Jacqueline's Dilemma by Emma - Part Four

"Dinner is served," Louise announced to the occupants of the drawing room.

Danielle sighed. Once again Jacqueline had not arrived to eat with them. When she had arrived at the Manor she had hoped to see much more of her. As it was, business usually kept her out and away from her meals until at least two hours after everyone else had finished eating. She would usually sneak in and just have a snack with Captain Polignac, before retiring to her bed.

It worried Danielle that Jacqueline was working too hard. Heaven knows what all of these late nights and stressful dealings would do to her. They had not been very close for several years, but she had hoped that would change now. If anything the divide was getting worse. If only Jacqueline would allow the King to send an assistant to help her with the business side of things. That would free up much of her time. But she knew that Jacqueline would not want that, and she could understand it. If she had done so much, she would not want somebody to come in and take over.

She walked through to the dining room with Hélène, Juliette and Steven, closely following her. They could see the sadness that had suddenly come over her, and they could guess why it had happened. For two weeks before they had come to the manor, she could speak of nothing except seeing her sister. However they had barely had the time to speak two words to each other. It saddened both of them to see their mistress like this. She was such a lively, happy person. Melancholy was most unbecoming on her.

Inside the house there was silence, but cutting through it, was the sound of the servants in the distance. They too were eating their evening meal. There was a lot of talking and some singing. Sometimes, Danielle wished she could be with them. But she had to remember that she had given that up for her new life. She was now a Princess and therefore had to behave properly.

Steven moved round the table, to hold out a chair for Danielle, and then when she was seated comfortably, he did the same for Hélène and then for Juliette. This had become their custom whenever they dined alone. As a gentleman Steven could not allow a Lady to pull her own chair out. He had almost scolded Juliette the first time she tried to do it herself. Of course, she had always been a servant and so knew nothing of these aristocratic rituals. Now it was understood that she would remain standing until Steven came to help her.

Finally Steven took his seat and a pair of upper house maids, began to place tureens of hot soup on the table. Just as Danielle was about to ask Steven to say grace, Jacqueline burst into the room. She was quite clearly out of breath. The manner of her entrance made Danielle instantly think that something was wrong.

"Jacqueline, what is it?" She asked, in a very concerned tone of voice.

"Nothing," Jacqueline gasped. She stood up straight and pulled the little wisps of hair away from her face, which had become loose during her mad rush. "I was trying not to be late. I obviously failed miserably." Danielle allowed herself to smile. Finally she was going to have a reasonable amount of time with her sister.

As serenely as possible, in the circumstances, Jacqueline made her way over to the table. Before she could even touch a chair, Steven leapt up and held it out for her. He was glad that his exclusion from society had not made him forget his social skills.

"It will be nice to have a proper meal for once," Jacqueline said as she sat. "I only tend to have a snack at night. It isn't really fair to expect people to stay up and cook for you at that time of night." Danielle's smile grew wider. That was the Jacqueline she wanted to know, thoughtful and kind to everyone, no matter their station.

"Now would you say grace Steven?" Danielle asked. This too had become a convention. When Henry was not there, Steven would say thanks in his place. The group bowed their heads.

"For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Amen." As he said this, Hélène was paying less attention to the words he was saying, than his voice. She loved the sound of his voice. It was deep, and soothing. Even though his French was perfect, he spoke slower than most Frenchmen. She much preferred it when he spoke in his native tongue, but her English was not good enough to hold a proper conversation. Therefore for them, French was the language of choice.

"Will Captain Polignac not be joining us for dinner?" Hélène asked Jacqueline.

"No, he prefers to eat later, after he has checked that the estate is secure." Hélène was impressed by Jacqueline's knowledge of his activities. It either meant that she was very good at keeping control of her staff, or she had a particular interest in that gentleman. For her part, she felt that the second option was more likely.

Danielle was eager to talk about things other than the Manor and Captain Polignac. She had finally got Jacqueline in a position to talk properly in a relaxed environment and she intended to take full advantage of the situation. "When do you think you will be able to visit us at the palace?" She asked. "I think that the King and Queen would be very happy to receive you."

"I don't know. If it is all right I expect I shall make plans to stay with you sometime in the next month. I suppose I could leave at any time, things are going so well here. I would prefer to give the servants some warning though."

"I'll have the King issue a formal invitation, then you won't be able to refuse," Danielle teased.

"I do believe that is true," Jacqueline replied.

"Will you only stay Saturday night this weekend?" Hélène asked.

"Yes. I do not want to be away for too long with Guinevere's confinement so close." Hélène could not understand this over keen interest in a horse, but Steven understood. He had always been very watchful of his steeds also. He had an inborn belief that good horses made a good estate.

"There will be quite a party going from Hautefort, I believe." Hélène said, after being prompted by Danielle to speak more of the ball.

"Yes there is. Mother told me most of them, but I can't remember all. I do know that there will be several carriages, and many guards on horseback. I shall be travelling with Henry and the King and Queen in the first carriage. Avis d'Avignon is to travel with yourself, Juliette and Jacqueline in the second carriage." Hélène looked over at Juliette, who seemed to be desperately trying to make herself invisible. She was clearly intimidated by the party of nobles with whom she dined.

Hélène felt very sorry for this girl. She had been plucked from the kitchens, and suddenly thrown into a world of which she knew little and had experienced less. The nice gowns and social gatherings that formed part of her new position were clearly exciting, but frightening for her. Danielle may have been a servant too, but she had been born into wealth and had been raised surrounded by well bred, if not well mannered, women. Juliette had enjoyed none of these advantages. This, her first ball, was going to be a real test of her nerves. Fortunately, she had Hélène to guide her through it. In that way, she was very like Danielle, they both needed her, to guide them in their new world.

"There are to be a further three carriages for the Queen's ladies, four for the Kings advisors and their wives and then three of assorted people connected with the palace. I think about forty horse guards will accompany us, including Steven and of course Captain Laurent." Hélène's eyes quickly flicked to Jacqueline to see how she would react to this name being spoken. Much as she expected, she looked to the floor and turned scarlet. This was definitely a woman with a dilemma on her hands.

"While we're on the subject of the ball, will you be very busy tomorrow Jacqueline?" Danielle asked. "I had a letter from the Queen this afternoon, and she would like to visit tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!" Jacqueline whispered. The colour drained from her face and her jaw practically hit the table.

"Yes. Her seamstress has been busy making gowns and she wanted to bring them for us all to see if there is anything we would like." Danielle did not like lying to Jacqueline, but she did not want her knowing that the Queen was coming specifically to clothe her.

"The manor is not prepared for such a visitor," Jacqueline said. She stood up. "I must speak to Louise and Paulette."

"You don't need to worry about that," Danielle said. "I took the liberty of speaking to them for you. I hope you don't mind, but I knew you would be very busy. They have almost finished preparing for her arrival." Jacqueline sat down and breathed a sigh of relief. She was pleased that she would not have to keep the servants up all night to get things perfect.

Danielle was also relieved. She had thought that Jacqueline would put up much more resistance. Her plans were all going well. The next stage was choosing the perfect gown for her for the ball. She had to look radiant, Danielle would accept nothing less. She wanted her to be the centre of attention. If everything went well Danielle was convinced that this would be the night that Laurent would propose. The night that would change Jacqueline's life for the better.

While Danielle was looking forward with happiness in her mind, Jacqueline was nervous. She could see right through Danielle. She seemed to be planning to put her on show, and that terrified her. Her mother always been in the background, and that was just the way she liked it. As a young child, her father was excessively proud of her and showed her off at any opportunity and she had relished the attention then. But after his death and the family's removal to Paris, her mother had convinced her that nobody was interested in her and that she should not get in Marguerite's way. She had managed to rebuild her confidence to some extent within the manor, but it frightened her that in the outside world she would fall to pieces.

Another frightening thing about the ball was Marc. She knew that she would be expected to dance with him, and spend much of the evening in his company. That would not be so bad but the expectations of what would come of such contact was worrying her. Danielle had hinted so much at their being married by Christmas and even the Queen had made some references to this on their few meetings. She enjoyed his company but what would she do if he was to propose? She was not sure if she could bring herself to accept him. But she was also unsure if she could allow herself to hurt him by refusing. She knew that these thoughts were very presumptuous of her, but it was something that she had to consider.

"Will you be dancing at this ball?" Danielle asked Hélène, satisfied that she could allow her plans for Jacqueline progress on their own. This referred to the reception held in honour of Danielle's marriage, where Hélène turned down many eligible men who asked for her to partner them.

"If there are men with whom I am well acquainted, who wish to dance with me, then I believe I will have no objections."

"You can dance with Henry." Danielle said, not knowing what impact her offer had on Hélène.

Steven could see her discomfort. "It would be my pleasure if you would consent to dance with me," he said. Hélène smiled at him.

"Thank you Lord Grey, I would be very pleased to dance with you." Steven looked over at Juliette, who was remaining silent.

"I would also be honoured if you would reserve a dance for me Mademoiselle Juliette," he said. Juliette blushed furiously. She was so tongue tied, she could not speak her reply, so she just nodded her acceptance.

Hélène leaned over and covertly whispered to Steven. "That was a lovely thing to do. Thank you." He just smiled back at her.

"Well I think that Saturday is going to wonderful now that everyone is organised," Danielle said, smiling broadly. Everyone agreed, well everyone apart from Jacqueline. She could name somebody who was not organised, who she very much wished could be.