Dangerous to Know

10

Mrs. Hargreaves had greeted me with no enthusiasm when Colin and I returned from Giverny, and I longed for Cécile to rejoin our party. When, two days later, she wired to say she was ready to leave, she asked if I would to meet her in Rouen, where she wanted to pay her respects to her old friend, Madame Prier. I welcomed the invitation, and planned the trip at once.

Cécile’s train from Vernon had arrived before ours from Yvetot, and she greeted us on the platform, then ushered us into the Priers’ carriage. Narrow medieval streets veered up and down steep hills and along the Seine, no obvious plan to their layout. We passed a square containing a market, fruits and vegetables, fish and cheese amongst the offerings, the noisy buzz of transaction masking the sound of our carriage. Many of the people dressed in the old costumes of the region—the men in full, baggy shirts, the women with tall hats fashioned from delicate lace, making those in modern dress look awkward and out of place amongst the city’s medieval buildings. Colin tugged my sleeve, motioning out the window to the tower that imprisoned Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years War, and I shuddered at the thought of her ultimate fate, to be burnt alive in a space that now contained cheery shoppers.

“Frightening how shallow civility runs, isn’t it?” Colin asked.

“Such a thing could never happen now,” I said.

“I wouldn’t be so confident.” He leaned back against the seat. “And don’t forget it was the English who killed her.”

“You’re a bloody race,” Cécile said.

“Unlike you with the guillotine,” Colin teased.

They continued to argue over which country had exhibited more brutal tendencies throughout history while I looked out the window at the Gothic towers and spire of the cathedral, ornate yet delicate spectacles rising to the clouds.

The Priers expected us at their town house, although to use such an English term did not quite fit in Rouen. Situated on a winding cobbled street not far from the centre ville, their residence took up nearly the whole block, the first floor of its half-timbered façade leaning forward like the buildings in York’s Shambles. This was not a result of wood bending over the centuries. In Rouen, this sort of construction was deliberate, giving additional space on each floor above the ground. Boxes full of red geraniums hung from every window, a stark contrast to what must have been the mood of the home’s inhabitants. A somber servant answered the door and showed us into a dark sitting room, its beamed ceiling low. Despite this, it was a pleasant space, cozy rather than dull, elegantly furnished in well-preserved renaissance furniture: heavy cabinets and narrow, elaborately carved chairs with red seat cushions.

“Cécile!” A door opened and in came a petite woman, swathed in black. “It is too many years since I’ve seen you.”

“Dominique, mon amie!” Cécile embraced her. “It is a terrible occasion on which to call, but I could not leave you in your grief without offering my condolences.”

“It means more than you can imagine to see someone from the old days. And these are your friends?” Introductions sped by—her husband, a lean, dour man, joined us as well—and soon we were all being plied with coffee. I found mine difficult to drink, not because I disliked it, but because a cold sweat had broken out over my body. I wondered if Edith’s parents knew it was I who had discovered their daughter’s body. Considering whether they did, whether they would ask me about it, contemplating what I would say brought the terror of the scene back to me, and seemed to drain all the oxygen from the room. I swallowed hard, steadied myself, and wished Colin was sitting near enough that I could grab his hand.

“The difficulties we have faced are enormous,” Madame Prier said, dabbing conspicuously dry eyes with a black-edged handkerchief and glancing at her husband, who showed no sign of interest in the topic. “All I want now is comfort, not sadness. It’s too much to bear. The situation, you see, is unusual. The loss of Edith surpassed any ordinary death.”

I had opened my mouth to tell her I understood, that I, too, knew what it was to grieve a victim of murder, when the door cracked open and a girl who couldn’t have been a day over eighteen popped into the room. Curvy and petite, she was built like her mother, with shiny black hair, wide-set eyes, and looking nothing like her unfortunate sister. She had eschewed imitating her mother’s dress, however, and was clothed entirely in crimson.

“What a relief!” she said, in flawless English. “It’s been too long since we’ve had new faces in the house. It’s been unbearable, I tell you.”

“Toinette, don’t be horrible. We must break you to them gently,” Madame Prier said, turning to us, her voice full of apology. “This is my youngest daughter, who is feeling much put-out by the requirements of mourning.” Monsieur Prier glowered at his daughter and opened the book he’d been holding on his lap.

Despite her outrageous entrance, I felt a rash kinship to Toinette. Upon finding myself widowed, I’d initially felt relief followed quickly by resentment at being packed away to mourn—feelings that vanished as soon as I discovered the excellent character of the man who’d died only a handful of months after he’d made me his wife, before I’d come to know him at all. No doubt the enormity of the loss of her sister would soon find her, and sadness—real sadness—would come.

“I don’t see why we’re all pretending,” Toinette continued, her crinkled brow at odds with the rest of her perfectly smooth face. “Edith went away ages ago and none of us has thought about her in years. This is a display of guilt, not grief.”

“Toinette!” Her father’s tone was severe, but he did not look up from his book.

Madame Prier froze, then straightened her back and flipped open a black fan, waving it vigorously in front of her face. “I do not think our guests are interested in your extremely superficial analysis of the subject.” I caught Colin’s eye and raised an eyebrow. He drew his lips firmly together and gave the slightest shrug.

“You’ve done an excellent job raising a daughter capable of thinking for herself,” Cécile said, rescuing the conversation. “I would have expected nothing less.”

“And I should have known you wouldn’t be shocked by her,” Madame Prier said. “She does, however, need to learn some manners or no one will have her for a wife.”

“Which would be a terrible outcome. The threat, however, is not quite enough to make me mend my ways. Perhaps because I’ve not yet found a worthy suitor,” Toinette said. Her eyes lingered on Colin. “You’re very handsome. Pity you’re already spoken for.”

I expected he would have kindly, but firmly, brushed her off, as I’d seen him do a thousand times to awestruck females before. Challenges do present themselves when one is married to the most handsome man in England, but he never gave me cause for concern. This time, though, he sounded almost encouraging. “You are too generous with your compliments, mademoiselle.”

“Not in the least, I assure you,” she said, flashing a wholly inappropriate smile that revealed impossibly white teeth. “I’m frequently censured for being too hard on those around me.” I waited for Colin to flash me a look of something—exasperation, or even apology. He grinned at me, but I was not reassured.

“That’s quite enough, Toinette,” her father said, his voice knifesharp.

“Don’t force me to send you away.” Madame Prier frowned.

“You would devastate our guests if you did,” Toinette said. “They’d be dead of boredom in a quarter of an hour. What would you have them do? Sit here quietly and pat your hand?”

“I shan’t tolerate any more of this,” Monsieur Prier said, slamming his book shut. “I will deal with you later, Toinette.” He darted out of the room. Only a moment later the door swung open, this time with a bang, revealing a tall man, broad-shouldered, with close-cut hair and features that while not handsome, oozed all things exotic. His aquiline nose and regal bearing caught the instant attention of everyone in the room as his eyes, dark and liquid, the pupils rimmed with gold, surveyed the scene before him.

“Laurent!” Madame Prier stood and embraced him. “I’ve been beside myself. Where have you been?”

“Who are these people?” he asked, his words full of fury, with no suggestion of an interest in social niceties.

“Old friends from Paris,” she said. “This is—”

“Society callers at such a moment?”

“Oh, really, Laurent, you’re such a bore.” Toinette’s tone would have dismissed a lesser man at once. “They’ve come to pay their respects to dear Maman and poor Edith. Papa, of course, has fled. You can go elsewhere to brood.”

“An excellent suggestion.” He left without another word before we could be introduced to him.

“I’m afraid he has taken his sister’s death badly,” Madame Prier said. “They were extremely close as children.”

“Twins, were they not?” Cécile asked.

“Oui. Like light and dark, the pair of them. Her a sunny day, all fair and bright, him inky midnight. It is all very difficult, you see. Edith fell ill and her sickness became unmanageable for us.”

“She was a raving lunatic,” Toinette said.

“Toinette, there’s no need for that. Too much candor, chérie. You must restrain yourself.”

“Laurent wanted us to bring her home,” Toinette said, ignoring her mother. “But what does he know? He’s never cared for anything but his own whims.”

Toinette’s words seemed to me an excellent description of herself. The initial sympathy I’d felt for her had vanished.

“It must have been a terrible time for all of you,” Colin said.

“Far from it.” Toinette’s beauty would have shamed the brightest sun. “It was much easier to live without her than with her.”

Her mother gave her a sharp tap on the wrist. “Enough.”

“Are you staying for dinner?” Toinette asked, disregarding her mother entirely and looking at Colin.

“We wouldn’t dream of imposing,” he said, a rather too dashing grin escaping from his lips.

“It would be so helpful if you would,” Madame Prier said. “But whatever you do, you must come back to hear the concert I’ve arranged for tomorrow evening.”

A feeling not wholly unfamiliar—but utterly alarming—was creeping upon me. My thoughts sounded like those better suited to my mother. I raged against the idea of being a person who registered horror at the behavior of others when they veered out of society’s norms, yet here I stood in disbelief that Madame Prier would host a concert so soon after her daughter’s death. And Toinette now struck me as less a modern woman attempting to assert independence than a shameless flirt whose scandalous behavior could lead only to ruin and devastation.

A perhaps too-discreet voice of reason suggested to me my feelings might have differed if her attentions had met with direct and obvious resistance from my husband. Colin’s gaze locked on mine, but I did not see in his eyes what I wanted and felt myself slipping into a sea of unpleasant emotions. Madame Prier reached towards me, concern on her face, her words revealing she’d incorrectly identified the source of my angst.

“Please don’t judge us too harshly,” she said. “When Edith was taken away, I mourned for longer than you can imagine. It was worse than death, knowing she was alive but inaccessible to reason. Toinette is correct even if her manner is…abrasive. Edith’s passing is a relief—she’s out of whatever strange hell trapped her all these years.”

“It’s outrageous that you would say such a thing.” I hadn’t heard Laurent return, but felt the weight of his hands on the back of my chair behind which he now stood, the fire of anger painting his olive complexion. “If you had let her come home, she’d still be alive.”

“This is the sort of conversation that can lead to nothing but pain,” Colin said, stepping around to hold out his hand to the other man. “Colin Hargreaves. I’m terribly sorry for your loss.”

Laurent scowled but let Colin shake his hand. His mother introduced the rest of us, who were granted nothing beyond a stiff nod.

“Are you really going forth with this entertainment tomorrow, Maman?” he asked. “Your concert?”

“Mais oui,” Madame Prier said. “You know I have already grieved.”

“Then stop drowning yourself in mourning clothes,” he said. “The hypocrisy is outrageous. Or do you care more about the opinion of your acquaintances than in holding to your principles? You want to look as if you grieve.”

“I shall not discuss this with you, Laurent,” she said.

“And I shall not remain to hear any further nonsense.” He turned to me, a look of ferocious intensity shooting from his eyes. “Lady Emily, it is you who found my sister, is it not?”

“I—I—yes,” I said, cringing at the question and lowering my eyes to avoid his mother’s gaze.

“I’ve returned to ask for a word with you in private.” His voice held no note of query, only demand. He held out his arm, as if to guide me from the room. I did not rise from my chair. “Can you not move on your own? Must you seek permission? To whom do I apply to receive such a thing?”

Unaccustomed to being addressed in such a manner and paralyzed at the thought of him questioning me about what I’d seen, I said nothing.

“It’s perfectly fine, Emily,” Colin said, coming close and helping me to my feet, his voice husky and quiet. “He’s entitled to know, and it’s best done away from his mother.”

In principle, I agreed. Principles, however, are one thing in theory and another in practice, particularly when sticking to them means being sent off with an angry stranger to speak about a topic I’d have preferred to forget altogether. “May my husband accompany us?”

“No,” he said and opened the door. “Seulement vous. This is not a garden party. You’ve no need for a chaperone.”

Colin put a gentle hand on my arm. “Don’t make him speak of these things in front of other people. It’s too awful.” I searched his eyes for sympathy to my plight. He touched my cheek.

“It’s just that—”

“Go, Emily,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Hardly aware of anything beyond the thumping of my heart, I followed Laurent. Even before he’d closed the door behind us, Toinette’s laughter filled the room.

Laurent balled his hand into a hard fist. “He should have taken her instead.”

We walked along a small corridor and up three flights of a square turning staircase to a dim, wood-paneled room, whose wide windows afforded a glimpse of the top of the cathedral. In one corner stood a pianoforte, its case covered with haphazard stacks of paper similar to the ones scattered over a long table pushed against the wall. A glossy puddle of black had ruined the pile nearest an overturned inkwell, and the only chair in the room lay tipped on the floor.

“Did she suffer?”

“I—I—” How could I answer such a question? He grabbed my arms and shook me.

“Tell me what you saw. Did she suffer?”

“I didn’t witness the crime,” I said. My heart pounded and my stomach lurched, my breath catching in my throat.

“But you saw her. You saw what he did. I must know.” His eyes, wild and fierce, scared me.

“Yes, she did suffer.” Tears spilled from my eyes as I remembered her face and the unnatural angle of her head. “Unimaginable horrors.”

“I must know everything.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“What did she look like?” he asked.

“Brutalized.”

“She was strangled first?”

“I don’t know!” I said, summoning the strength to push him away from me. “You will not force me to live it again.”

“I have to know.”

“Why?” I asked. “Do you wish to never sleep again? To be haunted by a ghastly and inhuman image?”

“No one possessed more humanity than she. Even in death she couldn’t have lost that.”

“You misunderstand,” I said, my voice now firm. “I speak of the crime.”

“Did you see her eyes?” he asked, clutching my arm in his strong hand.

“Her eyes?”

“Yes.”

“I—” I closed my own and remembered hers. “They were vacant. Dark and empty.”

He dropped my arm and turned away. “Then he did take her soul.”