Chapter 10
Antoinette's Overture
Antoinette Valois, aware of Elara's discovery, attempts to lure her with promises of fame and fortune, subtly probing for information about the scent's formula.
The air in Master Dubois’ atelier, usually a comforting symphony of rose and lavender, felt charged with a new, unsettling note. Elara, her hands still faintly scented with bergamot from her morning’s work, couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It had started subtly, a fleeting glimpse of a sleek black car parked down the street, a silken scarf left carelessly on a café chair that seemed to whisper of expensive perfume. Now, it was more direct.
A silver-plated card, nestled amongst the usual delivery slips and order forms, announced its presence with an almost regal air. It was embossed with the crest of the Valois family, a stylized swan with a single, impossibly delicate pearl in its beak. Elara’s heart gave a little flutter, a mixture of apprehension and a strange, magnetic curiosity. The Valois. Their perfumes were legendary, splashed across the pages of every glossy magazine, their name synonymous with Parisian elegance and, Elara suspected, a great deal of ruthlessness.
She turned the card over in her slender fingers. “An invitation,” she murmured, her voice barely a breath. “To meet Madame Antoinette Valois.”
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