My smile vanished. “Two days! But that’s so soon!”
“I know. I know. We’ve been planning this since I proposed two weeks ago, but I put off telling you until the last minute.”
I laughed despite myself and said, “That might be the least surprising thing you’ve said today.”
Papa mock-glared at me but started to laugh when I hugged him again. I buried my face in his shoulder to hide the tears gathering in my eyes. I was a lady. Nearly fully grown. And that meant I had to give up the childish fantasy of my father and Lady Françoise falling in love.
And it wasn’t all bad. Surely Lady Catherine would be a lovely person. Papa wouldn’t marry her otherwise.
“Are you all right with this, Cendrillon? If I could have told you sooner, I would have.”
“That doesn’t matter. I’m happy for you. Truly.”
Papa kissed me on the forehead. “I’m glad you’re excited,” he said. “That makes it all so much easier. I knew when I asked for her hand that she was the perfect person to bring into our family.”
* * *
The morning of the wedding dawned bright and warm, far too warm for this early in the morning. The ceremony was being held at a little chapel in a town in the outskirts of Versailles. Papa sent me ahead while he went to pick up Lady Catherine and escort her to the chapel. I stood outside, anxiously staring down the little road and waiting for the carriage to appear. I was jittery, bouncing on the balls of my feet and pacing back and forth in front of the big wooden front door. The priest offered to let me wait inside, but I was too nervous to sit still in the dark, musty chapel. I hadn’t seen much of Papa in the past two days, busy as he was preparing for his new bride’s move to the château, so I was anxious to see him and meet Lady Catherine and her daughters.
I’d tried to reach Lady Françoise and even sent a message to her château, but none of my messages were returned. I wondered what she thought about all this. She was Papa’s best friend, and it seemed odd for her to miss his wedding.
A cloud of dust kicked up farther down the road and grew closer every second. If I strained my ears, I could hear the faint clopping of hooves in the distance. They were here. I ran down the gray stone steps and stood in the little courtyard, waiting for them. Time seemed to slow as I watched Papa’s coach get closer and closer, then finally pull into the courtyard and rattle to a stop on the cobblestones.
Papa hurried to open the door to the coach. I first saw a skirt of gold brocade with a matching golden fringe running along the hemline and multiple satin petticoats, then a gold high-heeled slipper dotted with pearls emerged. An enormous tower of pale blond hair, nearly silver in the sunlight, studded with pearls and adorned with a tall cap made of ruffled lace, tilted out of the door. Two curled strands of hair escaped and tumbled delicately to a woman’s shoulders. That must have been the new fontange hairstyle Lady Celia mentioned in lessons. It was quite impressive, to say the least. Each wrist had a pearl bracelet, and around her neck hung a triple-strand necklace of pearls and diamonds. It looked just like the one in my mother’s jewelry box . . . It was my mother’s.
Lady Catherine started walking in my direction, but I was distracted by the people who exited the coach after her. Alexandre and Severine. When they saw me, they stopped abruptly, causing Papa to bump into them as he climbed down after.
I felt as though I’d been struck. Alexandre and Severine must be Lady Catherine’s daughters. I’d been cautiously optimistic about the wedding, but the appearance of the two girls ruined any happy anticipation I might have had.
“Ah, Cendrillon,” the woman said, fixing me with her pale blue eyes and smiling warmly. “We meet again! Your father has told me so much about you, I feel I know you already.”
My mind was blank. All I could do was stare up at the taller woman silently. There were two dark spots on her face, one on the apple of each powdered cheek. When I looked closer, I realized they were beauty marks in the shape of hearts. This was the woman from the night of the ball, the one who had asked about my father after I told her he was a generous man.
“Lady Catherine,” I said, my voice hoarse, as if I hadn’t spoken in weeks. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I barely remembered to curtsy.
Papa approached us, escorting Severine and Alexandre. They were both as tall and beautiful as their mother, in silver dresses that matched their silver hair. Except Severine looked angry, her lips pursed into a pout as she alternated between glaring at me and her mother. Alexandre looked as confused as I felt, her mouth opening and closing as if she were trying to formulate a sentence.
“Isn’t it a beautiful morning, Cendrillon?” Papa asked, beaming at me. His face was glowing as he took the woman’s arm and squeezed her hand. “I’m so happy to finally be able to introduce you to Lady Catherine, my beautiful bride-to-be.”
“Oh, Michel,” the woman said fondly as she gazed up at him.
“I only wish I’d been able to introduce you two sooner, but everything happened so fast, there simply wasn’t time. I’m happy that we are all together now.”
I was sick with dismay at the thought of Alexandre and Severine becoming my stepsisters. My head had begun to pound, and I was starting to feel a little dizzy.
“And of course, we can’t forget Alexandre and Severine,” he said.
“We know each other.” Severine’s words were sharp, but the smile she gave my father was sickly sweet. “We’re in etiquette lessons together. I adore Cendrillon.”
“Wonderful! You three are already well on your way to becoming sisters. Now it’s just you and Cendrillon who must become better acquainted, mon amour.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I think you and I are going to be the best of friends,” Lady Catherine said.
She ran her fingers through my hair and patted my cheek gently. Her hand was warm, almost hot against my skin.
“Monsieur le Marquis, we must commence with the ceremony,” the priest said from the top of the stairs.
The cool darkness of the chapel’s interior called to me. My thoughts were muddled and hazy, but I knew if I didn’t get out of the heat soon, I was going to faint.
“Let’s get inside. We’ll have time after the wedding to talk more,” Papa called over his shoulder, escorting Lady Catherine up the stairs and into the chapel.
Severine followed without a backward glance, but Alexandre stayed by my side.
“Did you know . . . ?” I asked, trailing off as I couldn’t figure out how to string together a question diplomatic enough to not offend her.
I wouldn’t normally trust Alexandre as a source of information, but there were no other options. And Elodie seemed to like her, so she couldn’t be all bad.