Elegant strings played in the concert hall, but Georgiana did not take in a single note.
The first time she saw Bonaparte was at the Tuileries Palace. He had just returned from Egypt, tanned dark, completely unlike the imposing man on horseback she had seen in history textbooks. He looked more like an adventurer.
Severus had been beside her then, and she had not thought much of it. Bonaparte probably had not had any thoughts either—or rather, she had not caught his eye at all. The "first meeting" he remembered was when Hathor had possessed her. Of course Egypt would be easy for him to recall. Perhaps he had fallen under the Egyptian goddess of love's spell even then, which was why he thought she was "glowing."
More infuriating than his talking about Josephine and Hortense in his letter was the fact that he had called her a liar. It robbed her of the ability to think; her brains felt like boiling lava.
What did he think she had deceived him about? Other than when Metternich had threatened her and made her tell Bonaparte not to continue stirring up the Silesian issue, she had lied by saying that Austria was willing to cooperate with France against Prussia.
Looking back, perhaps she had interfered too much. Her original plan had been for Metternich to stop while he was ahead once she had satisfied him, and not release that monster hunter to preach everywhere about how to hunt witches. Now that the rumors had spread, what would happen in the future?
An evening gown was formal attire worn to a ball, the finest and most splendid sort of dress, often paired with extravagant jewelry. It made its wearer look noble and elegant, like someone from a dream.
This was a world Bonaparte