Read Online The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier - Free Book Online Page A

was?’
‘Only partly.’
As angry as I was, part of me wanted to laugh at Claude's brazenness. If Jean had caught them — I couldn't bear to think of it. ‘What did you do?’
‘I sent him running! I did.’
She hadn't — I could see it in her face. Nicolas des Innocents had probably laughed at Béatrice and taken his time leaving.
‘What are you going to do, Madame?’ Béatrice said.
‘What did you do when he left? What did you say to Claude?’
‘I told her you would be sure to speak to her about it.’
‘Did she beg you not to tell me?’
Béatrice frowned. ‘No. She laughed in my face and ran off.’
I gritted my teeth. Claude knows only too well how valuable her maidenhead is to the Le Vistes — she must be intact for a worthy man to marry her. Her husband will inherit the Le Viste wealth one day, if not the name. The house on the rue du Four, the Château d'Arcy, the furniture, the jewels, even the tapestries Jean is having made — all will go to Claude's husband. Jean will have chosen him carefully, and the husband in turn will expect Claude to be pious, respectful, admired, and a virgin, of course. If her father had caught her — I shivered.
‘I will speak to her,’ I said, no longer angry at Béatrice but furious at Claude for risking so much for so little. ‘I will speak to her now.’
The ladies had already gathered my daughters in my chamber when Béatrice and I returned. Petite Geneviève and Jeanne ran to greet me as I came in, but Claude sat at the window playing with a little dog in her lap and would not look at me.
I had forgotten why I'd had the other girls called to my chamber. But the two of them — especially Petite Geneviève — were so eager to see me that I had to make up something quickly.
‘Girls, you know that the roads will soon be clear of mud and we'll go down to Château d'Arcy for the summer.’
Jeanne clapped her hands. Of the three she most liked our stay each year at the château. She ran wild there with children from the nearby farms, and hardly wore shoes the whole summer.
Claude sighed heavily as she cupped the lapdog's face in her hands. ‘I want to stay in Paris,’ she muttered.
‘I have decided that we will have a May Day feast before we go,’ I continued. ‘You may wear your new dresses.’ I always had new dresses made for the girls and my ladies at Easter.
The ladies began chattering at once, except for Béatrice.
‘Now, Claude, come with me — I want to look at your dress. I'm not sure of the neckline.’ I walked to the door and turned to wait for her. ‘Just us,’ I added as the ladies began to stir. ‘We won't be long.’
Claude pursed her lips and didn't move, but continued to play with her dog, flopping its ears back and forth.
‘You will come with me or I'll rip that dress apart with my own hands,’ I said sharply.
The ladies all murmured. Béatrice stared at me. ‘Maman!’ Jeanne cried.
Claude's eyes widened and a look of fury crossed her face. Then she got up, pushing the dog from her lap so roughly that it yelped. She walked past me and through the door without a glance. I followed her rigid back through the rooms separating hers from mine.
Her room is smaller than mine, with less furniture. Of course she doesn't have five ladies with her for much of the day. My ladies need chairs and a table. They need cushions and footstools and fires, tapestries on the walls and jugs of wine. Claude's room simply has a bed dressed in red and yellow silk, a chair and small table, and a chest for her dresses. Her window looks onto the courtyard rather than towards the church as mine does.
Claude went straight to her chest, pulled out the new dress, then threw it on the bed. For a moment we both gazed on it. It was a lovely thing, made of black and yellow silk in a pomegranate pattern, with a pale yellow overdress. My new dress used the same pattern, though as the under-dress, with a deep red silk covering it. We would look striking together at the feast