Mathilde and Paulette were overly dressed in garishly colored gowns. They glanced at each other in surprise. “You’re the maiden from the ball,” Mathilde said loudly. “The one who ran away from the dauphin.”
The Hall of Mirrors had been relatively quiet. Most of the ladies were speaking softly, if not outright whispering, as if they didn’t want to break the sanctity of the room. Or maybe they just didn’t want anyone to hear what they were saying. But Mathilde’s voice echoed off the high ceilings, amplifying her words tenfold, and heads turned in our direction. I winced.
Diane said, “Perhaps we should lower our voices a bit? Cendrillon has just returned to court, and we don’t want her to feel uncomfortable.”
Mathilde cast her eyes downward and mumbled an apology under her breath.
While I didn’t want to stand out more, everyone thinking that I was rude or standoffish wouldn’t help me make friends. “No, it’s all right,” I rushed to say. “No one has made me uncomfortable. I promise.”
Mathilde lifted her eyes and smiled at me. “You’ve been the talk of court for days. I honestly wasn’t sure whether we’d see you.”
“Some people even thought that you might be a witch,” Paulette blurted out, looking at me expectantly, as if I would pull out my book of spells and admit to being a witch right here in the Hall of Mirrors.
“Paulette, hush! You’re being ridiculous!” said Diane.
She stepped in front of her friend and started whispering, but Paulette poked her head around Diane’s shoulder and continued. “An enchantress, specifically.”
Diane groaned and buried her face in her hands. I had to try very hard not to laugh at the eager look on Paulette’s face. “Does Versailles have a witch problem?” I asked.
Glancing around the room a few times, Paulette said in a whisper, “There are rumors that some of the contestants are hiring witches to cast love spells or use potions on the dauphin. The queen tried to ensnare the king that way last year, but it didn’t work. So now they’re trying to capture the heir to the throne in the same way.”
“And what does that have to do with me?” I asked, backing away a bit so I leaned against the wall between the ballroom’s many mirrors.
“People thought you may have cast a love spell and succeeded, and that’s why the guards had to capture you. They said the dauphin wanted you found because he wanted you punished.”
I clapped a hand over my mouth to hold back my giggle, but it didn’t muffle the sound well enough. Paulette’s face fell slightly.
“I don’t know any love spells, and I don’t want to ensnare the dauphin. I left the ball early because I had stayed out too late. If my stepmother found out, she would have been furious. It was all perfectly mundane.”
“Oh,” Paulette said quietly. She and Mathilde looked as if I’d just kicked their favorite horse.
Diane took my hand and pulled me away without another word to her friends. “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I didn’t know they were going to say all those inane things.”
“It’s all right. Your friends seem very nice.”
“They’re just a little excitable on occasion. Don’t pay attention to rumors.”
When I’d left the château that morning, I never imagined all this was coming.
Witches, love, spells, and lovelorn maidens. What had I gotten myself into?
* * *
Diane had been exaggerating when she said that all the ladies were desperate to speak with me. Some of them were curious, like Mathilde and Paulette, and asked slightly inappropriate questions about where I’d been for the past year or whether I had a secret relationship with the dauphin. Most were very sweet, complimenting me on the dress I’d worn to the ball and my dancing. I knew from Severine’s gossiping that they might say very different things behind my back. Diane was a wonderful guide, though, introducing me to the many different participants and moving me along when questions got too personal or unfriendly.
She had a skill for remembering names and backstories that was beyond me. Unless someone particularly stood out, her name slipped from my mind.
The dauphin was on an outing with Princesse Henrietta of England, so I couldn’t meet her, but Diane briefly introduced me to Lady Anna de Medici of Tuscany. Anna was less than enthused by my presence and said only a few short words to me before turning back to her entourage of ladies-in-waiting.
We were on our way to meet the Bavarian duchesse when we ran into the person I’d hoped to avoid, as far-fetched as that plan might have been.
“Cendrillon, I wasn’t sure that I would see you here,” Severine said, approaching me with Alexandre and another girl at her heels: Veronique. I remembered her from Lady Celia’s lessons. She was never as kind as Diane was. It was unsurprising that she was associating with Severine.
“Yes. You and Alexandre left so early in the morning, I wasn’t able to take the carriage with you. Luckily, Lady Françoise was kind enough to bequeath her carriage, so I was able to make it to the palace with plenty of time to spare.”
“Sorry about that,” Alexandre said sweetly, but she recoiled and fell silent when Severine glared at her. They were still dressed alike, in ice-blue gowns to match their eyes and silver hair.
“Be that as it may, I didn’t expect you to come,” said Severine.
“Why not?” I asked, curling my lip a little.
I knew that I should have kept my mouth shut and walked away, but I couldn’t stand the smug look on Severine’s face. In the moment, I wasn’t even considering the retribution from Lady Catherine for talking back to her.
“It was horribly rude of you to run away from the dauphin. After committing such a grave offense, I can’t imagine why you thought you would ever have a chance with him.”
My cheeks flushed when I saw the discomfort on Diane’s face. Severine didn’t care that she was insulting me in front of someone else. In fact, she relished it.
“I won’t argue with you,” I said, keeping my voice carefully neutral. “I’m here because the king invited me.”
I put extra emphasis on the king. I thought mentioning the king would be sure to get a rise out of Severine, and it did. She snorted and looked as if she wanted to strangle me right there.
“As you made very clear to your mother, the dauphin spent the entirety of last week consumed with finding me. You said he didn’t pay attention to any of the other maidens, including you. That must mean I have some chance with him, don’t you agree?”
The potential retribution was worth it just to see the abject rage on my stepsister’s face. She took a step toward me—to do what, I didn’t know—when a flutter of activity erupted at the archway to the Salon of Peace.