Page 31 of The Beautiful Ones

Monsieur Lebon's hand closed around the stem of his wineglass.

I could not read the words from where I stood, but I saw Adrian's eyes move across them. His expression did not change.

“He asked me to remember,” he said.

Cécile wrote again.

Remember what?

Adrian looked toward the far end of the table.

“That honest men are often called mad when dishonesty becomes fashionable.”

This time Monsieur Lebon set down his glass hard enough to spill wine across the cloth.

A servant hurried forward, but he waved her away.

“Commander Vale's troubles were of his own making,” he said. “I will not have my family subjected to his accusations at dinner.”

“I have made no accusation,” Adrian replied.

“Not directly,” Judge Dewey said.

Nicholas leaned back in his chair, still smiling. “Direct accusations are rarely necessary among friends. A fact usually causes more discomfort.”

Reuben George wiped his forehead with his napkin. “And what facts did Vale provide you?”

The warmth had gone from Nicholas's smile.

“Very few,” Adrian said. “A ship arriving after midnight. Cargo omitted from its manifest. Records altered after they had received the proper signatures.”

Silence spread across the table.

Even the cicadas seemed to recede.

Judge Dewey's face hardened. “You speak carelessly, sir.”

“Do I?”

“Shipping records are complicated documents. A military man accustomed to giving orders may easily misunderstand them.”

“Nathaniel misunderstood very little.”

It was the first time Adrian had used the commander's Christian name.

Cécile lowered her eyes to the card. Her thumb moved slowly over the place where she had written Nathaniel.

“He was not well,” Monsieur Lebon said. “Toward the end.”

Madame placed one hand upon his sleeve, but he shook it off.

“He saw plots everywhere,” Monsieur continued. “He accused friends. Insulted men who had defended him. He destroyed his own standing and expected respectable families to follow him into disgrace.”

Cécile's head rose.

The silver pencil trembled in her fingers.

Adrian saw it.