The Secret Diary of a Princess a novel of Marie Antoinette (37 page)

Finally there was a shout ahead and my carriage came to a juddering halt in a small clearing just inside the forest that surrounds the château. I looked in terror at Madame de Noailles as she pulled down the window and leaned out to see what was happening. 'Is it him?' I asked rather stupidly, placing my gloved hand against my fluttering heart. 'Is it really him?' I could hear the sound of shouts and good humoured laughter nearby as she conversed in rapid French with someone just out of sight.

She pulled her head back in again with a look of ill concealed annoyance. 'No, it is Monsieur le Duc de Choiseul,' she said with a
 
haughty sniff. 'He has ridden ahead to greet you.' The carriage door was pulled open and I was helped down, my feet in their delicate pink shoes squishing slightly into the mulch that covered the forest floor.

'Madame la Dauphine.' A tall man with a round, very pock marked face stepped forward and knelt with much solemnity at my feet, seeming not to care about the well being of the splendid blue velvet suit that he wore with a careless grace. 'I selfishly craved the honour of being first to welcome you,' he said with a charming smile that made his battered face almost handsome again.

I remembered all that I had been told by Mama and my Abbé about Choiseul and how he had worked hard to secure the marriage between the Dauphin and me. I also recalled all the small kindnesses like the hairdresser that he had sent to Vienna. Here at last was someone that I could trust and who, it seemed, had only my best interests at heart. 'Monsieur, I shall never forget that you are responsible for my happiness,' I said, keen to reward him for his efforts.

The Duc grinned up at me like a fellow conspirator before adding with all the smoothness of a polished courtier: 'And that of France, Madame.' He offered me his arm and walked me back to my carriage, patting my hand in the most avuncular manner. 'I am so pleased to see you here at last,' he said with a smile. 'You are every bit as charming as I expected. More so in fact. I hear that you conquered the hearts of all who saw you.'
 

I blushed and smiled up at Choiseul from beneath my lashes. 'I am glad that the people are pleased by me. It was a long journey, Monsieur, but I got here in the end.'

Again we exchanged that smile and he bent to kiss my hand. 'And that is all that matters, Your Highness.' He pulled open the door to my carriage and handed me up inside himself, shaking his head and smiling at the footman who stepped forward to offer his services. 'The royal family are waiting in a clearing nearby.' He gave me a quizzical look. 'Are you ready?'

I took a deep breath and smiled my most dazzling smile. 'Yes.' I settled back against the luxurious seat and nodded to him as the coach pulled away. This was it. This was the moment.
 

14
th
May, even later.

I felt utterly panic stricken as the carriage rolled through the forest although a small detached part of my mind was still able to notice and admire the way that the sunlight filtered softly through the green boughs overhead and dappled on to the trunks of the trees that surrounded us. It was truly a beautiful day, the perfect day in fact upon which to meet your one true love.

I pulled down the window and deeply breathed in the fresh, sweetly scented air, trying my best to calm my fearful nerves and regain my composure. 'It is rather chilly,' Madame de Noailles observed pointedly but I ignored her, enjoying the soft breeze upon my hot cheeks, the soft whisper of the trees, the luminous light.

It did not take long for the carriage to arrive at the clearing where the royal party awaited us and I cannot describe the emotions that I felt as we slowed down and then came to a halt amidst the peals of a triumphant fanfare. My door was pulled open and I had mere seconds left to anxiously pat my hair and waft my painted fan in front of my hot cheeks before the Duc de Choiseul appeared again, offering me his hand with a kindly smile. 'Come,' he said. 'It is time.'

I gave him my hand and stepped gracefully from the carriage, my eyes first shyly fixed to the ground then raised irresistibly to the two male figures, one tall and gleaming with diamonds and the other smaller and more awkwardly postured who stood a small distance away in front of a splendid red and gold carriage. I turned and looked enquiringly at the Duc and he gave a small nod. 'His Majesty,' he murmured.

I could wait no longer and so raised my skirts above my ankles so that the ruffled silk petticoats rustled prettily and ran towards them before sinking to my knees before the taller of the two men. 'Your Majesty,' I said, slightly breathless after my exertions as it is no mean feat to run in whalebone corsetry. 'Sire.' I looked up into his face, taking in the amused dark eyes that he had doubtless inherited from his spitfire Italian mother, his decisive chin and sensual mouth, which now smiled down upon me. 'Grandpapa.'

The charming, rather sad smile wavered a little but remained intact. 'My dear child,' he murmured raising me up then with soft hands that smelled sweetly of jasmine and lavender. 'I am so pleased that you are here with us at last.' He looked me up and down and then, clearly liking what he saw, leaned forward and kissed me soundly upon each cheek. 'Your youth and beauty will bring the Spring to our court,' he said, his words echoing those of Cardinal Rohan.

He stepped aside then and with a faint look of irritation beckoned forward the second figure who had retreated behind him. 'May I have the honour of presenting my grandson, Monsieur le Dauphin?'
 

This then was my husband. I blushed and took a deep breath before raising my eyes and looking directly at the boy that I had been daydreaming about virtually every day since I first learned that I was to be his wife. What I beheld was a tall, rather overweight, blue eyed youth with a blank air and eyebrows so thick that they met over his rather big nose. My first thought was '
Oh, he doesn't look at all like his portraits
' followed swiftly by '
He isn't at all handsome
' with '
Oh well, he could be a lot worse and at least he looks kind
' swift on its heels.
 

I hid my disappointment well and smiled at him kindly as he stepped reluctantly forward and pecked the air beside my cheek as quickly as he could while all the witnesses laughed and applauded. He mumbled something that I could not quite make out but which I assumed was some rehearsed speech about how pleased he was to meet me finally and then retreated back into his grandfather's shadow again. He looked desperately unhappy and as I looked at him I felt my heart sink into my pretty shoes for he was clearly just as disappointed as I was. Only, how could this be when everyone else thought that I was so pretty and dainty?

'My dear granddaughter.' I turned thankfully to King Louis, flushing a little with embarrassment as I met his eyes, which looked at me with such kindness and understanding. Of course he could not apologise to me for his grandson's peculiar behaviour but he could, and did, do his best to mitigate it by putting my hand on his crimson velvet arm, patting it gently and then leading me away, all the while showering me with the most ridiculous compliments and calling me his 'very own beloved daughter' which made me feel quite giddy.

He led me to a trio of over dressed older ladies who stood beside an ornate blue and gold carriage. I had barely noticed them at first but now they were practically hopping up and down, demanding attention. 'May I present my daughters?' the King said, again with that air of melancholy irritation.

I exchanged curtsies with the princesses and remembered Wolferl Mozart's condemnation of the French princesses as being much less pretty than those of Austria. He was right. Madame Adélaïde, the eldest was tall, sallow skinned, rather grubby and dressed in a magnificent gown of diamond spangled raspberry pink silk that would have looked wonderful on a girl of my age but seemed faintly ridiculous on a woman of almost forty. Madame Victoire, the next in age, was extremely fat with thick black eyebrows like her nephew and a rather stupid expression on what might once have been a pretty face while Madame Sophie, the youngest, was as thin as Victoire was portly and tried her best to hide her plainness beneath thick layers of powder and rouge.
 

'You are very welcome,' Adélaïde said with a bold look that swept from my head to my toes and then back again. 'How pretty you are.' She sounded surprised. Perhaps they expected my portraits to lie as much as those of the Dauphin?
 

 
14
th
May, even later.

After a brief turn about the clearing, the King escorted me to his own magnificent carriage and handed me up inside by himself,
 
giving my hand one last graceful kiss as I settled myself inside beside the Dauphin, who did not look at me at all but instead preferred to stare out of the window at the trees.

'I am missing some excellent hunting today,' he remarked after a moment, still without looking at me.

'Oh.' I did not know what to say to this. 'I am very sorry.'

Any further conversation was halted by the arrival of the King, who briskly climbed into the carriage and sat opposite us, smiling benevolently upon myself and then, rather less so, upon his grandson. 'Louis!' he said sharply as the carriage moved off. 'Are you not pleased to have such a delightful bride?'

The Dauphin slowly removed his gaze from the trees and rather sleepily looked across at his grandfather. 'Of course,
grandpère
.' He looked out of the window again and seemed to move just a little bit further away from me as though even my voluminous yellow silk skirts could contaminate him in some frightful way.

A look of chagrin crossed the King's handsome face but was so swiftly suppressed so that I could not be quite sure that I had even noticed anything amiss. It seemed to me that the King had long been accustomed to quickly hiding his inner most thoughts and feelings from his companions and felt suddenly rather sorry for him. The Abbé had told me that an already orphaned King Louis had succeeded to the throne of France at the age of five and looking across at him now I thought how awful it must have been for him to have his childhood curtailed so prematurely.
 

'We will rest at Compiègne tonight as I wish you to meet more of our family and then tomorrow we will travel on to my château of La Muette. I am very fond of it and hope that you will be comfortable there. It is the tradition that all French royal brides spend the night before their wedding day at La Muette.' When he smiled at me I forgot all about the sulking, silent boy at my side and instead gave myself up to basking in the King's evident approval.

It was not long before we came out of the trees and arrived at Compiègne, a beautiful château in the classical style that reminded me a little of my beloved Schönbrunn. 'Oh, how lovely!' I exclaimed as we drove up to the gates, remembering just in time that King Louis himself had remodeled this château and was extremely proud of it.

He grinned then and pulled down the window, the better to appreciate the splendid view, my first of the palaces that I would now inhabit as a member of the French royal family. 'I like to think of this as my monument to posterity.'

'Then they will surely remember you as the creator of something of great beauty,' I immediately replied, earning myself another smile while beside me the Dauphin shifted uneasily and I thought, rather disapprovingly.

We came to a halt in the courtyard and immediately two liveried footmen ran forward to let down the steps and pull open the door. The King stepped down first and held out his hand to assist me, which I gratefully took, pausing for a second on the top step to look around and appreciate my beautiful surroundings, the rows of tall windows and elegant columned portico.

'Welcome to Compiègne,' King Louis said with a proud flourish, tucking my hand under his arm and leading me into the château, leaving the Dauphin trailing miserably behind us. I looked over my shoulder at him once but then quickly turned my eyes elsewhere when for a brief instant he looked up and met my gaze, his blue eyes curiously apathetic.

I was led up a wonderful staircase lined with courtiers who looked at me curiously as they bowed their heads in reverence and then through a series of beautiful light filled rooms to a large blue and gold
salon
which was filled with splendidly dressed people, all of whom abruptly cut short their conversations and stared at us as we were announced then walked into the room.

'May I present my new daughter, Madame la Dauphine,' the King said with an almost fatherly touch of pride in his voice.
 

I smiled and curtsied, shyly looking around the gorgeous candlelit room at their faces, some were smiling and friendly but most were rather stern. 'I am very pleased to meet you all.' The King led me between them, personally introducing me to each and every member of my new family. Thanks to Abbé Vermond I already knew the names of most of the people present but there was a vast difference between my lessons in Vienna and actually standing in front of them all, struggling to link names to faces as Condés and Contis passed before my dazzled eyes, all splendidly dressed and reeking of musk and jasmine with haughty Bourbon faces and highly polished manners.
 

Standing a little apart was the Duc de Chartres, a handsome energetic young man in his early twenties who was heir to the powerful Duc d'Orléans. I had been told all about him by my Abbé and knew that he was highly intelligent, capricious, cultured, bad tempered, vengeful and utterly untrustworthy. I determined to charm him but could tell by the rather disdainful curl of his lip as he regarded me that it would be a struggle to convince him that I was anything other than a foolish
ingénue
. At his side stood his pretty little wife of one year, her wide grey eyes gazing adoringly up into his face and both tiny hands clasped possessively around his blue silk arm. Exquisite, glittering, rose scented Madame de Chartres was the daughter of one of Louis XIV's bastards by Athénaïs de Montespan and was said to be the wealthiest heiress in all France with a dowry of six million livres, a frankly incredible sum of money. She didn't have much to say for herself beyond tittering at all of her husband's jokes and agreeing enthusiastically with every single word that he uttered.