Page 28 of When the Rogue Returns
“Then I should correct the impression of her that Lady Lochlaw has obviously given you. Mrs. Franke doesn’t care about title, fortune, or connections.”
Was every man who knew Isa completely smitten? Why did they all see her as such a saint, when she most certainly was not?
“Then whatdoesshe care about?” Victor snapped.
“Her—” Gordon paused. “Her work.”
Victor had a sneaking suspicion that the man had started to say something else. “You mean, her work making fake jewels.”
The Scotsman glared at him. “I mean, her work designing beautiful jewelry, and attempting with every new creation to surpass the last.”
Victor flashed on a memory of Isa bent over a table in the jeweler’s shop in Amsterdam, her eyes alight as she manipulated tiny diamonds into an intricate brooch. Through the years he’d imbued that enraptured look with a certain greed, part of his way of explaining to himself how she could have chosen a set of royal jewels over him.
But had there really been any greed in her face? Or had that just been his rewriting of the past? “Isn’t it odd for a woman to be satisfied with work alone?”
“Not when the woman is extraordinarily talented, no. Have you seen an example of her work?”
Even now, Victor remembered how lovely the imitation royal parure had been, so perfect that until the palace had forced the jeweler to make a closer examination of it, the man had missed that it was a fake. “Yes, I have.”
That seemed to take Gordon off guard. “Oh? When?”
“Last night at the theater,” Victor said swiftly. “Mrs. Franke told us that she had designed the necklace worn by the opera singer.”
Gordon’s face cleared. “Ah, yes. A beautiful piece.”
“The tiara Mrs. Franke wore was her own work, too, I presume.”
“It was.” Gordon stared hard at Victor. “Why do you think I took her on? When she came to my shop to beg that I hire her, she brought a ruby ring left to her by her family. She’d refashioned it, using the most amazing imitation diamonds I’d ever seen. It was exquisite. I hired her as an apprentice on the strength of that ring alone.”
“I gather from what Lady Lochlaw said that she’s from the Continent. How did she end up in Scotland?”
Gordon looked confused. “You misunderstand. I didn’t hire herhere.She traveled with me to Edinburgh after I hired her in Paris.”
That flummoxed Victor. She’d stolen a fortune in diamonds, and then gone begging for a position from Gordon? That made no sense.
And if she’d been trying to escape being captured, why not just pay for her passage with the proceeds from the theft?
“Why was she seeking work with you?”
“Why do you think?” Gordon said testily. “She had to live somehow. After her husband died in the army, she was left destitute.” He scowled. “I suppose you’re one of those who think a woman is better off starving than going into trade.”
“Not at all,” Victor said, trying to find his way in this increasingly odd conversation. “I’m just surprised that you would hire a woman you barely knew and pay for her passage to Scotland, merely so she could work for you as an apprentice.”
Gordon sat up straight. “What the devil are you implying? That I had some other motive in hiring her? That I took advantage of the woman? That I’m some lecher who—”
“No, forgive me,” Victor said hastily. The Scot was quick to take insult. “I’m saying this badly. But jewelers do tend to be circumspect about whom they hire. It was kind of you to take on a widow about whom you knew so little.”
The man’s glare faded a bit. “Well,” he grumbled, “I needed an apprentice. She needed a position. There weren’t many Frenchmen who wished to travel to Scotland.”
“So you were in a bit of a pickle. Perfectly understandable.” He chose his words carefully. “Did your wife mind that you were hiring a woman?”
A shadow crossed Gordon’s face. “She’s dead,” he said softly. “That’s why I came here. After my French wife was gone, there was no reason to stay in Paris. I missed my home.”
And Isa might have offered to share a few of the diamonds with Gordon if he helped her start a new life.
But then why go through the nonsense about being his apprentice? Why not just live off of the money from the jewels? Or steal more? Victor was missing something in all this. He just didn’t know what.
Gordon was staring at him now. “Her ladyship put you up to finding out about Mrs. Franke, didn’t she?”
