Marmontel cast a sly glance to his friend La Harpe and was the first to speak to the man. “Good evening, Dorset.”
Dorset spoke to him in turn and took Madame Necker’s hand and kissed the back of it.
“Monsieur Le Duc,” she murmured and then introduced him to her daughter, whom he knew, and they exchanged pleasantries.
“This is Sophie Gauvreau. She is new to our salon. Her father is Jean Pierre Gauvreau, a lawyer with the prestigious Ferme générale. Sophie, this is John Sackville, the Duke of Dorset,” Madame Necker said, introducing them.
“Mademoiselle Gauvreau,” Dorset eyed the auburn beauty with obvious interest and kissed the back of her hand, though he seemed to release it with some reluctance.
“Monsieur.” She pinkened at his familiar touch and glanced at her hostess and her daughter.
The two women were speaking again of the pamphlet. Though she wanted to join in, the Duke seated himself next to Sophie and steered the conversation away from the mysterious pamphlet and began asking her questions about herself.
Sophie was at first annoyed. She had been so excited to hear about her small, insignificant pamphlet from the lips of these well-known people. But the Duke was engaging and seemed intent of capturing her attention, so she allowed herself to be drawn in.
He mentioned the word “cricket” and Sophie frowned. Cricket? She wondered what he was talking about.
Madame Necker and Germaine smiled as the Duke began to speak of his only true love, the game of cricket.
“My dear, you must join me for our next game. In fact, I insist.” Dorset was taken with Sophie’s beauty and made it clear he would enjoy seeing more of her.
“Of course I would be delighted. I will need to ask my father,” she concluded.
Dorset waved his hand. “I will invite your father as well; that is no obstacle.”
Germaine joined in. “Do we also get an invitation?”
Dorset seemed in a particularly friendly mood. “Of course, Germaine. You and your delightful mother add style and beauty to any gathering.”
Germaine smiled at the compliment. “And that delicious secretary of yours? Will he be there?” she asked.
“Fairfax? I imagine so.” He nodded.
Germaine smiled at the thought of the sexy secretary. She had seen him at several of her mother’s salons and had always been giddy with anticipation. He was a handsome devil. “Please count me in.”
Dorset smiled. “Excellent. It will be a merry day indeed.”
The duke moved away to join another group and Sophie was saddened when the conversation steered away from her pamphlet.
Chapter 3
Sophie could hardly contain herself on the carriage ride home. Her father and grandmother relayed trivial things that they had seen and heard at the salon, but she could only temper her excitement that the words she had written on a piece of paper were now on the lips of Parisians. She could barely stifle her pleasure.
The next morning Marie handed her a note from Monsieur Blanche. He wrote to let her know that he had published her cousin’s pamphlet and that he had received a great response from it. He was very curious to know if her cousin had written anything else and if he could meet him in person to discuss additional pamphlets.
Sophie thought long and hard about her response. She wasn’t sure if Monsieur Blanche knew the true identity of her “cousin” or if he indeed wanted to discuss further writings. In any case, she planned her next step carefully.
She wrote a note back to the printer with an apology. Her cousin Jean had recently journeyed to England to visit family. She could certainly get in touch with him if he would like and ask him about any further writings. If he agreed, she would contact him.
Once again, she asked Marie to deliver the letter and to wait for a reply if the printer wanted to send one with her.
It was late in the afternoon when Marie returned with a response. The printer thanked her for her very kind note. If it was not a bother, he wrote, he would like to have further writings from her cousin. He mentioned that the pamphlet was well received and that several people had asked him about the true identity of the writer. He asked her to please assure her cousin his identity would remain “unknown.” He would wait to hear from her and would be pleased to receive his next pamphlet.
Sophie tapped her toes in nervous energy as she re-read the note several times. She had not thought it possible that an esteemed Paris printer would be so enthusiastic about her writings. She had already formed several additional ideas to write about and now she could give free rein to them and elaborate as she had not done in her previous pamphlet.
The next afternoon she received an invitation to tea from Madame Necker and her daughter Germaine for the following day. They kindly invited Sophie’s grandmother as well, which was the proper thing to do.
She mentioned the invite to her grandmother that evening and Eugenie smiled.