and returned her friend’s greeting. “I made myself your guest,” she said. “I trust I am not an unwelcome one!”

  “Unwelcome in my house? You know that will never be! But what are you doing in France? Tell me everything!”

  “I came here on my honeymoon.”

  Bewildered, Lucinda sat down on the bed. “Then where, pray, is your husband?”

  “In Paris.”

  “In Paris,” the dark-haired girl repeated. “And pray, why have you separated?”

  “That is a rather long story,” Enid replied wryly. “I would have sent you word of my marriage at the time it was planned, but Andrew objected.”

  Lucinda’s eyebrows lifted. “This Andrew of yours sounds stranger by the moment! Who is he, anyway?”

  Enid took her friend’s hands in hers and spoke in a troubled voice. “I have come to you in desperate need, Lucinda. My marriage is really a sham, a fiasco. I had to have someone to talk to and somewhere to rest and think things out.”

  “You have picked the best possible place,” Lucinda declared firmly.

  “I shall leave as soon as I have decided what to do.”

  “Talking of going—and you have barely arrived! Nonsense! You must stay a while and get to know Victor, my husband.”

  Enid smiled sadly. “I will stay as long as time allows. I expect to hear from my husband when he is ready to return to London.”

  “Now I simply must know what is behind all this!”

  “Promise you will never tell anyone except your husband, and that you will bind him to silence.”

  “Whatever you ask. Just tell me.”

  Haltingly, Enid told her story. When she had finished, she said, “So now you know the terrible predicament I’m in.”

  “You entered into a loveless marriage for your parents’ sake—if only you hadn’t!” Lucinda cried, then embraced her.

  “I did not guess Andrew’s vice,” Enid sighed. “I have been so sheltered all my life.”

  Lucinda looked grim. “We know about such things here in France. Sodomy seems to be the fashionable vice, together with lesbianism! It is no wonder your debauch of a husband wanted to spend his honeymoon in Paris—and no mystery that he didn’t wish to spend it with you!”

  Enid eyed her friend incredulously. “You mean that such corruption is prevalent over here?”

  “Very! The king was forced to dismiss several members of his court who were caught in a flagrant situation. There are whispers of a seraglio of sodomites in Versailles. The king fears to take the offenders to public trial because of the dishonor it would bring to many fine old families and because that kind of publicity might increase people’s desire to experience those very same sins.”

  “How horrible!”

  “The king had to dismiss one of the worst offenders, the queen’s head of household who had perverted one of her Hungarian subalterns.”

  “What are things coming to?” Enid shuddered in dismay.

  “I dare not think,” Lucinda told her. “The entire country seems to be eaten away at the core with rottenness. There is a great deal of poverty and discontent, and even talk of a revolution.”

  “Surely people like you will not be touched by such happenings.”

  “I hope not.” Lucinda frowned. “My husband is most generous with the peasants who work the estate, and he is kind to the servants. But should the dam burst, I doubt that any of his good deeds would be remembered.”

  “I find it all too frightening!”

  Lucinda smiled brightly and placed an arm around her. “Let’s not dwell any longer on these ugly thoughts! We are together again, and that is what is important now. I had lost hope of ever seeing you here.”

  “And I of coming, but fate has worked it out in a strange fashion.”

  “You shall enjoy every moment of your stay,” Lucinda promised. “We will talk of England—all the things we loved there—and go for rides in the country. You shall see the palace and maybe even get a glimpse of King Louis and Queen Marie Antoinette. The king loves the theater, and whenever a Molière play is performed on an afternoon, he is almost sure to attend.”

  “To be so near the royal palace! It does sound exciting!”

  “And it also increases our danger. For if and when there is an uprising, it is claimed that the king and queen will be the first seized.”

  “Is nothing being done to cope with this problem?”

  Lucinda nodded. “Yes. We Royalists have our own secret organization. We spy on the meetings of the would-be revolutionists and try to minimize their potential. It is on such business that Count Armand Beaufaire is here to see Victor.”

  “The man who met my carriage on the road last night?”

  “Yes. You were fortunate it was he and not some roguish highwayman. The roads are full of them. In Armand you had the best of guards. He has been active in the army despite his high title, and he is an expert fencer as well as a crack shot. He has also made his name in the boudoirs of our land, since his reputation as a ladies’ man follows him everywhere.”

  “Indeed! After what I have been through, it is a relief to hear that some still exist!”

  “You may be sure about Armand Beaufaire.”

  “Is he a bachelor?”

  “A widower. His wife died in childbirth, and it is said this tragedy broke his heart. He has time to woo many women, but no inclination to marry any of them.”

  “What about yourself? Do you have children?”

  “Alas, no,” Lucinda said. “My husband is more than twice my age. But I do not blame it on that. I fear the truth is I’m barren, for it is well known he has several bastards among the women on the estate.”

  Enid blushed. “Lucinda!”

  Her friend laughed. “I’m being honest with you, as you have been with me. But do not get the wrong idea. Victor is a good husband. Those incidents happened before our marriage, and truly, I could not ask for more devotion.”

  “I’m glad!”

  “And with all the trouble lurking in the background I’m thankful we have no children. It’s difficult enough for us to be caught up in a wave of national madness without having young ones to suffer along with us.”

  “I shall never have any children,” Enid said sorrowfully. “How can I? I do not even have a proper husband!”

  “Will you stay with Andrew?”

  “I must, at least for a little while,” Enid replied. “Back in England, with my friends to keep me company, I may be able to close my mind to what is going on. But I couldn’t remain in that wretched chateau with him—I had to get away!”

  “And he told you that you should come here alone?”

  “Yes. He doesn’t care what I do as long as I don’t bother him.”

  “Then I should lose no time in finding a lover for myself,” Lucinda stated.

  “How can you say such a thing?” Enid cried in dismay.

  “I’m telling you what you should do.”

  Enid shook her head. “I know there are wives who do such things, but I never hoped to be one of them.”

  “Remember, you didn’t know what your marriage would be like.”

  “That is the truth, but I’m not prepared to have an affair.”

  Lucinda rose from the bed. “In time,” she said. “Now I must go and dress. Please join us for the morning meal.”

  “I will, but I must warn you that I brought only one dress with me, a rather plain one. My mind was in a state of hav
oc when I decided to come here.”

  “Not to worry. You and I wear the same size, and I have many outfits I’ll be glad to let you borrow. I shall send in a maid with several you can choose from.”

  Enid was delighted to find her friend so unchanged by marriage and the exalted social position she now held. After the maid had brought in half a dozen gowns, Enid dressed carefully in a sea-green linen morning dress and did her hair in the upsweep that was so popular in England. Then she made her way to the cheerful yellow breakfast room.

  4

  Lucinda and her husband, along with Count Armand Beaufaire, were already seated at the table. The men rose, and Duke Victor took her hand and kissed it, saying, “Welcome to our house.”

  “Thank you,” she replied. She noticed that the duke walked with a slight limp and was quite overweight. He had a vast protruding stomach and heavy jowls. But his face was pleasant, and the wrinkles at the corners of his blue eyes were obviously the result of his long years of observing life with good humor.

  “You have met Count Armand,” he said.

  “Yes. He kindly assisted me last night.” She graced the stern-faced count with a smile.

  His stern expression melted into one of pleasure as she joined them at the table. “Madam is a brave young woman. I know of few who would have ventured out on the highway at such an hour, and on a stormy night as well.”

  “Put it down to stupidity, Count Beaufaire,” Enid laughed. “I have learned my lesson. When I travel next, it shall be by daylight.”

  “That would be advisable,” Luanda’s husband agreed.

  “I do so want to show Enid around,” Lucinda told him.

  Victor beamed at her over his breakfast plate. “Then by all means, do so. I have to lock myself up with Armand for the morning. We have much to discuss. Why don’t you two take the pony cart and ride about for a while?”

  “That is an excellent idea,” Lucinda declared happily. “I can handle the pony, but some of the horses scare me!”

  After breakfast the men retreated to the duke’s study while Enid and Lucinda prepared to go for their ride. Enid wore a large green hat with a matching scarf tied over it and gathered under her chin to keep the bonnet in place. Lucinda, in a similar bonnet of blue, took her out to the front steps. The groom brought around the good-sized pony cart and they drove away.

  Enid was impressed by the well-kept grounds. “What lovely trees and hedges! And the grass is so perfect. You must have excellent gardeners.”

  “My husband takes an interest in the landscaping,” Lucinda said proudly. “But, as I recall, Henson House always had the best grounds in the country.”

  “Not any longer,” Enid sighed. “Since my father’s loss of his fortune and his illness, little has been done to maintain the estate.”

  “A pity! Perhaps you should interest yourself in it.”

  “I may. At least it would keep me busy and would put to good use some of my husband’s money.”

  After Lucinda had finished showing Enid her own estate, she took her farther abroad to see something of the town and the grounds of the palace.

  As they drove along, Enid asked, “What story did you tell the duke about me?”

  “I was most discreet,” Lucinda assured her. “I told him you were married, but I didn’t let him know you were a new bride. I gave him the impression you had been married for some time and that your husband was detained in Paris on business matters.”

  “Thank you. Now I won’t feel so awkward.”

  Lucinda glanced at her. “I think you ought to cultivate Armand’s friendship. I could tell at the breakfast table that he was quite interested in you.”

  Enid blushed. “I’m sure you imagined it.”

  “No, I think it’s the truth. You could do worse than to have a friend like Armand.”

  “You are a matchmaker—or worse!” Enid protested. “You must remember I’m a married woman!”

  “And such a marriage!” Lucinda said, rolling her dark eyes.

  They next ventured close to the royal palace. Enid was enthralled by the sight of the great edifice extending over so much ground. The walls enclosing it, as well as the grilled entry gates, were guarded by soldiers. Lucinda pointed out various sections of the palace: the chapel, the Hall of Mirrors, the Hall of Battles, the Peace and War salons.

  She indicated another area, at the far end of the north wing. “There is the Opera, a fine theater in miniature. I shall try to have us invited to one of the performances. That would be a special treat, I promise you!”

  “Such magnificence!” Enid marveled. “I am overwhelmed!”

  “Do not be deceived,” her friend warned. “We have come upon a time of poverty. The king is weak, though pleasant, and is overshadowed by his pleasure-seeking Hapsburg wife. The court is beset with financial problems. My husband calls it a gilded slum!”

  “A gilded slum!” Enid echoed as she gazed at the glory before her.

  “Victor means that money is almost always short there. The king’s grandfather spent so much on his mistresses, it is said the salaries of servants, including the present king’s tutors, remained unpaid for years. Victor says that when Louis was five, he saw the royal plate melted down for coinage.”

  “That is hard to believe!”

  “Much of what goes on now is hard to believe.” Lucinda jiggled the reins of the pony, and the cart moved forward. “An American, Benjamin Franklin, wrote a report on Versailles, claiming that its waterworks were out of repair and that a great part of the front of the building had shabby brick walls and broken windows. It caused a scandal.”

  “Was it true?”

  “I fear so. This Franklin came here to gain support for the American Revolution. He was a sensation among the court people. The king unbalanced his finances even more to help Franklin’s cause. Mobs have come, crying out their hunger at the palace gates, and it is said that when Marie Antoinette was told they were behaving in this fashion because they had no bread, she suggested, ‘Let them eat cake.’ Whether that is true or not, it has now made her the most hated woman in all of France.”

  As they drove back onto the grounds of the d’Orsay estate, the gardeners and the women bearing baskets of produce stopped and bowed to them. It was hard for Enid to believe there could be so much unrest in this land. Then she remembered that Lucinda had explained that the duke had been especially considerate of his people, even though he was surely a Royalist.

  Enid also began to understand that this was a country of excesses. That would account in part for what had gone on at the vicomte’s chateau on her wedding night. And Andrew fitted in with this atmosphere of degeneration. He was at home in a nation on the brink of moral and financial disaster. She prayed that such conditions would never reach England.

  She and Lucinda rested after luncheon. They dressed for dinner and went down to the drawing room to join the men for a glass of wine before proceeding to the dining salon. Both Victor and Armand were attired in elegant velvet, Victor in dark blue and Armand in white. Enid was grateful to Lucinda for her rich purple silk gown. She thought she noted a slight expression of surprise on the duke’s face when he first saw her, and she assumed he had recognized his wife’s dress.

  Lucinda, with her usual poise, set the situation aright by telling her husband, “Would you believe it, sir? Lady Enid has a gown exactly like mine!”

  “So I see, and charming also,” he said gallantly.

  Lucinda gave Enid a knowing smile. “I promise you I will not wear mine during all the time you are here. We will not be seen dressed alike!”

  The large drawing room was paneled in walnut and adorned with ornately framed portraits. Heavy crimson drapes flanked the broad windows overlooking the garden. The furniture was the best, and so were the dark red carpets. Enid thought she had never seen a more tasteful or richly decorated chamber.

  Armand offered her a glass of wine from his hand. “I prefer to serve you rather than to call on a servant,” he said.
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  “And I prefer receiving my wine from you directly,” she responded with a smile.

  “Were you impressed with Versailles?” he asked.

  “Extremely so, though I am alarmed to learn there is so much unrest in the country.”

  The stern look returned to Armand’s handsome face. “There are grave problems, a major one being wheat. Bread is a staple of our people. Actually, we don’t have a shortage of grain, but a surplus of fear. So we have bread riots! Everyone is convinced there will be shortages or the price will rise too high. The situation is not dangerous at the moment, since the price of bread has fallen by a sou.”

  Enid sipped her wine. “We do not live in an easy age. I know from my own experience in England that poachers of deer are sent to the gallows.”

  “It is the same here,” Armand said with a scowl. “People are arrested, and some are given the death sentence for relatively small thefts.”

  “What can be done?” she asked.

  “The people must be taxed less and treated more kindly,” he replied. “The American Revolution has shown the way.”

  “Do you believe such a revolution will take place here?”

  “I pray not, but those of us at the top must learn to be temperate. Otherwise we may be overwhelmed.”

  She gave him a searching glance. “You sound extremely concerned.”

  “I am.”

  “But you are one of those at the top!”

  “And true to my group,” the count said proudly. “But I see the wrongs even while I fight to subdue those who would start a revolution.”

  “Is that why you are here?”

  “Yes. It can do no harm to tell you, since you are English.”

  “And my French is so lamentable as to be of little use to me in communicating anything!’

  He smiled. “Basically, you speak fairly well. Some added time and practice, and you should have no problems.”