Conspiracy by S.J. Parris

Author:S.J. Parris
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780007481262
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-04-06T23:00:00+00:00

‘Then …?’ I turned back to her. The question seemed to catch in my throat.

She hesitated for the space of a breath, and laid a hand on my arm. ‘No, Bruno.’

‘But – we were together in the January. Could it not be—’

‘The dates do not match.’ She did not meet my eye, though her hand still rested lightly on my sleeve.

‘It is possible to miscount the dates. Or so I understand.’

‘You know nothing of these matters, Bruno.’ She spoke gently, but it felt like a rebuff. ‘I’m sorry. Besides,’ she added, sounding weary, ‘what difference would it make?’

‘It would make a difference to me,’ I said, with a vehemence that surprised me. I was aware that I had raised my voice. ‘Just to know.’

‘Really? Would it not rather be a kind of torment? She is the Count’s child now. You could never see her. Even if she were yours, I mean,’ she added quickly.

‘It will be more of a torment to be always wondering,’ I said. ‘To think there might be a sliver of doubt.’

‘Then take my word for it.’ She squeezed my arm before removing her hand to pull her cloak close around her throat. ‘There is no doubt.’ But still she would not meet my eye.

‘Is she dark or fair?’ I was not sure why I was persisting, as if I might press the truth out of her one way or another. Given the life she led at court, it was entirely possible that she could not say for certain who the child’s father might be; I was not so deceived as to think I had been the only one, but I imagined there might be some clue in the child’s looks as to which of her lovers was responsible.

‘She looks like me.’ She pressed her lips together again. It appeared the subject was closed, and I knew better than to go on forcing it; she would only walk away, and I still needed her help. We stood in silence for a while, watching the colours explode against the dark backcloth of the sky. She shivered, and I slipped an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder to keep her warm. She remained very still, neither quite a rejection nor a welcome of my touch. ‘I must go,’ she said, eventually, with – it seemed to me – a note of reluctance. ‘There is someone waiting for me inside.’

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