“The Queen will be in attendance! Imagine,
Justine! She will be there – for my eldest daughter is to be presented at
court.”
Such was the custom of the day before the world
changed and blood ran through the streets of Paris.
“Think of it, Justine. You will see her!”
I begged off. That is I tried so hard not to go.
It was intimidating. However, after a great deal of coaxing I did go. Mme.
Coulon was delighted. “You will attend to us as our personal maid. Paulette and
I shall be so lucky to have you there.”
Paulette was the daughter I felt certain was being
groomed to search for a husband. The Coulons were committed to raising
themselves ever higher. If there was dissatisfaction with the monarchy it was
not known in their house. Not with an unmarried daughter and social climbing
parents.
“There are so many suitable gentlemen,
Paulette—please try and act less awkward. Do try and be at ease.”
The night came at last. Mme. Coulon was so excited
she was stumbling over her words. “That is it! Have you ever seen such beauty?”
Paulette was delighted. “No, indeed Mama! I feel
like royalty myself!”
I thought my mistress would say something to keep
her daughter’s feet on the ground. Yes, they were a wealthy merchant family,
but they were not aristocrats.
When Paulette saw me looking at her she smiled,
“Don’t look at me, silly! Look out there!”
I did just as our carriage was given permission to
enter the palace gates. That’s when I took my first look at Versailles.
It was stunning and I gasped. My eyes filled with
tears at the sheer beauty of it. There were the famous gardens even I had heard
of. And there, just beyond them—was the great glittering palace. It seemed to
be filled with golden light.
My mistress only stopped chattering when the
carriage drew to a stop. I had already been instructed to follow along behind.
There were other guests milling around, each
judging the other’s importance by their apparel and demeanor. Mme. Coulon was
giving her daughter step by step instructions of how to move and what to say.
Two liveried servants ushered us inside.
“We are entering Olympus!” Mme. Coulon exclaimed.
“The home of the Gods and Goddesses.”
And so we were. The opulence and splendor was all
around. Clearly it could be nothing else!
We passed from one hall to another. Officials of
varying importance saw to this, each haughtier than the next—even in their
subservient state, they exuded snobbery.
When we passed through the Hall of Mirrors I
thought I would faint. Mme. Coulon whispered, “This is only the beginning.
Look!”
A handsomely dressed man, in lavender frock coat,
smelling divine bowed slightly. I would soon learn that different levels of
bowing—varying from deep to less deep were associated with class and standing.
The bow accorded Mme. Coulon and her daughter (I didn’t count, of course) was a
bit shallow.
When I heard Mme. Coulon’s hoarse whisper, “The
Queen!” I almost stumbled.
She was there, resplendent in a gown the likes of
which I could not have even dreamt of. What a poor excuse for a human being I
was to be so impressed!
I had quite forgotten the poverty I sprang from.
Would my poor parents be turning in their graves? I should think they would
have.
But it didn’t matter! The spell was too strong—the
magic of wealth and beauty too powerful to overcome.
We all curtseyed. And when the Queen complimented
my employer and Paulette on their gowns and insisted on knowing who the
seamstress was, I could barely breathe. But the royal command received an
instant answer and I was introduced.
“It is my seamstress’s handiwork, your Majesty!”
There she was! Queen Marie Antoinette herself,
smiling down at me. She was a goddess, a beauty, like something come down from
heaven to dwell among lesser mortals, Olympus indeed!
Whatever I had sprung from the recollections were
gone—blinded by the light that emanated from this real goddess.
“Shall I be naughty?” she winked at me. “Shall I
steal you away?”
That was the first I heard of it. If I thought my
employer would look horrified she did not. She looked proud. It was a great
compliment to her taste for her own seamstress to be plucked away by the queen
of France! As for myself, I felt I was dreaming..."
"Revenge, betrayal,
passion, bloodshed, lust and love are just a few of the elements of this dark
and spellbinding book."
"Justine, realizes she as a
vampire could actually love and in fact is in love with Gascoyne. I think that
was the turning point in the story."
"This vampire romance is rich
in history, deep in blood sex and exotic locations and is very highly
recommended."
"Vampires have their own allure
and none more so than the female."
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