Gabrielle privately believed that her godfather had married his immensely good-natured mistress because it was as easy to do so as not. As an excommunicated bishop, Talleyrand despised the church, and as an aristocratic intellectual, he despised bourgeois morality. So when Napoleon had conducted one of his periodic moralsweepsthroughhiscourt,demandingthatirregularrelationshipsberegularized,Talleyrandhadyielded toimperialpressuresimplybecausehedidn'tgiveatinker'sdamnonewayortheother.
CatherinegreetedGabriellewarmlybutratherasif she'djustreturnedfromashoppingexpeditioninstead ofanextendedvisittoEngland.
"Machere,howwellyoulook."Sheliftedherpowdered,paintedcheekforGabrielle'skiss."Haveyou seenMonsieurlePrince?"
"Justnow,"Gabriellesaid."He'sdiningathome, hetellsme."
Catherinemadeasmallmoue."Whatanuisance. IamengagedtodineattheBonnevillesandIcan'tcry off.You'llhavetoentertainhimforme."
Gabriellehidhersmile.Catherine'sabilitytoentertainherhusbandinanyarenaexceptthebedchamberwasopentoquestion.
"Ihavesomestraw-coloredsarcenet,"Catherine wassaying,examiningGabrielleclosely."Itdoesn'tsuit me,I'vedecided,butitwouldlookverywellonyou, machere. Clothildecouldmakeitupforyou.Thereis aperfectpatternforamorningdress-letmesee, wheredidIputit?"Shesortedvaguelythroughastack ofperiodicalsonamarble-toppedLouisXVdessertetable."Ah,hereitis."
Gabrielledutifullyexaminedthepattern.Catherine'stastetendedtotheflamboyant,tomatchherfigure,andthefrillsandfurbelowsonthemorningdress werenotGabrielle'sstyleatall.However,shemadethe rightnoisesandpromisedtotakethesarcenet.
Dutydone,shewenttoherownapartmentsatthe rearof thehouse,intentonriddingherselfofthegrime andfatigueof ajourneythathadcontinuedatabreakneckpacefor nearlytwodays.
Nathanielhadhadthebestofit,ridingbesidethe chaisewhilesheandJakewerejoltedmiserablyover theill-pavedroads.Thechildhadrequiredconstant at tention and resisted all Gabrielle's attempts to engage his imagination in the journey. The unfamiliar food and the motion of the coach had made him almost as sick as he'd been on the boat, and he'd moaned fretfully whenever he wasn't asleep. Gabrielle had developed a thundering headache by the afternoon of the first day, and Nathaniel, after one look at her drawn face and heavy eyes, had taken Jake up in front of him for a few hours while she slept.
Judging by Nathaniel's tight-lipped relief when he returned the child to the chaise, the arrangement had been less than a success. Jake had whimpered constantly for home, for Nurse and Primmy, for Neddy, for milk and for bread without crusts. His small bladder had required frequent relief, and every attempt his father had made to entertain him had fallen on stony ground.
Nathaniel had handed him back to Gabrielle with the terse comment that it was now his turn to nurse a headache.
However, by the time they reached the outskirts of Paris and clattered through the narrow cobbled streets, Jake had perked up. He'd never been in a city before, and his eyes had grown wide at the sights and the noises and the varied smells. He forgot his nausea, subjecting Gabrielle to a flood of questions that in her fatigue she found almost as exhausting as his earlier complaints.
Gabrielle lay back in the hip bath before the fire and closed her eyes on an exhalation of pure joy as her aching limbs relaxed in the warmth. What were Nathaniel and Jake doing at this moment? It was a safe bet they weren't luxuriating in hot water before a blazing fire.