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died three years ago. As I was her daughter in appearances only, I did not reap any benefits from her passing. I was brought back to the Salpêtrière where I now find myself among the Bijoux of the Sainte-Claire dormitory. As the months pass, I ask myself: Will I be so lucky as to find another benefactor? I am only seventeen, but already I have learned that the older a woman gets, the fewer choices she has .
    Still, I try to remain hopeful. I have received at the hospital, along with a number of other young girls, lessons in needlepoint. I excel at this skill and stand to be apprenticed to one of the city’s seamstresses. If I work hard enough, and also use my skills at reading and writing, I might one day have my own workshop .
    However, I must bring something to your attention. I understand that Your Majesty is very busy with wars to fight and other concerns. But I know that tending to this matter that affects the many girls and women residing at the Salpêtrière will be of utmost concern to you. Our food rations here are insufficient. For an entire day, we are given only a pint of broth and five quarterons of bread. Several times each week, peas and salted butter are added to the broth. How can we fulfill our respective duties on so little?
    One of the girls in the dormitory, Mireille Langlois, died of scurvy this spring. Her father had been an officer in the war with Spain. I have since been given one of her gowns, though of course it is not as fine as those you are accustomed to seeing at court. The dress, under better circumstances, that is when I am consuming some meat and a bit of cheese along with my bread and broth, would bring out the onyx brilliance of my eyes and hair. As it stands, my eyes and hair have grown dull and the dress too loose .
    I am certain that this woeful circumstance is an oversight, preoccupied as His Most Christian Majesty must be with matters of great import throughout the vast Kingdom. Your Royal attention to the matter of our rations can quickly remedy our abject circumstance .
    Yours in humble service ,
    Laure Beauséjour
    Please accept from me a ribbon cut from the gown and a lock of my hair .

    6    
    M adame du Clos agrees to help Laure get the letter to the King. The instructor likes to repeat that she would do anything in this world to help her girls. Unlike most of the officers of the Salpêtrière, Madame du Clos has been hired on contract for her knowledge of lacemaking. She has no particular interest in remaining employed for life at the hospital like most of the officers and maîtresses , and so cares less about its rigid rules. She lives with her widowed sister in the city and does not rely on her wages for survival.
    Madame du Clos has promised that she will bring Laure to the seamstress district of Paris on Friday to deliver the letter. She says she knows just the messenger to give it to. But first she wants Laure to be fitted for Mireille’s dress so she can wear it on the day that they meet this messenger. Madame du Clos says the letter will have a better chance of reaching the King if Laure wears the dress. Laure detests when Madame du Clos calls her a “poor soul” and pats her on the back, but this time she lets the foolish instructor talk this way.

    Laure has been excited to put away her lace at the end of each day to work on the dress. Fortunately, she is the same height as Mireille was, so the length of the dress was fine, but the bodice had to be drawn in a little as Mireille had been well fed, therefore a little plump, when she entered the hospital. Madame du Clos also encouraged Laure to make a few changes to the dress to suit current fashions. Now that the alterations are complete, she is less excited about trying it on. She wants nothing more than to put on this gown and to look as elegant as Mireille did when she first entered the workshop wearing it. But Laure is afraid it won’t fit her right even after all the adjustments, that she will look