Chapter 8: The Luncheon

Margaux had answered the old woman's question with one word, and the word was no.

*Then I will keep it too,* the grandmother had said. *But a heartbeat does not stay secret long, child.*

The message came on Friday morning, while Margaux was putting a needle in that same old woman's ankle.

*Lunch at the Cercle, one o'clock. Do not be late. Manon will need someone to carry her bag. Hortense.*

Julien read it over her shoulder and did not say a word.

"I'll go," Margaux told him.

"You don't have to."

"I do," she said. "She has been waiting for me to be small in front of her friends. I would hate to disappoint her."

The Cercle was a private dining club on the Place Bellecour, all white linen and mirrors.

Hortense sat at the head of a round table with four women in good jackets and better jewellery.

Manon was on her right, in pink, with the sapphire pendant on her chest.

An empty chair stood at the end, nearest the kitchen door.

"Margaux," Hortense said, and did not rise. "You're late by four minutes."

"The traffic on the Quai was bad."

"Sit. Ladies, this is my son's... companion. Margaux has been very good to our family."

One of the women, in a green hat, looked Margaux up and down.

"Is this the one who cannot have a child?"

"Such a pity," said another.

"Don't pity her," Hortense said brightly. "She has a use. When Manon's boy is born, Margaux will raise him. She has agreed. Haven't you, dear?"

Every face at the table turned to Margaux.

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Husband Called Me Barren, Now a Billionaire Begs for Me from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.