Disclaimer: The characters of Le Chevalier D'Eon do not belong to me. Appearances by original characters and tweaking of historical facts.
Chapter 10 - Lovers
"I'm glad uncle is alright, Lia." Swish. Clang!
"Yep, Yvette says it's just a chill from the river. He should be about in a week or so." Clang, swish, clatter…
"Master Robespierre's sorry that happened. He didn't expect Lorenza to go that far…" Clang, clang, clang… Thwack!
"I win this time, Max."
"You always win…" The sword clattered as it fell along the slope of the roof, until it came to rest beside a stone gargoyle.
"Because you keep letting me," Natalia slid down the roof of the cathedral to retrieve her brother's sword. Milien followed. Fencing right on the catwalk with the grand rose window of Notre Dame on one side and a sheer drop on the other, or on the very spine of the cathedral roof did little to dampen their spirits, although seeing the children engaged in such activities would have given both their guardians a full head of white hair.
"Etienne is a bore," Natalia declared. "I prefer sparring with you." Both children settled on the ledge beside the ugly stone beast. "Why do you keep holding that book if it scares you so much?"
"Because I have to," Milien placed the book on his lap.
"May I read it?"
"If Lia wishes, Lia may," Milien flipped open the Psalms. Natalia's eyes scanned through the pages. "You're right, Max. It is a very scary book." Natalia closed her eyes and squeezed Milien's hand. She was willing to share her brother's nightmares as he need not bear them alone.
Sitting lazily in his bed, D'Eon was offered a rare opportunity to reflect on his situation. He often wrote to his mother, telling her about St Petersburg in his letters. She never wrote back. Jean Pierre did send word back that she was in good health physically, although her mind was almost gone. She showed his letters to the neighbours and any callers at her home. Folks now believed D'Eon and his sister were abroad. Lia's death was not widely known due to the unusual circumstances surrounding her death. In fact, she had been denied a proper burial. Thinking of his sister still brought an ache to his heart.
Yvette had managed to procure a man's nightshirt for him to wear so that he would be more comfortable. He could not figure out how women slept in stiff ribbons and lace. It was too itchy for him. He lay back on the cushions nursing a cold. D'Eon's days at the chateau were spent working in the rose garden, fencing with his niece or Lady Sophie herself on occasion and needlework. Teaching Etienne, Natalia and her twin fencing on occasion was a bonus. He was lucky that Lady Sophie had not been invited to attend any court functions yet. He could not imagine walking behind Lady Sophie dressed as a lady-in-waiting, with Yvette by his side and the entire court snickering as he passed them.
Yvette had laughed when he mentioned it. Her laughter was like a twinkling brook. "Please, I will prefer walking alongside you if you are dressed as a man. Besides, Lady Sophie has other things to attend to." Lady Sophie was kind despite her sharp tongue. She still referred to him as a knight, and Natalia was the little one. Anyone could see the noblewoman was fond of her page. "If we're lucky, we may get to join the king on a hunt. But considering the last time Lady Sophie went on the same hunting party as Burgundy, she blew the top off his wig with a pistol. Said she thought his feathered hat was a pheasant," Yvette mimed the terrified duke grabbing the remains of his wig. Lady Sophie was born a princess of the realm, though she no longer went by that title. Burgundy, a distant cousin, was married to her late sister, Princess Yvonne. The duke retained his power although his royal blooded wife had been dead for years.
Yvette left the chateau often, possibly on Lady Sophie's orders. Natalia often sneaked out and her twin took her place at the chateau. Sometimes, he would see one of the children and mistake it for the other. Of course, Natalia's sword stance was very different from her brother's, as much as Lia's differed from D'Eon's. Lady Sophie often left the chateau dressed in her riding clothes. "She's off to see her lover," Yvette whispered conspiringly. "She has a dozen in the barracks and another in the coach house." D'Eon did not know whether to believe the young lady.
"I wish my fair was as fair as yours…" Yvette sighed as she plaited his long tresses. D'Eon was surprised he had allowed her to dress his hair. It was getting in the way but he did not wish to cut it yet. The last time someone else dressed his hair for him, it was Robin. Yvette sat on the bed with comb in hand, taming the unruly locks. D'Eon noticed that her skirt had ridden up to reveal her slender leg all the way up to her knee. He quickly looked over to the painting of his sister over the fireplace. His heart was racing. It was different from when he walked in on Lia when she was pulling on her stockings for a ball or catching a glimpse of Anna' properly stocking-clad ankles showing as she walked beside him.
"Men prefer fair girls, don't they? My brother wrote about how his lady love has hair like golden sunshine, eyes like the sea," Yvette mused as she bent over her work. "And skin as fair as the moon… of course, if he'd sent her half of the poetry he wrote in his letters home, she'd probably drown in the sheer lameness of it. Mathilde painted that," she glanced over at the painting. "She had a good eye for such things. Those two men have a fondness for the lady, but they dare not make a move then… pity Mathilde died of a fever last year. It would be interesting if she painted you and Nat."
"Yvette! Burgundy's coming!" a child's voice cried out. A breathless page ran into the room. "Etienne and I were sparring when we saw him coming. Etienne's gone to warn the lady." The adults exchanged glances. Lady Sophie had gone out in her riding clothes earlier. Yvette leapt to her feet. With D'Eon at her heels, the attendant rushed to their mistress' bedchamber. A dressed wig sat on the table alongside Lady Sophie's hat and veil. "Mathilde used to cover for her when this happens, but I am too dark to pretend to be her…" She looked at D'Eon.
"I'll try to stall him…" Yvette shoved the wig into D'Eon's hands. "You'd have to pass as her… that man will never let her off he knew about the lovers!" She rushed out as a pounding started on the front door. D'Eon wondered how he could pass for the much older Sophie.
Natalia was already pulling the curtains around the bed. D'Eon grabbed a shawl from a nearby chair. "Uncle, get in, hurry…" she set the wig on his head while he climbed into the cavernous bed. As the wig was being placed on his head, he caught a glimpse of the child's eyes. They were blue-violet. "Maxmilien?" he reached for the boy's hand. Milien pulled his hand away. Footsteps were approaching. "Duke or not, you can't march into Lady Sophie's bedroom like that!" Yvette's shrill protests were cut off by a heavy blow.
"Dear lady, I must declare, your servant is most rude …" the duke smirked as the door swung open. Behind him, Yvette sullenly nursed a reddened cheek. D'Eon held his tongue, making full use of the shadows and curtains to hide his face. Milien had set a ewer of water on a chair and was wringing a cloth in it. He bowed politely at the duke's entrance. "Apologies, sir. My mistress is not well."
"What ails the lady?" the duke approached the bed. "She appears to have lost her tongue…" D'Eon shrunk back into the shadows nervously.
"The doctor said it may be scarlet fever…" Milien lied without batting an eyelid. He approached the bed and made a show of sponging D'Eon's brow. "It may be contagious…" The duke stepped back. D'Eon added a few soft coughs for effect. "I shall pray for your swift recovery," the duke took his leave hurriedly. He was not risking illness or death by lingering any longer. Politely smiling, Milien showed him to the door.
D'Eon climbed out of the bed and replaced the wig on the table once he heard the duke leaving the house. "Sir D'Eon, that was quick-thinking," a somewhat dishevelled Lady Sophie climbed in via the open window, assisted by her page. "I would have run into that man had you not sent this little one to warn me." Natalia grinned at her uncle. Her eyes were elfin green. Etienne had no part in the charade at all. Lady Sophie picked a stray leaf out of her hair and dusted her clothes. She walked up to D'Eon with her riding crop and struck him lightly across the cheek.
"One more thing, Sir Knight. I have not shared my bed with a man and I don't intend to start now. Next time, use the veil and a chair," she chided gently. D'Eon rubbed his sore cheek. Yvette was giggling into her shawl. Milien was probably gone by now. Only Natalia remained.
A few days later, D'Eon was feeling bored with just sitting in bed. The garden had faded with autumn. He decided he would check on their horses in the stables. Lady Sophie kept three palfreys and a fine young gelding for their riding. It was in there that he ran into Yvette undressing.
"D'Eon? Is that you? Could you help me with my corset? It's not like Nat to pull it that tight…" Yvette yipped as she tried to undo her laces while standing in an empty stall clad only in her underwear. D'Eon blushed. It was Maximilien who had sat at the breakfast table that day, stuffing a roll into his pocket for Natalia while she rode about the countryside on her gelding. D'Eon noted that the said horse was not in the stables.
"Why are you changing in here?" D'Eon entered the stall. The stall boasted a trunk of worn-looking clothes. He glanced at her laces. Maximilien had tied them in a dead knot. Footsteps sounded outside. "I'm going spying. Duck, someone's coming," Yvette pulled him to the straw-covered floor. A man's and a woman's voices sounded. D'Eon froze.
"Lady Sophie, I would urge caution…" D'Eon recognized the owner of that voice. It was Sir Michel Rochefort, his almost father-in-law. "Michel, have you lost your nerve?" Sophie's voice chided. "I know you are a man of great passion and energy… one of the last remaining knights…"
"It's only Lady Sophie's lover," Yvette whispered. D'Eon stepped backwards and tumbled over a pail. Yvette ducked headlong into a small haystack and out of sight.
"Who goes there?" A pair of eyes, as green as Anna's were, glared at him down a short sword that was pointed at his throat. Sir Michel Rochefort's snowy whiskers twitched as recognition set in. D'Eon recalled that those whiskers were once a flaming red. Sir Michel's hair turned pure white not long after the tragic death of his only child, Anna.
"Oh, put away your sword, Michel. It is only D'Eon de Beaumont. I believe you know him from the time he was still a squalling baby-in-arms," Lady Sophie took the sword out of his hand and tossed it point-first at the haystack. A shriek sounded and a partially-dressed Yvette leapt out of hiding, falling over D'Eon, who was still sprawled on the ground. "I believe we need to change the place for our trysts. It's getting too crowded here," Lady Sophie chortled. Sir Michel coughed into his sleeve uncomfortably. The poor man was beetroot red as he retrieved his sword.
"Yvette, I expect a full report on what is going on in town. You can drag D'Eon out as well, seeing he is up and about." With a toss of her head, Lady Sophie left. Sir Michel followed, averting his eyes from the sight of D'Eon in his dress and the semi-naked Yvette.
"D'Eon, are you going to get me out of this infernal corset or not?" Yvette growled. "Use this to cut the laces if you need to." She handed a dagger to him. There was something different in her eyes. This was no country girl or servant. There was a hint of danger in her manner now, as keen as the blade of her dagger. There was something eerily familiar about her demeanour.
For the first time in many months, D'Eon was wearing a man's clothes. He wore the long pants worn by the lower classes instead of the knee-breeches he and his contemporaries wore. Yvette was similarly dressed. She had forgone her blond wig and crammed a hat over her unruly hair. The pair sneaked out of the palace compound through the guard barracks, narrowly encountering the de Janieres en route. Poor Etienne was being thrashed by his father for some transgression. The screams of his student almost made D'Eon intervene but Yvette stopped him.
"Etienne is a lot tougher than you think. If you intervene now, Etienne will pay for it later. De Janiere has only one son and he will never, when sober, maim him."
They hitched a ride on a wagon bound for Paris and disembarked inside the city. "Come along now," Yvette beckoned with a tilt of her head. The sun glinted on the silver cross she wore where it hung at the opening of her red vest. D'Eon was struck by a sense of déjà vu. Clad in a man's clothes, Yvette resembled someone he once knew. She was slim-built but the tan overcoat and vest she wore were fitted to her. They were both armed with daggers at their belts. Yvette also had a pistol under her coat.
"We are about to enter a den of revolution, Sir Knight. So hold your tongue," Yvette winked. They had stopped before a smoky coffee house. Entering the establishment, they found an empty bench near the door. D'Eon recognized the man ranting against the excesses of the royal court as he stood with one foot on a low table. Jean Paul was a known revolutionary. A younger man with red hair loitered in the background, flanked by Cagliostro and Lorenza. Unconsciously, D'Eon tried to shrink into the dimness. Yvette had rubbed walnut into his hair to darken it. There was a chance that Robin would not recognize him.
"Bonjour, Uncle," Milien piped up as he squeezed onto the bench between Yvette and D'Eon. "It is good to see you in trousers," Natalia added as she squatted on her haunches at his feet since there was no room on the bench for her. She had decided she was getting too old to sit on laps. D'Eon glanced at Yvette. Thankfully, she seemed to be too engrossed in the speech to notice the children. Jean Paul finished his piece to rousing applause from his supporters. Maximilien Robespierre, formerly known as Robin, took the stage where he gave a stirring speech. The audience settled into a spellbound silence.
At the end of it, the entire house broke into cheers and applause. "Hear, hear!" Even Yvette had leapt up and was cheering. D'Eon had to admit that Robin was an eloquent speaker and capable of inspiring the masses. Both Natalia and Milien had slipped off and disappeared into the crowd unnoticed by D'Eon. Worried, he scanned the mass of people for them.
"Those two, after them quickly." Yvette pulled on D'Eon's sleeve. Two men had peeled away from the crowd and were sneaking out the back. Yvette reached into her coat for her pistol as they pushed their way through the crowd. Robespierre was busy conversing with Jean Paul when Yvette ran past him. Following so close behind, D'Eon could not be sure if he was mistaken. Yvette seemed to meet Robespierre's eye before quickly looking away. There seemed to be a momentary flicker of recognition in the man's eyes.
Author's Notes:
D'Eon pretending to be Lady Sophie in her absence. Talk about embarrassing for D'Eon, meeting his almost father-in-law and family friend in that situation. Then Lady Sophie almost kills her attendant by tossing a sword into a haystack. Yvette should consider a job-change. Finally, D'Eon back in trousers and doing some spying with Yvette.
Bonjour- good morning