Francesca by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online

fitted nor full, but hung gracefully over two silk petticoats and a sleeveless cloth of silver underdress. The bodice was tightly fitted with an open center panel that revealed the underdress. The neckline was square, not so low as to reveal her breasts, but low enough to show a bit of ripe cleavage. The turned-back cuffs on her sleeves were trimmed with exquisite cream-colored lace. She wore plain silk stockings and heelless leather slippers, but neither could be seen beneath her long skirts.
    About her neck Francesca wore a red-gold chain from which hung a heart-shaped pink diamond that flashed and sparkled. Her long reddish-golden hair had been brushed into loose waves, and against all tradition she wore nothing in her hair or on her head.
    Terza stepped back and smiled gleefully. “He cannot fail to be taken by you, and your rivals will have a bitter taste in their mouths this night.”
    “But it’s so simple,” Francesca said.
    “Precisely!” Terza crowed. “And your attitude must match your garments. Do not endeavor to deliberately attract his attention. Allow him to come to you, and then be nothing more than polite. Do not fawn over him like the others will do. Speak with his father instead. It will drive this boy wild with jealousy.” Then the maidservant escorted her mistress from her apartments to the Great Hall of the castle. “Remember my words,” she hissed softly, leaving her at the entrance.
    Francesca entered the hall, her carriage tall and straight as she directed her feet towards the high board where she knew she would be seated tonight.
    Duke Titus leaned over to his son and whispered into his ear. “Is she not glorious, Rafaello? What grace, what elegance and style, what hair! And a mother who has produced seven living children.”
    “It is all as you point out,
Padre
, but I want more in a woman, as you well know,” the younger man responded. “I rode disguised with the huntsmen and Valiant this morning to welcome the Florentines. I found the girl arrogant. She did not smile or exclaim with delight at her forester escort. I would have thought her pleased and honored that your men came out to greet her.”
    “She is a Florentine, Rafaello. She has been brought up to have elegant manners. I imagine had either of the other two been greeted in such an enthusiastic manner they would have been taken aback as well,” Duke Titus told his son. “Give her a chance.”
    Farther down the high board Francesca’s two rivals attempted to study her as she came into the hall. She mounted the dais and was seated between Duke Titus and his heir.
    Aceline du Barry narrowed her dark blue eyes. “She has a proud air about her for a silk merchant’s daughter,” the French girl observed.
    “Her gown is lovely,” Louisa di Genoa said.
    “She appears overproud,” Aceline replied.
    “Don’t you recall how nervous you were the first night you arrived when the banquet was for you?”
    “The du Barrys are never afraid or nervous,” Aceline answered her.
    “Well, I certainly was,” Louisa admitted.
    “Of course you were,” Aceline agreed. “You are, after all, only a duke’s
bastarda
.”
    “I am rarely reminded of the low status I hold,” Louisa said quietly. “My family is far too polite to do so, and my father would have whipped anyone who dared to voice it. You are thoughtful to recollect it for me.” She smiled a sweet smile that did not extend to her amber eyes.
    “We should not be enemies,” Aceline murmured. “If we band together against the Florentine it makes our chances with Rafaello all the better.”
    Louisa laughed low. “You can have the duke’s heir,” she said. “He scares me quite to death. He is so big and powerful. I want a gentler man for my husband.”
    “How can you not want Rafaello? He is handsome and very rich,” the French girl responded. “Since girls have no choice in a husband I should just as soon have one like Rafaello than a poor, weak man.”
    “I think