Light Fantastique by Dominic Cecilia

Author:Dominic, Cecilia [Dominic, Cecilia]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: family, theatre, steampunk, musicians, actors, aether, Roma, psychics
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2015-12-15T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Maison Cinsault, 4 December 1870

Johann found Madame Cinsault in her husband’s study. Unlike the previous week, it was relatively warm with a fire in the grate. Madame stood by one of the windows and barely turned to acknowledge him when he entered.

“Ah, Maestro,” she said. “I’m glad you could come.”

As a connoisseur of women’s voices and tones—mostly so he could know when he was in trouble—Johann picked up that she spoke not with flirtatious intent but with a panicked edge.

“Is something wrong, Madame?”

“Come see.” She gestured for him to join her at the window. Once he stood beside her, she traced a shape that had been etched on the outside of the window.

Johann felt the same sort of rush when he stepped on stage and knew his father and brothers were in the audience. In other words, he knew things had just made a drastic turn for the worst. There, beneath Madame’s manicured nail, was a square inside a circle, the same symbol that was on the paper Monsieur Anctil gave Iris before he died. She’d later explained to him that it was a Pythagorean symbol showing the merging of the heavenly and earthly realms.

“Have you seen this before?” Johann asked. He glanced toward the door and was glad not to see the butler.

At this point, she cannot trust anyone, but at least we now know which secret society Cinsault was involved with.

“Yes, on some of my husband’s letters. He kept those hidden from me, but I knew where he put them. I read them to ensure I knew what he was up to.”

“What did they say?”

“They were written in some sort of code. I can find them for you.”

She walked to the large desk and bent over, giving him a nice view of her décolletage. He turned back to the window and studied the symbol, which was barely visible against the snow outside.

“When did this appear?”

“Last night.” She sounded mildly annoyed, so he turned back to her and gave her the admiring glance she seemed to want.

Johann imagined the fingering for the Symphonie Fantastique overture melody to keep himself calm while she dug around under the desk. They knew less about the neo-Pythagoreans than the Clockwork Guild, and the neo-Pythagoreans seemed more mysterious and ruthless. They had gotten away with murdering poor Anctil, after all.

“It’s a well-hidden compartment,” she told him. Finally she said, “Aha!” and something clicked.

“These are his secret letters,” she said and handed him a bundle of them. “Please take them. I’m frightened.”

“Was there something else that made you feel threatened?”

She reached into her décolletage and pulled out a slip of paper. “This.”

He read the note, which was in a different handwriting from what he’d received in the theatre—thank goodness—but it had a certain familiarity.

Know you are being watched. Do not let your guard down for a moment lest you meet a fate worse than Monsieur’s.

“This has gone beyond a jealous lover’s motives,” he said.

She nodded and turned back toward the window. “Whatever Alain was involved with, he was obviously in beyond what he could handle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.