She moved slowly forward into the library and nodded approvingly. “Yes, you’ve hung them in fine places.”
“And does everything else meet with your approval?”
She glanced around the room. “It seems quite—” Her eyes widened in shock. “The Wind Dancer!”
On a white marble pedestal by a tall French door the statue shimmered with golden splendor in the sunlight.
“But how could—” Juliette whirled to face him. “We left the Wind Dancer in France. Dupree’s mother…” She shook her head in bewilderment “I don’t understand.”
“There are two Wind Dancers,” Jean Marc said quietly. “The real Wind Dancer and the copy I ordered from Desedero to try to deceive my father. Unfortunately, my father instantly knew Desedero’s was a copy and I thought it useless to me.” He shrugged. “So I ordered it melted down and the jewels sold off.”
“But it was never done.” Juliette looked back at the statue on the pedestal, her mind working quickly. “And when we went back to the Ile du Lion from Andorra you substituted the real statue you’d gotten from my mother for Desedero’s statue which was still on the island. Then you sent the real statue to Charleston with the captain and took the false one to Paris.”
Jean Marc smiled. “Yes and no.”
“What do you mean? That’s what you must have done.”
“Yes, I sent the real statue to Charleston and took Desedero’s to Paris.” He paused. “But I didn’t substitute the statue your mother took from the queen. You see, your mother never had the Wind Dancer, Juliette. I stole the Wind Dancer from the Hall of Mirrors myself in 1787 and substituted Desedero’s statue for it.”
She froze. “What?”
“I didn’t want to do it.” His smile faded. “I’d haveoffered the queen everything I owned if I could have persuaded her to sell.”
“I remember…” Juliette shook her head dazedly. “She refused you.”
“My fatherneededthe Wind Dancer. It was the great dream of his life and he was dying. Marie Antoinette thought of it only as a bauble, a good-luck piece,” Jean Marc said. “I was desperate in those weeks before I left for Versailles. That’s why I went back and told Desedero not to destroy the statue. I knew I had to have the Wind Dancer—one way or the other.” His lips twisted. “When the queen refused to sell, I realized I had to steal it. I went back to Versailles three days later and substituted the statue. To soothe my conscience I gave the king his loan and the queen the two jewels.” His voice was suddenly urgent. “Don’t you see? She couldn’t tell the difference. The statue remained at Versailles fortwoyears and no one at court realized the Wind Dancer had been substituted.” His gaze shifted to the statue. “And my father had his dream throughout the six months before his death. I’m not sorry. I’d do it again, Juliette.”
Juliette nodded slowly. She could see how desperate Jean Marc must have been with the father he loved dying and he unable to give him what he wished more than anything in the world. “You took a great chance. If you’d been caught, you’d have been stripped of everything you owned, and very likely thrown into prison or executed.”
“I loved him,” he said simply.
And this was the man who was convinced he was incapable of dreams, Juliette thought. “But why did you go to Andorra after the false statue? Why would you even want it?”
“I didn’t want Desedero’s statue,” Jean Marc said. “I only wanted the queen to issue me the writ giving me legal right to the Wind Dancer. She would never have given me the writ if she’d known I’d stolen the statue from her. I had to reclaim the statue she thought was the Wind Dancer before I could gain legal documentation for the real one.”
Juliette started to laugh helplessly. “Jean Marc,you’re truly impossible. You make me dizzy. Only you would become involved in such convoluted maneuvering to get what you want.”
“Some things are worth a great deal of trouble.” He took a step nearer, his gaze searching her face. “You are, Juliette, and so is my Wind Dancer.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I was worried because we had to leave the Wind Dancer in France.”
“I suppose I was afraid to tell you. I stole the statue from the queen and she was your friend.”
“You stole because of love, not greed,” she said softly. “And, God knows, you tried to repay her in every way you could. I can’t condemn you for that.” A frown suddenly furrowed her brow. “But wait, there’s something that does bother me. When you arranged to have me sent to the abbey, was it because you thought I might be able to tell the difference in the statues?”
He grinned teasingly. “Well, Desedero did warn me that an artist would be able to tell the difference.” His smile faded and he slowly shook his head. “No, Juliette, even then I knew I had to find some way to keep you in my life.”
She turned toward the pedestal and leaned her head back on his shoulder as she stared dreamily at the Wind Dancer.
Everything leads me to you.
The words she had spoken to Jean Marc in love came suddenly back to her. She had the odd feeling they applied also to this statue that had drawn them, shaped all their lives, inexorably interwoven their paths, even leading Jean Marc and her to this new land. “That’s because you have excellent good sense and knew I would love and protect you for—”
“The groom says I must ask you if I can ride my horse now.”
They turned to see Louis Charles, his eyes glowing with eagerness, standing in the doorway behind them. “Please, Jean Marc, may I ride—” He stopped, his gaze on the statue on the pedestal across the room. “What is that?” He moved slowly across the library until he stood before the pedestal. “I’ve seen this before. Iknowhim.”
Juliette and Jean Marc moved across the room so that they stood on either side of the little boy before the pedestal.
