Read Online The Wild Queen by Carolyn Meyer - Free Book Online

convinced me to wear breeches under my skirts and to ride astride.
    â€œAs we would if we were in Scotland,” she argued. “And with breeches you need not be concerned about your modesty when you fly off.”
    I had my own falcon for hunting—I called her Caramel—and she quickly learned that mine was the gloved fist to which she must return. The dauphin persuaded the chief falconer to give him a bird as well. For weeks we discussed its name, with François changing his mind several times.
    â€œWhy not name him Chocolat?” I suggested. “We both love sweets, so that would be a good idea. Do you not agree?”
    â€œOui,
Marie, you are r-r-right!” cried the dauphin, who nearly always accepted my suggestions. But François seemed fearful of his hawk’s sharp talons and usually stepped back and let the falconer’s apprentice take Chocolat on his glove.
    The four big curly-haired dogs that accompanied the king on royal hunts rode to each château in kennels built on wooden carts, and every lady in the court carried one or two lapdogs with her in her cushioned litter. Lady Fleming’s little spaniel was a particular favorite, with his long silky fur and big ears. She named him Papillon, the French word for “butterfly” My own Biscuit, a white ball of fluff with two black button eyes and a black button nose, followed me everywhere. Princesse Élisabeth had one also, and now little Princesse Claude, who was nearly three, insisted that she must have one just like ours.
    We were playing with our dogs, attempting to teach them to sit up and beg, when a messenger delivered a letter from my mother. I was always delighted to receive a letter from Maman, and I broke the seal assuming this would bring an Easter greeting. But the news was much more exciting: my mother was coming to France for a long visit!
    I tossed a treat to Biscuit and rushed off to write GrandMère with the wonderful news, knowing that she would be as happy as I was, or at least as happy as she could be in her widowed state. I had become skillful with quill and ink, and my pen scratched quickly across the page with no mistakes or unseemly blots:
    I have been very glad to be able to send these present lines for the purpose of telling you the joyful news I have received from the Queen my Mother, who has promised me that she will be here very soon to see you and me, which is to me the greatest happiness which I could wish for in this world. All I am thinking about now is to do my whole duty in all things and to study and to be very good.
    I showed the letter to my tutor Monsieur Amyot, whose eyebrows looked as prickly as hedgehogs. He praised it and brought me the wax and my gold seal to finish it, and then he summoned a messenger to carry it off at once to Joinville. My mother had not said exactly when she expected to come, but from that day on I waited with growing impatience for her arrival.
    ***
    At the end of May the court moved again to Saint- Germain. A month later Queen Catherine gave birth for the fifth time. The king was with her when their third son, named Charles-Maximilien, came into the world. For once, Madame de Poitiers was not there to attend the birth. “Queen Catherine must be pleased about that,” Sinclair remarked.
    We had all heard why Madame de Poitiers was not present: Away on a visit to the Loire Valley, she had fallen from her horse and broken her leg. The king had sent a royal litter to take her to her château at Anet, where she now rested while her leg mended.
    â€œHow pleasant it is not to have Madame de Poitiers here,” said Marie Fleming bluntly “I do not like her much.”
    I disagreed with La Flamin’s and Sinclair’s opinion of Madame de Poitiers. The duchess always treated me with great kindness. Sometimes she invited the king’s children, including me, to visit her at Château d’Anet, the ancient castle she was having restored. I