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Hector was like a castaway who had washed up on a room of velvet curtains and marble floors. The revelers might as well have been wild animals ready to tear off a chunk of his flesh.
The barons of barely minted empires of telegraph wires and fresh steel could socialize elsewhere.
“I apologize. This is only the second dance I’ve attended, and I can see it will end catastrophically already.”
Her words were candid and he found himself amused by the naivety. Rather than schooling her with a scowl and a clipped yes, which normally suited him magnificently, he gave her a proper answer.
was all good and proper to marry a viscount, but when he came with a withered estate in dire need of repair, the coat of arms lost its luster.
While her mother was expecting only a suitable match, Nina was hoping for the romance of a lifetime followed by the grandest wedding imaginable.
Valérie protected her milky-white face—which the Beautiful Ones prized—with hats and veils, shuddering at the thought of compromising her pale complexion
was not a matter of looks, but of picking the dresses that were the most flattering, the ornaments that drew the eye, in order to rise from mere beauty to perfection.
But no matter, because Gaétan had decided his “darling” cousin deserved the excitement of Loisail and an engagement to a promising young man.
Worse yet, Valérie had been secretly engaged when Gaétan courted her. It was enough to cause a great amount of strife if it became known.
“There are plenty of shining examples in the world that demonstrate love need not be a condition of a successful marriage. You might agree on this point.”
He paid for her bills, bought her expensive presents, yet she resented him for his lack of spirit and for his devotion to his family. She also thought ill of him for the things he refused to provide her: funds for the Véries, that post her cousin might have had in the army if only Gaétan had bought
The universe was unveiling new wonders every day, the motorcar and the photographic camera, to name but a handful of the inventions dazzling the world. She preferred to classify herself as one of these new wonders.
He was very conscious of all rules and regulations. Born outside wealth, he’d had to manufacture himself and did not want to appear conspicuous.
Why should Valérie be married, sharing the warmth of her bed with her husband while Hector watched the days slip away in the loneliness of his apartment?
Nina had every desire to be melodramatic, to give free rein to thoughts and instincts, as in those books where people loved and lived and declared the most beautiful sentiments, but instead she nodded.
“No. It’s not every day I meet a lady who could toss all my glassware onto the floor without touching it,” he replied in a neutral voice.
bit of a mystery, which no doubt Nina finds interesting, but I myself must be cautious.
He’d soared to rare heights without the benefit of family or friends.
“However, my wife seems to think you a perfect gentleman, and she is an excellent judge of character.” Hector was surprised to
She was a spoiled rich girl who did not give a damn about me.” “A spoiled rich girl?” she said. “Neither rich nor spoiled. A girl wearing yesterday’s finery, having to live off the mercy of her father’s old friends. You have no idea what it was to be me. All the family’s expectations upon my shoulders.”
Valérie thought of Gaétan. Her husband had disappointed her in a myriad of ways: his lack of passion, his blindness, his almost pathological devotion to his family, and his inability to provide Valérie with a family of her own
“Indeed. Innocents do not question people’s motives. You’ve come to hurt me, Hector. You’ve come to toy with us. Feel free to toy with her. But you’ll find I am not a piece you can slide across your board.”
“You don’t understand,” he said. “I’m the worst of friends to you. You ought to spend more time with people who are more animated than me, younger and lively. I am like a rickety, haunted house, Miss Beaulieu. Best find a new abode. I won’t be troubling you any longer.”
“Bah. A letter is not the same at all. I’d have to write a dozen a day in order to keep you well informed. You know how I go on. Won’t you join us at Oldhouse?”
It is not advisable to fling yourself at a man simply because he brings you flowers. Be sensible and watch the words that come out of your mouth. You should not have spoken of an engagement without proper assurances.”
But there was a mysterious assertiveness in her eyes at times, which he enjoyed, and her hair was nice— it made him curious, he wished to touch it.
She was a goddess at whose feet he worshipped, and to cease in his adoration of her would imply he had spent a decade following a false idol.
“In that event, I suppose instead of purchasing a necklace for you for your birthday, I ought to buy you a beetle.”
“Are you to reproach me? These idiotic parlor tricks are fit for rogues in gambling dens, not a proper lady. Not that Antonina behaves like a lady. Half the time she is close to a savage.”
You do tricks for adoring crowds onstage and forget that it is not all artifice and sleight of hand when you step off. The pauper does not get the princess, Hector Auvray.”
Valérie’s marriage to Gaétan had saved the family from absolute ruin but had not restored it to its former glory, and their coffers were woefully low.
Antonina. Back in the city, with her great-aunts, and somehow she’d attracted the eye of this hungry fox, innocent lamb that she was.
They’d sent Valérie out in the world to battle in their name, and like a conquering general, she would deliver them a new kingdom.
have always loved artifice more than anything in the world. The painted backdrops and the lights on the stage, transforming the ordinary into a land of wonder. And it was like that with her. I met her in Frotnac, one summer. I had never seen anyone that lovely, of noble family, with fine manners. I imagined her a princess and ours a fairy tale.
She reserved her devotion for the Véries, the importance of blood kin and duty to her own imprinted on her since an early age. “How are your beloved roses
In Loisail, certain things were not said out loud. Secrets were written in the movement of a fan or the gestures with a glove. Innocent words hid the sharpness of knives. Now Agnes and Valérie were speaking in this code.
Without meaning to, she also thought about him in other terms. Hector was hers. He was always hers, and even if she wouldn’t have him, he should remain so.
“I am not jealous. I am pointing out how silly it is for you to complain that I speak with one man when you speak to many women. Why is it men can do as they please?”
His good humor had evaporated, and the naked anger beneath the mask of courtesy made him ugly, which was a feat for someone that handsome. But he was not made for rage, and his lips should not be mouthing words as he did, the teeth tearing at each one.
“Do you think I am a dog to whom you can throw scraps?” he asked in a low voice.
“You are beautiful, Valérie. I don’t think you’ll ever cease to be beautiful, and you’ll continue to drive men crazy with your beauty. But there is no goodness in you, just poison, and a desire to wound,” he said without malice, as if he were explaining
She imagined the diamond comb weighing the girl down, like an anchor, tying her to Luc.
Valérie mentally corrected herself— she shared a past with Hector. Antonina had experienced
She’d said her vows and danced at her wedding party, and never once did she let the satisfied mask she wore slip.
am in love with another man. Since Oldhouse and before that. He is intelligent and dedicated and kind. He understands me, and I believe I understand him. I like the way he talks and the way he smiles. I like many things about him, I cannot ever remember all of them.”
She’d thrice wronged Valérie: the business venture was spoiled, they’d be the laughingstock of the city, and Antonina would marry Hector. She was stealing everything from Valérie, even
“Nothing matters more than money to us, the Beautiful Ones who walk down these city streets in pristine gloves and silk-lined garments. You can give yourself the luxury of love because you are not one of us. That is why you are my friend: because despite everything, at heart you remain an innocent.”
have spoken to Luc Lémy, and he has explained how you two confabulated, how you plotted to have Nina married off to him and Hector removed from the picture. You will explain yourself this instant,
“At the expense of my cousin’s happiness,” Gaétan said dryly. “You have done nothing but manipulate and deceive me, and slander her.”
