“Lynette,” he murmured, enfolding her in a warm, powerful embrace. “You knew I was an English spy, yet you revealed yourself to me, regardless. I cannot decide whether I should kiss you or shake some sense into you.”
She sniffled. “I prefer the kissing.”
Simon laughed and set his cheek to her temple. She
clung to him, taking comfort in his sympathy and caring.
“Last night,” she whispered, hugging his waist, “Solange commented on our interest in one another. My mother protested.”
“Wise woman.”
“To which Solange replied, ‘Seems to me the daughter has the same taste in men as her mother.’ ”
Lynette knew he was frowning, even though she did not see his face.
“Do you know what that means?” he asked.
“No. And I am equally ignorant about many other statements made within my earshot.” She pulled back to beseech him. “What if this woman is my sister? Or worse, what if the connection is malicious? What if she met my sister at some point, noted the resemblance, and has taken advantage of her memory?”
“Lynette—”
“I cannot explain it,” she blurted, before she lost her courage, “but the bond I always felt with her is still here.” Her hand fisted over her heart. “It has yet to be severed. W-why would it still be there i-if she is g-gone?”
He exhaled wearily and smoothed her brow with callused fingertips, then followed with the press of his lips to her fevered skin. “I fear your grief has invented hope where there is none.”
“Then lay it to rest,” she pleaded.
Simon’s head went back and he gazed at the ceiling, as if looking for divine guidance. Beneath her palm, she felt his heart beating steady and strong. For the first time since Lysette passed, Lynette felt as if she had a purpose and Simon gave her the support she needed to pursue it.
“How did you find me?” he asked finally, returning his gaze to her face.
“Eavesdropping.” She smiled. “I think Solange champions you. She was describing your home in detail to my mother this afternoon. She was quite flattering in regards to your taste and wealth.”
A change came over him, a steely resolve taking hold with such tenacity it was tangible.
“From now onward,” he directed resolutely, “I want you to follow your mother’s admonishments to stay hidden. No more parties. No more outings.” He cupped her face and reinforced the severity of his words by touch. “Whatever reasons your family may have for their discretion, you must add the risk of being seen by Lysette Rousseau or someone she works with or for. That cannot happen, Lynette. You trusted me when you came here. I need you to trust me when you leave, as well.”
“What is she?”
“She is an assassin. And I am not certain murder is the gravest of her crimes.”
“Mon Dieu . . .” Lynette shook violently, the chill starting from the inside and spreading outward to coat her skin with gooseflesh. Her hand rose to his face, her quivering fingertips brushing over his sinner’s mouth. “I am grateful to have your guidance.”
She drew strength from him and comfort. For the first time in two years she felt like herself. It was a precious gift and meeting Simon had given it to her.
“A thiasce,” he whispered, his eyes darkening. “I wish we had never met. No good can come of it. The only path on which I can guide you is one that leads you straight to hell.”
Chapter 10
It was nearly midnight before Simon found Richard Becking in a tavern in an undesirable part of town. The Englishman was occupying a far corner of the room with a buxom serving wench on his lap and a singing Frenchman to his right. Richard himself was grinning from ear to ear and he lifted a hand in a wave when he spotted Simon approaching.
“Richard,” Simon greeted him, pulling out the only vacant chair at the table. He glanced at the seat, arched a brow, then laid his kerchief atop it before sitting.
“Putting on airs, Quinn?” Richard laughed, as did the maid and the drunk, although Simon doubted they’d understood a word.
“I have recently come into financial difficulty,” Simon said, his mouth curving on one side. “I ruined one set of garments last night. I cannot afford to ruin another.”
“Fighting again?”
“In a fashion.”
Simon studied Becking closely, searching for any lasting ill-effects from his stay with Desjardins. Fortunately, there did not appear to be any. He was fit and trim, and maintained the understated genial appeal that enabled him to blend in anywhere. His brown hair and eyes were nondescript, his height and build unremarkable, his voice lacking any distinguishing qualities. In short, Richard did not attract undue attention and people found him both innocuous and pleasant to associate with.
Richard kissed the maid on the cheek before shooing her off to refill his ale, then he tossed a coin at the Frenchman and waved him away, too. “How is it that you are suddenly lacking coin?” he asked when they were alone.
“Eddington has seized my accounts.” Simon’s fingertips drummed into the tabletop. “Stupidity on my part. I had no plans to return to England anytime soon. I should have cleared all my assets before departing.”
“Bloody hell.”
“Let that be a lesson to you, eh?”
“I cannot believe he had the audacity to aggravate you in that manner.” Richard whistled and leaned into his spindle-backed chair. “He must be desperate. Quite frankly, I enjoy picturing Eddington in that light.”
Simon’s chuckle turned into a cough, the result of the tobacco smoke in the tavern aggravating lungs irritated by the smoke inhalation of the night before. “When I returned to France with Mademoiselle Rousseau, I thought I would proceed with my life unencumbered. Now, I am beset on all sides. Eddington has proven that my interests are of little concern to him, which leaves me with no one to turn to but you, my friend.”
“I knew it was not happenstance that you would seek me out.” Richard’s face beamed with a broad smile. “But I admit to having had a faint hope that you joined me simply for a night of tupping and drinking.”
“Some other time,” Simon said, thinking of Lynette as he glanced around the large room. She was the only woman he was interested in tupping. He was interested to such an extreme that his ballocks ached, a discomfort he had not felt in so long he could scarcely remember it.
“So tell me,” Richard yelled, as a makeshift orchestra began playing a raucous tune, “what can I do for you?”
There had been a time when Simon deliberately sought out such noisy, boisterous venues. The revelry of others masked his personal discontent, as well as shielded the secrets passed between agents. Now, he found the din irritating.
“What task did Eddington set for you?” he asked, bending low over the table to be heard.
“He would like me to investigate Mademoiselle Rousseau and also Mr. James.”
“I ask the same, with an added request for you to learn whatever you can about the Vicomte de Grenier and his family.”
Richard’s brows rose, then he smiled. The man loved a challenge.
“Exercise more caution than usual,” Simon said, straightening slightly as two sloshing tankards were thumped down on the table between them. “There is something amiss. They hide secrets, something or someone they fear enough to flee France.”
“I will take care, and I will give you a day’s notice.”
“Day’s notice?” Simon shouted, just as the music fell from its crescendo and faded into silence.
Richard laughed at Simon’s scowl. “I will send whatever information I uncover regarding James and Mademoiselle Rousseau to you, then to Eddington the following day. I will keep any news about the vicomte separate, of course, as he did not ask for it.” Richard shrugged, then drank deeply. “I wish I could do more.”
“It is more than enough.” Simon lifted his own ale in a toast. “I am tremendously grateful.”
Eddington was paying for his request. Simon was begging a favor. Lacking any family of his own, Simon treasured every gift that came from loyalty and friendship.
“I am in your debt for ensuring our release,” Richard dismissed.
“It is what anyone would have done.”
“No, it is not, and well you know it.”
Simon’s lips had barely touched the rim of his stein
when he was bumped from behind, causing his ale and its frothy head to spill over his chin, down his chest, and into his lap. He glanced at the subsequent mess and growled. Pushing back from the table, he confronted the man.
“Beg my pardon,” he demanded, damning the fate of another set of garments.
The offender, a man of equal height to Simon but twice the weight, looked at the stain running down Simon’s clothes and made a monumental error.
He laughed.
“Poor chap,” Richard muttered. “Has no idea what’s about to hit him.”
Simon drew back his fist and swung.
“I deeply regret returning to Paris. This place has only ever brought me misery.”
Lynette flinched at the pain in her mother’s voice and moved to sit beside her on the edge of a pink velvet chaise.
Late morning sunlight spilled in through the sheer-covered windows and bathed the upper parlor in soft, welcoming light. Despite having dreamt of Simon in ways that made her blush upon rising, Lynette had slept well. Refreshed and determined, she had approached her mother to share some of what she had learned yesterday and to ask her the questions that had waited too long for answers.
“Maman . . .”
“I told you to stay away from him!” Marguerite cried, her shoulders shaking. “Why could you not obey me?”
“Because I have to know who this woman is!”
“Lysette is dead!” Her mother pushed to her feet, her robe and night rail swirling around her feet. “I saw her with my own eyes.”
“You said her f-face was . . . too badly burned.”
“I saw her hair. Her dress. Her s-shoes—”
Covering her mouth to stifle a sob, Marguerite turned away.
“You may have made peace with her passing,” Lynette said flatly, her gaze turning to Solange for a moment, then dropping to the floor when tears threatened. “But I have not. I feel as if a part of me is missing.”
“This man is taking advantage of your grief!” Marguerite’s hands fisted at her sides.
“To what aim?”
“You are wealthy and beautiful. Marriage to you would be any man’s aim.”