Intrigued. Bertrice Small

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ her chamber to suit herself and unpacking. Her room overlooked the lake, and the single window had a seat built into it where Autumn found she liked to sit looking out through the leaded panes, sometimes unfastening the window to familiarize herself with the scent of the fertile French countryside. The furnishings were simple, of ancient but well-polished golden oak.

      There was a large bedstead with a seven-foot oak headboard carved with flowers and vines, a solid canopy of oak overhead that was held up by the headboard, and the two carved wooden posts at the foot of the bed. It was certainly not as big as the one in Mama’s room, which was enormous. She had a tall oak cupboard called an armoire in which Lily hung her gowns, and a fine oak chest for the rest of her possessions. There was a single little table on one side of the bed that was set opposite a fireplace flanked with carved stone angels.

      The bed hangings, which were hung from tarnished brass rings, were made of a faded rose-colored velvet. The cushion in the window seat was a natural colored linen with rose velvet flowers embroidered onto it. The window had a large shutter that could be closed to keep out the cold air, along with linen and velvet drapes. Beneath the bed was a trundle with a thick mattress for Lily to sleep upon, and on the little nightstand a silver taperstick with its own snuffer attached by a delicate silver link. On each end of the narrow fireplace mantel sat small, square porcelain bowls of potpourri that perfumed the chamber. Despite her reservations regarding the social disadvantages of living in such an isolated and small chateau, Autumn liked her bedchamber, and she liked Belle Fleurs.

      Adali, with the aid of Guillaume, hired servants for the chateau. Pascaline would be their cook, but she needed two girls to help her, as well as a boy to scrub the pots and sharpen the knives. A laundress and her helper were employed, as well as three housemaids and three footmen. Two men were hired for work in the stables. A head gardener and half a dozen men would work on the grounds, seeing that the gardens were properly kept and the driveway cleared of brush and tree limbs. Guillaume would oversee all who worked outside, and Adali would manage the inside of the chateau. Red Hugh and Fergus were responsible for gamekeeping, and would protect the duchess and her daughter. Within two weeks the household was running smoothly and Autumn and her mother had settled in quite comfortably.

      Then one afternoon in early December, a distinguished gentleman rode up to the chateau. Dismounting in the courtyard, he gave his horse to the attending stableman and entered the house. Adali hurried forward.

      “Monsieur le Comte, you are most welcome to Belle Fleurs. I shall tell my mistress you are here. Come into the hall. Marc, wine for monsieur le comte!” Ushering the guest into the Great Hall, he hurried off to fetch Jasmine.

      “Philippe!” She came into the hall, hands outstretched, a welcoming smile upon her lips.

      “Cousine, you have not changed a bit in all the years that have separated us,” he said gallantly, kissing her on both cheeks.

      “Liar!” she laughed.

      “I was sorry to hear of your husband’s death,” he told her.

      “And I of Marie Louise’s passing,” she returned. “Come, Philippe, and sit by the fire. ’Tis a cold day, and you must be chilled from your ride.”

      They sat together, and he said, “You have come to France to escape Cromwell and his Puritans, I have no doubt.”

      “You cannot imagine how dreadful it is, Philippe,” she told him, and went on to describe the bleak England of Protector Cromwell. “I could bear it for myself, but not for Autumn. There is no society as we once knew it any longer, Philippe. I have come to France to mourn in peace, to escape the joylessness of England today, but most important, I have come to seek a suitable husband for my youngest child. She is just nineteen and probably the most beautiful of all my daughters. There was no one in Scotland for her, and certainly no one in England today who would do. So I have come to Belle Fleurs.”

      He nodded, understanding. Then he said, “France has been in turmoil these past years, Jasmine. The king was hardly out of leading strings when his father died. Old Louis was no fool, and he was wise enough to make the queen regent for the boy, but that has caused such difficulty. Anne of Austria is also no fool. She has leaned heavily upon the cardinal, but the princes of the blood hate him and are jealous. I am glad you sailed to Nantes. Had you come via Calais you might never have gotten to Belle Fleurs. We have been fortunate in this little region, for we have seen little fighting, but about us all is conflict.”

      “Has it really been that bad, Philippe? We heard little of it at Glenkirk, and in England all we discuss is the king’s murder and the young king’s hopes of restoration.”

      “It has been that bad,” he said. “Last January the queen mother had the Prince de Conde, the Prince de Conti, and the Duc de Longueville arrested. Then she had to pacify Normandy and Burgundy. She left Paris in the hands of Monsieur while she went to Guyennne to restore their loyalty. Gaston d’Orleans’s loyalty is insecure at best and treasonous at worst, but he is her brother-in-law. He has never gotten over the fact that Louis XIII made his wife regent and not him.”

      “I thought Conde was loyal,” Jasmine said.

      “He runs with the hares and hunts with the hounds,” the Comte de Cher said dryly. “The chief troublemaker in all of this is Jean Francoise Paul de Gondi, the Archbishop of both Corinth and Paris. If there is a treasonous plot, you will be certain to find Gondi involved. For all his public piety, he is a very wicked and ambitious man. He has always believed that the queen mother was not fit, by virtue of her sex, to be the regent. If anyone is responsible for the estrangement between Monsieur and Anne of Austria, it is Gondi. So he lures Gaston d’Orleans, and the cardinal tries to convince the Duc de Bouillon, and his brother, Marshall Turenne, to give their complete loyalty to the queen mother. The marshall had some success in an August campaign in Champagne. The cardinal knew that if Turenne declared for Anne in light of his recent victories, it would be good for the young king. Turenne, however, refused, and so the cardinal made certain his next battle would cost him dearly for his presumption. He was beaten at Rethel only this autumn, but now the two Frondes, the first led by Gondi, and the Parisian burghers has joined with that of the princes. Only God knows what will happen now, ma cousine. I am not certain that in coming to France you have not jumped from the frying pan into the fire.”

      “When will the king declare his majority?” Jasmine asked.

      “Next September, following his thirteenth birthday. That was what his father wanted, and frankly, cherie, if the regency went on much longer, I should fear for King Louis’s life. All Anne and Cardinal Mazarin have to do is keep the boy in their hands until his next birthday. Once he is king in fact as well as in name, these rebels cannot continue on lest they be declared traitors. For now they keep France involved in civil wars under the guise of attempting to protect the king from his mother and the cardinal,” the comte explained.

      “What do you think of Mazarin?” she inquired, curious.

      “He learned well from Richelieu. This cardinal is a consummate politician, but he is honestly and entirely devoted to young Louis. The men who struggle against Mazarin are driven by self-interest,” Philippe de Saville told her. Then he patted her hand. “There is nothing for you in Paris right now, cherie, but here in this region, life goes on as it always has.” He chuckled. “No patriotic Frenchman would bring war into the vineyards, ma cousine. The early vintage is paramount.”

      She laughed, then grew more somber. “But are there suitable prospects for my daughter, Philippe?”

      “That is a woman’s matter, cherie. We must ask my sisters, Gaby and Antoniette. They will know, for they have daughters who needed to be married off once. Gaby and ’Toinette are like СКАЧАТЬ