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Chapter 1

Paris, France, 1788

Sophie dipped the goose-quill pen into the ink and her cursive writing flowed over the linen paper She had recently cut the nib of the quill pen with a sharp penknife and it noorked nicely—her previous pen had become worn and had not been of much use Now sheit up with her thoughts

She felt a fierce headache building in her terandmother, who treated her like a ard child, and her father, who As her rand-randdaughter

However, Sophie was anything but traditional She saw the world as a fluid,and she wanted very e She wanted to be judged less by her gender and ence Sophie knew her grandrown up with him, she had no desire for him He was very quiet and subdued and not interested in the world around them She wanted an equality of mind and spirit with the man she would eventually marry

Dipping her pen into the ink well, she hts becae those who read thee those around her

Eugenie watched her sondown to face her She knew that he detested this sort of discussion but she could put it off no longer

“Jean Pierre,” she began

“Yes, Mother?” he returned

She could hear that his voice was strained and she winced She did not want to cause hihter must be dealt with

“Son,” she began again, and this time he looked up

This tiaze “What is it, Mother?”

Eugenie knew that she owed much to her son Her husband had died shortly before Sophie was born and she had joined his household to help hi a very difficult childbirth and it had been too much for Jean Pierre As a lawyer in Paris, he did well for himself and was able to provide a cohter

She had relished the role of grandiven birth to three sons and saw only one survive childhood But Sophie had been a gifted girl who had enjoyed an education as well as the arts her grandmother made certain she excelled at Sophie had blossomed into a beauty with dark auburn hair and hazel eyes that reminded Jean Pierre of his lost wife, Danielle

As the only child, Sophie had a certain aenie had e that while she would let Sophie indulge in books and reading, when the time came, she would marry and be a proper Parisian wife

Sophie had been introduced at all the proper parties and caught the eye of ible men, but none had captured her heart So at 24 years old, Sophie Gauvreau re and unacceptable

“We enie spoke quietly

Jean Pierre sighed “Must we? Well, if we must”

“Yes, Jean Pierre, we must I have been lenient with her and you have been as well She runs wild!” Eugenie said, exaggerating a little

“Wild?” He raised an eyebrow at his mother

“Well, not exactly wild But very free,” she conceded