Written on Silk by Linda Lee Chaikin

Author:Linda Lee Chaikin [Chaikin, Linda Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Christian, Historical, book, ebook
ISBN: 9780310298748
Google: s0ciDtinLDkC
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2009-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

The Long Road Home

THE LOUVRE PALAIS

RACHELLE RETURNED TO PARIS WITH HER FATHER, MONSIEUR ARNAUT, to find Duchesse Dushane smiling as she stood to greet them in the Louvre salle of the Macquinet apartment. One look at Madame’s face lifted Rachelle’s spirits.

“Madeleine is recovering?”

“Many thanks to our God — she is! Oui, Arnaut, your daughter Madeleine is awake from her feverish slumber, and le docteur says she is on her way to a slow but certain recovery.”

With joie de vivre, Père Arnaut bent over her hand and thanked her for the care she had given his daughter when neither he nor Madame Clair could be with her.

“May I see her now, Madame?”

“She will be most thrilled, Arnaut. The bébé is with her. You shall see your first granddaughter. Le docteur is here as well. I am certain you will wish to discuss matters with him after you speak to her.”

Rachelle was pleased about Madeleine’s progress, but her thoughts soon strayed to Grandmère and what the docteur might have learned from the autopsy. After a short visit with Madeleine in order to not overtire her, her father came out of her chamber and told Rachelle he would speak alone with the docteur.

Some time later the docteur came out and bowed to her, then departed. Rachelle swiftly entered the salle where her father stood staring through a window toward the river Seine. He heard her entry, and turned.

His face was tired, the lines of prolonged strain deepening around the corners of his mouth.

“What did he say about the manner of poison that was used?”

“There is no proof of poisoning, my daughter.”

“No proof,” she protested, walking toward him. “But the gloves.”

He squeezed her shoulder with understanding.

“There was probably an abscess of her lung,” he said quietly. “Le docteur now believes Madeleine’s illness was not related to Grandmère’s.”

Rachelle closed her eyes in a moment of frustration. “Then what made them both so violently ill at the same time? Madeleine had many of the same symptoms, but she did not leave the gloves on for as long, whereas Grandmère wore her pair during her shopping. Mon père, it was the gloves I tell you, the gloves from the Queen Mother. I shall never be convinced differently.”

“The gloves,” he said patiently, “are not to be found anywhere in the appartement. Without them we have no proof of poisoning. It is merely suspicion.”

“But others saw the gloves. Madame Dushane saw them, the ladies-in-waiting — ”

“There are no gloves now, ma petite.”

“What does Madeleine say?”

“Madeleine claims she may have been ill before trying on the gloves. She had not been well for several days.”

Rachelle shook her head and sank to the rose settee. “I will not accept this, mon père. I have no doubt in my heart that it was her — Madame le Serpent! And I for one will not forget that she took Grandmère from me when I needed her most in my life!”

Pain came to his eyes. He swept up both of her hands into his and held them tightly.

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