"No. One certainly should not ... until one knows all the circumstances - and it is rare for one person to know all about another. Now for the grand occasion. Rollo has put me in charge of it. He is going to make an announcement about you and tell them that you are leaving for Paris. You will probably find one or two people who will want to make definite appointments with you to paint miniatures for them."
"It is a great opportunity, of course. My father..."
"You need not worry about your father. If you are anxious about him, the Baron will send someone back to England with him to look after him during the journey."
"Would he do that?" I asked.
'But of course."
"I am overwhelmed by all this kindness."
"When the Baron takes action he is a rather overwhelming man. What do you propose to wear for the occasion?"
"I don't know. I haven't many clothes with me and
nothing in any case which would match up to these smart French society women. I suppose my green velvet will have to do."
"Your green velvet is very becoming. Would you let my maid come along and do your hair?"
"That is kind. I know mine is invariably untidy."
"You have beautiful hair and it is worth a little attention."
She smiled at me serenely. I could not help liking Nicole. I Should have loved to talk to her and ask her how she felt about this extraordinary situation. Here she was, like the mistress of the house, : and accepted as such, when all the time her lover was making no secret of the fact that he was soon to
be married to someone else.
~~~~~~~~~
The great day came. I was very excited and so was my father. Nicole's maid came to dress my hair and it was amazing what she did to me. She brought me a comb with Green stones in it, the colour of my dress, and when it was
fixed in my hair, I thought I looked like a different person not unworthy to mix with the soignée guests below. But perhaps that feeling would change when I moved among them as it used to even at the Farringdon Manor gatherings,
one's appearance seemed to be able to undergo a great change between the bedroom mirror and the eyes of the other guests.
However, I had little time to think of my appearance. Everyone was admiring the miniature and calling attention to its excellence as they discovered something fresh which
appealed to them.
The Baron took my hand and led me up to a dais. We mounted the few steps and I stood there with him on one side of me, my father on the other.
He then explained briefly my father's affection and the fact that I had painted the miniature.
They seemed to have no doubt that I was a great artist. There I was So young and talented. He was certain that before the end of my life I was going to be the greatest Collison of them all.
People came up to congratulate me. I had to promise on the spot that as soon as I was free I would go to the house of Madame Dupont to paint her two daughters. It was a definite commission. A Monsieur Villefranche made me
promise to come and paint his wife.
It was triumph such as my father and I had never dreamed of.
The Baron was smiling with a faintly proprietorial air. He was obviously delighted with the reaction of his guests. When the musicians began to play a waltz, he seized me and swept me off my feet.
"Do you dance as well as you paint, Mademoiselle Collison?" he asked. He was smiling. Here was a new aspect of him. He was really quite pleased by my success. I had not thought him cápable of feeling pleasure for other people, but I supposed that as a lover of art he was so delighted with the
miniature and there was also a good deal of gratification because he had been aware of the deception from the beginning.
I tried to keep up with him but his dancing was a trifle erratic. He had a trick of lifting me off my feet so that I felt as though I were flying through the air.
"A successful evening, eh?" he said. "The start of a great career. My blessings on you."
"I have to thank you," I said.
"We are friends at last. Is that not charming?"
I said it was.
The dance came to an end. He released me and a short time after I saw him dancing with Nicole.
Many people sought my company that night. It was my time of triumph, and I was young and inexperienced enough to enjoy every moment of it. For me it was over all too soon.
~~~
The following day could not be anything else but an anticlimax. My father and I were to leave Centeville on the day after. My father would go home. The Baron had insisted that one of his men should accompany him. I was to be taken to
the home of the Princesse where I should begin on my miniature. After that I could decide when I wished to execute the several commissions which had been offered to me, and I could plan my life from there.
I spent the morning packing and then took a walk round the grounds. I was joined by Bertrand who said that the Baron was out riding with Nicole and he thought he would be away until evening. On his return he wished to have an interview with Bertrand.
"It is coming now,' he said. I am to be given my orders. I think he probably waited until the miniature was completed before giving them to me."
"Perhaps he merely wants to say goodbye. You will be leaving soon, won't you?"
"I plan to travel to Paris with you and your father." said Bertrand.
"That will be very pleasant for us.'
"I understand someone will be accompanying your father to England."
"That is what I have been told."
"Then you will have nothing to worry about. How do you feel about going to the Princesse?"
"Do you mean, do I feel nervous? The answer is no... not after what happened. The Baron has really done a great deal for me."
Bertrand nodded. "We will meet when you are in Paris."
"That will be very nice."
"You didn't think I would let you slip away, did you?" He looked at me earnestly. "Kate, when you have finished this commission you must come and stay with my mother, She wants to meet you.
"I should like that very much. I'll look forward to it."
"Kate..." He hesitated.
"Yes?"
"There is something I have to say to you."
"Well, I'm listening."
"I... er. . ." He paused. "I think I hear sounds of arrival.
It may be Rollo is coming back already. He'll probably be wanting to see me. He must have changed his plans .... I wonder what my orders will be. Perhaps we can talk it over later.
"All right then... later."
"Au revoir, Kate."
He was smiling at me in a rather bemused way. I guessed what he had intended asking me. It must surely be that he wanted to marry me. I felt a certain pleasure at the prospect.