Page 8 of The Secret of Flirting
“Yes.”
“Who’s with him?”
“Only a servant. But the count says he traveled from Calais today to speak with you and your grandmother.”
She could scarcely believe it. After all these years of Grand-maman’s exile from her family, one of them had finally come to see her. Before this, not a single person from the Chanay branch had bothered.
What was she to think? What did it mean? “Did he say why he’d come?”
“No. But he said it was most important. Shall I tell him he can meet with you?”
She had to say yes. These days Grand-maman spoke of nothing but her childhood in Chanay. The count might be able to cheer her. Besides, Monique was curious to meet one of the relatives her grandmother had seemed so amazingly fond of.
“Set it up,” she said, “but not here. At the apartment. Tell him to come at eleven.”
That would give her an hour after the play to make herself presentable. To make Grand-maman presentable and prepare her for seeing her long-lost relation. They must both make a good impression. Monique didn’t know why the man was here or what he wanted, but she was not going to let him see her looking like an overpainted harlot in this cramped dressing room. Or pitying Grand-maman for having such a granddaughter.
After all, it wasn’t every day that one got an audience with a member of the royal family of Chanay.
Unable to sit still, Monique paced the small parlor of their comfy apartment as her grandmother sat on the sofa doing embroidery. Ever since Grand-maman’s mind had begun to fail her, she’d reverted to old habits from her girlhood—embroidering reticules, speaking like a royal, and expecting luxuries that Monique could never afford.
“Who is this visitor we are expecting?” Grand-maman asked.
Having already answered the question twice, Monique said, a trifle impatiently, “Your brother-in-law, the count. You remember.”
Her grandmother lit up, just as she had twice before. “Oh yes! A lovely man. How kind of him to visit! I shall be very happy to see him.” She rose. “Shall I call for wine?”
Monique hastened to her side. “No need.” Especially since their one servant had left long ago. She gestured to the bottle of red Burgundy sitting on the tea table with three glasses and a little pile of petits fours. “We are all ready for him.”
“Good, good. He must have the best.”
A knock came at the door.
Wiping her clammy hands on the skirt of her best gown, Monique stiffened her spine and walked calmly to the door.
She opened it to find a white-haired gentleman who looked even older than her sixty-five-year-old grandmother. Dressed in a costly opera cloak of black satin, a suit of black silk, an ivory cravat, and a subtly patterned waistcoat, the darkly attractive fellow was the very picture of discreet elegance. Oddly enough, he reminded her of her late grandfather, who was of no relation to him whatsoever.
The servant behind him was elderly, too, but he wore a soft smile that seemed to say he was glad to be there.
Not the count, who nodded to her with great formality. “Miss Servais, I presume?”
Sketching a curtsy, she said, “Good evening, sir.” She refused to show him more deference than that. The family had ignored her and Grand-maman for decades, after all.
“You’re right, my lord,” the count’s servant murmured to him. “She could easily be the princess’s sister.”
Which princess?she wanted to ask, but before she could, Grand-maman rose to eye the count uncertainly.
“Who is this ancient fellow, Monique?” she asked with the bluntness she’d developed of late.
Ignoring the way the man flinched, Monique said, “This is the Count de Beaumonde. Your eldest sister’s husband.”
“It cannot be.” Grand-maman peered at him as she came near. “He is much tooold.”
The count bristled and scowled at Monique. “Did you not tell her I was coming to visit this evening?”
“I did,” Monique said in a low voice. “But she doesn’t remember. In her mind, you are still as young as when she last saw you.”
As he took her meaning, his features softened profoundly. “Ah.” He stepped into the room to approach Grand-maman. “Princess Solange, it is a great pleasure to meet with you again. You’re looking very well.”
