offended her host. ‘But it is such a shame that her face was marked. She was such a beauty before that terrible attack. Still, we should be grateful for small mercies, should we not? At least her hands are undamaged. It would have been a sin, had she not been able to continue designing. My husband assures me that Mademoiselle Aimée is the most talented designer he has ever come across, and he has great plans for her future.’
Josephine smiled. ‘I will agree that Amy is talented. But what will happen if children come along? She may wish to devote her time to them then.’
The woman waved her hand dismissively. ‘Non, non, if this should happen, François would employ a nurse to care for them. In Paris, women of standing do not take on the menial tasks of caring for their enfants.’
‘I see.’ Josephine was concerned. ‘And what about whilst they are tiny and need their mother’s milk?’
‘We employ une nourrice … how do you say? The wet-nurse, who will come in to feed the enfant whenever necessary.’
‘Oh.’ Josephine was horrified as she thought back to when her own two infants had been born. She had treasured every moment she spent with them, and although she had had a nanny for them to see to the more menial tasks like washing and ironing their clothes, she had fed them herself and spent as much time as she could with them. Still, she decided that Amy would decide what she wanted, if and when that day came, and could see no point in upsetting Madame Laroque by airing her own personal views on the subject.
Outside on the lawn, Amy and François were heading for the new house. She was excited at the prospect of showing him their home and could hardly wait to see if he approved of her choice of furnishings.
They skirted the woods, and there it was before them. Amy held her breath as she waited for his first reaction. When it finally came it was not quite what she had hoped for.
‘It is somewhat small, is it not?’ he commented musingly.
Seeing as it was much larger than the whole row of cottages that she had been brought up in, Amy could not agree with him. ‘It’s very spacious inside,’ she assured him. ‘There are five bedrooms as well as the servants’ quarters upstairs, and the kitchen is huge. There is also a study where we can both work and a drawing room and a dining room. I’m sure you will be surprised when we get inside. Nancy and I thought we might christen it Treetops – what do you think?’
François shrugged indifferently and once in the hallway, stood with his hands folded behind his back as he looked around critically. ‘It is, as I thought on first glance, quite small compared to the residences I am used to living in,’ he said. ‘But then we shall be spending the majority of our time living in Paris, so I am sure we will manage very well for the time we are here.’
‘But … I thought we had agreed to spend the majority of the time here.’ Colour had flamed into Amy’s cheeks and he saw that she was not pleased. Not wishing to cause a row before their wedding, he smiled at her charmingly.
‘Let us not quarrel, ma petite. First we shall be married and then we shall worry about trivialities.’
‘But where I live isn’t a triviality, François.’ There was a determined glint in her eye that he had never seen before, and he realised that she had more spirit than he had given her credit for. He had assumed that Amy would be easy to manipulate but now he wasn’t so sure.
‘I have to think of my gran,’ she went on. ‘She is an old lady now, and once she is living here the only person she will have for company when I am absent is Nancy.’
François kept his smile fixed firmly in place although he was beginning to get annoyed. It was bad enough that he had been forced to agree to Molly living with them. Now it seemed she would dictate their comings and goings. Still, he consoled himself. There was an easy way around that problem. Once they were married, Amy could stay here with her gran if she so wished and he would come and go to Paris as he pleased.
Taking her into his arms he slowly kissed her lips for the first time