“She hates Andorra and thinks Paris and Versailles are the only civilized cities in Europe. Perhaps she thought the clock would turn back and the king would regain power.”
“It’s possible. There was a great sympathy for the royal family at that time.”
“But no more.” Juliette shivered as she remembered the threatening gloom of the Tower. She tried to focus her thoughts on the problem at hand. “Then she must have left the statue at Andorra and come back to Paris. If the queen did regain power, my mother could return the Wind Dancer and be showered with favor for her loyalty. If not, she could return to Andorra, pry the jewels from the statue, and discreetly sell them. Either way she’d have what she wanted. She didn’t realize she’d have to bargain for her life with Marat.”
“A bargain on which she obviously reneged.”
Juliette wearily shook her head. “I don’t understand it. She’s not an honorable woman but she’s really quite shrewd. She must have known Marat was a dangerous man to cheat.” Her hand shook as she brushed a pale golden tendril from her temple.
Jean Marc’s gaze narrowed on Juliette’s face. Dark shadows smudged the delicate flesh beneath her eyes and made them appear enormous in her thin face. In spite of her protest, the knowledge her mother had betrayed the queen had jolted Juliette and reliving the events at the abbey earlier in the day was enough to try anyone’s stamina.
Jean Marc threw a few francs on the table and stood up. “Come along. We’re leaving.”
She looked up, startled. “But we have to discuss this. I’m not giving up. Don’t you want to get the Wind Dancer back?”
“I have every intention of getting it back.” He pulled her to her feet, bundled her cloak about her shoulders, and propelled her toward the door. “I’ll not have my appetite whetted and then leave the table hungry.”
“Then we should decide what we’re going to do.”
“Tomorrow will do as well.”
“No, I want to—”
“Juliette.” Jean Marc opened the door. “I’m tired and I’m irritated and I can see a mountain of problems on the horizon for which I have no solution. If you don’t need your rest, I most certainly do. We’ll discuss the matter in the morning.”
She gazed at him for a moment and then, to his surprise, surrendered. “Oh, very well, if you’re that weary.” A sudden twinkle appeared in her eyes. “I keep forgetting you’ve passed your thirtieth natal day.” She preceded him toward the waiting carriage. “You can sleep and I’ll lie in bed and plan what we’re going to do.”
“Thank you.” Jean Marc made no attempt to veil the irony in his tone as he helped her into the carriage. He’d wager Juliette was so exhausted she’d be asleep the minute her head rested on the pillow, while he would have to remain awake and make sure the release she’d received this afternoon would be sufficient to keep her from again running barefoot through the streets of Paris. Dear God, how had he wandered so far from his original intentions? The role of seducer suited him much better than father confessor and guardian.
Well, he’d have more than enough to occupy his mind while he kept the vigil. How the devil was he going to get the statue from Celeste de Clement?
“I told her the name. I decided it would do us no good to be stubborn about it,” Nana whispered as she rubbed her cheek lazily in the hollow of William’s naked shoulder. “Was I wrong?”
“No. We need the other pieces of the puzzle.”
“She may not act on it. The woman is her mother.”
“Familial love doesn’t always triumph in this world.”
The bitterness in his voice startled her and she was silent a moment and then asked quietly, “What did the last message from Monsieur say?”
She could feel the muscles of his shoulder tense beneath her cheek.
“William?”
“He grows impatient.”
“We’re all impatient. Is that all?”
“No.”
“What else?”
William turned over on his side. “Go to sleep, Nana.”
“I’ve decided we must leave immediately for Andorra,” Juliette announced as she came into the breakfast room to find Jean Marc at the table the next morning. “If we wait, my mother will start to sell off the jewels.”
Jean Marc took a bite of croissant. “And have you also decided how it’s to be done? Perhaps you’ve forgotten that we could go to war with Spain at any moment. As Andorra lies just over the border, we may have both the Spaniardsandthe French with which to contend.”
