Part 17
Not too long passed before Danielle had quite a few dresses on display in the store window. Slowly, people were starting to take notice of her work. One day, a lady by the name of Anne stopped in her shop. “Your work is of fine quality, and it is in what I have been told is the latest fashion. You see, I recently have returned from Paris. My question to you is how did you know the fashion?”
Danielle, remember that she was now a peasant spoke properly back. “Milady, I use to live near that area. Only recently have I moved here.”
The lady took a long hard look at Danielle. “Regardless of the rumors that the town has been spreading about you, I would still like to buy a gown for they are marvelous.”
Danielle smiled. “You may try them on in the back if you like.” She paused for a moment trying to decide whether her next statement would be proper, but then she decided that she did not really care. “If you do not mind me asking, what kind of rumor are begin spread about me?”
“Well, it varies. When the word reached here that the princess was no longer the princess and had left her home, you were deemed to be her. Imagine that?” she lets out a small but suspicious laugh. “Others claim that you have left your husband and are now hiding from him here. I take each of them with a grain of salt for they are only rumors.” The lady stepped out in one of the gowns. “I like this one, but it needs a few adjustments.”
Danielle hurries to get her pins; then starts to work on getting the hem to be the proper length. Anne continued to talk, “What brought you here? It is rare to see of a girl of your age travel with out an escort of some kind. You could not even be eighteen years old, and you are already on your own. What happened to your family?”
Danielle knew that this question would probably come up eventually, so she already had an answer planed. “Well, I am an orphan. When my parents died, they left me a great deal of belongings. I sold them and am know trying to make it on my own.” Danielle had now finished pin up the dress, but she still remained sitting on the floor.
Anne stared down at her. “I can tell from the looks of you that you are not a peasant, or at least you were not raised to be one. Whether your parents died or not, I do no know, but do not be afraid and hide who you really are.” She then turned and headed towards the back of the shop. “I hope that you will have my dress finished in two days for my brother is turning eighteen and my parents are throwing a ball for him.”
A slight sigh escaped Danielle. She would do anything to go to a ball, even though the last one she went to was not exactly the time of her life. Over the years, she had grown accustom to dancing; it was her favorite pastime. All she wished was that she would not forget how to dance.
Anne came out again, but Danielle did not notice. This gave Anne a minute to take a perusal of Danielle. “As I said before, my brother’s ball is in two days. If you are not busy, I would love for you to come. This way you can meet more of the townspeople. Maybe you will even find a few new customers. What do you say?”
“Milady, I would love to go, but I am but a peasant. I am sure that your brother would not want me to attend. Besides, I do not have anything appropriate for such an occasion.”
Anne reached down and pulled Danielle to her feet. “Do not worry about your standing in society for I could careless. As for my brother, he would love to have another beautiful lady to dance with.” A smile crept across Danielle’s face. Anne, however, did not notice it. She was too busy planning. “I do not believe it would be proper for you to wear a dress that you might one day sell, but I think I have another solution. You look to be a little smaller then I am, and I have a few dresses that are too tight. I shall bring them over when I come to pick up my dress. What do you say?”
“What can I say? I have no idea why you are being so nice to me, but you are certainly the first one to do so in this town. If you are sure that I am not too much of a hassle, I would love to go.”
“Marvelous! I shall send an invitation over first thing.” Anne quickly left the shop feeling as if she had done a marvelous good deed. She was helping someone have a good time and get settled in a new place. This was the type of charity she liked; not so hands off as just giving them money but not so hands on that she would actually have to get her hands dirty.
**************************
While Danielle was busy starting her ‘new’ life, Henry was trying to pull back together the pieces of his. In one night, everything had changed. No longer did he have Danielle to take his side against his father. As a result, he noticed how relations between him and his father changed. Francis no longer had Danielle to yell at, so he directed his anger towards Henry.
The stress and tension in the palace had built to a boiling point. All of the staff was on alert for any official but especially for the Royalty themselves. One wrong word to them and you might get anything from a verbal lashing to ten days in the stocks, depending on whom you messed with.
Henry did have one way to relieve the stress that was to write to Danielle. Whenever he received a letter from her, it had a way of mitigating all his harsh feelings to the world. What helped even more was when he wrote her back. Sometimes it was hard for him to compose a letter to her, but he would always find away.
About a million times he wanted to confess his love to her, but something was holding him back. He was not sure if it was his parent or his fear of rejection. However, most of the time he believed it to be the fact that he wanted Danielle to live her own life even if that meant that he was not to be a part of it.
To him, it seemed like Danielle was having a great time. Of course, that is what she wanted him to think. She would always talk about her booming business and all of the ‘real’ friends she had made. In return, Henry would always talk about how thing were running smoothly at the palace other than the fact that everyone desperately missed her. Both of them thought they were doing right in lying to each other, but they were doing the antithesis.
To tell the truth, things at the palace were a lot worse than Henry would even let himself believe. Danielle had always added a bit of cheer to a cheerless place. Now all he had, was the occasional visit from Jacqueline and Charles. And, there was always Marguerite.
She never seemed to know when to go away. She would stand around court all day just waiting for a glimpse of Henry. Once she saw him, she would attack him like a lion would his prey. She would almost talk him to death. He did his best to avoid her, but sometimes it was nearly impossible. To make matters worse, rumors were growing like wild flowers that him and Marguerite were to be married. That thought disgusted him more than anything else did.
Eventually, someone who he almost had forgotten rescued Henry. Auguste came home from his trip. He had not heard how Danielle faired the blow, and he was afraid to find out. His original short trip grew to be the size of two and a half months. Finally, when curiosity got the better of him he came out of hiding and headed straight for the palace where Henry met him eagerly.
“I must say Auguste that your absence was for far too long. A great deal has happened in the time since you have left, and I fear that it will upset you.”
Auguste, doing his best to play dumb, responded, “I think the only thing that would upset me is if you had run off with that stepdaughter of mine, Marguerite.” Here he pauses, “You have not done so have you?” Henry shakes his head and opens his mouth to speak, but Auguste cuts him off. “Now then, where is your sister? I have brought back a book for her.”
Henry takes in a gulp of air, “That, I am afraid, is what I wish to talk to you about.”