Angel in Scarlet by Jennifer Wilde Page B

purchased—those tiny iced cakes I’m so fond of. That’s why I had walked all the way to the village in the first place, to buy the cakes. Teddy is thirty-two,” she added. “I think that’s a lovely age for a man.”
    â€œHe’s a vile seducer!” Marie exclaimed.
    â€œHardly, Maman ,” Janine informed her. “I asked him to take me upstairs to his rooms. He was very nervous, almost forgot to put the ‘Closed’ sign on the door. I had to remind him.”
    â€œI can’t believe it!”
    â€œYou could if you met him. He’s much nicer than any of the boys you’re always encouraging me to go out with, the ones with wealthy fathers and money to spend.”
    â€œYou slept with him! And you kept going back. ”
    â€œNot that often,” Janine replied. “It’s a long walk to the village.”
    â€œAnd now the whole village knows one of my daughters—”
    â€œI only went at night, Maman , after the shop was closed, and I used the back door, the one that opens onto the alley. I always wore my long cloak, too, with the hood pulled up. I’m not a complete ninny.”
    â€œHow could this have happened?” Marie wailed. “All my work, all my plans, and then you—” She shook her head, eyes pained. “I just can’t believe it.”
    â€œTeddy’s not an aristocrat, you see,” Solonge explained to me. “He’s not Oxford educated, doesn’t have a title, doesn’t have a private income or a father who owns a great deal of property. Hence, he’s not good enough for a great-great-granddaughter of the Marquis de Valois.”
    â€œI’ve had enough of your sarcasm, Solonge!”
    â€œIt’s true, isn’t it, Maman dear? If Teddy were some body, if Teddy had money, you’d have shoved her into his bed.”
    â€œI want my daughters to take their proper station in life.”
    â€œWhen are you going to give up that fantasy?” Solonge asked. Her hazel eyes flashed, and her voice was sharp. “Janine and I are never going to marry into society, Maman . We’re not aristocracy. I doubt seriously we’re even legitimate. If there was a de Valois in your life I feel sure he kept you stashed away in an apartment on the back streets of Paris. You should thank your lucky stars you found a perfectly respectable English schoolmaster to take us in and give us his name.”
    â€œYou—you have no idea what you’re saying. You—you—how could you speak to me this way? I’ve struggled and struggled, I’ve worked my fingers to the bone, trying to bring you both up properly, trying to instill in you an awareness of who you are , and—”
    â€œWe know who we are, Maman. ”
    Marie said nothing for a long while. Her face had gone white, making the paint and the dyed hair seem all the more garish. Her thin lips quivered at the corners, and her eyes were filled with bitterness and something very like defeat. I knew that Solonge had struck a raw nerve, knew what she had said cut very deep and was undoubtedly true. I felt a curious sympathy for this harsh, unhappy woman who had clung to a fantasy for years because the reality was too painful to bear. Her long fingers clutched and unclutched her black apron, wrinkling the cloth, and then, after several long moments, she stood up, her back stiff. The defeat was gone now, a hard, determined expression on her face.
    â€œI won’t have it,” she said. “I won’t have a daughter of mine marrying a clerk. I won’t have either of you wasting away like I have. You’re going to have things. You’re going to have everything I never had.”
    Janine and Solonge exchanged glances. Janine’s limpid blue eyes were full of indecision. She sat up and brushed a silvery-blonde wave from her temple. I could see that the idea of marrying Teddy suited her nicely. I also knew she