The Rose Bride by Nancy Holder Read Free Book Online

dry.”
    As a result of the man’s testimony, Monsieur Valmont’s sentence of death was commuted to a life of hard labor in the colonies.
    “Imagine, stealing my dress,” Desiree sniffed on the night of his sentencing, as she, Ombrine, andRose sat at table in the great hall. Their first course was rich
pâté
. Rose wasn’t used to dining so formally. She and her mother used to eat with Elise and play a game of cards with her after. Now Elise was banished to eat with the servants. The nurse had begged Rose not to reveal that she’d been the one to take the dress. The truth would do Monsieur Valmont no good, but it would do her a lot of harm indeed. So together they had wrapped it in tissue and muslin and laid it in an old chest, hiding it behind some old furniture beneath the attic eaves. It lay there now.
    She had hidden her father’s cloak as well, in her sewing basket beneath her bed.
    “It was your stepsister’s dress and it was ruined anyway,” Ombrine reminded her, placing a tiny morsel of venison on her fork. “No matter. Laurent’s ships are on their way and they’re bulging with goods. I’ll have twenty dresses made for you.”
    “In pink,” Desirée insisted, reaching for her wine. “Grander than that other one. Rose’s dress was truly not that special. It needed more flounces and bows.”
    “In black. And tastefully understated. Until our period of mourning is complete.” She smiled joyfully at her daughter. “Providence sent Laurent to me.”
    “Oui
. Thank the gods he had a heart attack so close to our house,” Desirée replied.
    Rose ate silently, fuming at their insensitivity. She had threaded their story together. Ombrine’s first husband, Louis Severine, had been a wealthy man who lived an ostentatious life. Château Severine was a showpieceand Ombrine constantly redecorated it, adding rooms, and ordering new furniture. They had parties all the time and Ombrine and Desirée were the most sought-after hostesses in the region. Ombrine’s wardrobe was legendary. She socialized on a grand scale and Desirée had so many friends she had to keep a list.
    Louis was a friendly sort as well. He was very fond of the local Gypsies and gave them permission to camp on his lands. It was said that he was fonder of their women than their men—a rumor Ombrine pretended she had never heard.
    One night, a Gypsy husband discovered that his pretty wife was missing and he drank himself into a rage. He and his friends demanded entry into Louis’s
château
to search for the lady. Louis refused.
    Drunken and furious, the Gypsies melted into the night. They returned three hours later with every man in their clan above the age of thirteen. Each carried a bottle of wine and a torch.
    They set Louis Severine’s entire estate on fire. The disaster overwhelmed him financially, and Ombrine and Desirée, who had been used to the best of everything, were left penniless. Then he died—some say he drank himself into the grave. His widow and daughter lived in the ruins of the
château
like wraiths and no one came to call. Not one friend stuck by Desirée and all Ombrine’s wealthy acquaintances deserted her. Daughter and mother became all the other had and their hearts hardened at the lack of sympathy and friendship. It was no use to count onlove and affection. From that time on, they would put their trust in the power of wealth.
    And so Ombrine coveted nothing but wealth. She treated the glittering treasures of the Marchand fortune as if they were loaves of bread and she and Desirée were starving. Ombrine spent hours making inventories of all Laurent’s possessions—now hers. She hired jewelers and appraisers to put a value on every single object. If so much as a saucer went missing, she knew of it and fined the household staff its stated value against their wages.
    Now at the table, Rose sat quietly. She wondered what Monsieur Valmont was having for dinner.
    “Eat your venison,” Ombrine ordered Rose. “The