Page 84 of The Assassin and the Libertine
“I’m going to have some coffee,” Charlotte said. “I have a feeling tonight will be a long night.”
CHAPTER FIVE
DAPHNE
December 25, 1765
Château de Champs-sur-Marne
I layin bed that night, trying not to doze off. Étienne and I had occupied ourselves for over an hour with spirited lovemaking, but now we were spent. After the day I’d had, I could feel the exhaustion creeping in. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait for the jewel thief to strike.
I got up and went to the window of my bedchamber. Snowflakes were still falling, but much slower than the frenzied blizzard from earlier. The sliver of moon made the snow on the ground glow a pale blue. I opened the window and inhaled. There was a faint whiff of smoke from the hearths of distant houses, but everything else smelled cold and new and wet.
“I forgot how beautiful winter can be,” murmured Étienne. He’d snuck up behind me, padding silently across the carpet on stealthy feet. He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned his chin on my shoulder. We continued to watch the snow fall in silence.
“It’s long after midnight,” I realized. “Merry Christmas,chéri.Do you want your present now?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “But truthfully, Daphne, you’re the only thing I need.”
I tutted. “Don’t be silly. This is important.”
I went to my dresser and pulled out a small velvet box. Étienne took it and eyed me curiously. He opened it slowly and exhaled.
“Daphne, what…” He picked up the ring and held it aloft in the moonlight.
“I know, it’s a bit odd,” I said, strangely nervous. “But after you turn me, you won’t be able to drink from me anymore. I wanted you to have something to remember how it was.”
The ring was solid gold with a small droplet of blood encased in crystal. In any light, it would look like a stunning ruby ring.
“It’s wonderful,” he said quietly. “I’m speechless. No one has ever offered me anything so precious. But darling, I could never forget how you taste.”
“I just wanted to—shh! Do you hear that?”
Rising up from the ground below came the soft crunch of footsteps in snow. I stepped away from the window and looked around. I didn’t see anyone.
Étienne inhaled deeply. “Someone is near, but I can’t smell them yet. The woodsmoke from the fire is too strong.”
We heard faint scraping sounds of leather against stone—someone was climbing the wall beneath my window, which was an impressive feat considering my bedchamber was on the third floor. Étienne motioned to me, and we melted into the darkness on either side of the window. I’d purposely leftl’Étoile d’Orout on a table instead of putting it back in the vault. The necklace glittered temptingly.
Two hands reached over the railing and hefted a body inside. Just as fingers closed around the jewel, Étienne and I launched ourselves on top of the thief, knocking us all onto the ground.
“Unhand me!” cried a rough male voice.
I lit a candle and held it in front of the intruder.
“Robert!” Étienne and I said at once.
Étienne’s butler grimaced at us.
“Robert,” Étienne repeated. “Oh,mon ami,how could you?” The sadness and betrayal in his face was almost too much to bear. I tied his hands behind him with one of my hair ribbons, cinching the knot a tad tighter than was necessary.
“It is not as it seems,” Robert cried. Tears started to leak from the corners of his eyes. “Monsieur de Noailles, forgive me, please! Forgive me!”
“You’re going before The Order, Robert. You’ll have to ask them for forgiveness,” Étienne replied bitterly.
“Wait,” I said. “What do you mean, ‘it’s not as it seems’?”
“I still have the jewels!” he said. “All of them! I didn’t want to steal them, Your Grace, I swear I didn’t. They told me to take them. They said if I didn’t, they’d tell Monsieur about my past.”
