The Virgin's Daughter by Andersen Laura

Author:Andersen, Laura [Andersen, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2015-05-26T07:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

In the days running up to Charlotte’s bal masqué, Lucette divided her time between dressmaking sessions with Charlotte, being entertained by Felix and his two little cousins, and avoiding Julien. When she realized the last, she argued to herself that it was because she needed distance to consider what she’d learned thus far, and time to properly place the puzzle of the murdered man on Blanclair’s grounds.

She had written to Dr. Dee, describing the man and his death and his appearance at the Nightingale Inn, in a painstakingly ciphered letter. She had not revealed that it was Julien he’d been meeting. That could wait until Dr. Dee himself arrived at Blanclair. As for herself, she found it difficult to imagine why Julien would have killed the man. More than that, why had Julien turned English spy in the first place? All for the pretty face of one Huguenot girl? Although she wanted to believe him (more than she found comfortable), she maintained a healthy skepticism.

At least, she remained skeptical whenever she was away from him. Near him, even with half a dozen others present for meals, say, Lucette found herself dwelling far too deeply on how he’d kissed her. Admittedly, she did not have a wide range of experience, but there had been a handful of others besides Brandon Dudley, though none else had gone so far. Was her response to Julien simply because he was very, very skilled? Which he must be if the Paris reports passed through Walsingham and Dr. Dee and the Blanclair household were true. Was it that he was dangerous? She knew herself well enough to recognize that she might like the element of uncertainty in both his character and in predicting his behavior. She spent so much of her life surrounded by the predictable.

But he wasn’t the only unpredictability at Blanclair. Nicolas had become incredibly attentive since her illness, and part of escaping Julien meant turning to the older brother. Nicolas appeared perfectly willing to spend hours with her, riding or walking or simply allowing her to read in his study while he worked on account books. She’d caught him staring at her in contemplation, as though she were a thorny puzzle of logic he was trying to put right, and it made her uneasy. Renaud seemed uneasy about his elder son’s interest as well, which Lucette found puzzling. Did he not think her good enough for Nicolas? What if I said you ended with a French husband after all? Pippa had been teasing. Hadn’t she?

Felix, at least, glowed with pleasure whenever he saw his father and Lucette together, and Charlotte radiated approval. One evening before bed, she sailed into Lucette’s chamber ostensibly to discuss the progress of her feather gown for the masquerade, but mostly to launch prying questions that were parried only with difficulty.

Charlotte was determined to be smug. “I thought this was how it would be. Nicolas has been so determinedly solitary for so long that when he asked me about you at Christmas, I knew he must be serious.

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