Mistress of the Sun (41 page)
Read Mistress of the Sun Online
Authors: Sandra Gulland
amoroso
a lover, a gallant
barley-hood
a fit of ill humor brought on by drinking
barouch
a horse-drawn carriage with four wheels. It has an outside seat for the driver and facing inside seats for two couples, with a folding top.
branle
a French dance that moves mainly from side to side. It is performed by couples in either a line or a circle.
bratche
a brat
cabriole
a springing ballet step in which one leg is extended and the second leg is brought up to the first
capriole
(in horsemanship) when a horse makes a high leap without moving forward, kicking its hind legs out together
carosse
(or caroche) a luxurious carriage
carrefour
a place where four roads meet
chime hours
three, six, nine or twelve o’clock
close-stool
a chamber pot enclosed within a stool or box; an early toilet
coat of plates
a series of overlapping plates riveted onto a vest of leather
courante
a dance characterized by running or gliding steps
covetise
excessive desire, lust
deflourish
to deprive (a woman) of her virginity
Fontaine Beleau
the town of Fontainebleau in France, originally known by a variety of names: Fontaine Beleau, Fontaine Bello, Fontaine Belle Eau (all variations on “good water fountain”), Fontaine de Biaud (after Biaud, the original owner) and Fontaine Bleau (after “fontaine de Bleau,” a spring discovered by a dog named Bleau)
frack
lusty
galled
sore from chafing
giglet
a giddy, romping girl
gill-flirt
a wanton or giddy young woman
gloom
(v.) to look displeased, to frown or scowl
glout
a sullen look; to be “in the glout” means to be sulking
hallali
a bugle call
handfast
(v.) to make a contract of marriage by joining hands
hugger-mugger
in secret
Hungary water
wine scented with rosemary flowers
jerkin
a garment for a man’s upper body, often made of leather
jeté
(dance) a ballet step in which a spring is made from one foot to the other
justacorps
a close-fitting body-coat reaching to the knees
King’s Evil
(or simply, the Evil) scrofula, tuberculosis of the lymph nodes of the neck
linsey-woolsey
a coarse fabric of wool and flax
livre
a unit of currency. Multiply by four to get its approximate equivalent in U.S. dollars today. France at this time did not have a central mint, and the value of currency varied from province to province. A Tournais livre, for example, was a quarter of the value of the Parisian livre.
lose his nature
to be impotent
made
(v.) (as in “to be made”) to be pregnant
meddling
in the context used here, sexual intercourse
médianoche
a midnight meal
minikin
a dainty, sprightly girl
mouche
a small patch worn on the face as an ornament or to conceal a blemish
nerval
relating to or affecting the nerves
Palais d’Orléans
today known as the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, where the French Senate meets
pas de bourrée
(dance) a sideways step in which one foot crosses behind or in front of the other
pelerine
a lace shoulder covering
petticoat breeches
wide, pleated pants falling to the knee
pillion
(as in “riding pillion”) to ride a horse sitting on a “pillion”—a pad or cushion attached behind a saddle on which a second person can ride, usually seated sideways
pirouette
(dance) multiple turns on one leg
pochette
a small violin, often carried in a pocket by French dance masters
poke
(n.) (clothing) a bag or small sack worn by women under petticoats
posset
a spiced drink of hot sweetened milk curdled with wine or ale
prince or princess of the
blood
in France, paternal royal descendants
pure-finder
someone who collects dung for use as an alkaline lye for steeping hides
quality
rank or position in society
Religious
(n.) a member of a religious order
rosa solis
a liqueur made from the juice of the sundew plant, believed to be an aphrodisiac. Rosolio (or resoil) is still produced in Italy and Spain, though it no longer contains sundew.
rudded
made red
seminal
semen
snug
a muff
sou
a unit of currency. Twenty sous equals one livre.
stale
(n.) (horses) a steady, old, sometimes blind horse; also called a “stalking” horse because deer have no fear of such an animal and the hunter can hide behind it and shoot over the horse’s withers or under its belly
sullen-sick
to be sick from ill-humor
swive
for a man to copulate with a woman
toilette
a towel or cloth; also used to put down on a dressing table (hence
toilette
)
touchy-headed
slightly crazed, cranky
tucker
(n.) (clothing) a piece of fabric worn by women to cover their bodice, often made of lace
tufter
in stag hunting, a hound trained to drive the deer out of cover
uprise
to rise from confinement after giving birth
varlet
a menial, a groom
Versaie
an early name for Versailles
voraginous
resembling an abyss or whirlpool
vue
a horn signal during a hunt, indicating that the hounds were still running
wet nurse
a woman hired to suckle and nurse another woman’s child. A “dry-nurse” is the woman who took care of and attended to a child but did not suckle it.
whitepot
a type of custard or milk pudding
whitework
embroidery worked in white thread on a white ground
young with child
newly pregnant, in the early stage of pregnancy
Many have been midwife to this novel; as with elephants, it was an eight-year gestation.
Mistress of the Sun
would simply not exist without them:
My first reader, always, agent Jackie Kaiser.
My amazing editors, Iris Tupholme and Trish Todd, as well as Dan Semetanka and Fiona Foster.
My sharp and dedicated managing editor, Noelle Zitzer; production editor, Allegra Robinson; and copyeditors and proof-readers, Allyson Latta, Becky Vogan and Debbie Viets.
The members of my San Miguel writers’ group, who cheered me lustily through a labyrinth of drafts: Susan McKinney and Beverly Donofrio.
The members of Wilno Women Writers: Pat Jeffries, Joanne
Zommers and, especially, Jenifer McVaugh (who remembers my first creative attempt to tell this story
twenty
years ago).
My invaluable readers and consultants, in alphabetical order: Susanne Dunlap, Jude Holland, Juliann Krute, Gary McCollim, Mary Sharratt, Merilyn Simonds, Victoria Zackheim.
Two book clubs critiqued the manuscript: “Books Et Al” in Oakland, California (Chere Kelley, Akemy Nakatani, Robyn Papanek, Marianna Sheehan, Mary Sivila, Monique Binkley Smith, Leslie Tobler), and “19 girls and a boy(s)” in Toronto, Ontario (Carrie Gulland, Rebecca Snow, Fiona Tingley, Morwenna White and Al Kellett).
I would like to thank a host of people who extended their knowledge and help over the years: Nanci Closson, for the use of her studio in a moment of creative desperation; Bruno and Anne Challamel, research assistants and consultants extraordinaire; Simone Lee, for access to a book on seventeenth-century horsemanship; Dr. John McErlean, for keeping me abreast; Dr. Rob Adams, for medical consultation; Dr. Karen Raber and Treva Tucker, for information on seventeenth-century horseback riding; Dr. Elizabeth Rapley, for consultation on life in seventeenth-century monasteries; scriptwriter Karl Schiffman, for plot wisdom; Willie and Lobo, for full-hearted music to write by; Bernard Turle, for a gift many years ago of a book on Versailles.
My historical guides: M. Ludart, through the historical mazes of Paris; Patrick Germain, through the châteaus of the Loire Valley (on horseback!); Ghislain Pons, tireless and knowledgable guide through Versailles.
And last, but
never
least, my biggest fans: Richard, Carrie and Chet.
S
ANDRA
G
ULLAND
grew up in Berkeley, California, and immigrated to Canada in 1970. The author of the acclaimed Josephine B. Trilogy, Gulland and her husband live half the year near Killaloe, Ontario, and half in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Visit her website at sandragulland.com.
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T
HE
J
OSEPHINE
B. T
RILOGY
The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
The Last Great Dance on Earth
Harper
Weekend
Mistress of the Sun
© 2008 by Sandra Gulland Inc.
Published by Harper Weekend, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Originally published in a hardcover edition by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd: 2008
Harper Perennial trade paperback edition: 2009
This Harper Weekend trade paperback edition: 2010
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
Mistress of the Sun
is a work of fiction inspired by the life and times of Louise de la Vallière, mistress of Louis XIV, the Sun King.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint an excerpt from the poem “Hall of Mirrors” in
Some Other Garden
by Jane Urquhart © 2000. Published by McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Used with permission of the publisher.
www.harpercollins.ca
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication information
Gulland, Sandra
Mistress of the sun / Sandra Gulland.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-1-443-40310-8
1. La Vallière, Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, duchesse de, 1644–1710—Fiction. 2. Louis XIV, King of France, 1638–1715—Fiction. 3. France—History—Louis XIV, 1643–1715—Fiction. I. Title. PS8563.U643M58 2010 C813’.54 C2010-903445-7
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