Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock Page A

duel of pets , I should say!—set off to observe at last Circus Primus. To think the entire empire has had opportunity to see this spectacular and we have not!—in my more equitable moments I comfort myself that Montagne has not behaved badly enough to merit a visit—although given tonight's debacle, were I offered the option of going to my tomb rather than observing its charms, I would promptly choose eternal rest.
Allow me to elaborate...
We made our way to the "circus grounds," an amphitheater erected about a high raised stage. On one side sat our handsome, white-bearded emperor, sharp as an eagle, flanked by the duke and duchess. We were positioned opposite in seats of commensurate honor—either to separate us from the duchess or out of respect for Wisdom's unmarried status I could not tell, nor once the event began did I care. Oh, what a spectacle! A man juggled fire, and devoured it too, with a degree of finesse I could never have imagined. Another emerged from the stage depths with three tigers that he led through hoops and poses—I do wish Escoffier had been present to admire his stripy cousins, and to witness what a cat may accomplish. Then came a mob of boys hurling themselves through the air like so many monkeys, concluding with a tower six bodies high! They were followed by a lady snake charmer whose sinuous dance mesmerized not only the snake but every male in the audience; had she wand and powder, she could not have enchanted them more completely.
So engaged was I in this fantastic pageant that I tendered Dizzy only the scantiest attention, and realized too late that while other female viewers—and many male!—shrieked with fear and suspense at each breathtaking extravaganza, your sister's eyes only grew wider and her chin more determined, in that manner we both know too well; she had the visage of a man who after a lifetime of water at last tastes champagne.
Then—the floor pulled back to reveal the pièce de résistance: a golden orb that swelled until it filled the stage and rose into the vast circus tent. As magnificent as this globe was— balloon is far too meager to do it justice—even more mesmerizing was the young man posed atop it. Dizzy could not take her eyes from him, so it is all the more surprising that she alone did not react—though you may be sure that this old woman covered her head with a most unqueenly screech!—when he leapt off the structure and hurled himself toward us. Now I understood the purpose of the wide aisle wherein we sat, and saw the wire extending from his waist to the Globe d'Or. Coming to a stop directly before your sister, with great nonchalance he lowered his legs to the floorboards and, flourishing a golden rose, offered it to Dizzy with the emperor's compliments.
Dizzy accepted the rose with matching poise—her sang-froid all the more notable given that several women around us had fainted outright—and replied coolly that she should like to thank the emperor at once for his generosity—and held out her hand to the acrobat! Impudent girl! And he—with only a moment's pause at this doubtless unprecedented proposal—accepted her hand and pulled her from her seat into his arms!Before I could do more than gibber in fright, he was swinging her through the air, grasping her with absolute familiarity as her skirts fluttered about in a most unregal manner—the entire audience saw her legs almost to the knee!
So suspended from the basket of the Globe d'Or, they sailed together—not across the stage, as I had hoped, that she might be delivered to the emperor forthwith!—but in a great sweeping arc over the audience, the man's arms around her waist, her hands clasped on his. And then—I can scarce write the words!—Dizzy had the audacity (completely spontaneous I am sure, though it looked as though she had practiced for years) to point one slippered foot and, arching her back, extend one hand up to the sky as she rested against the man's shoulder, locking her eyes