Toinette pinkened slightly. "I overheard Madame du Barry telling Noailles."
"You were eavesdropping? Shame on you!" Cordelia exclaimed, laughing. "You won't even recognize the du Barry with as much as a nod, and yet you listen in on her conversations."
"At least I don't cheat at the king's table," Toinette retorted. "I don't know how you dared, Cordelia."
"Well, ordinarily I wouldn't have done. But the temptation to get even with my husband proved overpowering." She selected a gingersnap from the tray and dipped it in her coffee.
"You used the mirror trick?"
"Yes and it worked beautifully. Not even Viscount Kierston could guess how I was doing it." "Why should he?"
"He caught me a couple of times on the journey," Cordelia confessed. "With the notched dice. And he was most unpleasant about it."
"You are outrageous, Cordelia!" Toinette exclaimed.
Cordelia laughed merrily. She was feeling extraordinarily lighthearted, much as if she and Toinette were back in their own private parlor in Schonbrunn. Toinette's chuckle joined hers and neither of them heard the door open.
"What a delightful sound."
They both leaped to their feet. The king stood in the doorway, an indulgent smile on his face. The Countess de Noailles behind him looked far from indulgent.
"Monseigneur… I… I… wasn't-You do me too much honor." Stammering, Toinette curtsied. Cordelia was already in a deep curtsy, wondering if she could unobtrusively catch her discarded slippers with her toes. To appear before the king in dishabille was unheard of. Barefoot added insult to injury. True, they hadn't been expecting him, but there was no way of knowing whether His Majesty would take that into account.
"Princess von Sachsen, how charming you look. Rise… rise." The king accompanied the command with an illustrative gesture. "You will excuse us if I have a private word with Madame the Dauphine."
Thankfully, Cordelia curtsied her way backward, grabbing up her slippers as she slid from the room. She caught sight of Toinette's alarmed expression. The king didn't ordinarily visit even his granddaughter-in-law unannounced.
She hurried from the royal apartments. Her informal morning gown of peach muslin was very pretty, but it was clearly time to dress herself for the day. Gathering her skirts into her hand, she ran up the flight of stairs leading from Toinette's apartment, enjoying the freedom of movement, the ability to stride instead of glide. She whirled around a corner at the head of the stairs and bumped headlong into Viscount Kierston. She flung out her arms as if to steady herself.
"Oh, I wasn't looking where I was going!" Her arms had found their way around his waist. "But how very fortunate that it was you who saved me." She looked up at him, still clutching him tightly. "Would you believe I've just been barefoot in the king's presence?" Her eyes brimmed with the laughter that bubbled in her voice, and Leo saw again the carefree, mischievous girl who'd thrown roses at him in Schonbrunn. But underneath, he now detected the dark currents of experience, and he was filled with a great sadness. Cordelia would never again be that girl. She had had too many illusions shattered in too short a time ever to recapture her carefree girlhood.
"For pity's sake, Cordelia, let go of me!" he demanded, laughing, glancing over his shoulder. The corridor was for the moment deserted.
"No," she said with another chuckle. "You're my proxy husband again and it's your duty to catch me when I fall."
"What are you talking about?" Despite himself, he grinned down at her. She was utterly enchanting and her body was unconstrained, warm and fluid beneath the thin muslin gown.
"Michael has gone to Paris at the behest of the king and the dauphine," she informed him, her eyes shining. "They sent him to fetch the girls so that the king might notice them. Oh, you should have seen his face. He had to say how honored he was, of course, but you could see he was grinding his teeth in rage. And now I have no husband, so I must rely upon my proxy as escort at all the functions. Oh, and at the hunt in the morning," she added. "I can't wait for that, it's been an age since I've been on horseback."
Her arms still encircled his waist. Her breath was warm and sweet carrying the excited gush of words. He could see himself reflected in the turquoise pools of her eyes as he looked down into her face.
"I could come to you tonight." Her voice was now low, throbbing with sensual anticipation. "We could have all night, Leo. May I come?"
He fought to get his bearings. She was talking in riddles but all he could see were those huge brilliant eyes singing their siren's song, inviting him to lose himself in her sensual tempest. But one of them had to be sensible. Half laughing, half exasperated, he seized her hands at his back and tried to break her grip. "For God's sake, Cordelia, remember where we are. Let go of me, girl!"
"I haven't got my balance yet," she said wickedly, linking her fingers tightly to resist him. "And anyway, as my proxy husband, it's your duty to support me."
Leo glanced around again. Two courtiers appeared at the far end of the corridor. A door stood ajar on an empty antechamber across the passage. "Come here!" With a final tug, he succeeded in breaking her clasp, seized her wrist, and jerked her into the room, kicking the door shut behind him. "You are an impossible creature."
Cordelia chuckled. "We're quite safe here, though, aren't we?" With a swift movement, she darted behind him and turned the key in the door. "There, now you can relax. Nobody is going to come upon us unawares."
He didn't reply but his lips twitched. She was leaning against the door, eyes sparkling, lips parted. "I love you," she mouthed.
"And for my sins, I love you, you dreadful girl!" He pulled her into his arms kissing her hard, before setting her back against the door. "Now, would you just begin at the beginning, please?"
"What room is this?" Mischievously ignoring his request, Cordelia looked around with every appearance of fascination. "It's like a junk room."
Leo massaged the back of his neck and found himself absently examining his surroundings. Cordelia's description had been accurate. Piles of furniture and boxes, covered paintings, and massive gilt frames littered the dusty marble floor. It looked as if the room hadn't been used for years. But Versailles was full of such places, even along the most populous corridors and staircases.
He pulled himself back to the issue at hand. "Never mind where we are, Cordelia. Just explain what the devil you were prattling about in the corridor?"
"I wasn't prattling," she protested. "I never prattle. I have got rid of Michael for a while and the girls will be here soon. And we can have a whole night together!"
She plunked down on the faded striped chintz, setting up a cloud of dust.
"Where has Michael gone?"
"To fetch the girls." She told him of Toinette's clever scheme. "And while they're here, I intend to make a lot of changes in their lives," she finished. "If the dauphine and the king take an interest in them, then they'll have to have my escort rather than the Nevry's, won't they?"
Leo frowned. "In theory. But I don't know how Michael will react in practice. Did he say how long he'd be gone?"
"No, but it can't be less than twenty-four hours. He hasn't said anything to me since the opera. I don't know where he was last night, but he didn't come near me, and Monsieur Brion said he left at dawn this morning." She jumped up again. "We'll have the whole night together."
"Brion will know that you're not there."
"Ah, but Brion and I are allies," she said with a decisive little nod of her head. "I am building my defenses, you should know."
His gaze sharpened. "Explain."
Succinctly she gave him the details of her unspoken alliance with the majordomo. "I am becoming adept at political scheming, my lord," she finished with another little nod.