on it?”
“Then, I suppose, I would have no choice but to obey.”
“What if,” Joseph went on, his fork poised in midair, “he were to injure himself, and faint, and while you were setting a bone or bandaging a wound you brought out your knives and took care of the other small problem?”
“I suppose it could be done, under the right circumstances.”
“Are you a hunter, doctor?”
“Certainly.”
“Then let us join the king when he goes after deer, or boar, or whatever tiresome animal it is we are supposed to slaughter at this season. Perhaps he will have an accident.”
“Not a serious accident,” I said, alarmed at what Joseph might be planning.
“If he is as clumsy on a horse as he is on the dance floor, he can hardly avoid falling off.”
It was true, Louis often fell when riding. Once he hit his head and was without sense or feeling for at least half an hour.
“When does he hunt again?”
“Now that the weather is fine, he goes nearly every day,” I said. “He brings me back trophies.” I had a cabinet full of ears,horns and stinking tails my husband had given me over the years, proofs of his skill as a hunter.
“Then there is one more trophy to be won.” Joseph smiled. “A slice of the royal foreskin. Venery for venery, eh, doctor?”
April 27, 1777
They have done it.
Joseph and Dr. Boisgilbert went along on a hunting party, got Louis so drunk he tried to jump a fence and fell. He was in a lot of pain from bruises on his legs and back and the doctor gave him a strong sleeping draught. He hardly struggled at all when they lifted him onto a farmer’s cart to bring him back to the palace. Along the way they stopped to put up a canvas over the cart because it was beginning to rain. Under the canvas the doctor hurriedly performed the surgery.
Louis is still in pain today and resting.
May 2, 1777
At last.
May 10, 1777
Everything has changed. I am a woman now and I hope to be a mother soon. Louis is as delighted by sex as a child with a new toy. I blush to write the infantile things he likes to do. Fortunately I have Loulou and Yolande to talk to and Madame Solange as well though Joseph has cautioned me that I must never be seen speaking to her as it reflects badly on me. I tellthem everything and they laugh and reassure me that my husband is acting like an inexperienced new bridegroom, which is exactly what he is.
I am certain that Louis is performing adequately to make me pregnant and he performs often so that is also likely to produce a good result. Sophie says little but I notice she is smiling more these days and watching my belly when I dress. Joseph too is smiling these days and he has made me promise that my first son will be called Louis-Joseph.
August 3, 1777
This afternoon I waited for Eric in the Temple of Love at the Petit Trianon. He was late, which was unlike him, and while I waited for him I fanned myself and loosened the sash of my white lace gown. The pillows on the wooden bench where I sat were soft, and I felt drowsy, sitting there in the midst of the garden, with the scent of roses and laburnum in the air. I lay back against the pillows and let my eyes close.
I must have dropped off to sleep when the sound of Eric’s voice awakened me.
“How lovely you look, lying there,” he said softly.
“Come, there is room for two.”
“I long to, you know how I long to.”
“My dear Eric.” I sat up and he settled into a bench next to me. He smiled but I noticed lines of worry on his handsome forehead, and a look of anxiety in his fine dark eyes as he leaned over to kiss me.
It was hard for me to restrain myself, and I kissed him back passionately. After a time he released me, as he invariably did, his will being stronger than mine.
“I think Amélie suspects that we meet like this, in secret. Imust not see you for a while. I’m going to pretend, for your sake, that I am in love with someone else. Then Amélie can be jealous of her, and not of you.”
He
“Then, I suppose, I would have no choice but to obey.”
“What if,” Joseph went on, his fork poised in midair, “he were to injure himself, and faint, and while you were setting a bone or bandaging a wound you brought out your knives and took care of the other small problem?”
“I suppose it could be done, under the right circumstances.”
“Are you a hunter, doctor?”
“Certainly.”
“Then let us join the king when he goes after deer, or boar, or whatever tiresome animal it is we are supposed to slaughter at this season. Perhaps he will have an accident.”
“Not a serious accident,” I said, alarmed at what Joseph might be planning.
“If he is as clumsy on a horse as he is on the dance floor, he can hardly avoid falling off.”
It was true, Louis often fell when riding. Once he hit his head and was without sense or feeling for at least half an hour.
“When does he hunt again?”
“Now that the weather is fine, he goes nearly every day,” I said. “He brings me back trophies.” I had a cabinet full of ears,horns and stinking tails my husband had given me over the years, proofs of his skill as a hunter.
“Then there is one more trophy to be won.” Joseph smiled. “A slice of the royal foreskin. Venery for venery, eh, doctor?”
April 27, 1777
They have done it.
Joseph and Dr. Boisgilbert went along on a hunting party, got Louis so drunk he tried to jump a fence and fell. He was in a lot of pain from bruises on his legs and back and the doctor gave him a strong sleeping draught. He hardly struggled at all when they lifted him onto a farmer’s cart to bring him back to the palace. Along the way they stopped to put up a canvas over the cart because it was beginning to rain. Under the canvas the doctor hurriedly performed the surgery.
Louis is still in pain today and resting.
May 2, 1777
At last.
May 10, 1777
Everything has changed. I am a woman now and I hope to be a mother soon. Louis is as delighted by sex as a child with a new toy. I blush to write the infantile things he likes to do. Fortunately I have Loulou and Yolande to talk to and Madame Solange as well though Joseph has cautioned me that I must never be seen speaking to her as it reflects badly on me. I tellthem everything and they laugh and reassure me that my husband is acting like an inexperienced new bridegroom, which is exactly what he is.
I am certain that Louis is performing adequately to make me pregnant and he performs often so that is also likely to produce a good result. Sophie says little but I notice she is smiling more these days and watching my belly when I dress. Joseph too is smiling these days and he has made me promise that my first son will be called Louis-Joseph.
August 3, 1777
This afternoon I waited for Eric in the Temple of Love at the Petit Trianon. He was late, which was unlike him, and while I waited for him I fanned myself and loosened the sash of my white lace gown. The pillows on the wooden bench where I sat were soft, and I felt drowsy, sitting there in the midst of the garden, with the scent of roses and laburnum in the air. I lay back against the pillows and let my eyes close.
I must have dropped off to sleep when the sound of Eric’s voice awakened me.
“How lovely you look, lying there,” he said softly.
“Come, there is room for two.”
“I long to, you know how I long to.”
“My dear Eric.” I sat up and he settled into a bench next to me. He smiled but I noticed lines of worry on his handsome forehead, and a look of anxiety in his fine dark eyes as he leaned over to kiss me.
It was hard for me to restrain myself, and I kissed him back passionately. After a time he released me, as he invariably did, his will being stronger than mine.
“I think Amélie suspects that we meet like this, in secret. Imust not see you for a while. I’m going to pretend, for your sake, that I am in love with someone else. Then Amélie can be jealous of her, and not of you.”
He
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