“You wish to charge me for the sketches?”
“Would you give free passage on one of your ships or a loan without interest?”
This time he made no attempt to smother his smile. “I wouldn’t even consider it.”
“Then you must pay me.” She nodded triumphantly. “You must pose for me. I’ll paint you and find out allyoursecrets.”
He frowned. “I’m too busy for that nonsense now.”
“I’ll wait for a time that’s more convenient for you. You promise?”
He started to chuckle. Only Juliette would try to wrest a victory from her moment of weakness. “Very well.” He hurriedly qualified his statement. “When I have time.”
“Good.”
He tapped the stack of sketches. “Since I’ve agreed to pay for them, I assume all these sketches are now my possessions?”
She avoided looking at the sketches. “Of course.”
“Then I may do what I wish with them?”
“Certainly.”
“Tear them up.”
Her gaze flew to his face. “What?”
“I want you to tear them up.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.”
“Why?”
He smiled faintly. “A whim. Humor me.” He handed her the first sketch. “Tear it up.”
She took the sketch gingerly and tore it lengthwise.
“Again.”
She tore the sketch horizontally and dropped the shredded pieces on the path.
He handed her another sketch. “Tear it up.”
She ripped the sketch in half and then again.
She reached for the next sketch and ripped it in smaller pieces.
When all the sketches had been shredded she sat looking down at the bits of paper on the ground for a long moment. “You confuse me, Jean Marc.”
“Because I indulge my whims?”
“No, because I think perhaps you’ve been very kind to me and I wonder why. Sometimes it’s as if you’re two different men…” Juliette didn’t wait for a reply but jumped to her feet. “I’ve done as you wished me to do, and now we must go see if Marie has some supper for us. You’ve already made me miss dinner.” She turned away and started down the path to the house.
Jean Marc rose to his feet and caught up with her in four strides. “May I remind you that I’ve had no meal either? I’d think you’d be a little—”
“A package, Monsieur Andreas.” Robert met them as they reached the door and handed Jean Marc a small cloth-wrapped object. “A young boy brought it to the front door a few minutes ago.”
