Waters of Versailles by Kelly Robson Read Free Book Online Page A

She turned back to Sylvain. “If your brawny friend the Marquis de la Châsse is content with his achievements, who are we to criticize? But you, monsieur, I know you care about the honor of France both on and off the field of war.”
    â€œEvery Frenchman does, madame, but especially when he has been drinking champagne,” said Sylvain. Gérard lifted his glass in salute.
    Madame flicked her fan at Annette. “You may have heard an idea of mine. At first, it was just an idle thought, but now le Turque has thrown down the gauntlet. Is there a man who will accept the challenge?”
    â€œNo man could refuse you anything, madame. The rulers of the world fall at your feet.”
    â€œI would rush to serve you,” said Gérard, “if I had any idea what you meant. Madame is so mysterious.”
    Madame dismissed Gérard with flick of her fan. “Be so good as to fetch me one of those dancers, monsieur.”
    â€œA Turk with a full magnum, Madame?” Gérard saluted her and set off with a jaunty military stride.
    Madame shifted on the sofa. She seemed to be considering whether or not to invite Sylvain to sit. Then she lifted the monkey from her lap and set it beside her.
    Not nearly so lovely as Annette, Sylvain decided.
    â€œYou may not know, monsieur, how highly you are praised. I am told that even when the Bassin d’Apollon was new, fountain-play was a parsimonious affair, the water doled out like pennies from a Polish matron’s purse.”
    She paused to collect dutiful titters from her ladies for this jab at the queen. Perhaps not pretty at all, thought Sylvain. Hardly passable.
    â€œYou have found a way to keep all of the fountains constantly alive without pause. Some members of the royal household call you a magician, but the word from the highest level is less fanciful and more valuable. There, you are simply called inspiring.”
    Sylvain puffed up at the praise. Gérard returned with a beefy Turk. The dancer’s fingers were blue from the cold, and he struggled to fill Madame’s saucer without dribbling.
    â€œJust like a commander on the battlefield, a woman judges a man by his actions.” She lifted the monkey and planted a kiss between its ears. “Any other man would have collared this monkey’s neck with a diamond bracelet before presenting it to a lady of the court. We would call that vulgar.”
    Her ladies nodded.
    â€œYou have taste and discernment. So give me champagne, free-flowing and cold. That is a triumph worthy of Versailles.” She presented her hand to Sylvain again, then waved him away. The ladies closed around her like a curtain.
    â€œVulgar, indeed,” said Gérard as they retreated. “I’ve never seen woman greet a diamond with anything other than screeches of delight. Have you?”
    â€œMy experience with diamonds is limited.”
    â€œMadame knows it. She was spreading you with icing.”
    â€œShe wants to secure a valuable ally. Compliments are the currency of court.”
    Gérard drained his champagne and rubbed his knuckles over his jaw as if it ached. “She just wants to drink champagne at another man’s expense. As with most pleasures, it comes with a little pain. She wants the pain to be yours, not hers.”
    â€œThe champagne fountain is a whim. She will ask me for something else next time.”
    â€œVery well. Madame will ask you to do something expensive and original with only a few pretty words as payment. Will you do it?”
    Two full glasses of red wine had been abandoned at the foot of a statue. Sylvain fetched them and passed one to his friend. After the sweet champagne, the warm wine tasted flat and murky as swamp water.
    â€œOnly a fool would pass up the opportunity.”
    -11-
    â€œPapa, come play!”
    The nixie swam backward against a vortex of current, dodging spinning hunks of ice that floated like miniature icebergs, splintering and