Northwest side of the Palace of Versailles.
In the music room of the Petit Trianon Palace, Queen Mary signaled the musicians to pause and turned her head to look at a court official standing by, frowning as she asked,
"Are you sure you heard correctly?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was having a carriage prepared at that time. By now, he and Princess Maria should have already left the Palace of Versailles."
Queen Mary became somewhat anxious—this official was in charge of looking after the princesses of the Two Sicilies. He had just reported that the Crown Prince intended to take Princess Maria to Paris for leisure.
If Clementine doesn't arrive in Paris soon, my son's heart may well be captured by that Italian girl!
The Queen sighed, "My poor niece, your luck is really too bad." Originally, Clementine had left very early with plans to first take a ship to Marseille and then proceed to Paris.
