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looked at her with raised eyebrows. Francesca shrugged her shoulders and sipped her champagne as the men walked away. She always felt so nervous around Lord Jacques. Mrs LeBlanc walked in moments later and went to greet her girls first. Her husband, Colonel LeBlanc, was still away on an errand for the king and was not able to attend. She was so proud of Macee. Months ago, she would never have imagined her daughter organising such a grand event let alone being the crown princess. She had come a long way in such a short time.
    As the dinner drew to an end, Francesca was glad that the men and women were sitting on different sides of the room in anticipation of the auction. This meant that Lord Jacques was not sitting at their table. He made her feel uncomfortable the way he was always staring at her as if she were some sort of specimen. Macee walked up on stage to the microphone. “Good evening, everyone. I hope you are enjoying yourselves this evening. Before we begin, on behalf of the Global Girls charity, I want to thank you for your attendance,” she said. “Now, it is time for the part of the evening that the bachelors have been waiting for,” Macee said as she winked. Some of the guests laughed. “Okay, gentlemen have your cheque books ready and let us get started,” she added. She called the first bachelorette to the stage and started the auction.
    “This is crazy,” Francesca whispered to Liane.
    “Why? I think it’s fun,” Liane replied.
    “It feels like you are being told how much you are worth and its horrible if no one really bids on you.”
    Liane laughed. Her sister was so uptight. When she was betrothed to the crown prince, she had to act accordingly. Now that she was not, she wanted to let down her hair a little, especially since Jean Pierre was a bad influence on her. However, Francesca had no reason to be so uptight.
    “You know your worth, so why should you feel otherwise? And it’s a charity event. Someone will always bid.”
    “Why are you not bidding?” Prince Louis asked Lord Jacques who was just sitting there sipping his champagne.
    “I have not seen anything I like yet,” he responded as Prince Louis and Jean Pierre laughed.
    Macee carried on with the auction and it was going well. She thought of adding one more bachelorette and she knew that she was going to be in trouble with her afterwards. “Now the last young lady up for auction will be my beautiful and intelligent sister, Francesca,” Macee said.
    Francesca's eyes flew open. When Macee had told her about the auction, she told her that she would never do anything like that. Even Liane was unaware of her plans, but she definitely liked the idea. Francesca shook her head but everyone at the table kept cheering for her to get on stage.

Chapter 7
    F rancesca reluctantly stood up and walked to the stage to stand next to Macee. “I am going to kill you,” she whispered as Macee hugged her from the side.
    “Shall we start the bidding at 200 Euros?” Macee asked. Francesca closed her eyes wishing all this was simply a bad dream. She was worth much more than that and the highest bid of the night was 30,000 Euros. The guests started bidding. Francesca could not wait for it to be over but if she was auctioned off for a low amount, she was not going to be happy.
    Lord Jacques sat there watching Francesca on the stage. He could tell from where he sat that she did not like the idea and he could not help smiling. The dress she was wearing complimented her shape. She was beautiful, from head to toe. “20,000,” Lord Jacques called out. Macee and Francesca whipped their heads in his direction. Even Prince Louis and Jean Pierre were surprised.
    “Things just got interesting,” Liane whispered to Katherine.
    “22,000,” another man bid.
    “24,000,” Lord Jacques countered. Macee lowered her microphone and watched. Mrs LeBlanc raised her eyebrows. This was something she did not mind; well-established wealthy men were interested in her