Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
. . . . .
( june 1832 )
"TELL ME AGAIN WHY we are doing the jobs of the kitchen maids?" Amélie questioned as she followed Corinne through the streets of Paris the following afternoon.
"It's called a favor, Amélie. Maybe next time, they'll make extra pain au chocolat for us," said Corinne with a good-humored roll of her eyes. Her pace was brisk, eager to reach the market and retrieve the goods from the grocer so that she could move on to what she truly came into the city to do.
The truth was, she didn't offer to run the kitchen maids' errands out of the kindness of her heart. When she awoke that morning to learn that Monsieur Guillaume had left on a trip to Southern France for the entirety of the summer, she knew that she had to take advantage of the servants' increased freedom and satisfy the curiosity she felt toward the writings she found in the book Enjolras had given her.
What was this rally that he mentioned, and what did it have to do with him?
Now, she just had to find a way to convince Amélie to cut through Rue de Varenne, where the paper had said the supposed rally would be held.
It wasn't long before they reached the market. Corinne found the grocer and retrieved the bag of goods— which was a collection of meat and various vegetables for a stew that the kitchen servants would begin cooking in the morning— thanking him quickly before she was on her way once more.
Amélie had to jog to catch up to her. "Why are you in such a hurry?" she asked.
Corinne slowed her pace as her eyes landed on a nearby bell tower. They had less than a quarter of an hour before the rally was supposed to begin, but Rue de Varenne wasn't a far walk. They had time to spare. "I'm not," she responded with a shrug. She glanced upwards, thankful that the sun was out and the weather was warm, for it gave her the excuse that she was looking for. "The weather's quite nice today. Let's take a different route back."
She veered off to the right, in the direction of Rue de Varenne. Thankfully, Amélie followed closely behind her. "If we get in trouble," began the other maid, "You are taking the blame."
"We won't get in trouble," Corinne assured her. "Monsieur Guillaume isn't even Paris! He'll never know that we took a few extra minutes to ourselves."
Amélie pursed her lips. She didn't seem convinced. "If you say so, Corinne."
The two women continued on their way. When they rounded the corner onto Rue de Varenne, they were immediately met with a crowd of people hurrying to gather around something that neither of them was able to see. Corinne bounced on her feet in an attempt to see over the heads of the people in front of her but to no avail. Then, a voice met her ears— a smooth and melodic timbre that she recognized almost immediately. It echoed off of the buildings around them, and suddenly, she was frozen in place.
