For Celine, the day following their arrival was a day marked by consternation.
A day marked by the choices of others.
More than anything, she did not want the sisters to place her as a teacher. It was such a vaunted position, with so much responsibility. Celine had never been an appropriate role model. She laughed too loudly at bawdy jokes and enjoyed eating at social events at which girls were to be seen rather than sated. She’d never understood the notion. Turn her back on a pain au chocolat? Sacrilege.
But all too expected.
For these reasons, Celine was relieved to learn that Catherine had been a governess for a family of four in Liverpool. The spectacled young woman smiled when told she would essentially be resuming her duties.
Celine would not have minded being placed in the hospital, but Pippa informed her that Marta and Maria had assisted a midwife in Düsseldorf; thusly, they were recruited there along with Antonia, who was an expert in herbs and other natural remedies.
Soon Pippa, Anabel, and Celine found themselves in a shared predicament. All three girls proved difficult to place within the whitewashed walls, as their respective interests did not naturally segue into life at the convent. Anabel possessed a head for figures and a knack for business, neither of which was a quality to admire in a young woman.
Pippa had studied art history most of her life and was an accomplished violinist and painter, but the school already had a teacher specializing in the arts.
Though no one could deny that Celine’s work with ruched silk and delicate Alençon lace was unmatched, it did her no favors here. Knowing how to design gowns for the Parisian elite was not exactly high on the list of achievements at a convent.
Which was why Pippa, Anabel, and Celine were sitting in the shade of Saint Louis Cathedral a week after their arrival, peddling their wares beneath a lace of oak leaves in Jackson Square. Despite the lovely warm day, Celine could not help but feel forlorn. Every place she went, life insisted on confining her.
Perhaps she deserved it. Her sins were many, her pardons few.
On the corner of the square farthest from Celine, beignets were being served alongside steaming cups of café au lait, the scent an intoxicating mixture of butter, sugar, and chicory. At her left, the cathedral’s spires rose into a blue sky offset by the kind of clouds Celine most loved, for they resembled chiffon. To her right sat a row of artists and traders and purveyors of mystical goods, their merchandise positioned along the tines of black iron enclosing the cathedral’s courtyard.
Celine wanted to stroll the lanes and peruse their many offerings. Take in the city’s sights and relish this newfound chance at life. But—as she’d come to realize in the past week—the things she wanted and the things expected of her were like oil and water in a baker’s mixing bowl.
The day the other girls were placed in their respective positions, Pippa, Celine, and Anabel had been instructed to raise money for the expansion of the parish orphanage. They’d devoted the following week to its preparation.
Pippa had painted delicate teacups with religious vignettes, like the time Jesus had turned water to wine or fed a crowd of thousands with nothing but seven loaves and fishes. Anabel had designed their booth and devised the best way to attract people to it. And Celine had embellished small squares of pressed linen with a scalloped edging that mimicked the finest needlepoint lace.
Since their arrival in port last week, none of them had been permitted to attend a parade. Instead, every night—once they’d completed their designated tasks—they were directed to read vespers aloud to each other before retiring to their cells.
Yes. Their rooms were called cells. It was the reason Celine had stitched a cheeky set of letters into the edging of each handkerchief she’d fashioned.
GTTAN
A nod to her favorite Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet.
“Get thee to a nunnery.”
Celine studied the five letters of script hidden in the complicated swirls of lace, a flicker of joy warming through her. Then she glanced across the rickety wooden table, her heart growing heavier with each passing second.
Was this all she could expect of life?
Her features hardened. Celine sat up straight, the whalebone of her corset catching her breath as it stretched across her chest. She should be grateful to be here. Grateful to have a place among decent people. Grateful for another chance at life.
Determination took root inside her. She smiled brightly to a potential patron, who failed to acknowledge her presence. Celine swallowed her looming scowl before shifting her attention to a pair of young women critiquing the glazing on a porcelain cup Pippa had completed days earlier.
“Lovely, don’t you think?” the girl on the left murmured to her friend.
The other girl glanced about distractedly. “It’s not bad, if you favor that sort of thing,” she drawled, tucking a strand of wayward brown hair beneath her straw hat. Her voice faded to a hush. “But did you hear what the dockworkers discovered at the pier yesterday morning?”
The first girl nodded once. “Richard told me. Her name was Nathalie or Noémie something-or-other.” Unease marred her expression. “He suspects the Court might be responsible, since it happened near their domain.”
Court? Celine wondered. As far as she knew, there had never been an American monarchy.
“Like an animal had mauled her!” The brunette shuddered. “Poor soul,” she tsked, though her eyes gleamed with unspoken thoughts, “left to rot in the sun alongside the day’s catch. If the Court had anything to do with it, they’ve become even more ruthless than before. Not that it matters. They’ll curry the right favor, as they always do.”
Despite Celine’s better judgment, her interest was piqued. She craned her neck toward the pair.
The brunette continued, her words breathless. “Did Richard tell you what happened to her head?”
“N-no.”
“I heard it was completely severed from the poor young woman’s body.”
The first girl gasped, a lace-gloved hand covering her mouth. “Dear Lord.”
With a solemn nod, the brunette picked up one of Celine’s embroidered handkerchiefs. “Her face was all but unrecognizable. Her father had to identify her based on her earbobs alone.”
At this, Pippa cleared her throat in an unmistakable attempt to dissuade the two women from continuing such salacious talk. A frown cut across Anabel’s face, her look turning peevish.
“Ladies, can we be of any assistance?” Celine offered the pair of young patrons a pointed smile.
The brunette’s eyes narrowed as she dropped the handkerchief with a careless flick of her wrist. “No, thank you.” She reached for her friend’s elbow, looping her arm around it, directing them away from the rickety table.