When Joseph returned to Versailles Palace, he found Alexandra waiting for him in the reception room.
The Crown Princess Consort, dressed in the latest fashionable loose lavender gown, smiled and curtsied to him. "My dear, you've finally returned."
Joseph stepped forward and brushed cheeks with her. "Is something urgent? Oh, your dress makes you especially beautiful today."
"Thank you. I like it very much too." Alexandra happily kissed him on the cheek, then took out several pages of manuscript. "Well, this is the speech for next week's opening ceremony of the Paris Youth Math Competition. Could you help me look it over?
"Mr. Garnot has recently suffered a broken heart. Every day, he looks like a cat that's been soaked in water. I'm afraid something may go wrong because of his condition."
Garnot was her clerk.
"Of course." Joseph smiled and opened the speech.
This competition had been personally organized by Alexandra two years ago at his suggestion. Though it was called the "Paris Youth Math Competition," children under thirteen from all across France could participate. Its scale and influence were both enormous, making it one of the matters she valued most.
"Mm, the opening is very imposing. It conveys France's traditional emphasis on mathematics." Joseph praised it. "And this passage afterward describing last year's champion Morsent's educational journey is very moving."
Alexandra nodded. "Even at the age of nine, he had learned nothing but addition and subtraction. Fortunately, he later went to Viscount Dibisson's school, where the teachers discovered his talent for mathematics."
Joseph suddenly had a thought and asked, "Do you remember the highest ranking achieved by a child from a Church School in last year's competition?"
The Crown Princess Consort shook her head. "I can only be certain that none of the top ten came from Church