“Of course.” Sophie watched Luc leave to join three young men and she came to stand next to her grandmother.
“He seems quite animated,” Eugenie remarked.
“Yes. Quite.” Sophie watched the men chuckle at a distance.
Eugenie caught the tone in Sophie’s voice. “Most men are entirely too selfish, my dear. Your father is not such a man. But many are.”
“I suppose they are. But does that mean I must settle?” She shaded her eyes with her parasol.
Eugenie sighed. “What on earth do you want, Sophie? You want to discuss Plato with your husband?”
“No, Grand-mère. But neither do I want a simpering boy who talks only of himself and dresses like a dandy.”
“Mademoiselle Gauvreau.”
She heard the voice and turned.
It took Sophie a moment to take in the handsome man and his sister. She smiled and addressed each. “Monsieur Fairfax. Mademoiselle Fairfax.” She nodded to Sebastian and his sister Leila.
Sebastian in turn nodded to Sophie and her grandmother, who remembered both siblings from the time spent at the chateau.
Leila looked lovely in a lilac-colored gown while Sebastian was dressed in chocolate-hued breeches and a merlot coat.
“I saw you from a distance and wanted to wish you both a good afternoon,” he said smoothly while taking up Luc’s place beside Sophie. They strolled the lane with Leila and Eugenie trailing behind them.
Sebastian looked over at Sophie and wanted to bring up the pamphlet but didn’t want to upset her or her grandmother, whom he was certain knew nothing about it.
“Sophie?”
“Yes?” She turned her face to his and he stopped. He would speak with her later when there was no audience to overhear. He would find a time at the ball to make her see reason.
“Thank you for the invitation to the ball. Leila and I are both looking forward to it,” he told her instead.
“Of course. I hope it will be a success.”
“It will be,” he assured her.
Leila caught up to the couple and reminded him of an engagement
they had and he nodded.
“Until the ball, mademoiselle. Madame.” He nodded to both Sophie and Eugenie before they left.
“Such a handsome man,” Eugenie remarked, and Sophie watched as the brother and sister moved away.
“Yes, he is.”
When Luc re-joined them, Sophie felt as though she had lost a diamond and claimed a topaz.
“Where were we?” he asked.
***
Lizette picked up another lemon cookie and held it in her plump hand before devouring it. She watched as Sophie moved about the room restlessly. She stood next to the chair, then walked to the small couch, and finally stood next to the large windows that overlooked the street below. Sophie knew about the pamphlet and its outcome and that most people in their circle were not amused.
Lizette sipped the warm tea and then licked her lips. Another cookie would not harm her appetite. She picked it up and bit into the sweet pastry covered in powdered sugar. It was a delicious blend of sweet and tart.
“Sophie. Are you joining me? Or am I to watch you pace the room like a caged tiger?” she teased.