If Constance but said the word, d'Artagnan would rush to find a door to Carnival for her. Someplace wild and extravagant for both of them to enjoy themselves in ways that their Paris would never allow them.

"Yes, I think so. Though the rules of courtship for this time seem like there aren't any rules at all." People court for only a short time, enjoy one another, and then separate. He would not do that to Constance. All those months ago, he spoke the plain truth when he said he would marry her the second he could.

That Bonacieux had never courted his wife did not surprise him but the thought still curdled in his stomach. He had treated his wife with all the courtesy of a mule and spared her very few kind words.

"We could be courting here."