“There will be no young nobles for either of you, not while the king is choosing a bride for the dauphin.”
“What?” Severine jolted upright and stared at her mother, wide-eyed.
“The dauphin is going to be married?”
“Yes. There are credible rumors that the king will use the birthday celebrations to find a bride for his eldest son. If they’re true, I want at least one of you at the top of that list. I won’t pass up the chance to make one of my daughters the Grand Dauphine of France.”
Severine shrieked and bounced up and down in her seat. Alexandre didn’t react outwardly, but I could see her face fall a bit as she listened to her mother speak. I felt a pang of sympathy for her. I couldn’t imagine what it was like be in love, then forced to marry someone else. To be fair, I wasn’t positive that she and Elodie were in love, but they had been spending an awful lot of time together before the incident yesterday. At the very least, they cared for each other. If so, this would be heartbreaking for Elodie.
“We’re going to need new jewelry, new dresses, maybe even new carriages. New everything. The Louvois name will get us far with the king, but it won’t take us all the way. You two need to do your part.”
“I’d like to come,” I said, without fully thinking it through before I spoke.
When three pairs of eyes landed on me, I started to panic. Just a little. “I mean—may I please come to the celebrations, Lady Catherine? It’s been so long since I’ve visited Versailles; I’d very much like to see it again. And all my chores would be done before I went anywhere. You won’t have to worry. I’ll take care of everything.”
In my haste to get them out, the words were mushed together and messy. Did Lady Catherine understand what I said? I couldn’t tell by the blank expression on her face. But then she smiled at me. A perfectly pleasant smile.
“Of course you can come, chérie. Every highborn maiden in France was invited, after all. As long as you promise not to let your work around the château slip, I don’t have a problem with you attending the celebrations.”
I was so sure Lady Catherine was going to say no that I couldn’t believe she’d said yes. Every other time I’d asked to go to court with them, she’d refused. I always had too many chores to finish, or there was only enough room for three in the carriage, and neither Alexandre nor Severine could stay behind. There was always an excuse for why I couldn’t go.
“But, Maman, I don’t want her to come,” Severine said in a nasally whine.
“Hush, Severine. It isn’t fair to exclude your stepsister. Not when she’s been working so hard around the house. It will be a wonderful chance for the three of you to bond.”
Severine slumped back into the sofa with a heavy sigh. Alexandre was still lost in thought, twirling a strand of blond hair around her finger. I didn’t care whether Severine wanted me there or not. If everything went according to plan, I wouldn’t have to spend much time with her. If I found Lady Françoise quickly, that is.
“Speaking of chores, have you managed to get that stain out of my dress yet?” Lady Catherine asked.
“I’ll get right back to it,” I hurried to say at Lady Catherine’s raised eyebrow. “Thank you again for letting me come along.”
“Of course, ma choupette. I’m sure we’ll all have great fun together.”
I dipped into a quick curtsy and left the sitting room at what I hoped was a measured pace. What I really wanted to do was run screaming through the house, but I couldn’t let on how excited I was to attend the celebrations. This was the first time in months that I’d dared to ask my stepmother for anything. I had to stay quiet, do my chores, act grateful, and not attract any undue attention.
With any luck—something I hadn’t had much of lately—Lady Françoise would learn what had become of me, then whisk me away from my awful stepfamily and invite me to live at her estate. Maybe Lady Catherine’s acquiescence meant that the tides were starting to turn in my favor.
Chapter Fifteen
Severine elbowed me in the stomach “accidentally” as I stood on a stool attempting to pin a loose curl to the fontange piled atop her head. The offending elbow knocked the wind out of me for a few seconds. I had to clamber down before I fell.
“What did you do that for?” I asked, rubbing my belly.
It wasn’t terribly painful, but I wasn’t going to let Severine off so easily after I’d spent the last three hours helping her and Alexandre prepare for the ball tonight. Elodie had left after receiving a message about Marius, who had been thrown off a horse. I was worried about my friends, but all I could do was attend to my stepsisters.
“You stabbed me with that pin. It was an involuntary reaction,” she said, ignoring me completely to preen in the floor-length mirror propped up against the wall next to her toilette.
“Of course. You involuntarily jerked your elbow backward into my stomach. A completely natural reaction.” I met Severine’s gaze in the mirror. Her glower was no less intense coming through a secondary medium.
“Don’t get cheeky with me, Cendrillon. If I told Maman now that I didn’t want you coming with us to the ball, she wouldn’t let you. So get up here and fix my hair.”
I sighed but climbed back up on the stool and got to work making sure that Severine’s glossy curls were as perfect as possible. I’d spent so long getting my stepsisters dressed for the ball that I hadn’t had time to get ready myself. If I didn’t start soon, I wouldn’t have enough time to prepare before we needed to leave.
“There. All fixed,” I said, pinning the last curl into place and stepping down from the stool. “You look lovely.”
“I do, don’t I?” Severine replied, smoothing her hands down the length of her skirt and twisting back and forth in front of the mirror.
Severine really did look lovely. Her dress was off the shoulder, the bodice and overskirt a deep crimson satin, with a short train that pooled on the floor behind her. The underskirt was a brilliant gold that perfectly matched the gleaming highlights in her hair. To offset the heavy fabrics, loose sleeves of lace were pinned to the short satin sleeves, and a touch of lace ran along the neckline. Severine’s face was lightly powdered and painted, and velvet beauty marks in the shape of stars dotted each cheek. A pearl necklace and pearl earrings rounded out the ensemble.
Alexandre, too, looked radiant, in a style of dress quite similar to her sister’s. Perhaps too similar. The only difference in their clothing was that Alexandre’s bodice, overskirt, and train were a light pink. Her underskirt was also gold, and her hair was curled and piled atop her head. She even had the same star-shaped beauty marks as Severine. If Lady Catherine wanted her daughters to catch the dauphin’s attention, I didn’t understand why she wanted them dressed the same.