Chapter Forty

“Not tonight,” Ned said, grabbing hold of Marguerite’s arm when she was about to follow her cousin down the hall to their bedrooms. “You can’t accomplish anything at the moment.”

Mme. d’Hivers joined them. “Do not worry. I will take care of her.”

“How? You cannot…” Marguerite shook her head violently.

“Stop that!” The older woman spoke sharply. “Calm yourself. I will see that she creates no difficulties and goes quickly to sleep this evening. We will talk about it in the morning.” After a quick nod in Ned’s direction, she hurried after Delphine.

“But Delphine can’t be allowed to think that she will actually live here with the vicomte.” Marguerite sounded on the verge of hysteria. “I have to stop this nonsense.”

“Shh.” He pulled her around a corner and held her tightly, pressing her to his chest. He had no idea how to deal with this latest development, but that didn’t matter at the moment. He could figure that out later. Right now his main concern was to take care of Marguerite.

“Hush, my love, hush. If you confront Delphine at the moment, she will just get hysterical, and you will achieve nothing.” He could feel her trembling in his arms and rubbed her back gently until she calmed.

When she was no longer shaking, she pulled back, but she did not look pleased. “You are doing that again. You rub my back to calm me down as if I were a baby. Or a pet kitten.” She pressed her lips together and glared at him.

He wanted to smile but managed to restrain himself. “Don’t be insulted. You had a shock. Of course you were upset.”

She sighed and nodded in resignation. “It was just… Earlier I had been thinking that all my problems had been solved.” Her mouth twisted in an effort to smile. “Foolish of me, wasn’t it?”

“Not at all.” He turned her to shepherd her to her room. “But that doesn’t mean you need to berate yourself. There are all sorts of wise little adages that tell you things will look better in the morning.”

She did not resist as he nudged her along, but she did give him a sardonic look. “You are humoring me.”

“Am I?” He smiled. “Is it working?” He opened her door and followed her in. “You seem to be calmer.”

A cheerful fire blazed on the hearth, but she ignored it and went to stare out the window. He waited in the warmth.

“Can you see anything?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Only my own reflection. But I know that the sea is out there.”

“Do you find that calming?”

She lifted a shoulder. “It’s cold and indifferent. Yes, I suppose that does make it calming.”

He shook his head. “You’re being melodramatic again.” She lifted her head to a defiant tilt, but he ignored it and continued. “You are also getting cold. I can see the drapes moving with the draft. Come down by the fire and warm up.”

When she came close, he pulled her down to sit in his lap. She did not resist, and rested her head on his shoulder while he held her. For a tall woman, she felt remarkably small in his arms. Thin, still too thin. He wanted to feed her delicacies that would tempt her appetite. What would she like? Something savory? Morsels of pheasant breast? Or sweets? Cream cakes? Chocolates? What were her favorite foods?

He smiled into her hair. So much he had to learn about her.

Her sigh brought him back to the present.

“Your parents don’t know yet, do they,” she said.

“Know what?”

“That she is a poisoner. That she was trying to kill Tony. That she may have killed her uncle.” She was not looking at him. Her face was still hidden against his chest.

“You make her sound like La Voisin.”

That made her lift her head and look at him with a frown. “Who is La Voisin?”

“A sixteenth-century fortune teller with a sideline in poisons. For a while, poisoning was quite a popular activity at the court of Louis the Fourteenth. Do you suppose that’s why your cousin thinks she belongs at Versailles?” He grinned.

Marguerite did not seem amused. “Do you think it will improve matters if you treat it as a joke?”

“It can’t hurt. If it will make you feel better, I could stand on my head or put on a fake nose.” He leaned his head back to see if his nonsense was working.

She shook her head but couldn’t entirely hide her smile. “Perhaps not. But I must consider what to do.”

“Yes.” He regarded her seriously now. “We won’t be able to hide it. She is a danger, and people have to be told. They have to be warned. Tony. My parents.”

“And what should I do about the vicomte? He could be in danger.”

“You thought she might have poisoned his coffee.” He smiled at her look of chagrin. “No, don’t feel embarrassed. It was my first thought too. But I think he’s safe for the time being.”

“Because the seeds have been discarded?” Marguerite shook her head. “She might have something else. I don’t know.”

“Yes, she might, though I doubt it. Where would she get any poison? Has she even gone to the village here? If she had bought poison, Seznec would have said something. But she isn’t going to want any harm to come to the vicomte until he has restored the chateau, or at least handed it over to her.”

“Yes, you are probably right.” Marguerite wrinkled her nose. “She may not be rational, but she has a certain cleverness. She is shrewd enough to see what is to her advantage and she acts in ways that appeal to people, at least when they first meet her.”

Then she tilted her head, considering. “But we still have a problem. We have to warn the others. We know that. But once they know, are they going to let us just take her away? When Tony finds out he has been poisoned, won’t he want her punished? And are your parents going to be content to have a woman who is not just mad but dangerous living near their son?”

He smiled happily at her.

She took exception to that. “Now why are you smiling? Do you find this amusing?”

“No.” He couldn’t seem to stop smiling. “But you finally said we. You said we have a problem.”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes were averted again. “I should not burden you…”

“Stop that!” He grabbed hold of her shoulders and managed to keep himself from shaking her, though that was what he wanted to do. “I love you, Marguerite, and you love me. That means we share our burdens just as we share our joys. That’s what it means to love each other.”

She looked at him for a long moment then reached up to trace her fingers gently along his cheek. “I love you so,” she whispered.

He would never tire of hearing her say that. “Come,” he said, “let’s go to bed. There will be time enough to deal with shared problems in the morning. Now it’s time for us to share some of the joy of love.”