The duchy of Auvergne (which had become essentially autonomous) became part of the Royal domain upon the succession of Louis XIII (1601-1643) until 1757 when it was given to Louis XV's grandson and the son of Louis ,dauphin de France who never reigned, Charles-Phillip. It became part of his apanage, which is a portion of the demesne of the Crown which is given by the sovereign to a younger son. Charles was commonly referred to as the Comte d'Artois. He later became Charles X, King of France and Navarre after his brother was executed during the French revolution.

For the sake for the plot and Jean-Luc, I have stolen his duchy his duchy from Charles. :)

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Chapter Eight

'Monsieur le duc! Dreadfully sorry for the intrusion but I had thought that you and Monsieur Fournier would want to hear of our plans of the boy...'

'Oh…Monsieur le duc! We meet at last! I had heard so many wonderful things about you. And to think that you have taken interest in… Oh, you are too kind!' interrupted Marguerite abruptly.

The maire beamed indulgently at his coy little wife and said 'Your grace… Allow me to introduce my wife, Marguerite. As you see, she was ecstatic that someone of your stature deigned to notice our lowly family.'

'Not at all, not at all… Would you and Madame like to join us for dinner? We were just about to begin' murmured the duke with faintly amused smile on his face.

'Oh, très désole Monsieur le duc! Please do not allow us to interrupt you from your dinner! Thank you so much for your invitation! We are honoured to join you' breathed the mayor with such ingenuousness that Marguerite looked at her husband in surprised admiration. If she didn't know better, she would never suspect that they had not planned the timing of their arrival so painstakingly. A chance to visit a duke of such power and status (and good looks!) did not come every day!

'Ah, Monsieur le Maire…Good to see you again. Have you come to join us for dinner?'

'Monsieur Fournier! A pleasure… Monsieur le duc had so graciously invited us to join you for dinner. We had actually come to tell you of our plans for the child!'

'Oui, oui! Tres bien! Do you know if le petite Erik is better? I had arranged for a nurse to take care of him while he recuperates in Madame Morel's establishment. He should be quite comfortable; he has my old rooms and the salon… Have you gone to see him yet? I had planned to go visit the child tomorrow…or have you taken him back home with you?'

'Ah…non… My wife…Marguerite….'

'I was not well and my husband could not bear to leave my side, so we had not had the chance to visit the poor unfortunate child!' cried out Marguerite, afraid that her hapless husband might blurt out that she had refused to go near the child and had also forbidden the rest of the household from doing so…

'Mmm…oui…oui…You must, of course, take care of yourself!' filled in Jean-Luc after a slight uncomfortable pause when Frederic merely stared at the maire's wife with slightly disbelieving eyes. Jean-Luc gave Frederic a swift look and reminded him to carry on wearing the façade of social niceties. Frederic stiffened and turned towards Marguerite with a banal murmur of commiseration on his lips.

Sensing the unexpected guests' tension, the duke expertly turned the topic to far more frivolous matters. The maire and his wife were so charmed by his attention and clever banter that they did not realise that their characters and psyches were being adeptly revealed and assessed by an increasingly contemptuous duke and a silently raging Frederic.

Frederic pulled his thoughts away consciously from his great distaste for the very flirtatious Marguerite and decided that he would have to do something about the situation. Le bon Dieu! What has the world come to! How can a person so committed against interfering in other people's affairs become so ready to be sucked in and embroiled in another's family matters? But how could a mother show such a blatant lack of feeling for her own child? Her weak excuses were so easily disposed of that Frederic could find no way of escape from his feelings of responsibility for le petite bébé, Erik…

He sighed and opened his mouth to utter the words that would officially turn him into a certified curieux! Oh… how the mighty has fallen! A person who used to pride himself on being cool and uninterested observer has descended into becoming a nosy and interfering imbécile!