“The Fortier name holds a lot of sway in Paris. And my brother is staying in these lodgings. There was no reason for the servants to deny me entrance.”
Aldric didn’t seem at all impressed. The rest of the group looked equal parts surprised and disapproving.
Jean-François spoke to Céleste once more. “I had my suspicions you would return here instead of to the house. You couldn’t possibly have thought that would meet with my approval.”
“I was not going to remain.” She was careful to keep her tone conciliatory. “To require the entire group to take me directly home would have inconvenienced them all.”
“Yet you have no concern formyinconvenience. You did not obtain my permission to come here in the first place, then to send a note around simply telling me you were remaining last night. That is not permitted, Céleste, and you know that.”
“I fell asleep.” She remembered well the explanation they had sent him. “I hadn’t intended to disobey.”
“I do not care what your intentions were. You know what is required of you, and you know the consequences of defiance.”
If this led to Henri’s disinheritance ... No. Jean-François wouldn’t jump to that already. She would be punished, perhaps locked in the house again or forced into an unending stream of errands for a few days.
“Come along, Céleste.” Jean-François snatched hold of her arm and moved her forcibly toward the door. “We have very little time to prepare for the ball tonight, but we must manage it. The attendees are extremely important.”
“To you?” she asked.
“Do not question me. I am nearly out of patience with you.”
Henri placed himself between Jean-François and the door, preventing their exit. “Unhand her. This is unseemly, even for you.”
“Even for—” Jean-François’s nostrils flared. He spoke through a tight jaw. “You washed your hands of her two years ago, Henri. Go back to England.”
Jean-François pulled her around him.
“The Marquis de Lafayette invited Céleste and all of us to Versailles,” Henri said. “He has the ear of people whose names hold far greater sway than ours ever will. And he will be at the ball tonight.”
Jean-François stopped his forceful forward march, something in Henri’s words or tone giving him pause.
“Shall we tell the marquis that you consider his company only marginally desirable, that you think spending time with him was a waste of your sister’s day?”
Their older brother looked back at Henri. “Are you threatening me?”
“No,” Henri said, the very picture of calm. “Someone else is though.”
Jean-François’s eyes flashed the very moment they darted to Céleste. Heavens, if he even began to suspect that she had stolen his letters and given them to Henri, she shuddered to think what he would do to her.
Julia managed to defuse the situation. “The marquis asked us to tell you that he has reason to believe you are in danger, along with your family. We don’t know the details, but he seemed to think you would.”
“Nonsense.” Jean-François’s objection rang a little hollow. His grip on Céleste’s arm loosened a little.
“He did not make this warning lightly,” Nicolette said. “He has heard from reliable sources that you have been the recipient of threats, and he asked that you be told to take them seriously.”
“And who is this reliable source?” Jean-François asked snidely. “No doubt the person who stole my letters.” His eyes snapped back to Céleste.
“I don’t have any letters of yours,” she said. “You can check my room if you need to. Look through my drawers and bags and pockets.”
While some of the accusation in his expression eased, his anger did not.
“The marquis believes the Fortiers would be safer away from Paris,” Lucas said.
Jean-François tipped his chin upward. “None of us will be leaving Paris. There’s no reason to.”
“The family is in danger,” Henri said in tones of exasperation. “Is that not reason enough?”
Jean-François sniffed. “In danger from whom? What is the threat? When is it to be enacted? From what quarter is it coming? When?” He eyed them all with arrogant satisfaction. “You cannot specify any of these things, because the marquis is wrong.” He held up his hands to cut off the objections he must have sensed were coming. It meant he let go of Céleste’s arm, so she stepped enough away from him to be a bit out of reach. “I am not in anyway implying that the Marquis de Lafayette is dishonest or lacking in intelligence. In this instance, he has received incorrect information.”
