Constance's Sister- Chapter One
"Constance! Constance, my darling little sister, I'm here!" Caroline called as she entered the home. It was a charming house in an upscale part of Paris. The carriage was parked in the private carriage house next to the home and the stable hand had taken care of the horses. She untied her hat from her scarlet hair, set down a bag and her hat on a rose-printed chair, and her bright blue eyes scanned the room as Constance bustled about upstairs. The door way leads into the parlor which was filled with fine overstuffed furniture and decorated with delicate porcelain figures and bookcases filled with books. As Caroline was adjusting her pale blue dress in the mirror Constance flew down the polished wooden stairs on to the plush pile of carpet below.
"Caroline! Sorry for being so long. I was just finishing dusting off a few things before you arrived." Constance said as she hugged her sister. "Do you need me to help you with your things?" She said as she picked up Caroline's hat from the chair.
"No Constance, A few Musketeers are guarding my products as they go to the palace and your servant has picked up my luggage and has taken it to my room." Caroline walked around the room as she talked gazing at Constance's curios. "I think you forget that you have servants to do things for you my dear."
Constance smoothed her violet print dress and sighed. "I do tend to forget. Everything just happened so quickly." Constance sat down in an overstuffed chair in the parlor and beckoned her sister to join her. "It was kind of the Queen to make me her lady in waiting and to find this house for me after my husband passed."
"Well Constance, you are the Queen's best dressmaker and the most ravishing widow in all of Paris. So of course you need to be living in style." Caroline got up and hugged her sister.
"I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for Anne, I mean the Queen." Constance said, hugging her sister back. "But enough of my melancholy Caroline, what is new and exciting in your life?"
"Well my dear I don't know where to start…" Caroline then told Constance of her life in the new world over a pot of tea. She had tales of wild animals and wild fur trappers. Naïve colonists and helpful natives who had helped her find the best furs and in turn she traded them her best cloth and other goods. "Actually Constance," Caroline said as the sun was dying in the sky, "aside from the Queen and King's goods I am here with a special order for Athos of the King's Musketeers." She then pulled out a fine hat made out of tan leather with an eagle feather in the dark brown band. "It's actually deer leather Constance," she said as she handed the hat for Constance to inspect, "I had to have a note from Captain Treville and the King so I could get the eagle feather from a chief."
"Why would the chief need a note so he could have an eagle feather?" Constance asked.
"An eagle feather is reserved for warriors who have proved themselves in battle." Caroline answered. "From what I have heard the recipient was well deserving of such an honor."
"Is this hat for Athos?" Constance asked as she inspected the hat.
"No, it's actually for a newly commissioned Lieutenant." Caroline took back the hat and put it back in her bag. "If I am correct his name is Charles." She took a sip of her tea. "Or if you prefer Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, soon to be Lieutenant Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan. Well technically he is already a Lieutenant only he doesn't know it yet. Are you alright Constance? You look like you just were hit by a brick."
Constance stared at her sister. She blinked a couple of times and shook her head. "Why doesn't he know he is a Lieutenant? I know news travels slowly but why would Athos know and not him?"
"Well Constance he's been in battle along the Spanish border, which you know."
"Yes, but I have seen the others have returned to Paris but I haven't seen d'Artagnan with them."
"That's because d'Artagnan was captured and has just been recently released. I believe he is on his way to Paris as we speak." She got up and stretched. "The hat is going to be presented to him by his Musketeer brothers after his promotion is made official."
"I bet he will look even more dashing in this hat." Constance said and blushed.
"Ah ha! So now the identity of your lover from Gascony is revealed." Caroline said dramatically.
Constance blushed."Well I guess the cat is out of the bag. I should prepare to take care of him when he returns."
"Yes but we will be starved by then if we don't get something to eat." Caroline pulled Constance out of her chair. "I know of a place that the Queen recommended. Tomorrow, after my audience with the king and queen, we can stop by the Garrison to deliver the hat. I can't wait to see their faces when they see it!"