Page 85 of The Assassin and the Libertine
“Your past?” Étienne repeated, confused.
“Forgive me, Monsieur. I…I used to pick pockets, but it was a long time ago—before I found a job in service with the old Vicomte de Noailles. I’ll admit I was a thief, but no longer, I swear to you! They told me if you found out the truth, you’d turn me over to thegendarmerie, or The Order. I don’t want to leave your service, Monsieur, I don’t! Please don’t send me before The Order. I can return everything!”
Robert choked out a sob and my heart clenched. Étienne looked less convinced.
“Who’s blackmailing you, Robert?” I asked.
“I can’t,” he cried. “They’ll ruin me.”
Étienne’s expression softened a touch. “If what you say is true, I promise we’ll keep you safe.”
Robert considered us and blew out a miserable sigh.
“The Balays.”
“I knew it!” I exclaimed, unable to stop myself. Étienne and Robert looked at me in surprise. “Sorry,” I whispered. “It’s just that I suspected them. Do go on.”
Robert continued. “I don’t know how they found out about my past, but somehow, they did. Every few weeks, they give me a name and a jewel to steal. I’m supposed to give them everything next week—including your necklace, Your Grace. The marquise sent word to me this evening when she returned from the party.”
“How were you supposed to deliver the jewels to them?” I asked.
“I was supposed to put them in a box on the back of their carriage when they leave for their country estate next week,” he sniffed. Étienne handed him a handkerchief.
Suddenly, Charlotte burst into the room wielding a fireplace poker.
“I’m here! Have you apprehended the—oh,merde.It seems I have missed out.”
“Robert, Étienne’s butler, is the thief, but he is being blackmailed into it by the Balays,” I summarized for her.
“I knew it!” she crowed. “I knew it had to be them, the rotten snakes.”
“What are you going to do with me, Monsieur?” Robert asked.
“It’s up to the duchesse. She’s the one you tried to rob,” Étienne said. Robert let out a tortured wail.
“Calm yourself, Robert,” I said, untying him. “I’m not going to turn you over to thegendarmerieor The Order, and it’s very likely that Monsieur de Noailles is not going to terminate youremployment. As for me, I’m going to see that the marquis and the marquise receive exactly what they’re supposed to.”
“You want me to give them the jewels?” Robert asked, astonished.
“Precisely,” I said.
Several days later,Étienne and I decided to take a leisurely evening stroll through the streets of Paris. We took our time, ambling along the sidewalk next to some of the more expensive townhouses in Paris. We watched people come and go, ducking the cold, snowy weather. A commotion in the distance attracted our attention.
“You know,” Étienne began. “I never gave you your Christmas present. After Robert broke into your home, time just seemed to get away from us.”
“Oh?”
A group of eight uniformed men with thegendarmeriehad stopped a carriage and were swiftly emptying trunks and chests right into the street. Fine gowns and suits of clothing spilled across the mud, as well as folios of paper, hatboxes, boxes of cigars and cases of brandy. We heard the loud screech of a woman nearby, as well as the booming voice of a man who believed himself to be in charge of the situation. We strolled closer.
“Yes,” he said, handing me an envelope. I opened it and unfolded the paper within.
“It’s…an architectural plan?”
“For a new set of apartments in your château. All underground—designed for us after your turning. I didn’t want you to have to give up your family home as well as your humanity,” Étienne explained. He seemed anxious.
We neared the excitement in the street just in time to see an officer open a small wooden case with several priceless pieces of jewelry inside—some of which were strikingly familiar.
“I’ve never seen those before in my life!” The Marquise de Balay shrieked.
