Regency Belles & Beaux by McGrath Michele

Author:McGrath, Michele [McGrath, Michele]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Riverscourt Publishing
Published: 2016-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Next day, Philip visited Marco and asked him about Grace. Giulia, Marco’s wife, was only too happy to offer her somewhere to stay. Philip paid the hotel and together they saw the coach start off for the coast. Grace had given Trevor, the coachman, a letter to Edward and Alice, explaining what had happened. He promised to deliver it as soon as his master and mistress returned. When they were alone, Philip told Grace about Agathe.

“Poor girl, and you did not realise?”

“It never occurred to me. For months, I grieved for Celia and then, when I had started to recover, I met you. Agathe was just someone in the background. I must have been blind.”

“Let’s hope that she forgets you and marries her Gilles.”

Although he felt uncomfortable about his thoughtlessness, Philip very soon forgot about Agathe. The bureau kept him busy and he spent every evening with Grace. He gave up his apartment and moved nearer to Marco’s. He had thought about doing so ever since Celia’s death, but had not wanted to deprive Agathe of her occupation. The day after her shattering revelation, he left. The new lodgings were better than the old ones and closer to his workplace.

One evening, he was working late and was alone in the bureau when MacDonald came in.

“What’s this rumour that I’ve been hearing about you?”

“What rumour?” Philip asked as he put down his pen and leaned back in his chair. He was prepared for the usual sort of revelation. Stories about people’s personal life were commonplace and often entertaining.

“Two police agents were asking about you. They suggested that you are really an Englishman in disguise, not a Frenchman at all.”

Philip made himself laugh, although a shiver ran down his spine. “They must be mad. You’ve known me for years. Do you think I’m English?”

“I don’t know, mon ami, are you?”

“With a name like MacDonald, why aren’t they asking about you?”

“They probably are, but it’s you they’re concerned about right now. Someone told them that you had foreign friends, with whom you spent a lot of time, and that you killed an Englishman in a duel.”

Philip shrugged but he felt icy cold. He thought rapidly. MacDonald was a shrewd man so it was not a good idea to lie to him. Then he realised that there was no reason why he should deny either accusation.

“My sister married an Englishman in the summer. I met him when they arrived in Paris a few weeks ago. One of my grandparents was English.” He smiled, thinking in fact two of them were. “Put those two facts together and of course I’m English. Their informant did not tell you that the rest of my family are French and I can prove it. As for the duel, that is also correct, but the story has been twisted. The man insulted me when I was in London last year carrying messages for the Emperor. An affair of a lady’s honour, you understand. We never got a chance to settle our differences because I had to return home.

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