AN: For Cathy's Foreign Challenge. 499 Words.
Native Diplomacy
"I hate French!" Narcissa slammed the heavy leather bound book on her lap shut, tempted to fling it across the room.
"Temper, Temper, Cissy! What would Mama say?" Bella looked up, a mocking smile curving her lips.
"Oh shut up! You're not the one who has to say…say…this in front of the French Ambassador!" Cissy snarled.
"Thank Merlin. Who wants to show off to a bunch of simpering fools like the French?" Bella snorted, ignoring the tears of frustration that were pooling in Cissy's eyes.
"Come here, Cissy. I'll help you." Meda, Cissy's other and, at times like this, favourite, sister, pushed herself away from the piano and turned to take the book. "Which bit have you got to learn?"
"That paragraph there." Cissy leant over Meda's shoulder to point out the piece she was grappling with. Meda, with her natural talent for languages, skimmed it quickly and smiled infuriatingly.
"Oh that's easy. You'll learn it quickly enough, Cissy. Now look… Joyeux Noël, Votre Excellence…"
But what does it mean?" Narcissa whined, cutting her older sister off. "Just tell me, Meda! You know I have to know what something means before I can learn it!"
"All right. It means "Merry Christmas, Your Excellency. It pleases me to welcome you to England on behalf of the Blacks and the rest of the nobility." Happy?"
"Yes! Thank you, Meda!" Thus pacified, Cissy turned back to wrestling with her little speech. Mama and Papa would be so proud of her when she spoke to the Ambassador in faultless French!
Two weeks later, it was time. Cissy, standing very straight in her best dress of pale blue satin shot through with silver, watched as Papa greeted the French Ambassador and welcomed him to their home.
His Excellency kissed Mama's hand, saying "A Pleasure, Madame."
"The pleasure is mine, Excellency." Mama assured him, before laying a gentle hand on Papa's sleeve.
Cissy quickly lifted her head a fraction higher and made sure that she was smiling her most charming smile as Papa, placing a hand on the Ambassador's sleeve, turned him to face her.
"I have three daughters as well as a wife, Your Excellency. The elder two, Bellatrix and Andromeda, are currently upstairs rehearsing, but this is my youngest, Narcissa."
The Ambassador glanced at Cissy and made her a half-bow. She smiled winningly at him.
"Joyeux Noël, votre Excellence. J'ai le plaisir de vous souhaiter la bienvenue en Angleterre, au nom des Black et du reste de la noblesse." Cissy pronounced the words carefully, desperate not to make a mistake.
Having finished, she hesitated, unsure what to do. At last, clasping her hands in front of her, she dropped into a curtsy.
Sweet applause reached her ears. Looking up, she saw the Ambassador clapping.
"Qu'elle est charmante! You must be very proud, Lord Black."
Papa nodded, reaching out to help Cissy up. His slight smile as he did so told her everything she needed to know. She had done the Blacks proud.