Read Online Finding Emilie by Laurel Corona - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Laurel Corona
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them waited in the parlor while the servants set the table and improvised an unexpected supper for three. Julie had already opened a desk drawer and taken out a letter. “I’m curious why you haven’t asked me how I knew what had happened to you.”
Lili thought for a moment. “I guess I always feel you’re somehow watching over us.”
Julie smiled. “I must say I prefer it your way.” She handed Lili the letter. “Baronne Lomont will be most unhappy when she learns she is responsible for your liberation.”
Lili unfolded the letter and saw the cramped and perfectly written date and salutation. “I write to inform you of distressing news I have just received from the abbess at Panthémont,” the baroness had written.
Lili looked up at Maman. “The abbess wrote to her instead of you?”
“I’m afraid so,” Julie said. “Marie-Catherine and Baronne Lomont are cousins, or so I’ve been told, and the baroness always seemed to know more about your activities there than I did. But read on.”
“This situation has come about entirely because of the laxity with which you manage your household. Stanislas-Adélaïde has apparently smuggled in a book by a M. Roskeau of whom I was fortunate enough to be entirely ignorant until today. We have agreed she must be monitored most closely for evidence of such willfulness. I intend to visit the convent tomorrow to attend the examination Marie-Catherine plans for the girl. I urge you to leave this situation to me, with my assurances that I will apprise you more fully upon my return.”
Maman waited until Lili had finished. “I came right away,” she said. “I prayed the entire way I would get there first and we would be gone before the baroness arrived.” She got up to put the letter back in the drawer. “Of course now I must wait for her response. I imagine it won’t be long in coming, or in the least bit pleasant.”
* * *
“ ABBESS MARIE-CATHERINE HAS unfinished business with Lili and she must be returned to the convent immediately.” Baronne Lomont glanced at her priest confessor, who had accompanied her to Hôtel Bercy the following afternoon. “This is the most profound of insults.”
“She won’t be returned, and the insult is to my family.” Julie rang for the maid. “Would you like some coffee and a bit of the cake we have today, Madame?”
The older woman ignored her. “Surely you can’t feel Stanislas-Adélaïde’s education is already at an end. There is still quite a lot she has not yet—” The baroness locked her eyes on Lili as she formed her thought. “Fully absorbed.” She arched her eyebrows in rebuke.
“I think it is quite time for her education to begin,” Julie replied. “I intend to get the girls a tutor. They will study those subjects that will make them an interesting companion to an intelligent husband, not just catechism-squawking parrots with no minds of their own.”
The priest and Baronne Lomont sat back, speechless.
“If you are concerned about whether Stanislas-Adélaïde will receive proper religious instruction, you may examine her yourself when she visits Baronne Lomont,” Julie said to the priest. “I’ve given my word to the Marquis du Châtelet that the baroness will be involved in his daughter’s upbringing until she is married. And we will continue, as we always have, to go to mass twice a week and confess our sins regularly.”
She reached for her teacup without the slightest quaver in her hands and took a delicate sip. “Is there something more either of you would ask of me?” The priest and the baroness exchanged glances. “She is my ward,” Julie continued, with a firmness that ended the discussion.
“Well, then.” Baronne Lomont rose to her feet and turned to Lili. “See that you are at my home the day after tomorrow, in the morning.” She looked at Julie with a haughty thrust of her chin. “If, of course, that meets with Madame’s approval.”
Julie repaid her with the same
Lili thought for a moment. “I guess I always feel you’re somehow watching over us.”
Julie smiled. “I must say I prefer it your way.” She handed Lili the letter. “Baronne Lomont will be most unhappy when she learns she is responsible for your liberation.”
Lili unfolded the letter and saw the cramped and perfectly written date and salutation. “I write to inform you of distressing news I have just received from the abbess at Panthémont,” the baroness had written.
Lili looked up at Maman. “The abbess wrote to her instead of you?”
“I’m afraid so,” Julie said. “Marie-Catherine and Baronne Lomont are cousins, or so I’ve been told, and the baroness always seemed to know more about your activities there than I did. But read on.”
“This situation has come about entirely because of the laxity with which you manage your household. Stanislas-Adélaïde has apparently smuggled in a book by a M. Roskeau of whom I was fortunate enough to be entirely ignorant until today. We have agreed she must be monitored most closely for evidence of such willfulness. I intend to visit the convent tomorrow to attend the examination Marie-Catherine plans for the girl. I urge you to leave this situation to me, with my assurances that I will apprise you more fully upon my return.”
Maman waited until Lili had finished. “I came right away,” she said. “I prayed the entire way I would get there first and we would be gone before the baroness arrived.” She got up to put the letter back in the drawer. “Of course now I must wait for her response. I imagine it won’t be long in coming, or in the least bit pleasant.”
* * *
“ ABBESS MARIE-CATHERINE HAS unfinished business with Lili and she must be returned to the convent immediately.” Baronne Lomont glanced at her priest confessor, who had accompanied her to Hôtel Bercy the following afternoon. “This is the most profound of insults.”
“She won’t be returned, and the insult is to my family.” Julie rang for the maid. “Would you like some coffee and a bit of the cake we have today, Madame?”
The older woman ignored her. “Surely you can’t feel Stanislas-Adélaïde’s education is already at an end. There is still quite a lot she has not yet—” The baroness locked her eyes on Lili as she formed her thought. “Fully absorbed.” She arched her eyebrows in rebuke.
“I think it is quite time for her education to begin,” Julie replied. “I intend to get the girls a tutor. They will study those subjects that will make them an interesting companion to an intelligent husband, not just catechism-squawking parrots with no minds of their own.”
The priest and Baronne Lomont sat back, speechless.
“If you are concerned about whether Stanislas-Adélaïde will receive proper religious instruction, you may examine her yourself when she visits Baronne Lomont,” Julie said to the priest. “I’ve given my word to the Marquis du Châtelet that the baroness will be involved in his daughter’s upbringing until she is married. And we will continue, as we always have, to go to mass twice a week and confess our sins regularly.”
She reached for her teacup without the slightest quaver in her hands and took a delicate sip. “Is there something more either of you would ask of me?” The priest and the baroness exchanged glances. “She is my ward,” Julie continued, with a firmness that ended the discussion.
“Well, then.” Baronne Lomont rose to her feet and turned to Lili. “See that you are at my home the day after tomorrow, in the morning.” She looked at Julie with a haughty thrust of her chin. “If, of course, that meets with Madame’s approval.”
Julie repaid her with the same
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