Swinging his feet restlessly under the dining table, Marius tried to attend to his supper. His grandfather didn't like being asked questions, he knew, but perhaps if he was very respectful…
"Grandfather?"
M. Gillenormand, in the middle of wiping his mouth with a fine linen napkin, looked up crossly. "What?"
Marius bit his lip. "Grandfather, I heard Auntie calling Nicolette this afternoon."
He tossed the napkin down on the table. "And what if you did, monsieur, little rogue, hmm? What's it to you?"
"I…" Did he dare? "I thought Nicolette had gone away."
M. Gillenormand stared at his grandson, and Marius got the sinking feeling that he had done something very idiotic as his grandfather shook his head. "That's the old Nicolette. Worthless girl, really."
Marius stared. "So it's a…a new Nicolette, that Auntie was talking to?"
"If it's an old one who went away, it's a new one who's here, isn't it? If you ask such questions you will go back to dining in the nursery. Children should be seen and not heard at the dinner table, you understand?"
Marius lowered his head. At least he wasn't getting his ears boxed. "Yes, grandfather."
Still, he would have to find someone to explain to him why there were two Nicolettes.