“It is my house,” Jean-François said. “You do not get to decide when or if you are welcome there.”
“My sister’s life has been threatened. I will do whatever I must to protect her.”
Céleste had never heard Henri speak in quite so unyielding and demanding tones.
“We aren’t leaving,” their older brother said. “I have worked too hard to just throw away all I have gained.”
“Do what you think best.” Henri set his arm around Céleste and led her, flanked by the rest of their group, out to the waiting carriage.
The house would be guarded. She would be safe.
One Fortier at a time.The sinister words hadn’t stopped repeating in her mind. She had made a narrow escape. Whichever member of the family was targeted next might not be so fortunate.
Chapter Fourteen
If Céleste had harbored anydoubts about her oldest brother’s indifference to her safety and well-being, those doubts would have fled entirely as the hours passed without Jean-François or Marguerite returning from the ball. And she might have been hurt by their apathy if she weren’t so frustrated. And scared.
Now that she was removed a bit from the immediacy of her near abduction, the reality of what had almost happened began sinking in. If her friends and Henri hadn’t seen her sitting where she’d been and realized she’d disappeared, then Lucas wouldn’t have come near enough to discover what was happening. And if he hadn’t arrived when he did, whoever had taken hold of her would have—
Céleste didn’t let her thoughts go beyond that point. Again and again she thought over those horrible few moments, but never beyond.
She focused on gathering up the most essential things for leaving Paris. She filled a small traveling bag and a small trunk with clothing, hairbrushes, and other necessities, and set both near the door of her room. Beside it, she placed her violin. At Fleur-de-la-Forêt she could play whenever she wished rather than waiting for Jean-François to give her permission or for Marguerite to take a rare day off from shopping.
At the country home, Céleste would have her music and her freedom. And she would be safe.
Upon hearing the sounds of her indifferent relatives in the house once more, she squared her shoulders and proceeded into battle. She made her way to the parlor and easily identified Henri, Lucas, Marguerite, and Jean-François inside.
The room wasn’t as dim as the ballroom, so the candlelight wasn’t as much of a difficulty. Still, she couldn’t see them well enough from her position in the doorway to make out their expressions.
“We kept waiting for the sky to fall,” Jean-François said sarcastically. “Absolutely nothing of consequence occurred after you left. Your overreaction caused us embarrassment. Céleste knows she’s not to give anyone reason to look askance at our family. And she knows the consequences of violating that expectation.”
“Your sister was held against her will and nearly abducted,” Lucas said in tones of shocked disapproval. “How can you say it is an overreaction to leave a situation in which a member of your family was in such obvious danger?”
“I have no doubt she made the situation seem worse than it was,” Jean-François said with a wave of his hand.
She didn’t think he actually believed that. It was simply another moment of him choosing to be hurtful in order to justify his mistreatment of her. She stayed in the doorway, unseen, and breathed slowly in order to maintain her composure. If she could prevent Henri from losing his income, she wanted to. But that meant keeping the peace with their brother.
“The ball really was entirely peaceful and pleasant,” Marguerite said. “Except that we had such a difficult time explaining to people why Céleste scampered off as she did. Fortunately, most in attendance noticed her vitality has been waning these past months. They simply assumed it was more of the same.”
Céleste stepped into the room. “If so many in Society have noticed what Dr. Mercier has diagnosed, then why is it you are so insistent that his recommendations are misguided or unnecessary? You have told me time and again that there is no evidence supporting what I’ve told you I am feeling, yet now you say quite casually that my frail health is almost universally acknowledged.”
“Do not be dramatic,” Jean-François said.
“I know you don’t care much for me.” She crossed closer to them, and they were easier to see. “You have made that clear for years now. I think I could have actually been stabbed during that ball, and you would have shrugged and told me to quit being ‘dramatic.’”
He looked a little uncomfortable but not truly humbled.
“And every person at the house party at Norwood Manor ended our time together knowing that Jean-François Fortier, head of an exalted family, cared even less what happened to his brother than to the sister he is entirely dismissive of. That you are indifferent to the threat uncovered by the Marquis de Lafayette is also not surprising.”
“Be careful where you tread, sister,” Jean-François hissed.
“I am quite carefully attempting to sort out why you are so unconcerned about a threat that encompasses more than your siblings but also your wife.” Céleste motioned to Marguerite. “She is in danger, which means the child she’s carrying is in danger as well.” Céleste didn’t know if Marguerite’scondition was known by anyone outside the household, but it needed to be taken into consideration. “So is Adèle. You cannot be so apathetic toward your own daughter.”
“I am doing this for my daughter and for Marguerite and for the child yet to come,” Jean-François spat back. “The Fortier fortunes had been dwindling for half a decade. We were not destitute by any means, but I needed to retrench more than was comfortable. France’s economy has not been robust. Crop failures are straining everyone and everything. Many of our class are finding themselves struggling as they haven’t before. I am securing my daughter’s future by supplementing an income that may very soon prove insufficient.”
“What good will that income do either of your children if they are both dead?” Céleste demanded.
Marguerite looked to Jean-François with a growing expression of worry. “Which of them would react this way? Threatening children?”
