Chapter 16. A Mother Always Knows

Hélène Moreau did not often walk the corridors underneath the palace. She was not a messenger, nor did she approve of the depressing state in which the young man dwelling in the corridors chose to live. Time and again she had tried to convince him to come above, whether back to her home of his own manor, but to no avail. Louis was stubborn. He always had been. And she could always tell when he was lying. After all, she had raised him.

He was lying to her now. She could hear it in the slightest quiver of his voice whenever he mentioned her.

Corinne had been working at the palace for nearly a year and almost immediately Louis had taken her under his wing. She did not protest his actions, but Hélène doubted the intentions he had for Mademoiselle D'Artagnan were simply those of training her to be a musketeer. Yet Hélène said nothing. In their weekly rendezvous by the river, Louis would often complain about his lessons with Corinne. She was just as stubborn as he and that frustrated him to no end. Yet a few days ago, the complaining stopped. Louis attributed it to the girl's extreme progress, but Hélène knew better. While she did not doubt in Corinne's progress, something about the way Louis spoke of her had changed. She noticed it in Corinne too. Both were acting different. They were hiding something and Hélène was going to get to the bottom of it. She paused outside his study, listening for movement, before entering.

As usual the place was an absolute mess. Hélène shook her head as she picked several books up off the floor. She was going to place them on the desk when something caught her eye. Curious, she set the books back down and went to examine it.

Hélène gasped. It couldn't be. She took the little box into her hand, tracing a finger along the smooth velvet exterior. Inside was an elegant diamond ring.

Everything suddenly made sense. Louis' improvement in attitude. Corinne's daydreaming while working. Louis being late to their meeting because of Corinne's training. That rascal. No wonder he was lying to her. He was in love. And from the looks of it, so was Corinne. They were in love and that ring proved it.

A ring! That meant he was going to propose! Hélène laughed as she tried to imagine Louis married. It broke her heart as well. She had raised him from the time he was five years old, nursing him back to health from that nasty poison before he ran away at fourteen, and now here he was. A man of twenty years who had endured so much pain, yet was able to love and be loved. Tears gathered in her eyes.

"Hélène?" She turned to find Louis looking rather surprised. "What are you doing here?"

She hid the ring box behind her back. "You haven't been honest with me, Louis."

"What? Of course I have, Hélène." He said. "I would never lie to you."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Then perhaps you would care to explain this?" She pulled the ring box from behind her back. Louis' eyes widened. His jaw dropped.

"H- Hélène, I-I can explain-"

"Save it, Louis. You can't lie to me. I know everything that goes on in this castle."

"H- Hélène-"

"Don't." She held a finger in the air. "You lied to me. Although, I must admit, I am happy for you, Louis."

"You- What?"

"Well, I'm not happy you lied." Louis flinched. "But I'm glad you've found someone. Corinne is good for you."

He chuckled. "You have no idea."

Hélène pulled him into an embrace. He didn't fit the same way he had as a child, but that didn't matter. Grown man or not, Louis would always be that scared little boy lying feverous in her spare bedroom recovering from the pain caused by those closest to him. Her heart swelled with love for her adopted son.

"Hélène," Louis said pulling away from her. "Now that you know about Corinne and I, I would like you to help me with something special."

Hélène grinned as he continued to explain his plans. Yes, she thought. Corinne was good for him indeed.

...

Hélène could be a detective. A fabulous one. Snooping rights included. Of course, she has the right to snoop on Louis. I'm sure glad she did. I mean, look what she found! Do I hear wedding bells in the future? You'll have to find out next Friday!