Page 161 of House of Roots and Ruin
I studied it, remembering the blood on Gerard’s apron the night of Constance’s murder.
How had I ever thought it was beet juice?
I pushed the extraneous thoughts from me but they bobbed persistently back, buoys at sea. No matter how I tried not to thinkof Gerard’s apron, of the dark lines of black and red staining his nails, I couldn’t force the images out of my mind.
I set the glass away, resolving to drink no more of it. The wine, for all its bite, was strong.
I wiped my upper lip, feeling a sheen of dampness across it. Despite the empty hearth, the room seemed overly warm.
“Perhaps we should get some water,” I mused, my tongue dry and sticky. “But…we don’t know her name. Dauphine…we don’t know the serving girl’s name!”
She stared at me, her face twisted in curious amusement. “Why would we need to?”
I blinked, my eyelids feeling heavy. It seemed terribly important to me that we did but I couldn’t express why. “For the water…or the wine. What if we need more wine?” I let out a short gasp. “Or bread?”
She laughed and it sounded like a snort, which made me laugh too. “Do you want to know a secret about being the duchess?” she asked, gesturing me close as though she was going to whisper in my ear. “When you’re duchess, you never have to remember anyone’s name. You just need to speak very loudly. More wine!” she shouted, showing me, and then broke into bawdy laughter.
I covered my mouth to catch my snickers, my thoughts circling loosely through my mind. There’d been something I’d been trying to get at, before all the talk of barmaids and wine. Something important…I brightened. “I think you were about to tell me something.”
Dauphine trailed her finger over the rim of her glass, making the crystal sing. “Was I?” She studied me thoughtfully. “You’reso pretty,” she confessed in a rush. “I can see why he wants you so badly.”
“Alex,” I said, my heart warming as I pictured him. The man I was going to marry. My Alex.
Dauphine’s smile dimmed. “Yes. Yes, of course.”
“I’m not as pretty as you are,” I said, worried she needed some sort of assurance, some bit of bolstering. “You’re so strong and beautiful.”
She looked touched, running her hands over her dress. “You really think so?”
I nodded fervently. “And kind. You’ve both been so kind tome.”
Dauphine waved off my praise, swishing her hand as though swatting at a fly. “No. No. I could have been kinder.”
“No!” I gasped, my head swaying back and forth with vehemence. I wanted to take all of the warmth flooding through my chest, all of the affection and gratitude I felt, and give it to her. It felt vitally important that she knew how much I appreciated her. “You’ve done so much…bringing me here and helping me with…with everything.”
“You…” Dauphine looked as though she were about to burst into tears. “You are far kinder than I’ll ever be, but…you’ll be so mad when you find out.”
I leaned forward, patting at her arm. “Find out what?”
She shook her head, hiccupping back a sob.
“Dauphine,” I said, pawing at her, mussing the rows of pleated ruffles slashing across her bodice. “Tell me. You can tell me anything.”
“It’s about…” Another hiccup. “It’s about the babies.”
Alarm bells clanged in my mind, cutting through the strange haze that had settled over me and setting my heart to an uneven patter. “The babies…. The babies in the jars?”
I froze, realizing what I’d just done. Realizing what I’d just given away.
But she nodded, seemingly unaware of the mistake I’d made. “The jar babies.”
“You know about them?” I asked carefully. It wasn’t until after I swallowed that I was even aware I’d picked up my glass. The wine’s tart aftertaste lingered on my tongue. With a flinch, I pushed it from me.
“Oh yes,” she confirmed after a moment of painful silence. “I know,” she said, tapping at her temple. “Iknowall about them. How they were designed. How they were made. But I don’tsee.He wouldn’t let me see them.”
“Gerard,” I asked, needing confirmation.
She nodded.
