Let Them Have Cake (10 page)

Queen Marie Antoinette paused and looked into Anna’s eyes.

“I understand. Being a mother myself. I wish that I could somehow get my children to safer ground. I admire you for being so brave.”

“Thank you. It wasn’t brave at all. I just took them to my cousin’s home. It was all very safe.”

The evening passed in companionable silence as Anna finished the Queen’s dress.

Queen Marie Antoinette was very pleased with the finished result and turned from side to side to look at herself in the mirror in her boudoir where they had gone to try it on.

The Queen reached into her wardrobe and brought out another dress.

“Here. Please. Take this dress of mine to wear to the dance tomorrow. You may have it. It suits you more than it suits me.”

Anna held the dress in front of her and gazed into the mirror. Chills ran up and down her spine and goose flesh appeared on her arms. This was the very dress that she’d imagined herself wearing when she was touring the
Palace
of
Versailles
and was in the Hall of Mirrors.

“Help me off with this dress. I’m fatigued and need to rest now. Please hang it in the wardrobe,” the Queen commanded.

Anna did as she was told and returned to the gathering room to find that the others were leaving to go to their individual
rooms. She was relieved when Monique approached her and said, “Come. Let us go to your room. I want to talk with you before the house is completely quiet.” 

The two young women sat conspiratorially on a bed in a tiny room off of the kitchen. Anna was pleased that Monique had chosen to have their talk in Anne-Marie’s room. One more hurdle was passed. She didn’t want to be found out that she was a fake until she figured out how she had gotten there and how to get back home.

“Anne-Marie. Why did you not tell Geoffroi where you were going? He has been frantic with worry,” Monique questioned Anna.

“Geoffroi?” Anna asked hesitantly.

“Yes, Geoffroi. Geoffroi Andrieux. Whatever is wrong with you? You know he is very much in love with you. Why would you leave and not tell anyone but Monsieur Pelloutier where you were going. You know he will not divulge anything told him in confidence to anyone else,” Monique continued.

“Truly, I do not know why I did not tell Monsieur Andrieux. And, perhaps I told Monsieur Pelloutier precisely because I knew he wouldn’t divulge my whereabouts,” Anna replied in all honesty.

Geoffroi Andrieux was Jeff’s ancestor’s name. Could this Geoffroi possibly be the same person?

“You do some very odd things at times but I suppose you
have your reasons, even though you will not share them with me,” Monique said.

Monique continued as Anna sat quietly listening. “You confided in me when your husband died of lung fever just two years past now. You told me of your fears of being a young widow. You told me you did not think you could live the remainder of your life without the love of a man. Do you remember?”

“Yes, but...” Anna began to answer but was interrupted by Monique.

“Then you leave without saying anything to Monsieur Andrieux. The two of you were just falling in love. Why did you want to risk losing that?” Monique asked.

“Really. I do not know,” Anna replied.

“You must think long and hard about it. He is out there now looking for you. He will be relieved to see that you have safely returned but will be angry as well,” Monique rose to leave.

“I promise I will think about it,” Anna answered truthfully.

Alone in the tiny room, Anna lit another candle from the one that was burning on the small table next to the bed. She gathered her sewing materials and began fashioning tiny people to adorn the Queen’s hair. As she sewed, she tried to sort out the events of the day. She was known as Anne-Marie Toussaint.
Could that possibly have been her lost ancestor? She knew her first name was Anne-Marie, but no one knew her last name. Somehow she’d arrived in the hamlet at
Versailles
some time in the later era of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. She knew it had to be after 1783 since that was when Mique had built the hamlet. Jeff and modern day
France
seemed terribly far away.

Chapter Ten

Now how do I get eggs out from under chickens? Aunt Tillie didn’t teach me that little trick. How is it that I’m now also in charge of a chicken house?

Anna stood in the center of the chicken coop. Angry little hens refused to budge from their nests. A rooster strutted about and flapped his feathers in Anna’s direction. Monsieur Pelloutier had reminded Anna that it was her duty to feed the chickens and gather the eggs twice a day. He needed a fresh supply for the soufflés he planned to cook for the celebration that evening.

This is it. It’s now or never. Anna approached the first hen carefully. The hen began making clucking sounds that almost sounded like a growl. Anna reached her hand tentatively towards the hen when it suddenly lashed out and pecked her fiercely.

“Ouch! That hurt! Instead of just taking your eggs, maybe I’ll take you and ask the cook to fry you up! I fed you earlier. Haven’t you heard that you shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds
you?”

This was ridiculous. She was much smarter than a chicken. Why couldn’t she figure out what to do?

She had an idea. She would rush the chicken, grab its tail, yank it off the nest and get the eggs before it knew what was happening.

She approached the first hen. Then, before the hen could peck her, it was on the floor dazed and confused. It stood up, fluffed its feathers and walked off nonchalantly.

“I knew I was smarter. I got your eggs and you’re acting like nothing happened.”

She quickly went from hen to hen and soon had a basketful of eggs. She felt only slightly guilty at robbing the poor chicken’s nests.

Monsieur Pelloutier was pleased with the abundance of eggs in the basket. “Ah, Anne-Marie. They always lay better when you are here.”

Anna laughed at thinking that her one real goal in life had now been reduced to being a nanny to a bunch of chickens.

“Anne-Marie! The Queen’s hair is ready for you to place the miniature scene you’ve created. Please come,” Genevieve called.

Queen Marie Antoinette was wearing a dressing gown and was seated in the center of the gathering room. Her ladies were all around her. They had fashioned her hair into the most elaborate
sculpture Anna had ever seen. Anna retrieved the tiny figures from her room and presented them to the Queen for her approval.

“Oh, they are wonderful! They are the best yet. Quickly. Tie them into my hair so I can see how they look.”

Anna carefully positioned the figures in the Queen’s hair and stepped back to admire her handiwork. She smiled at the scene. Her friends back home at the hospital would be in hysterics by now if someone came in wearing their hair like this. 

The Queen was more than pleased with her hair and instructed everyone to disperse to dress for the dance.

Anna went to her room and gathered petticoats and undergarments from the wardrobe of her ancestor, Anne-Marie. She tried them on and found to her amazement that they fit perfectly; just like the peasant dress she had borrowed upon arriving at the hamlet. Nervously, she reached for the emerald green gown that Queen Marie Antoinette had given her. She hoped it would fit. It was so beautiful she needed to be able to wear it.

She slipped the dress over her head and was amazed at how perfectly it fit. She blushed at her breasts pouring out the top. The emerald green made her eyes seem more green than brown. She went to work on her long blonde hair and soon had it piled on top of her head in a reasonable facsimile of the style of the
day. She looked around the room and found a vase filled with peacock feathers. She plucked several from the vase and arranged them in her hair.

Music, laughter, and the combination of low male voices and tinkling feminine ones caught Anna’s attention. She checked her appearance one more time, then headed towards the sounds.

Once outside, she saw that a large area of ground had been spread with straw. Farmhands tended bonfires burning on the periphery. Anna watched the couples that were dancing. They looked so elegant in their eighteenth century clothing. The men wore velvet coats with short pants and were in colors as bright and vivid as the women wore.

“Madame Toussaint. Please, dance with me.”

Anna gazed into the soft brown eyes of the aristocratic artist that had been painting in the farmhouse when she’d arrived. She held back, but took his arm when she noticed a hurt look clouding his eyes. She hoped he was a good leader because she was certainly going to have to follow closely.

The artist was a wonderful dancer and soon they were effortlessly gliding around with the other couples. Anna gazed up at his face, lit by the bonfire light, and decided he was quite handsome.

“Madame Toussaint. You have been away for a time. We are all so relieved that you are again with us here in the hamlet.”

“Thank you, Monsieur, Monsieur...” Anna stammered. It was obvious that she should know this man. What would he think about her forgetting his name?

“Please Madame. It is Jacques Rouleau. I realize we have only been introduced once or twice before you went away. I don’t expect you to remember me.”

The humble man looked so miserable that Anna felt she had to do something to relieve his misery.

“Of course I remember you! How could I not? I’ve just been gone for so long I’m a little forgetful. Come, let us dance another waltz.”

The waltz was just ending when Anna heard horse’s hooves in the distance. She stopped, excused herself from Jacques, and went to the edge of the dancing area to see if she could see the horse. The hoof beats came closer and finally a horse and rider appeared out of the foggy mist.

Anna gasped and almost fainted when she saw that the horse was the beautiful chestnut she had seen when the tour group visited the hamlet and
Versailles
. The man upon the horse was the same man she had seen as well. As they got closer, she realized why he had looked so familiar to her. He flew off of the horse as soon as her saw her.

“Anne-Marie. I’ve been searching all over the countryside for you.”

Who was this man? And why was he acting like he knew me? Anna looked closely at the handsome man before her. Then it struck her. It was Jeff. 

He gathered her in his arms and kissed her more thoroughly than she’d ever been kissed before. He held her so tightly she could scarcely breathe. Finally, he held her at arms length and gazed longingly into her eyes.

“Jeff? Is it you?” Anna asked.

“Of course it is. Geoffroi Andrieux. Who else would kiss you like this?” He resumed the long, sensuous, probing kiss that seemed to reach into her soul.

His eyes were Jeff’s eyes. They crinkled at the corners when he smiled, just like Jeff’s did. His hair was the same color as Jeff’s. He was the same size as Jeff. He kissed just like Jeff. Anna was beginning to understand. This was why she believed so strongly that Jeff and she were soul mates. They were linked through history.

“Come. Let’s go away to our cottage before anyone else notices that I’ve returned. I need to understand why you left without letting me know, and where you were these past weeks,” Geoffroi guided Anna with one arm while leading the horse with the other.

They entered the small cottage and Geoffroi had Anna wait by the door while he found a candle to light. The fireplace had
a small fire burning in it but was close to going out.

“Who kept the fire lit for you while you were gone?” Anna asked.

Geoffroi shot her a questioning look. “Vally, of course. Vally Broussard. You know he always keeps the fire lit for me while I’m away hunting. He sees it as one of his many duties as farmer in charge of the hamlet.”

“Vally? Of course,” replied Anna. That must be the odd little man she saw when she first arrived at the hamlet.

Geoffroi added more wood to the fire, lit a few more candles, and soon the little cottage was bathed in a warm glow. Anna realized that it was the same cottage she had first entered and borrowed the muslin dress from. She glanced around and located the sewing basket she’d stashed her robe and nightgown in. She wondered if Anne-Marie lived here since she’d thought she lived in the farmhouse with the other young women. She’d better figure out where she belonged pretty quickly.

“Come to me. I have missed you so. Where were you Anne-Marie? Why did you leave so abruptly and where are your children?” He held her away from him and looked intently into her eyes.

“I had to take my children to safety, away from the growing unrest that is focused on
Versailles
. The peasants’ protests are growing more angry and violent.” Anna parroted back the
information she had learned from others in the hamlet.