Lara Parker - Dark Shadows 01 by Angelique's Descent

Author:Angelique's Descent
Format: epub
Published: 2013-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Her morning toilet consisted of a bath, the water infused with oils, and Angelique was expected to scrub her, but not too vigorously. After the bath came her powdering and her coiffure, an elaborate invention every morning.

The Countess du Pres considered herself royalty, and her soul's true home Versailles. Therefore, Parisian standards were the ones she followed. Even in the sticky heat of Martinique, she wore a full silk gown and petticoats, preferring to suffer the discomfort of the climate, rather than to dress, as she called it, "like a peasant."

Once the countess was attired and her room tidied, Angelique was released to go to.the library. There, Josette's tutor would be engaged in teaching the gay but inattentive child her lessons. Poetry and language arts, music, some mathematics and geography were all presented, and Angelique found it was an easy task to set the model of an industrious student. She was fascinated by all subjects and applied herself with great energy. She especially enjoyed literature and was always disappointed when the lesson ended.

Josette, on the other hand, was more interested in playing hide-and-seek, dress-up, and make-believe. What she enjoyed most were the instructions in becoming a lady. Clothes and manners were her obsession, and she talked constantly of going to Paris and being received at court.

Still, Angelique had to admit she had charm. Her nature was warm and her incessant prattle was filled with kind remarks and bright comments on people and the world around her. She was affectionate and leaned in to touch others when she spoke to them, ensuring their constant attention, her words bubbling over like a fountain. She was gifted musically, and, despite an appalling refusal to practice, she played the pianoforte with ease, picking out the notes from memory and singing in a high, lilting voice.

As Josette loved everyone, she loved Angelique, and the feeling was returned with some reluctance. Both being in need of a companion near their own age, in time they grew close. Although the countess never allowed Angelique to forget her place, Josette was oblivious to the contrast in their stations and treated Angelique as a sister.

She was generous to a fault and would have given all her toys and clothes to her playmate had the countess allowed it. But then Josette was always receiving new baubles. Nevertheless, she was jealous of nothing, other than her own flawless complexion, which she guarded religiously from the tropical sun. She was seldom seen out of doors without a parasol, and she was like another flower in the garden when she strolled there, her red-brown curls tumbling about her shoulders and her pretty figure graceful beneath the curve of the umbrella.

Lunch was in the shade garden with the countess, and Angelique was obliged to serve. The Countess du Pres instructed Josette on the delicacies of proper

decorum at table, complete with the niceties of conversation as to topic and modesty of comment. Josette's posture was corrected every thirty seconds, and the use and handling of each piece of silverware, saucer, and cup was considered with somber attention.

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