The Chevalier (Châteaux and Shadows) Read Online Free PDF Page A

male lover, the two of them helping run Jean-Louis’ furniture factory.
    “And now you wish to raise horses, and you need both land and gold.”
    Manu nodded again. He wanted to say his father could give him the small estate in Poitou, as Jean-Louis already had a manufactory and a rich wife. Manu had asked once before, and his father had been adamant that either his second son would get the property or his heir’s second son.
    “So I’ve been looking around at court, keeping my ears and eyes open for a young lady with a good dowry—enough to buy a farm, something good for horses.” Papa looked quite pleased with himself.
    Here it comes.
    “ Alors , I’ve whittled the list down a bit, made some inquiries with the girls’ fathers, and so on. Not everyone’s willing to marry off their girls to a fourth son of a mere baron with nothing but his family name, good looks, and a few horses. Most are looking to marry up, find someone with an independence their daughter’s dowry can add to instead of their daughter’s dowry being the only thing keeping her in fancy gowns. Some on my list are older girls, ones who haven’t found a husband after a few years. Others are third or fourth daughters. They’ve got a good dowry, but their fathers married off the older sisters and are short on candidates.”
    At Manu’s grimace, his father said, “I found girls who aren’t so ugly they hurt your eyes, of course. Can’t have a handsome boy like you married without attraction. And, what’s been harder, I’ve had to eliminate the bitter ones, the ones who would cause a fuss if you didn’t spend your life doting on them. The ones who would hold their dowry over your head.”
    The ones like his mother, then, who, by all reports, had already been unpleasant even before her father had a bastard with his wife’s companion: a young woman much like Mademoiselle de Fouet, without family, money, or connections. The bastard Michel was Aurore’s favorite brother, no matter what she said to all of her legitimate brothers. Michel had saved Aurore’s life twelve years before, even before their father acknowledged him. Manu always tried to not be jealous, especially because he himself had failed to follow orders in the battle to retake the château. Michel was Dom’s right-hand man in the training school. Manu liked Michel well enough. Michel’s wife and children, while not quite feeling like family, always welcomed him politely.
    Papa kept talking. “And so, well, the dowries themselves aren’t spectacular. But when you go up to court to see your mother, I’d like you to look the ladies over, introduce yourself to their fathers.”
    “Which ladies?” Manu asked, suspicious of the reply.
    “Oh, I’ve written them down, along with the names of their family members. You know, the uncles and aunts who can be relied on to put a good word in for you, if you impress them.”
    Manu unfolded the paper his father handed him. He scanned only a few lines, but the page was crowded with his father’s large, bold writing. Front and back. And there was a second page. His father had put a tremendous amount of effort into this. Manu was unworthy of this much attention. “I don’t know any of these people.” He thrust out the papers.
    His father didn’t take them. “You haven’t been at court since you were thirteen, mon fils. Not for any length of time, anyway. If there’s one thing I didn’t agree with Aurore and Dominique about, it was not getting you in with the right people. These… None of them are in your mother’s circle.”
    Memories of supreme loneliness welled up in Emmanuel. Having only a nanny with him for days on end, with an occasional appearance by his mother. Being allowed to play only with certain children. Sneaking out to borrow a horse, and the spanking being worth it.
    “Why did you not take me to court with you when I was older, then?”
    His father sighed. “Besides that you hated me? You said you didn’t want to