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“Then it is likely that the person I spoke to today really is my cousin.” Sir John frowned. If being half French had brought him suspicion and scorn all his life, how much worse would it be if society discovered that he was related to a French spy in the service of Napoleon? Certainly, even the broad-minded Keenings would turn their backs on him, had they not already done so.
“Oh, how is he? If he looks anything like his father. I am certain he is quite handsome,” Madeline put in. “Louis caught the eye of every girl he passed.’
“Not as striking as your father, of course,” Collette said to John. “But I told Suzette she would have to take second best.” His mother had a wistful look in her eye as she spoke of her only sister.
Madeleine laughed. “I swooned over Louis myself before your sister snapped him up. He was named for the King, of course.”
“Before it all went to hell,” Lady Ashbrooke said.
“Collette!” Madeleine admonished.
Sir John startled at his mother’s language. He had never heard her speak so harshly. “I suppose he is well enough, but he is a scoundrel and a villain,Maman,” John said darkly.
“Why do you say that? He is one of very few relatives that we have left, Jean, after the Terror,” Lady Collette said disapprovingly.
Sir John set down his cup and paced the small parlor, unsure how much to tell his mother. He did not want to upset her and yet, he did not want to leave her in the dark.She would be safer if she knew, wouldn’t she?“In short,Maman,because Henri Toussaint is a spy for Napoleon. He sought me out with the sole intention of recruiting me for some sort of nefarious mission, promising me glory and the restoration of our property in France. When I refused, he admitted that he himself was in disgrace, and needed to retrieve a certain lost gemstone in order to restore his favor. He says it is a part of the Crown Jewels, the Sancy Diamond.”
His mother’s eyes widened.
“And when I refusedthathe threatened you,Maman. I have come directly here to make sure that you are safe.”
“Mon Dieu!” Lady Collette gasped, going alarmingly pale at her son’s story.
“You have nothing to fear from the scoundrel, I promise you.” John said quickly. “It is unlikely that he even knows where you are staying, after all. Carlton and I were somewhat circuitous in our route, but I simply had to come and ensure your safety myself. I worry about you,Maman,” he said softly.
Collette swayed dangerously in her seat. Sir John immediately went to take her hand in reassurance. Madeleine began to fan her vigorously.
“Perhaps you ought not to have blurted out the tale quite so suddenly,” Madeleine told Sir John with asperity. “I will fetch the smelling salts,” she said leaving the room with haste.
“No, no, it is not that,” Lady Collette waved her friend’s concern away feebly. “You said that Henri claimed to be here in England in search of the Sancy?”
“Yes, that is what he told me. Actually, he seemed to think I would be familiar with such a thing. Although, I am not entirely certain that was his meaning. Why? What can the diamond mean to you,Maman?”
“It means a good deal to me, I am afraid. When yourPèreand I married, before we left France, there was much turmoil. My sister’s husband was quite a passionate revolutionary. At first, we thought that he was only trying to hold onto his head, and perhaps his property, but then, it became clear that he firmly believed the propaganda that was being spouted: that the common people could rule themselves, without a king...”
“Napoleon never wanted that,” Sir John interrupted. “He wants to be king himself. Emperor.”
“Yes, yes,” Collette said. “So, all becomes clear in the aftermath. We know that now,mon Cheri, but my sister’s husband did not believe it. Few people did at the time. In any case, the man my dear sister married turned out to be quite the traitor to the king he was named for, and to his own class,” She dabbed at her eyes with an embroidered handkerchief as she remembered the painful times. Sir John had never heard his mother speak of this before. “The war tore families apart,” she said sadly. “It is goodma Mamanwas dead by that time. Such turmoil, the tale would have broken her heart.” Collette shook her head sadly.
“But my father was never anything but a good Englishman?” Sir John asked with no small amount of fear in his voice.
“Oui. Oui.YourPère, of course, was staunchly loyal to England, and wanted nothing to do with such schemes,” Collette said. “It grieved me, but I could not aid my sister in the end. Richard tried, but my sister would not leave her husband. For that, I could commend her, but I could not save her.” His mother shook her head, and dabbed at her eyes again. “Poor Louis thought that the rabble would be kind to him. He believed in their cause, but in the end it did not matter. Mobs are ruled by passion, not by good sense. Richard never shared Louis’ passion for democracy. We, yourPèreand I, rejected the idea at once, naturally, but there was some...pressure, you might say, applied to us. YourPèrepretended to at least begin to consider the idea, as a ruse, to buy us some time and safety so that we might find a way to flee to England. We had to wait for a ship, you see.”
“I know. I remember,” Sir John interrupted impatiently. He remembered travelling as a youth, keeping off the main roads and traveling by night. It had all seemed a grand adventure then.How much danger had they truly been in?He shuddered; a child truly had no comprehension of such things.
His mother nodded thinking. “Many fled with little more than the clothes on their backs and what valuables they could carry. The Sancy Diamond was one of those.”
“You, mother?” John’s eyes were wide. “You sewed it into your clothing? The Crown Jewels?”
Collette shook her head. “Non, not me. My sister. A friend of hers, poor dear, was one of Marie Antoinette’s ladies-in-waiting. She escaped with the diamond, but it cost her her life. Somehow it was transferred to my sister. When she decided to go back, we traded petticoats. The diamond was to be kept safe with me, should the Crown have need of it. My sister thought we may have the greater need for money. But I could never have sold it.” Collette closed her eyes for a moment, perhaps thinking of that fateful moment, the last time she saw her sister alive.
“You know where it is?” John said amazed.
“Oui,” Collette answered simply.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” John asked, stunned. With the financial situation facing him, a priceless gemstone would have been most helpful, even a stolen one. If his mother did not want it sold, surely there would be some recompense for safe keeping it.
“I think it is cursed,” his mother answered. “It must be. Everyone who touches it dies. My sister had taken it from her friend and then my sister lost her life, along with Louis. It was surely a curse on Marie Antoinette and to all the ladies who served her and carried her jewels, and of course, your ownPère.” Tears filled his mother’s eyes at the thought, and John felt like a villain for bringing her pain.
