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“That’s not true,” I said. I was not a child! I was sixteen and a half. Exactly the same as Charlotte. At my age, Marie-Antoinette had been married for years. (So I didn’t know that from history lessons, but I knew it from the film with Kirsten Dunst.) And Joan of Arc was only fifteen when she—
“Oh, no?” Gideon’s voice was heavily sarcastic. “Then what, for instance, do you know about history?”
“Enough!” I said. Hadn’t I just gotten an A on a history test?
“Really? Who came to the throne after George I?”
I hadn’t the faintest. “George II?” I said, guessing.
Aha! He looked disappointed. I seemed to have guessed right.
“And which royal house replaced the Stuarts in 1702 and why?”
Dammit. “Er … we haven’t got to that yet,” I said.
“So I see.” Gideon turned to the others. “She doesn’t know anything about history. She can’t even speak appropriately. Wherever we go, she’d stick out like a sore thumb. And she has no idea what’s at stake. She wouldn’t just be totally useless, she’d endanger the entire mission!”
I ask you! So I couldn’t even speak appropriately? Well, I could think of several highly appropriate names I’d have liked to call him.
“I think you’ve made your opinion quite clear, Gideon,” said Mr. de Villiers. “At this point, it would be interesting to find out what the count thinks of these developments.”
“You can’t do that to her!” Mum interrupted. Her voice suddenly sounded all choked up.
“The count will be delighted to meet you, Gwyneth,” said Mr. George, brushing Mum’s concerns aside. “The Ruby, the twelfth, the last in the Circle. It will be a solemn moment when the two of you come face-to-face.”
“No!” said Mum.
Everyone looked at her.
“Grace!” said my grandmother. “Not again!”
“No,” repeated Mum. “Please! There’s no need for him to meet her. Surely it will be enough for him to know that her blood makes the Circle complete.”
“Would have made the Circle complete,” said Dr. White, who was still looking through those files. “If we hadn’t had to start all over again after the theft.”
“Be that as it may, I don’t want Gwyneth meeting him,” said Mum. “Those are my conditions. Gideon can do it by himself.”
“It’s not up to you to decide,” said Mr. de Villiers, and Dr. White snapped, “Conditions! So now she’s making conditions!”
“But she’s right! It won’t do anyone any good for us to drag the girl into this too,” said Gideon. “I’ll explain what happened, and I’m sure the count will agree with me.”
“He’s going to want to see her, anyway, to get an idea of her for himself,” said Falk de Villiers. “There’s no danger for her. She won’t even have to leave this house.”
“Mrs. Shepherd, I assure you, nothing will happen to Gwyneth,” said Mr. George. “I imagine your opinion of the count is based on prejudices that we’ll all be very happy to dispel.”
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to do that.”
“I am sure, dear Grace,” said Mr. de Villiers, “that you’d like to tell us on what grounds you feel such a dislike for the count—a man you’ve never met.”
Mum pursed her lips firmly.
“We’re listening!” said Mr. de Villiers.
Mum said nothing. At last she whispered, “It’s just … just a kind of feeling.”
Mr. de Villiers’s lips curled in a cynical smile. “I can’t help it, Grace—I do get the impression that you’re keeping something from us. What are you afraid of?”
“Who is this count anyway, and why aren’t I supposed to meet him?” I asked.
