Page 10 of A Sham Betrothal
Which of course she did not.
Chapter 5
They left Sophie’s rented lodgings, and Zoé studied Basile’s face as though attempting to read something of his intentions there. He would not give her cause to read too much into intentions he himself did not quite understand.
“’Tis no small thing to care for a loved family member in a foreign city. You did well to propose we come,” she said.
“I suspected she would not have access to the right care, being so new to the city,” he replied mildly.
In truth, the fact that he had thought about her enough to bestir himself on her behalf surprised no one more than himself. But the compulsion to see her left him with no peace until he put the idea into motion.
“She appeared calm enough, but one could see her agitation,” Zoé observed. “It is why I proposed we not stay.”
He had thought to find Sophie pale and listless with worry upon arrival, but instead her eyes were snapping and her cheeks aflame when she threw open the door. It was almost as though she were expecting someone else and was ready for battle. He wondered if she had been harassed bythe peacock that day and mistook their visit for another unwelcome one of his. He would have to ask her.
“Youwere not inclined to stay longer, were you?” Zoé insisted.
“No, no. It was not meant to be a long visit.” Basile replied, somewhat absent-mindedly. He ignored Zoé’s piercing looks.
“Eh bien! If you don’t mean to tell me any more, I suppose we must find some otherdiscoursto squabble over,” she said in a pique.
Basile hid a smile. She was so easy to bait, even when he was not trying. “I suppose we must. How did Charles take to your ignoring him all evening?”
Zoé frowned. “It is most unaccountable, but he seems to give up so easily at the slightest resistance. I should like to see him show himself a man and fight for me.”
“Ah, but perhaps you have misjudged your Englishman.” Basile led Zoé along the border of the Seine, the most direct path to her house on rue Dauphine. “Some men would prefer to have your fidelity without needing to fight for it.”
“Is that true?” Zoé looked at him curiously. “What about you? What would you do if you were indeed in love and your woman flirted with another man to provoke you?”
Basile was silent for a moment, his mouth turned downwards. “Why, my dear, that is entirely another matter. I would remove her from his company and waste no time in kissing her senseless until she forgot any other man existed.”
“Là!” Zoé said, her face breaking out into a smile. “It is a shame I have not the slightesttendressefor you, for that is what I should like above all things. Only, I should like for it to be Charles kissing me like that.”
“Rid yourself of the notion that I will drop a word in his ear. I leave you to your own affair,” Basile said.
“Pfft!” was all Zoé gave by way of reply.
The next night,Basile went to the opera in need of some diversion, but he found the experience insipid. His box was filled with people he felt obliged to invite, but who he did not particularly wish to converse with. He went out into the foyer during the entr’acte for refreshments and Grégoire sought him there with news.
“Armand seems to have made a conquest at last, and it is not the fair Apolline of the garnet brooch.”
Basile raised an eyebrow. “Indeed! And who is she?”
“She is one of Marie-Antoinette’s attendants, and she blushes when he is near.” Grégoire watched the crowd walk by them and nodded at one of the patrons.
“He has aimed high then,” Basile said. He hoped for Armand’s sake it would last.
“She is perhaps easily overlooked as one of the less-favored of the queen’s attendants. But her heart seems true.”
“I would not wish anything better for him,” Basile said, before catching sight of the last person he wished to see, parading by in a swirl of silks. He turned suddenly in an attempt to hide his face, his anxiety increasing a notch. Would he never be rid of her? “Fichtre! It’s La Bordenave.”
But it was too late. Claudia had already seen him and cut across the crowd to where they stood.
“Why, Basile—Monsieur St. Pierre. What a delight to find you both here. The evening is growing ever morepromising.” She slipped her arm through Basile’s, pulling him close. Her scent cloyed, and he found her grip firm when he tried to lessen the hold. “À vrai dire, you have only improved with age.”
Grégoire shifted slightly and cleared his throat as he glanced at her, clearly at a loss for how to help Basile. The Duc de Lauzun spotted him before coming over. “St. Pierre, you’ve a hunter for sale, do you not? I’ve a mind to purchase it.” With a “bonsoir” and a bow to Basile and Claudia, he hurried him off. Grégoire sent an apologetic look over his shoulder to Basile.
He extricated his arm from Claudia’s, which produced a playful pout on her face. It goaded him that he could still find her attractive even without any desire to win her back. As she put every bit of art into her appearance that was naturally endowed with womanly beauty, it was also unsurprising.
