THE QUEEN’S DOLLMAKER
CHRISTINE TRENT
KENSINGTON BOOKS
For my husband, Jon,
for loving, coaching, and encouraging me
through this book
…but most of all for believing in me
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
No book is written in solitary, and I think I needed more than my share of help. First, I’d like to express my gratitude to the team at Kensington Publishing: from Audrey LaFehr, editor extraordinaire, who decided to take a chance on a fledgling writer; to her wonderfully helpful assistant, Martin Biro; and to my copy editor, Tory Groshong, who has an eagle eye for mistakes and really shaped up my prose. I’m very lucky to be in such professional company.
The pundits say you should never let your mother edit your work. Those folks never had my mother cheerfully poring over their manuscripts night and day. Thanks, Mom! My thanks also to Diane Townsend and Carolyn McHugh for graciously reading and correcting my manuscript many more times than I deserved. All three of these wonderful women were my champions throughout my entire journey to publication.
I have the best husband in the entire world. Jon’s unflagging enthusiasm for my efforts is nearly beyond this writer’s ability to describe. He helped me think through plotlines, built me a small writing nook in our home, and let me purchase as many research books as would fit in our library. I’m pretty sure I don’t deserve him.
I also extend my appreciation to British historical romance author Rosalind Laker, who gave me the first inspiration to write my own book. Rosalind, you taught me that to write about historical events is truly “to dance with kings.”
Finally, I would like to give humble thanks to my Lord and King. We creatures may nourish, develop, and hone our talents, but we are blessed with them to begin with from our Creator. I am astonished every day that He chose to bless me in this way.
Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
EPILOGUE
AFTERWORD
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
A READING GROUP GUIDE
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
PROLOGUE
Paris, 1765. Five-year-old Claudette Laurent raced down the street from her father’s doll shop to knock on the door of Charles and Michelle Renaud.
“Madame Renaud!” she exclaimed when the door was opened. “Is Jean-Philippe here? Papa is taking us to see the Dauphine. Can Jean-Philippe go along?”
Claudette’s best friend, barely a year older than she at age six, popped his dark head around his mother’s skirt.
“Claudette?”
Claudette reached out to grab his hand. “Come, Jean-Philippe, we’re going to see the Dauphine!”
“What’s a Dauphine?”
“Papa says she’s a princesse who is coming from a faraway land to marry the king’s grandson. One day, when the king dies, they will become the king and queen.”
Jean-Philippe’s eyes were round. “Is the king going to die soon?”
Claudette frowned. “Papa didn’t say. But come, Mama and Papa are waiting.”
Étienne and Adélaide Laurent, along with their young daughter and her friend, lined the dusty street of St. Denis along with hundreds of other French citizens. The day was unseasonably hot, but the expectant crowd was in high spirits. Some of the crowd was also in high smell, from both the heat and being unwashed, and combined with the odor of various animals roaming the streets it bordered on noxious. Standing in close confinement with so many other people gave the inquisitive Claudette an opportunity to listen to plenty of gossip and hearsay, most of which she couldn’t understand. She overheard two women talking nearby about the new Dauphine.
“I hear one of the king’s four daughters entered the Carmelite nunnery here, and that’s why they’re visiting here on their way to Versailles.”
The other woman nodded. “Poor thing will have a time of it. She’s but a child, and undoubtedly old Louis will send her Austrian entourage back right away. She won’t have a soul for a friend.”
The first woman elbowed her friend. “Better a peasant than a princesse, eh?”
“Hah! Better to drink imported bourbon than to be in the House of Bourbon.”
The women laughed uproariously at their own jokes.
Claudette was still puzzled by part of their conversation. She pulled on her father’s sleeve. “Papa, what is the Dauphine’s entourage?”
“Eh? Oh, an entourage is a group of other people that surround the Dauphine, either as advisors or servants. Some of them will be French, and some from her native land.”
“Does she have friends in her entourage?”
“Well, the people that have come with her from Austria might be her friends, particularly her personal maids. Most members of the entourage, though, have either their own motives, or are under strict orders of the king to watch the Dauphine’s every move.”
Claudette was puzzled. “What is a motive, Papa?”
Étienne patted his daughter’s head. “Never mind. Keep watch for the Dauphine.”
Many children, Claudette and Jean-Philippe included, held flowers at the ready for strewing in front of the Dauphine’s carriage. After several hours of waiting, the crowd could see the stirring-up