Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are spending their summer as au pairs – for a royal family! When Jessica sees the beautiful European château where they’ll be staying for the summer, she feels like she’s living in a fantasy world – complete with a prince, a royal ball, and a guarded castle. Is there an evil stepmother too?
Elizabeth adores her young charges at the Château d’Amour Inconnu. The only problem child is Pierre, a six-year-old who loves to hide from her. While trying to find Pierre one day, Elizabeth gets lost in a vast topiary maze on the castle grounds. What she discovers at the maze’s end just might turn her wildest fantasies into reality!
Excrept:
“So the prince and Isadora had a passionate affair,” Jaques said, continueing the legend of the Le Château d’Amour Inconnu. “And all summer she sang as she worked, a pure and beautiful sound that made even the doves sit still and listen.”
Jessica held her breath. She felt herself transported to another world, a magical place of romance and passion.
“But one day Prince Frédéric was to be wed to a young marquise,” Jaques said. “Torn between his love and his duty, Frédéric agonized day and night. But the preperations proceeded as planned. On the day of the weeding Isadora ran into the forest. And Frédéric ran into the woods after her.”
“And so they lived happily ever after!” Jessica finished.
“Ah, no!” Jaques said, his face darkening. “This is a tragedy. Frédéric searched the woods, but the belle Isadora was nowhere to be seen. And so the marriage went on. But when Frédéric took his vows, a white dove appeared. It sang a sad song, then it flew away. And it is said that on summer nights, the sweet and sorrowful sound of a dove can be heard.”
“That’s beautiful.” Jessica sighed. “Maybe I’ll hear the dove when I’m there.”
Jaques winked. “Maybe you will have a mysterious love affair.”