Then again, the thought of her married to someone else, someone capable ofmakingher happy, didn’t sit well with him, either.
“Happiness is what I wish for her, too,” her mother said.
That surprised him, given that the woman had let her brother try to choose a husband for Giselle that Giselle hadn’t wanted. This time his question was more direct. “Were you not happy with Monsieur Bernard?”
“He was a difficult man.”
“Was he difficult … with Giselle?”
“Sometimes.”
When she didn’t go on, he shook his head. She was adept at evading answering questions. He dearly hoped the man hadn’t mistreated Giselle. That would be something he couldn’t bear, though it might explain why she had fought being urged into marrying a man she didn’t want. But he doubted Madame Bernard would tell him the truth about that.
So, he changed tacks. “Just out of curiosity, why didn’t you marry Dr. Morris?”
She scowled. “He wanted to take me to England. To leave myfamily and everything I knew. In my day, a woman of my position did not do such things. She married whomever her parents wished her to. Which is what I did.”
If anyone understood how tumultuous it could be to be guided only by one’s parents and not by one’s own choice, it was he.
With a Gallic shrug, she added, “Of course, if Ihadmarried Monsieur Morris, I would have ended up avoiding the Revolution, and that would have been preferable. But one always sees better afterward, doesn’t one?”
Another idea he more than sympathized with. He nodded.
Suddenly, someone emerged from the balcony to cry, “They’re coming!” Then, for the benefit of the few French who were there, “Ils arrivent!”
He stood and offered his hand to Madame Bernard. “Shall we?”
“You go on.” She gestured toward the nearest balcony door. “I am cozy here. You must look after my daughter.”
“Of course.”
Fortunately, by the time he reached Giselle she was already searching for him. “What about Maman?” she asked.
“She said she wants to stay inside where it’s cozy.”
Giselle looked conflicted. “I should keep her company.”
“Nonsense. She sent me to take you outside. How often do you get to see the Lord Mayor’s Show, after all?”
He laid his hand in the small of her back, and today she let him. Relishing the small victory, he led her out.
In glittering gold and red, the mounted trumpeters of the Household Cavalry were just then marching by, playing their instruments loudly in a vain attempt to overwhelm the noise and cheers of the crowd. The Mercers liverymen walked past, resplendent in their red regalia, as did the Drapers livery company.
“What arethose?” Giselle suddenly exclaimed as she pointed at two fourteen-foot-tall wicker effigies being carried along by the Basketmakers in the procession, towering over people, horses, and carriages alike.
“Oh, that’s Gog and Magog. They represent the giants that supposedly inhabited the British Isles until some Roman warrior chapnamed Corineus rid the place of them all. The effigies spend most of their time in the Guildhall, but they’re trotted out for the parade every year.”
He chuckled to himself. “When I was a lad, I asked my father if he could get me a Gog and Magog just like them. But Mother insisted there would be nowhere to put them in our house. Instead, I got both in miniature, which wasn’t at all what I was hoping for.”
“Why would you want two huge wicker effigies?”
Leaning closer, he whispered in her ear, “So I could see if the giants’ manly parts matched their height.”
Although she started to smile, she caught herself quickly enough. “Stop attempting to shock me, Heath. I do not believe you.”
“It’s the truth, I swear,” he said with a laugh. “I was a naughty boy from early on.”
“Now,that, I do believe,” she said archly.