It was sweeter the second time, and I kissed him all over his face, his jaw, his neck, and buried my face in his shirt, just breathing in the smell of him, intoxicated by the heat of his body. I cleaved to him, and it was almost physically painful when we parted.
“Goodbye, then,” I said.
“For now,” he said, squeezing my hand.
This time, I all but fled from the Small Stables, my heart pounding painfully against my rib cage. We shouldn’t have given in to temptation. If anyone found out what we’d done, the scandal would be horrendous. I was courting his brother, the dauphin of France. Just hours earlier we had ridden together, and now here I was, kissing Auguste.
But I couldn’t muster up any shame. I felt light, giddy, and happier than I’d been in a year. My dear friend felt the same way about me as I did him. I still wasn’t sure what would happen now that our relationship had changed—and it had changed irrevocably—but I was excited to find out.
Magic
The pleasure of love is in loving.
—François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Chapter Thirty
“The demoiselle crane is the highlight of the Menagerie, prized for its elegance, grace, and beauty. It was a gift from a foreign ambassador and one of the king’s favorite animals,” Prince Louis said as he stood in front of the bird pen. “Don’t you think that it’s a wonderful animal?”
“It is a wonderful bird, Monseigneur,” Diane said, perhaps a tad too eagerly. “Quite unique.”
I suspected that Diane found the bird to be as interesting as I did, which wasn’t very. It was a strange little beast, with red eyes and a long gray neck. I liked when it bobbed about the pen on its spindly legs, but it wasn’t even doing that. The crane was just standing in the corner, staring at the wall. Maybe it was bored. I know I would be, trapped in a pen with other birds and nothing to do while various nobles oohed and aahed over them.
“It is unique, isn’t it? I confess that it isn’t my favorite animal, but I can admire its beauty.”
A few of the girls smiled at the dauphin and nodded vigorously. It seemed that the king wanted to find a bride for his eldest son quickly, as this outing at the Menagerie came only a few days after the royal hunt. And it wasn’t a typical event either, where the dauphin spent time alone with each of us, but a group event where we traveled around the Menagerie together making awkward small talk while examining each animal enclosure.
Perhaps the king thought this kind of event would save time, but in reality, it just meant that the pushiest ladies surrounded the prince while the less forceful were relegated to the back. That was fine with me, as my thoughts were consumed with Auguste. I kept hoping I’d run into him, but he was nowhere to be found.
The Menagerie was located in the southwest section of the grounds, far from the palace itself, walled in and accessible only through the main gate. At the center of the park was a lovely little stone pavilion where refreshment-laden tables had been set up. Surrounding the pavilion in a circular layout were seven long enclosures where the animals were kept. A walking path took visitors past each enclosure in a wide loop. If only I’d been able to explore by myself. The Menagerie housed animals I’d only read about in books. Lions and tigers and odd, massive birds that Diane told me were called ostriches, with long necks and legs.
But I could hardly even get close to the gates without being elbowed out of the way by Severine and pushed to the back of the group. And it didn’t help that the pavilion was packed with onlookers from court staring at us as if we were the animals in a cage. Maybe I could come back when the Menagerie was less crowded. Maybe with Auguste. My cheeks flushed at the thought of Auguste. I hadn’t seen him since our kiss in the stables.
And I wanted to see him so badly, I couldn’t sleep. Hence, I was sleepwalking through the day.
“Are you all right, Lady Cendrillon? You look a little flushed. Is the heat getting to you?”
Startled, I turned to see the duchesse from Bavaria, Maria Anna Victoria, standing beside me with a concerned expression on her face. She was small and dark-haired and so quiet, I hadn’t even realized that she was there. Or that I’d stopped walking, letting the rest of the group wander on ahead. That wouldn’t do. I needed to be present and involved, not lost in daydreams like a child.
“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, Duchesse.”
“I’m the last person who would judge someone for feeling tired or ill. I’ve experienced far too much of it from others to behave that way. You needn’t be ashamed of being tired. I could escort you into the pavilion if you’d like.”
Duchesse Maria was a slight girl, nearly overwhelmed by the voluminous skirts of her cream silk dress and the height of the fontange her dark curls were pulled into. Sweat beaded her brow, and the dark circles under her eyes were quite prominent.
“It might be nice to step inside the pavilion for a while. Have some refreshments.”
At the duchesse’s smile, we made our way to the pavilion, easily slipping away from the rest of the group. The dauphin was too engaged with the other girls to notice. But Severine noticed and grinned mockingly at me again before turning back to Prince Louis and laughing exaggeratedly at something he said. I released the exasperated sigh I’d been holding in all day for fear of Severine hearing me.
“Do you know Lady Severine?” the duchesse asked, the gentle lilt of her Bavarian accent unique and pleasing to the ear. I’d never met someone from Bavaria before.
“She’s my stepsister.”
“How unfortunate,” she said, the barest hint of a smile on her lips.
I laughed in surprise. I couldn’t help it. No one was willing to speak badly of Severine. Not to my face, at least.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“Do you deny that she is quite unpleasant?”
“No. I don’t deny it. I’m just surprised that you would know.”
“I spoke with your stepsisters briefly on the first day of the competition, when we were all gathered in the Hall of Mirrors. The younger one, Alexandre, is lovely, but Severine was not particularly kind when she heard my accent. It was only when she found out that I was a duchesse that she tried to be nice to me, but I was no longer interested.”
We entered the pavilion through one of the double doors thrown wide to let in the summer breeze. The shade was wonderful after the heat of the sun, but the crowds of courtiers shooting furtive glances at us over the rims of their glasses wasn’t. Duchesse Maria clutched at her stomach and took a few deep breaths as we sat down on an unoccupied marble bench near the doors.
“Are you all right? Would you like me to get you something to drink?”