The muscles in her jaws tightened and rippled slightly as she folded her arms forcefully in front of her flat chest. "You never were very suave, were you? I'll have you know I just finished an all-day carriage ride from Trianon to bring you a message."

"Oh yes, what did he say?" Louis asked.

She stood in front of him shaking her head like a petulant child. "Drink first."

"Oh my word you're right, where are my manners. It's brandy, isn't it?" She nodded. "I think I have some around here somewhere. Ah, here we go," he said, pulling a black bottle and two silver cups out of a toolbox. He uncorked the bottle and filled both cups to the top. "Ramsay old man, it's good to see you again. It's always good to see you, but I don't think I'll ever get used to this body."

She turned up the cup and drank deeply. "You only have to look at it, imagine trying to live in it. It could be worse, at least I'm cute."

"That you are," he said smiling. "What did Le Brun say?"

"He will receive you a week from tomorrow, though he confided in me that he sees little purpose in it."

"Hmm," he said as he sat the bottle down, "don't worry about that. If I can see him I can get the contract."

"Well, you're in. Here's to your success," she said offering a toast.

They emptied their cups at the same time. "What's Le Brun like?" Louis asked, reaching for the bottle.

"A fantastic talent; painting, sculpture, architecture, etching, all top notch. He's not the official portraitist to the King for nothing. He's very powerful within the ministerial peerage, mainly because he despises most of the others for the talentless lackeys they are. That could work to your advantage. From what he told me, you'll have to dazzle him. The person most likely to win the contract for the Galerie des Glaces is a Vaux glassier named Joubert. He's talented, so I'm told, and all the rage in Paris and Versailles."

"Why's that?"

"It's quite ingenious actually. He makes what he calls skinny mirrors."

"What?"

"Skinny mirrors. He manufactures them with a slightly concaved surface that makes one appear thinner than normal. It's even rumored that His Majesty has one, though he certainly doesn't need it. His star is on the rise my friend."

"Rubbish. Ha! Skinny mirrors, what nonsense. Don't those society cows realize that they're still the same fat pigs when they walk on the avenues and sit in their opera boxes?"

"That's not the point. The point is he's on the inside and you're not. But as I said, Le Brun has a good eye and appreciates skill. That reminds me, I was thinking about it on the way here, isn't a normal mirror like any other? What are you going to do to dazzle him?"