Dilemma: Paris 1703. It is night and Catherine has slipped into her father's study to peruse his books and examine in secret his collection of treasures from the Orient and the New World. For years, she has studied at his side and is herself a highly competent mathmatician, astronomer and geographer. Her indulgent father, delighted by her precociousness, had encouraged her interest in his chosen fields, but now that she is of marriage age the door to the entire world in microcosm contained in his study is closed to her. A widower, her father fears that her education and independent mind will discourage suitors, especially now that he has been elevated by his appointment as mapmaker to the court of King Louis. The prospect of a highly favorable marriage arrangement cannot be squandered. Catherine, for her part, has not yet been enraptured by what she has seen of court. She would prefer to use her talents in science to learning the domestic arts, or, worse still, entering the endless and highly competitive game of flirtation and seduction played by the women of Versailles. She knows that, were she a man, she could easily navigate a ship to Asia or the West Indies, and bring it back to Le Harve filled from orlop to top deck with silks or cotton, and countless treasures. This night she can only clutch the peacock feather and the fan and dream of distant Asian lands. Lost in her reverie, Catherine barely notices when the door to the study slowly opens... NOTES: Eliza character by Thorne and Sarsa, and Amiel hair available at DAZ3d. Lots of freebies used to fill the scene, including Tower Chamber by Joe Kurz (jenay), books and various objects by Mapps, globe by TYL2000, fan by Yennekuri, and marble floor by Gandalf, all available here at Renderosity. Nightgown is empire dress free at RDNA. Postwork in PaintShop Pro V7.