Paris 1703. From the moment her father discovered her in his private study, Catherine's life has not been quite her own. She was told that night that she was to be formally presented at Versailles at a reception for royal contractors hosted by King Louis himself. In addition, her widowed father informed her, he had commissioned a young painter to make her portrait in honor of the occasion. For most young women, this would be joyous news. Catherine, however, was not delighted. She saw it all as part of her father's campaign to marry her off to some noble, or petty royal, to advance the family's standing in society (and perhaps insure his own position as mapmaker to the king.) She would, of course, comply with a direct request from her beloved father -- he meant well. She agreed to endure the portrait, although she knew that the painter would be secretly contracted to make several miniature copies, which her father would circulate among eligible suitors. The painter himself was not unamusing. An ambitious tradesman, like her father, he had recently left his apprenticeship and was trying to gain admission to the Royal Academy on the basis of his portraits. He made an effort to entertain his pretty subject with droll stories about the women of court who had sat for him, but Catherine's mind soon began to wander. She relieved her boredom by inventing mathmatical problems and solving them in her head. NOTES: Eliza character from Thorne & Sarsa available at Daz3d. Freebies include Oliver for Michael 3 by KarenJ, Casa Villina balcony by Mint & Janezak, easel and canvas by Sams3D, Wavy tress hair by Maria and Lady Jane hair by Mylochka, all available at Renderosity.