Tevun-Krus #43 - ClockPunk

Unconventional Liaisons - A Short Story by @Holly_Gonzalez

The delicate strains of a harpsichord and string quartet whirled around a dozen revelers. Beneath a glimmering array of chandeliers and velvet drapery, a private soirée unfurled at the Palais de Castellaine, the most esteemed salon in Paris. The motley gathering of aristocrats and intellectuals toasted their maid of honor.

"To Madame Du Bellay, in commemoration of her glorious contributions to our homeland and His Majesty's campaign abroad!"

"Here, here!"

All but one stood and raised a glass. A slender rake of a gentleman remained seated. He leaned back in his chair, his expression sullen, one leg resting over his knee in a most uncouth manner.

Madame Sebastienne Du Bellay set her glass down and glared at her rude guest. "I assumed you, of all gentlemen, wouldn't carry a grudge, Vicomte."

Vicomte Marius Rouergue lifted his nose in a feigned display of snobbery. "Your accomplishments are great, though not so unusual as to be celebrated. Nature has deemed the fairer sex superior within the realms of emotion and motherhood." His taunt worked, though not in the way he expected.

Sebastienne leaned across the table, flicked an arm out, and struck Marius across the face with her silken fan. Wine sloshed onto the plain gray wool of his coat.

The other guests let out a collective gasp.

Sebastienne's smile curled stark red on her fashionably pallid face. The brass monocle she wore whirred with tiny cogs, and its thick glass lens extended to focus on Marius. Her uncovered eye glared at him. "I have proven myself an accomplished heiress to my father's work. His Majesty has commissioned me for many mechanical wonders in the halls of Versailles, among other more private works. And you dare to insult me based on a Philistine notion of male superiority? This is an age of reason. I demand your apology at once."

Marius dabbed at the wine stains with a handkerchief, his jaw set firm. Your inventions are not the only offerings His Majesty demands of you, he thought. And you spurned my love to advance through the court as a loose-limbed plaything. He cleared his throat. "I did not state that the female mind is inferior. I merely insinuated that womankind excels in the areas where her masculine counterpart does not. An apology would be irrelevant."

"Au contraire." Sebastienne rose from her chair. The grinding click of many small gear wheels resounded every step she took. "You've a talent for honeyed words and double-edged slander. Apologize. I'm waiting."

Marius knew her partly mechanical body all too well. Candlelight glistened over the bronze plating in her neck and left shoulder, as it once had when they'd found bliss within her private chambers. So many years ago. Ten, fifteen even? They'd been so young, and he'd been a fool to ever fall for her. He forced the memory from his mind as the full enmity which now festered between them sliced through his heart. "Forgive me, dear lady. I apologize that I cannot apologize."

She gripped his shoulder with hooked fingers. Bending next to her his ear, her breasts nearly falling out of the lacy bodice of her gown, she whispered, "I shall settle this with you later. You, me, one witness each. A duel. My machine against yours. Sunset tomorrow, at the crossroads west of my estate. Be there, or I'll reveal your secret device to the King."

Marius stiffened Though he wanted to strangle her, he accepted her challenge with a nod.

Hushed voices speculated around the room, fans fluttered, tall powdered wigs bobbing as the guests huddled in bewilderment. Sebastienne glided back to her position at the head of the table, her wide skirts swaying. A triumphant sneer crossed her face.