The Sheik's Son by Nicola Italia

Author:Nicola Italia [Italia, Nicola]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-04-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Sophie had spent several evenings at home with her family and Marc. He was a quiet man who was educated and subdued.

He was still handsome, with red hair graying at the temples, and seemed quite taken with Sophie. But he was also still in mourning. He mentioned his wife in each conversation and was quick to point out what she had liked and disliked about a certain meal, music or any subject matter that came about. Sophie did not think he was ready to remarry and Jean Pierre had to agree.

Her grandmother found a young man in his early 30s who was the grandson of a dear friend of hers. He was handsome, with sparkling blue eyes and blond hair. His name was Luc and he was wealthy and well regarded. Eugenie was ecstatic that her granddaughter wished to marry and even happier to see her good friend’s son be considered.

Luc was dashing and charming and had many female admirers. He was quite the womanizer but had received pressure from his family to marry. He didn’t want to marry, but had been introduced to Sophie at a concert and had found her exceedingly lovely. He could well imagine bedding the beauty several times to breed her and then take up with his favorite mistress again.

He could never picture himself with one woman but knew he could play the part for awhile. He was solicitous and polite to Sophie’s family and complimented her on her clothes and hair. It was an accepted practice that men of a certain class kept mistresses and only bedded their wives for heirs. He did not think Sophie would mind and was not at all concerned that it would be a problem.

Meanwhile, Sophie was beginning to understand the true state of France, and as a result, was being pulled into a dark world that she was barely able to comprehend. Since her time spent at the chateau she had begun to educate herself about the situation in France and was becoming more knowledgeable on the subject.

The first thing she had discovered was that she lived a truly privileged life that was very different from the majority of the French people. The majority lived in poverty, as Madame Necker had mentioned in one conversation.

She also discovered that since the 1750s, many had believed that the constitution of France was no longer working. France was based upon an absolute monarchy. As the enlightened thinking came to a head, so did the view that the monarchy was no longer functioning. The new bourgeoisie class sought a voice and new words began appearing, such as “public opinion,” “nation,” and “citizen.”

Sophie’s heart beat faster. The more she educated herself, the more she agreed with the bourgeoisie’s thinking.

In 1771, the Parlement of Paris had refused to cooperate with the nation’s chancellor, René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou. He had tried to exile Parlement and create a replacement. But the chancellor never gained national support for his changes and the new King Louis XVI had responded by reversing all the changes.

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