“That,mon ami, could be said of more than just this Oberlin. But I collect you mean something beyond the usual appreciations of a man for an intriguing woman.”
Nate moved his bishop. “Aye, it felt like more than that.”
“I trust in your observations of this. I did not myself see him; he did not come to the other salon after his loss.”
“He did not take the loss gracefully.”
“It was described to me. Much can be inferred from how a man comports himself after a loss,oui?”
“Aye. Although after I turned down another game, he did not linger beyond verbally accosting Isobel before I’d risen from the table.” And laying a hand on her.
Baudelaire looked up from the board. “She is well? This I did not know, last night when we left.”
“Aye. But he mightn’t have managed even that, except Fournier held me up a moment.”
“In collusion with Oberlin?”
“No. In drunken appreciation for my win.”
Baudelaire grinned. “I heard it was most dramatic, your final hand.”
La dame de cœurs,the queen of hearts, wielding her power. “Given Oberlin’s cards, luck was with me more than skill on my last draw.”
“Your skill allows you to capitalize upon luck when it presents itself.” Baudelaire’s face was studious once more. By all appearances he was deeply invested in the chessboard. “So we must find out if we may, who is this Oberlin.”
“Aye. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is mixed up somehow in this business. It feels too coincidental otherwise.”
Baudelaire slid his rook forward. “I shall inquire further with colleagues. Did his accent suggest to you anything in particular?” He made a stricken noise when Nate moved one of his knights; rook or queen was now forfeit.
“A native speaker, I would say, perhaps with a German-flavored edge. He said he was in Paris for the family wine business for whatever that may be worth.”
He himself tried to keep threads of truth within his own disguises; it was harder to lose kernels of truth, and one’s deceptions were more convincing.
“Perhaps he is Alsatian. There is good wine from Alsace, if this part is true. We will consider this as one possible angle.” Baudelaire moved his queen to safety. “Your Isobel did well at Frascati’s.”
“Aye.” He decided not to argue that she was nothis; Baudelaire would derive too much enjoyment from such a conversation.
“You go tonight to Le Repaire. Will she? If indeed M. Oberlin is, as you surmise, involved, already she is now deeper than anticipated.”
He wished it were not so, but it was undeniable. “I would rather not, as a matter of her own safety. Taking her tonight increases the likelihood she will be endangered. From a tactical standpoint, it makes sense, however.”
“This I also believe.”
Oberlin’s reaction to her had proved useful from an information-gathering standpoint. He could no longer treat it objectively, however. Having her in his bed was only part of it.
“She does not seem one to turn faint at adversity,” Baudelaire remarked.
No, she was very much not one to shrink away from adversity or a challenge.
“I will alert Chrysanthème to expect you,” Baudelaire said decisively. “She will be watchful for any need to assist you or Isobel.”
“So long as it may be rendered subtly.”
“She is extremely subtle, Chrysanthème, as causes dictate. She has been a better player in this game and for far longer than youorI.” Baudelaire paused. “It is none of my business,mon ami, and you will tell me so...” He caught Nate’s eye. “Me, I think nothing of being in this one’s bed or that one’s, whether for the game or not, so long as we’re both enjoying it. For you, it is not so, to be so casual with women. Do not allow this to distract you and place you in harm’s way. Your Isobel either.”
Itwasn’tBaudelaire’s business, but he bit back a rebuke. Baudelaire meant well, and it was nothing he wasn’t already telling himself.
“Zut!I have lost another game.” Baudelaire tipped over his king in a show of disgust. He’d been trying futilely to get out of a trap for four moves. Their conversation was concluded anyway. Leaning closer as he stood, Baudelaire murmured, “I will send over a note if I discover anything before this evening about your less-than-gallant opponent of last night.” Briefly he gripped Nate’s wrist. “It is unnecessary that I instruct you to be careful,mon ami, but I do so anyway. There are some ugly currents that grow quickly stronger. I would not wish either you or Isobel pulled down beneath them.”
