Becoming Lisette: A Novel (The Queen's Painter an Historical Romance Book 1)

by Rebecca Glenn

  “I think it is exciting that you are here by yourself. You are not like most young ladies.” He smiled at her and sat down.

  “Capitaine de Chaumont, I have not invited you to sit.” Lisette found her voice. She was rattled in his presence and didn’t like the feeling.

  “Please, call me Amante.” He remained sitting as if he had every right to be there.

  “Does your mother approve of you being here by yourself, conversing with strange men?”

  “No, she would not approve of me being here alone. I’m not sure about talking to you.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going to bite you.” He grinned mischievously. “I only want to be your friend, Mademoiselle Vigée. I find you infinitely interesting.” Then he leaned in close. His breath smelled as inviting as the hot chocolate.

  Lisette had never been flattered by such a handsome man before. She wasn’t sure how she should act.

  “Thank you.” At least she could be polite. Part of Lisette wanted to tell him to leave so she could enjoy her new drink alone, but another part wanted him to remain.

  When she didn’t object further, he motioned to the serving girl. “I’ll have what she is having.” Then he looked at Lisette. “What is it that you are drinking?”

  “Hot chocolate,” Lisette said.

  “I have heard it is quite popular. What does it taste like?”

  “Capitaine, what −”

  “Amante. Call me Amante,” he interrupted her.

  “Amante, what is it that you want with me?” Lisette knew that he hadn’t sat down with her to discuss the attributes of hot chocolate.

  “Right down to business.” He smiled at her. “Do you still desire lessons with Monsieur Briard?”

  “He is in Italy.”

  “What if I told you that he has returned early?”

  “Briard is back in Paris?” Lisette tried to maintain a neutral face and not allow her emotions to betray her. She could feel her heart beat faster.

  “Yes,” Amante replied.

  Lisette’s mind raced as she thought, I could show Briard my canvas of Helen of Troy and then I could ask him for help with her proportions and then I could…

  “Lisette?”

  His voice brought her back to the present moment.

  “So you are interested in becoming his student?”

  Lisette was about to say yes when she remembered Le Sèvre. If it wasn’t his idea and he wasn’t controlling all aspects of it, he would never allow it.

  Amante eagerly awaited an answer. She saw it in his face.

  “No…I mean yes…but no…,” Lisette said, wavering. Her voice trailed off, fading away as she thought about Le Sèvre.

  “Which is it?” Amante looked confused.

  Lisette didn’t know how to explain it to him.

  They sat in silence. For the next several moments, Amante studied Lisette as if he was carefully calculating what he would say next. Then he glanced at her sketchbook sitting on the table.

  “May I?” he asked.

  Lisette nodded.

  Amante picked up her sketchbook and quickly, but carefully flipped through it. He paused at about its halfway point. Amante held it high in the air and displayed its open page.

  Lisette immediately recognized the sketch. It was a young woman she had seen in the gardens at the Palais-Royal.

  “Look at what you can do. You have a talent that should be cultivated.”

  Lisette remained silent. She wanted to scream out, of course I want lessons, but she knew it was futile. Le Sèvre would never consent.

  Amante closed the sketchbook and returned it to the table. “I have an offer for you. Please hear me out.” He paused and moved in closer. “I would like to pay for your lessons.”

  “But what about my step −,” Lisette immediately protested.

  Amante gently put his forefinger on her mouth. “We don’t have to tell anyone. It would be our secret.”

  Lisette pulled back at his touch. It was highly unusual for a man, especially a near-stranger, to touch a young woman in public. Lisette’s lips tingled as she tried her best to focus on his words.

  “I don’t think it is a good idea.” Lisette couldn’t accept his offer. Since living in Le Sèvre’s house, she had kept too many secrets. First Le Brun, then the Duchesse, now Amante. She was skeptical. Le Sèvre had a way of discovering her secrets.

  “You are afraid of what I want in return,” he said. Amante regarded her like he had solved a mystery.

  He has no understanding of my situation, she thought. Lisette wasn’t going to explain it to him. She would let him believe what he wanted.

  “I only ask to be your patron...and your friend.” He drew closer.

  Lisette focused on his dark eyes. My patron? she wondered. They had talked of patrons when they first met, during Vernet’s exhibition at the Louvre. Today, she hadn’t expected him to offer his patronage. Lisette didn’t know how to respond, so she said nothing.

  “Let me explain. As your patron, I would expect that you create art for me when I ask for it. This is in exchange for my financial support, which would include the lessons and any supplies you would need.”

  Lessons and supplies, she repeated to herself. Lisette’s head was spinning. She had dearly wanted unrestricted access to both for as long as she could remember.

  “That is all? You don’t want anything else in return?” she asked him. How can I trust this man? she asked herself.

  “No…well yes, there is one thing I want in return…,” he said.

  Lisette felt a lump form in her throat. Then she saw a smile come over his face.

  “I ask that you accompany me to the best salon in all of Paris.”

  “Salon?” Lisette asked. Why would he want to go to the Salon with me? she wondered.

  “Have you been to a salon?” Amante asked.

  “Of course, many times, since I was a child. My papa and I never missed the Salon de Paris.”

  Amante let out a low laugh.

  “What is so amusing?” Lisette didn’t like that he was laughing at her.

  “I’m not speaking of the art Salon at the Palais du Louvre…I’m talking about the private salons where only the most intriguing Parisians can be found discussing everything from music and art to the King’s ministers…like Madame de Tougereau’s salon.”

  Lisette understood the difference. “I have heard they are dangerous.” Her mother had talked about how they were places of ill-repute.

  “Nonsense. They are where talented men and women can freely express themselves. Artists, musicians, writers, poets and diplomats. I think you would fit in wonderfully.” Amante moved his chair closer to Lisette’s.

  She had to control her breathing as she watched him move toward her. “My mother always told me that they aren’t for respectable women.”

  Amante’s chair was now so close, his leg pressed against hers. “Oh, ma chérie, quite the opposite. They are magnificent affairs where only the most accomplished and clever women gather. There are married women, widowed women, single women...all types of women. I assure you, you would be most welcome. Madame de Tougereau is well-known for her support of artists. Not only is she an avid collector, but she is highly astute. Last year she sold a pair of paintings by Van Loo to Catherine the Great. The rumor is that she sold them for 30,000 livres when she only paid 12,000 livres on commission just ten years ago. She is well-connected and can no doubt help you. She reserves Wednesday evenings for artists to gather. I would be honored to have you accompany me.”

  Lisette could not concentrate with Amante being so near. His eyes penetrated her, as he waited for her to agree. Lisette wanted to say yes to all of it, but at the same time she wasn’t sure she should. Lisette had to consider Le Sèvre. She wavered in her head.

  How can I turn away from this? she thought. “Yes,” she answered. Lisette couldn’t say no to the things she had always wanted. She was willing to accept the risks.

  “Marvelous!” He leaned o
ver like he was about to kiss her and Lisette quickly pulled herself away from the table.

  What is he doing? Lisette thought. This was the second time he had tried to kiss her. She had not given him permission at the Louvre or just now.

  As she moved away from him, she glanced in the mirror directly opposite their table. On the far side of the pavilion her mother and Le Sèvre were sitting down at a table. She saw her mother looking around the café. Lisette stood and carefully turned around so that they could not recognize her.

  “I have to leave.” Lisette barely glimpsed at Amante as she rushed out of the café.

  She heard Amante call after her, “I’ll send word when the lessons are arranged.”

  Lisette quickly walked home. She wanted to be there when her mother and Le Sèvre returned. As she hurried back, she thought about her conversation with Amante. She was going to start lessons with Briard soon. Her pulse quickened. What will Briard have me paint first? she asked herself. She also wondered when the lessons would begin. Amante had said that he would send word.

  Then her thoughts moved from her lessons to Amante. There were so many questions running through her head about him. What would it mean if he was her patron? What did he really want from her? Why had he tried to kiss her without her permission − again? Her stomach flipped when she remembered his face, especially his dark eyes and full lips. Then she wondered what those full lips would feel like on hers.

  Chapter Twenty

  June 8, 1773

  Today was Lisette’s first lesson with Briard. The message had arrived from Amante the day before. He had been true to his word. Moving quickly, Amante had arranged Lisette’s lessons in just a week. Lisette was ready. She had been dressed for an hour. She wore a short, fitted icy-blue jacket with a coordinating petticoat, both made of cotton and trimmed with white gauze. Her mother had insisted on cotton, the most fashionable material, for Lisette’s new clothes. Lisette liked how the soft fabric allowed for flexibility when painting. It was also much lighter than her older woolen clothes. Now that summer had arrived, Lisette was happy to wear the thinner fabric. As she inspected herself in the looking glass, Lisette felt carefree like a little girl.

  She was so distracted thinking about her lesson, Lisette barely heard the knock at her door. “Come in,” she called out.

  Her mother opened the door and came into her room. “Lisette, your father and I are leaving. We will return at a late hour,” Jeanne said.

  Lisette cringed at the word father. Why did her mother insist on calling Le Sèvre her father?

  Jeanne beheld Lisette. “You look especially becoming today. Are you expecting a sitter? I thought everyone wanted to see the Joyous Entry. Even peasants from the countryside will have walked throughout the night to see the Dauphin and Dauphine.”

  Her mother was right that the streets would be full of people waiting to see the royal procession, but Lisette would not be one of them. Today, she would be occupied with painting and attending her first lesson with Briard at the Louvre.

  “No, I don’t have any sittings scheduled. I need to add the finishing touches on a painting today,” Lisette said, leaving out her plans to see Master Briard. When her mother frowned, she added, “I might try to catch a glimpse of the Dauphin and Dauphine later when their carriage enters the Tuileries.”

  “But that won’t be for hours, not until after they are finished with Mass at the cathedral. They are to dine later in the day at the Tuileries.”

  “It will give me time to paint, Mother.”

  “Would you like to accompany your father and me? We could watch the royal couple’s entrance as a family,” Jeanne implored as she fidgeted with her dress.

  As usual, Lisette’s mother donned her finest apparel. She was wearing one of her best silk gowns and matching silk shoes. Both the sack-back dress and coordinating petticoat were patterned with tiny flowers set against a lemon yellow background. The yellow and white stomacher that laid against her chest was embroidered with Le Sèvre’s best jewels. Lisette noticed more jewels embedded in her coiffure. Jeanne Vigée was stunning with her dark hair piled up high on her head and held together by a yellow silk ribbon.

  “No, thank you, Mother. I plan to watch from our terrace,” Lisette replied.

  She and her mother had been playing this game for months now. Jeanne would ask her to join them on an outing and she would decline. Her mother never pushed it further. Sometimes, Lisette stretched the truth in order to satisfy her mother, which she didn’t like, but playing this charade seemed to suit both of them, so Lisette participated.

  “You should have a good view from there.” Jeanne turned to leave. “I will see you later tonight.”

  As she watched her mother withdraw, Lisette realized she was fortunate that her first lesson with Master Briard coincided with the Joyous Entry. Being such a momentous event, it had seemed odd that Briard had agreed to a lesson on this day, but Lisette had determined that Briard must be the most serious of artists if he would not allow a royal parade to interfere with his work, even if it was Marie-Antoinette’s first official visit to Paris since her arrival in France over three years ago. Lisette agreed with Briard wholeheartedly.

  Her mother, on the other hand, had been talking about today’s parade for weeks. She and Le Sèvre were going to join the masses and try to spot the Dauphine and Dauphin in their royal carriage as it processed through the streets of Paris.

  Today, Lisette could easily sneak out of the house, go to her lesson and return home without Le Sèvre knowing. Lisette had heard her mother and Le Sèvre discussing which dinners and suppers to attend after the ceremonial parade. They would be gone for many hours.

  Lisette checked her appearance in the looking glass one last time and picked up her satchel of supplies. Then she made her way out of her bedroom.

  Before leaving, she made a quick detour down to the kitchen. Mademoiselle Tothier had gathered a small meal of bread, cheese and apples. To express her gratitude, Lisette gave Mademoiselle Tothier a few sous. Lisette wrapped the food in a small linen cloth and tucked it in her satchel.

  When she went back upstairs to the front vestibule, she made sure that her mother and Le Sèvre had already gone. Lisette then left the house and went onto the street.

  Looking in both directions, Lisette saw that the Rue Saint-Honoré was already starting to fill. She noticed many changes to the streets. From what her mother had said, city officials had been busy for weeks preparing for the Joyous Entry. Thousands of beggars, prostitutes and cattle had been cleared from the royal path. Vendors had been prohibited from opening along the parade route and most shops had been closed, bringing commerce to a halt in one of the busiest cities in the world. But what struck Lisette most, were the millions of flower petals covering the path that the royal carriage would follow.

  Wasting no time, Lisette made her way down to the end of the Rue Saint-Honoré. She had decided on a route that would take her away from the crowds. It would be less direct, but she would be sure to arrive on time. Lisette planned to walk all the way around to the Cour Carrée, the far eastern courtyard of the Palais du Louvre.

  She would take the Rue Saint-Honoré to where it intersected with Rue de L’Arbre Sec, travel down that street to the Rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, then around the houses in front of the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois and into the Cour Carrée.

  Lisette could find the Louvre in her sleep, she had been there so many times with her papa. She also knew the inside of the palace, or at least where the large exhibition galleries were located. Less familiar were the residential areas of the palace where artists lived and worked. She had visited an artist’s lodgings in the Palais du Louvre only once before, when she had accompanied her papa to see Vernet’s exhibition.

  Lisette made rapid progress and after only a quarter of an hour had passed, she had walked down the length of the Rue de L’Arbre Sec. Her longer route through familiar streets had actually saved her time because she had avoided the
quickly gathering masses.

  As soon as Lisette turned the corner onto the Rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, she immediately stopped. It seemed as if every Parisian was outside lining both sides of the street waiting for the royal procession. People were simply standing still, anticipating the Dauphin and Dauphine’s arrival. Lisette could barely move forward. I have to get there, she thought.

  Lisette began pushing until she was on the other side of the street. She decided to abandon the Rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois and find a less congested access point to the Louvre. Lisette spotted a narrow alleyway and headed toward it.

  “Watch out! Where are you going? Why are you walking in that direction? The Dauphin and Dauphine will be coming down this street. You are going the wrong way you stupid girl!” a fishmonger woman squawked at Lisette. The woman wore a gray dress covered with a long white apron and smelled of rotting fish.

  Saying nothing, Lisette stepped around her. She’s right about the parade route, Lisette thought. The four royal carriages would be traveling toward the Pont Neuf to make their way to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. Lisette had no choice. Being this close to the Louvre, it might be impossible to avoid the crowds. I must keep walking, she realized.

  Lisette continued to forge her way through the people and toward the alleyway. She had nearly finished crossing the street when she tripped and her art supplies tumbled out of her satchel and scattered everywhere. No one noticed. The crowd was caught up in the excitement of the royal couple’s impending arrival. People trampled her supplies without realizing it. “Stop! Let me pick up my belongings!” Lisette shouted, but no one paid her any attention. When she bent to collect her brushes and tools, she felt her body being pushed down. The collective weight of the crowd then tipped her off balance and onto the ground. She knew that if she didn’t stand up soon, she might be crushed to death.

  “Mademoiselle, let me help you.” Before she could see who was speaking to her, she felt her body being pulled up so that she was standing again. It was Henri.