The Painter's Apprentice

Chapter 14

When Destan invites me to meet him at the Petit Trianon, I expect to find a grand château tucked away deep in the verdant gardens. The Petit Trianon is anything but grand, but it is still elegant in its simplicity: a square, cream stone building, with four Corinthian columns, and a flat roof. Compared to the unrestrained extravagance of the main palace, it looks almost quaint. Even the English style gardens feel more loose and relaxed.

Destan meets me just inside the main entrance in a plain, sinuous hallway. "Relax," he says at the sight of me. "She's going to love you."

I let out a slow breath push out the rest of my nerves with it. Destan escorts me through an unremarkable room where the queen's guards let us pass with a nod to Destan. From the guard room, we enter a bright hall and ascend a curving staircase to the upper floors. Everything about the Petit Trianon feels different from Versailles. The interior matches the restrained elegance of the exterior, but it is still decorated with refined and well-edited taste.

We stop outside a door and I spy one of Marie Antoinette's most famous portraits, a portrait by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Le Brun is a master when it comes to capturing the sitter's personality, and the queen's portrait drips with wit and beauty. It does nothing to settle my nerves.

Servants usher us through a dining room and into a grand salon. Like the rest of the rooms we've seen, there are no heavily patterned wallpapers, just walls painted a muted green. The carvings on the paneling are distinctly white and absent of gold gilding. The room feels light and airy. A set of furniture placed throughout the room is all done in a cream fabric with blue flowers to match the window drapings.

Musical instruments are displayed at every turn. A large, golden harp catches my eye and I almost miss the beautiful, older woman sitting in the chair closest to the window. She sits still as a statue and doesn't turn at the sound of our arrival. Her head of short gray curls is turned to watch over the gardens and she wears a white muslin gown tied with a pink sash.

"Wait here," Destan whispers, and his breath ruffles the hair around my ear.

He crosses to Marie Antoinette and places a gentle hand on her shoulder. She doesn't startle but lifts her head to look at him.

Her lips part into a beaming grin. "Destan." Her voice is smooth and warm. "I didn't know you were coming to visit me today. I thought you had the day off?"

Destan smiles, but there's hesitation in his voice. "I am not on duty until tonight, but I said I was bringing someone for you to meet, remember?"

Marie gasps and places a hand on Destan's arm. "Oh! That's right. Now I remember. The painter?" Her delicate blue eyes fall on me. "Come here, ma chère."

Destan nods in approval and I approach the aging queen. "Your majesty," I drop into a low curtsey.

Marie Antoinette gestures for me to take the chair across from her. "Destan tells me you are in need of a patron."

"I am." I sink onto the edge of my seat and Destan takes the one beside me.

"And you would like me to sponsor your work." Marie smiles as her gaze flits over me. "You don't want someone more relevant to be your patron?"

I glance nervously at Destan before I turn back to Marie. "I'm not necessarily looking for prestige...I am looking to create a space for myself, for my art." Out of the corner of my eye, a smile turns up the corner of Destan's lips.

"I'm afraid you're not as irrelevant as you would like, Your Majesty," Destan adds.

"I wasn't fishing for compliments, but thank you, Destan," she turns to me. "He dotes on me. Now, why do you feel you need to create your own space for your art."