to the trading floor opened, and a lady administrator appeared on the threshold, attracted by a suspicious noise in the warehouse. When she saw the couple sitting in the chair, she only had time to ask:
– What are you doing here?
But they didn’t hear her anymore: time and space disappeared, absorbing them together with the mysterious apparatus.
CHAPTER 7. VERSAILLES
And here they are in Versailles, young, beautiful, dressed in luxurious fashion outfits. However, they are no longer Peter and Daria, but Count Petronel de Armand de Burlemont and Countess Dorian de Burlemont, representatives of the French nobility.
– How’s that? – Peter asked with a victorious smile.
– I don’t believe my eyes! – Daria exclaimed, beaming with childish delight.
The Comte de Burlemont stopped at the statue of the great Gaius Julius Caesar, whose cult was highly appreciated by French art connoisseurs.
– Suae quisque fortunae faber, – he recalled the saying of the great Caesar in Latin, and the Countess echoed it in the purest French:
– Each blacksmith of his own destiny…
It is hardly possible to describe the impressions of the Palace of Versailles. As soon as Countess Dorian crossed the threshold, her heart fluttered – the arrivals immediately found themselves in the thick of the events of the royal court.
– Now I’m going to see what I’ve been dreaming about all my life! – she thought.
Daria and Peter walked across the sparkling parquet floor across the hall.
The King ‘s senior chamberlain announced:
– Comte de Burlemont de Armand Petronel.
She heard his voice:
– We are happy to see you, Count, and admire the Countess, about whose beauty we have heard so much.
– Have you heard? – Daria was surprised, not daring to utter these words or even show it, but clearly flattered by His Majesty’s compliment. Peter, on the contrary, perceived these words differently: a burning jealousy pricked his heart, and a vague, cold anxiety arose in his soul…
The day after the reception in Versailles, Peter and Daria went for a walk in Paris. In the evening they went to the hotel, where they stayed for the night.
– How are you, honey? So many events! It’s nice, it turns out, to be in the role of the nobility and receive the attention of the king himself!
– I’m so stunned, I’m in an amazing fairy tale all day! Everything we have seen and heard today has deeply impressed my imagination. I feel elation, and at the same time, my beloved, I am tormented by forebodings.
Daria told Peter: it was just as dangerous to refuse the monarch as to accept his courtship favorably. Those ladies who became favorites of Louis XIV were in danger of being poisoned by competitors.
Peter thought about it, and then asked:
– Are we able to resist this? – and he answered himself: – Alas, no! Let’s not give in to despair! In any case, we are not in danger today.
– Shall we order a dinner worthy of an earl and rest from our misgivings? – Daria suggested.
– Let’s leave it as it is for now. Isn’t that enough for today? – Peter repeated Daria’s words, spoken by her in that former world.
Dasha appreciated the memory with dignity and smiled understandingly, throwing herself into the arms of her beloved. Secretly, sideways, she looked in the mirror by the huge bed in the boudoir: there were reflected two figures, female and male, similar to the actors from the movie about the three Musketeers, the treacherous Milady and the fearless D’Artagnan…
The beautiful Burgundy wine turned their heads, and they forgot themselves after love on satin sheets. When fatigue set in, Peter quickly closed his eyes and passed out. He dreamed that he was arguing with Julius Caesar about power and democracy, and Daria tossed from side to side and could not fall asleep for a long time: even during intimacy with her beloved, she could not forget the king’s gaze and felt his presence next to her with horror.
CHAPTER 8. COUNTESS DORIAN
After a sleepless night and painful thoughts, Daria initiated Peter into her plan: she would take any opportunity to have an audience with His Majesty, and then rely on the good will of the monarch. And who in the world could have predicted how the story would develop further? She secretly hoped that the king would not refuse her request related to their future fate. Peter was not so optimistic and believed that although Louis XIV was not distinguished by vindictiveness, he would hardly put up with a rival in his person. The king’s attention to his wife was fraught with imminent danger for him.
However, unfortunately, events developed so rapidly that the de Burlemont couple was not ready for this. Confirmation of this was the night arrest of Peter on false evidence of high treason. Formally, these slanders had to be considered by the court, but there was no doubt that his fate was predetermined… You can get rid of the Comte de Burlemont by bricking him up in prison.
Two days later Daria was standing in front of the king, confident that His Majesty would listen to her words:
– Sire, let my husband stand trial, and then he will easily prove that he was the victim of erroneous accusations. The Count has never conspired against Your Majesty. He just couldn’t do it…
– I don’t understand you. Kindly express yourself more clearly, – Ludovic’s face assumed an interested expression.
– Sire, I will tell you a secret… a secret that any sane person can hardly believe. Nevertheless, without fear of being accused of mental illness or witchcraft, I beg you to listen to my words and not rush to reject them without due attention.
The contemptuous irony of the king did not bode well, but Daria continued.
– I am in despair, Sire. But the truth is that my husband and I are your guests from the future. We arrived in France from distant Russia during the reign of Your Majesty from the twenty-first century…
The King frowned and calmly said:
– I assumed that everything would come down to witchcraft and magic.
He headed for the exit, and then, stopping, addressed her:
– I can only promise to clarify some circumstances concerning your husband. I will ask you not to leave Paris for the next ten days.
Daria realized: apparently, the king had already decided for himself the
