"Would I miss the Countess Kourey's spring gala? Never. It's the event of the season as you know. Simply anyone who is anyone in Paris attends. Why, when my invitation didn't arrive as expected, I sent my servant over at once to fetch it. Of course it was a little mishap with the post, but that's what comes of trusting that kind of task to strangers rather than having your servants hand-deliver them."

"Dreadful. Just dreadful. To think someone as important as yourself might have been slighted because of such a thing. What has happened to pride of service in this country? We're becoming more like America every day."

"Surely not. You know Prentice and I just returned from there last week. I've never been so happy to set foot on French soil. Everyone raves about the place, especially New York, but I just don't see how it can compare to Paris. Everyone there is so... unFrench. Although I will say that some of the men were quite attractive."

"Matilde!"

"I'm can look! Prentice certainly does. Look at him over there, practically drooling over the Mallery's youngest. She's pretty enough,
poor thing, but hasn't a brain in her head. I once heard she was hoping to be betrothed to that Rochefort boy - you know, the blond with the eyes that exactly match my favorite amethysts."

"You mean Florian? Oh my dear, you haven't heard."

"Heard what? I've been in America forever and missed out on all the best gossip. Tell me!"

"It was months ago, and I don't know all the details but... Oh!"

"Don't tease me, Cora. Tell!"

"Look! There by that monstrous plant. It's Count Courland."

"Not the notorious usurer! Is it true his mother was a French aristocrat who ran away and married an Arab prince? "

"That's him and look who's with him."

"The blond handing him a drink? It couldn't be? What's a fine aristocrat like Florian du Rochefort doing with someone like that?"

"That's what I started to tell you. You know the Rocheforts lost most of their fortune during that dreadful Commune. The Duke was wounded and lingered for years. Everyone knows that by the time he'd died there wasn't much left for the wife and child so she mortgaged everything. You know how proud she was, always having balls and fancy parties when she could barely keep the household going."

"It's true, she was a cold one. Always thought she was better than us because of her Bourbon lineage."

"Exactly. About a year ago, she gave another one of those parties - it was dreadfully dull and we were planning to leave early as I recall.
But then Count Courland walked in dressed like an Arab, with a dagger at his waist and everything. What a sight he was. I heard a couple saying that he was a related to the Rocheforts. A cousin or something. But, and this is really interesting, he goes right up to Florian and touches him, on the face, practically grabs the boy and he leans in really close and says something that makes Florian angry. He pushed the Count away, but of course he couldn't do more than that and cause a scene at his mother's party."

"He's always been a considerate boy."

"The Count left soon after but the party was essentially ruined so Laurence and I left. I didn't even think of it again until a few days later when, right there on the front page of the newspaper, is a story about the Rochefort mansion burning down. There was a picture and everything. I made Laurence drive me past it just to see. Simply awful to imagine dying like that. But it was actually worse than we thought."

"No!"

"Yes. It was all in the papers. At first Florian was suspected of killing his own mother! Apparently she was dead before the fire -
pushed down a flight of stairs of all things. Police were looking for Florian everywhere and found out later that he had been staying with Count Courland. They never did find the murderer, but apparently Florian's aunt and uncle disappeared soon after so you can imagine the speculation."

"How dreadful! Do they have any idea why she was killed?"

"My dear, surely you remember all those stories about the Rochefort's family treasure? The 120-carat diamond?"

"You mean it was true? For heaven's sake why didn't she sell it? They obviously needed the money."

"That's the interesting part. It's all speculation and rumors you understand, but consider: Count Courland, a notorious usurer shows up at the Rochefort's mansion. A few days later the mother is murdered and the house burned but Florian's been staying with the Count."

"You don't mean?"

"Judge for yourself. See how the Count looks at him? How he keeps touching his arm or his hand..."

"No!"

"There's more. Apparently the day after the party, Madame Rochefort paid off a significant number of her bills and loans."

"She wouldn't have!"

"What would you do in her place, knowing how proud she was? Would you sell the precious family diamond, entrusted to the Rochefort family decades ago by the King himself, or would you make other arrangements?"

"Now that you mention it, Florian doesn't exactly look unhappy. Why, the way they look at each other is enough to make a woman blush."

"Isn't it though? And they are a striking pair; why Florian looks like he stepped out of a classic painting and the Count is so exotic with that dark hair and those green eyes."

"It's not like we could do more than admire them anyway. There are eyes everywhere, especially at a party like this. It's quite disgraceful really, the way some people pry into things that are none of their business.

"Disgraceful indeed. Look, the buffet's not too crowded, let's go before all the best food is gone. You know what vultures some of these people are."

"Indeed! But let's take the long way and get one more look at those two first. You know what an art lover I am."

"Oh, I've missed you, Matilde. Parties aren't nearly as interesting without you."