The Nymph of Versailles

Chapter 12

Athénaïs chewed on her bottom lip. "Whatever dresses we have made need to be loose, but still flattering. Nothing too expensive. I don't want to have to beg the king for more money."

"We'll call it a robe battante. If designed right your pregnancy won't show. We'll have the dresses made now before you are showing too much. Then the seamstress won't have anything to blab about. Try to relax while I'm gone. Panicking will get us nowhere."

Athénaïs glowered, annoyed her sister didn't feel the panic and fear she felt. "Don't you have any other ideas?" She'd been counting on her sister coming to her rescue. Gabrielle had never been one for theatrics, instead preferring well-thought action.

"I need time to think. We'll come up with something, but for now let's focus on the new dresses. You'll find a way to win the king over and everything will be fine. Don't lose your head worrying." With a wave she walked out with calm, even steps.

In the silence of her sister's absence, Athénaïs sat and stared at her dress. Would the king come around in time and find a way to recognize the child and protect them from Montespan? Or would she be on her own like Louise had been? Her gaze darted to Louise's Bible. She reached for it and flipped through its bookmarked pages, all containing passages condemning adultery. She shut the book with a snap and put it back.

"Too eager to martyr yourself," she grumbled. Instead of confronting the fact that she couldn't please the king, Louise kept swearing her current position was punishment for her sins. Couldn't face her own inadequacy, Athénaïs mused. Or the fact that the king's rejection and whims held no divine meaning.

Within an hour Gabrielle reappeared with a seamstress in tow. Louise snuck in and watched in silence as Athénaïs discussed her new dresses in detail with her sister and the seamstress.

"Are you sure you want chiffron?" The seamstress asked as she marked Athénaïs's waist measurements down.

"Yes. I want a loose dress, especially in the front. I want it to be comfortable. The king has such a large appetite at dinner and I find myself bloating when I overeat. Some of my current dresses are too painful." His appetite and large meals were well known at court. He could eat more than Athénaïs had ever seen another man manage. Plus it was considered bad manners to turn down any food personally offered by the king, giving her a believable cover story.

The seamstress's head bobbed along to Athénaïs's words as she finished up by measuring her bust. They discussed colors and patterns for another twenty minutes before the seamstress left with a promise of having a new dress finished within days.

Louise didn't speak until Gabrielle left with a promise to see her sister at dinner. "Are you pregnant?"

Athénaïs stiffened. "What makes you think that?"

"You're having new dresses made that will hide your stomach. I'm well aware of how often Louis visits you. A pregnancy was only a matter of time." Her face turned wistful and she stared past Athénaïs. "Sometimes he still has me before he goes to you. Not often, but I wonder if I might have another child by him yet."

"I don't want to hear about the king visiting you." Athénaïs puffed up. She tried to talk him out of making her and Louise stay in adjoining rooms when they came to Paris, but he insisted on it.

"But I'll have to let him visit me more often once you're pregnant and can't keep up with him. He'll come to me for gratification. And maybe..." She sighed and wrapped her arms around her middle. "He keeps me here for a reason. I think he still loves me."

Athénaïs's heart clenched. Love would explain why he was so eager to keep Louise around as a shield. If anything Athénaïs thought he enjoyed having two women at his beck and call. "Doesn't it bother you that he keeps us both around and expects us to play nice?" She twisted the fabric of her dress as she considered the king's motives. With the seed of doubt over his love sown, she felt less unsure of him being able to keep her husband at bay. Maybe he didn't love her and merely desired her body as he wished it. "How could he love us both?" Her throat tightened and her voice cracked.

"He is king and as such gets whatever he wants. Why shouldn't a great king be allowed to love more than one woman? We aren't the only ones he visits. He has servants in bed whenever he wishes. Last month he took one of your maids. The sin of lust will be his downfall. I know it's not my place to question him. If I wish to stay in his good graces I won't protest his wishes even if it means enduring his presence in your bed." Louise reached for her Bible and held it in her arms as though drawing comfort from it. "Being king comes with great temptation. I believe Louis would be a more righteous man if he hadn't been born king. Worldly pleasure is hard to resist and he has plenty around him. We should steer him back to the right path. A more righteous one."

"I care not for steering the king to a more religious path. If he were as righteous a man as you dream of, he would have no use for either of us. Is it true you gave birth to your first child in secret?" Would she be forced to also?

Louise looked away with a sheepish expression, as though the idea of the king tossing them both aside had never occurred to her. "Yes, but It wasn't as bad as the time I gave birth in my room connected to the corridor Madame and her ladies passed through on their way to Mass. I pretended to be ill and had to have the babe spirited away before anyone saw it."

She'd heard the rumors before, but to think Louis forced her into such secrecy. If he loved them, why didn't he fight harder for their happiness and comfort? Or was he too far removed as king and unable to see the pain women endured through his bubble of pleasure? Every day he was surrounded by people who saw to his every need and desire. He knew of no other life. "Enough depressing talk. I'm heading to Louis's room. There should be a few games going and I want to gamble at some basset."

"Are you going to tell Louis your pregnant?" She clutched the bible to her chest.

"Not tonight. Soon." Once she figured out a way to breach the topic. A child could soften him to the idea of getting rid of her husband permanently if she played her cards right. "He's agreed to build the fountain I designed."

"He showed me the design." Louise picked at a stray thread on her sleeve. "If you're going to Louis's rooms I want to come. He's going to need me once you get too large."

Her nostrils flared. "If you're scheming to use my pregnancy in your favor don't bother. My maid can see to the king when I'm indisposed. Or my sister." She'd rather have those she trusted or saw as non-threats in his bed. She wasn't so naïve as to think she could convince the king to quit bedding other woman, but she could try to influence those who made it into his bed. Keep her enemies out. As much as she hated thinking about it, she needed to try every possible tactic to retain her place.

Louise stood up, ignoring the comments. "Let's walk together. The king likes it when we appear as friends."

"Fine." In public she had no choice but to appear cordial with Louise or the king would reprimand her. At least when they walked into the king's room it was Athénaïs the king's gaze fell and lingered on, not Louise. The pregnancy would be a small bump, a risk she would take for him. She wouldn't show the court her fear over what might come. If her husband appeared at court, she'd be doomed. Everything she worked so hard for would crumble around her while Louise danced over her downfall.