“`
In another private box on the second floor of the auction hall, Princess Maria recognized her cousin Clementine’s voice as soon as she bid for the first time—the incessant chatter resonated throughout the Palace of Versailles daily, making it hard to forget.
Maria had not expected her to compete with her for the necklace, but then she felt relieved—hadn’t she come to Paris to compete with her for him? Read new chapters at mvl
When Maria looked again at the “Star’s Wish” that the Crown Prince had worn, she suddenly felt that this might be a prelude to a contest between them.
Whoever got the necklace would win him over!
With that thought flashing through her mind, a determined look appeared in her eyes, and she turned to her maid and whispered softly,
“300,000 livres.”
The maid immediately nodded and called out the bid to the auctioneer.
Although some young noblewomen from Versailles recognized “Star’s Wish” from the portrait of the Crown Prince and eagerly wanted to bid, the price had already been raised to an astonishing level before they could react, and they quickly gave up.
Of course, this did not include Clementine.
“350,000!” she shouted, her eyes wide as she also raised the bid by fifty thousand.
“400,000,” Maria’s maid replied almost without hesitation.
“500,000!”
“550,000.”
Clementine wanted to continue bidding but suddenly froze—she realized she had run out of money.
After all, she was still a child of ten, temporarily possessing only her annual annuity and the 200,000 her father had given her for the trip to Paris, totaling 560,000 in “total assets.”
She no longer had enough to raise another 50,000.
“560,000 livres!” she gritted her teeth and called out her maximum bid.
When Maria heard her raise by only 10,000, a wave of relief washed over her, and she signaled to her maid, “600,000.”
She was already fifteen years old, possessing her own estate and a fishing ground, much wealthier than the little girl.
In this battle for the necklace, she believed she would win.
Indeed, after her maid called out “600,000,” the auction hall fell silent.
Clementine was so anxious she could only stomp her feet in frustration, unable to do anything but listen to the auctioneer loudly announce, “600,000 livres, for the first time.”
She bit her lip hard, tears welling up in her eyes. For some reason, she had the vague feeling that if she lost “Star’s Wish,” she would lose the Crown Prince.
“Oh, darling, what’s the matter?”
Queen Mary noticed her niece’s shoulders seemed to tremble slightly and quickly asked with concern, then she saw the little girl’s eyes reddening.
“Do you really want that necklace?” she asked, pointing toward the “Star’s Wish” resting on brocade in the auction hall, but then she hesitated, the necklace seemed familiar…
That’s right, wasn’t this the necklace from the painting?
The Queen immediately understood why her niece was so persistently bidding.
Clementine looked up at her aunt with a pitiful expression and nodded vigorously.
“600,000 livres, for the second time.”
Queen Mary smiled softly and said in a gentle voice, “Dear, just bid what you like, no matter how much it costs, I will pay for you.”
“Really?!”
“`
The little girl was overjoyed, and seeing Queen Mary nod, she hastily wiped away her tears and interrupted the auctioneer, shouting, “Wait! 650,000!!”
With the support of Queen Mary, Clementine effortlessly secured the final victory.
When the manager of the auction house respectfully brought “Star’s Wish” to the box, the little girl immediately grabbed the necklace and pressed it against her chest, caressing it gently while she squinted her eyes to savor the cold touch. Then she turned to Queen Mary, curtsied, and smiled sweetly:
“Thank you so much, my dearest aunt! I just love you so much!”
However, just as she excitedly lifted the necklace to show it to the queen, it caught on a gemstone on her dress.
The gem’s edge snapped the string of the necklace, and in an instant, dozens of sparkling diamonds scattered across the floor.
Clementine instinctively reached out to grab the diamonds in mid-air, but caught nothing[Note 1].
After being stunned for three seconds, she burst into tears, wailing, “Why? Why am I always so unlucky?!”
Several maids hurriedly got down on the floor, carefully searching for the diamonds.
Queen Mary was also startled, but she quickly regained her composure, gently embracing her niece and soothing her back with a soft voice.
No one knows how long it lasted, but Clementine silently followed Queen Mary out from the east wing of the Tuileries Palace. Although the auction house reassured her that the necklace could be restored to its original state, she just couldn’t feel happy about it.
In a corner of a corridor of the east wing, Princess Maria bit her lip hard, feeling completely drained of strength.
She had clearly seen that Clementine left with Queen Mary. It was now very clear why the latter, after being unable to bid higher, ultimately won the necklace.
Her heart felt so empty; it was obvious the Grand Duchess of Tuscany was the Queen of France’s choice, not herself.
If that was the case, even if the Crown Prince liked her more, he would still have to marry that girl in the end.
It turned out that she had lost right from the start.
She lifted her head to take a deep breath and said to her maid by her side:
“Alisa, let’s go home…”
The next day, the carriage of the Princess of the Two Sicilies drove along the King’s Avenue in the Southern Suburbs of Paris, lonely against the morning sun.
Not long ago, the Crown Prince and thousands of his soldiers greeted her on this very road, and now only she was returning alone. The Crown Prince was supposed to come and see her off, but she had refused—if she were to cry in front of him, it would be far from elegant.
The sunlight stretched the shadow of the carriage very long, like a hand desperately reaching toward Paris but never grasping anything.
Inside the carriage, Maria hesitated for a long time before ultimately placing the letter she held back on the table.
On the corner of the envelope not held down, one could see her neat and tidy handwriting: “Dear Your Highness, the days I spent in Paris were the happiest of my life. I continuously pray to God to let my life forever stop at that moment when we danced together on the carousel! Although it’s just wishful thinking, I still have this precious memory.
When I return to the Two Sicilies, I will pray day and night for your wellbeing and bless you and the Grand Duchess of Tuscany…”
She had written the letter in tears the previous night, intending to have her maid deliver it to Joseph that morning, but at the last minute, she gave up.
Perhaps, these girlish thoughts were meant to be forever buried in her heart, rather than causing him any trouble because of her.
…
In an office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph was browsing through the financial reports for fashion week sent by Freselle.
The report was somewhat thick. After flipping through a few pages and not finding the total sum, he looked up at the chairman of the fashion week organizing committee sitting beside him.
Viscount Freselle, as if anticipating, hurriedly said, “Ah, Your Highness, the total income for these few days is 4.62 million livres, and the expenses are 310,000 livres.”
[Note 1]: Reading Comprehension (10 points).
After Clementine spent a fortune to buy the “Star’s Wish” necklace, the necklace inexplicably broke, and dozens of diamonds fell to the ground. What are the author’s thoughts and feelings expressed in this passage?