“Céleste—” Henri began.
She tugged them more quickly up the stairs. “Adèle has grown so much since you last saw her. I have attempted to teach her a little English, but Jean-François put a stop to that.”
“He really is becoming our father,” Henri muttered.
Except Father had never locked Céleste in her room; Jean-François had done that. Jean-François had never actually struck her; Father had.
The nursemaids froze as Céleste led the new arrivals into the nursery. After a mere instant, the distress in their expressions slid into relief. It was not difficult to ascertain why. Jean-François and Marguerite tended to arrive with criticisms and demands. But they knew Henri well enough to realize his arrival would bring light and joy.
“Monsieur Henri and Madame Nicolette have arrived in Paris,” Céleste told them all, letting herself smile broadly. “They wish to see our little Adèle.”
Curtsies around the room greeted that news. All the staff liked Henri. How could they not? He was wonderful.
“TanteCéleste.” Adèle’s sweet voice filled her heart as it always did. Her darling niece didn’t usually hug Céleste, though she sometimes did, and she often smiled, though with less frequency the past months.
Céleste was so close to seeing herself sent to the countryside, but she wouldn’t go without Adèle. The girl needed a reprieve as much as Céleste did. And they both needed to be with someone who loved them.
“Ma petite,”she said, “yourtontonHenri has come to visit you from England.”
She looked at Henri, clearly unsure. “Tonton Henri from your letters?”
“The very same.”
Henri’s smile turned tender. “You’ve read my letters to her?”
“The bits about her,” Céleste said. “I want her to know who you are.”
Henri lowered himself to the ground in front of Adèle. “You have grown up while I was away,ma petite sauterelle. Do you still like flowers?”
She nodded eagerly. “I love flowers. All flowers.”
Henri had Adèle’s undivided attention after that. Céleste breathed a little easier. The girl could be very shy and unsure of people. Clearly, she could sense the goodness at the heart of her uncle.
Nicolette nudged Céleste a bit aside. “You haven’t written to us in months.”
Jean-François hadn’t allowed it. But telling them as much would likely lead them to interfere. “I am sorry for that.” She set her hand on her friend’s arm. “But I am so very happy that you are here.”
Nicolette looked worried about her. “You said you needed to lie down because you have been weary. Are you ill?”
She hated being less than honest, but she needed Jean-François to believe what she’d been portraying. Long after Henri and Nicolette returned home to England, Céleste had to survive the life she had in France.
“I’ve been fatigued lately. Dr. Mercier is a bit perplexed, but he doesn’t seem anxious.”
“Doctor? You’ve needed to be seen by a doctor?”
Céleste held her friend’s gaze and smiled. “All will be well in the end. I am certain of it.”
Nicolette, if anything, looked more speculative. She would not be so easily put off.
As overjoyed as Céleste was to have friends and her beloved brother nearby again, she couldn’t deny that the timing of their arrival was going to prove exceptionally complicated.
Chapter Five
“I don’t like it.” Juliaechoed what they had all been saying ever since leaving Jean-François’s house only an hour earlier. The topic hadn’t shifted much as they had all prepared for and were now traveling toward the Lapointes’ home for the evening’s soiree.
“Your brother was overbearing in England,” Aldric said to Henri, “but his behavior toward Céleste feels different now. If he is requiring her to report to him her comings and goings even within the house, it isn’t difficult to deduce that he is being controlling in other ways.”
Anytime one person held that much power over another’s basic movements and existence, the situation could quickly go from unhappy to dangerous. Aldric hadn’t heard over the years that Jean-François had a violent streak. He hoped that remained true.
