“But she is being very close-lipped about it.” Nicolette shook her head. “We need a better idea of what the situation truly is, but I don’t think Céleste will tell us.”
“Marguerite clearly believes we will be beneficial to her standing in Paris,” Julia said to her. “By leaning into that, we ought to be able to nudge a few insights from Marguerite.”
“I’d offer to dig deeper into Jean-François,” Henri said, “but I suspect that would prove a very poor approach.”
Aldric nodded firmly. “Even if he didn’t realize what we were attempting to do, he takes such quick and complete offense at most everything you do or say that he would be uncooperative simply out of spite.”
Henri shook his head in frustration. “I expected him to be upset that I managed to stay in England and out from under his thumb, but I hadn’t anticipated him being truly loathsome.”
Lucas, in a tone more somber than was usual for him, said, “I have my suspicions the tyranny we are seeing and of which we suspect him is, in many ways, Jean-François’s means of punishing Céleste for helping you thwart him.”
“His pride took a beating when he didn’t get what he wanted from you.” Aldric hated seeing guilt pass through Henri’s eyes, but if they were to help Céleste—and Aldric firmly suspected she needed help—then Henri neededto understand what it was they were facing. “Jean-François knows he no longer has the ability to control you. But he has discovered he can control your sister.”
“It is my fault, then,” Henri said. “I ought to have come to France sooner to intervene. She needed me, and I wasn’t here.”
“Until her letters stopped, we couldn’t have known,” Nicolette insisted.
“This is Jean-François,” Henri countered. “I’ve known for far too long that he had the potential to be horrifyingly like our father.”
“Perhaps Aldric or Lucas could attempt a conversation with Jean-François tonight,” Julia said as the carriage came to a stop in front of the home of the Lapointe family. “Anything we can glean will help us better know what needs to be done for Céleste.”
Aldric was shaking his head before the suggestion was even finished. “Jean-François treats us with a bit more respect than Henri, owing to our family connections and titles. But we are first and foremost Henri’s friends. He won’t grow suspicious as quickly as he would if Henri was doing the discussing, but I do think we have a very narrow threshold with him.”
“What approach ought we to take?” Lucas asked.
“The two ladies can talk with Marguerite. I do think she’ll be more willing to spill her budget. Lucas is very good at charming people into amiable interactions. That can help establish in Marguerite’s and Jean-François’s minds that we are good for their standing while we’re here, which should soften them toward us.”
“Their standing and reputation are terribly important to them both,” Henri acknowledged.
“And I will ascertain what I can from Céleste,” Aldric said.
By the time they entered the grand drawing room of the opulent Paris house, the group was the very picture of aristocratic elegance. No one would guess they were all worried, wary, and on a mission of discovery.
Nicolette undertook a great many introductions as they made their way around the room. To Aldric’s delight, she chose to introduce him not merely as son of the late Duke of Hartley but as the son of Clothilde Benick, née Guillaume, the late Duchess of Hartley. His mother’s name was still known among Paris Society, and he was treated to more than one declaration that she had been loved.
In England, it was his connection to Father that gave him standing and identity, seasoned by the gossips’ intrigue at his father’s clear dislike anddismissal of Aldric. But here, in a country that was not his homeland, in a city he did not frequent, he was welcomed because of his mother.
She had brought him here. She was the reason he’d made this journey, to claim an offering she had left for him. But he felt as though she was giving him a gift already. For a brief time, he could be uplifted by his familial connections.
Julia spoke multiple languages and had studied cultures extensively and at length. No one watching her circulate so easily amongst Paris Society, speaking French so easily and naturally, would guess that she had not been to France before. And everyone witnessing the growing grin on Lucas’s face would know in an instant how much he loved her intelligence and capability. Some men were threatened by those traits in a woman; he was clearly besotted.
Aldric sometimes let himself imagine having a wife who was clever and intelligent, who felt like a partner, companion, and match in the way all the Gents’ wives were. But a lady like that deserved to be part of a happy family. He was a Benick; family was always a disaster.
They’d not yet completed their circuit of the room when they were met by Jean-François, Marguerite, and Céleste. Henri’s brother puffed up quite a bit as he looked at the faces around him and mentioned the high standing of his acquaintances. They were moreHenri’sacquaintances, but that was not mentioned.
“The Fortiers’ fortunes have grown noticeably of late,” one of the onlookers said to Aldric in tones of admiration.
“Their social fortunes or monetary fortunes?”
“Both.”
Interesting.
The ladies immediately launched into their efforts. Julia asked Marguerite which of the ladies were her particular friends. Nicolette leaned on her knowledge of Paris Society to express her approval of Marguerite’s acquaintances.
Aldric turned his attention to Céleste. Nicolette had revealed to them all shortly after their visit to Jean-François’s house that Céleste had been feeling unwell. A doctor had even been sent for. Watching her, Aldric could see some evidence of that. He had been in company with her a few times in the past, both when he had visited France and when she had been in England for the house party. She was vibrant and energetic. So little of that was evidentin her now. Was it illness entirely, or was at least part of the difficulty the dampening effect of her elder brother’s treatment?
A young gentleman, likely almost exactly Céleste’s age, arrived among them, and Jean-François was quick to make introductions. Céleste watched the newcomer through slightly narrowed eyes, but she didn’t seem displeased by his presence.
