“Nay. And you will apologize to Lord Nicholas if he should dare to ever be in our presence again.”
Didier made a strangled sound of protest. “Why?Hewas being rude toyou!And he wouldn’t be able to hear me, any matter.”
“I care not,” Simone said, placing the last carefully folded gown atop the pile in the trunk and closing the lid. “Just because you are dead does not give you leave to forget the mannersMamantaught us. You will apologize for my benefit. Do you understand?”
“What did he say?”
Simone spun around with a gasp as the deep, masculine voice filled the room. In her irritation at Didier, she had not heard the chamber door open and close, and now the baron leaned against it, a shuttered expression on his face.
“My lord,” she breathed. “I did not think you to return.”
“Neither did I,” Nicholas said, his tone flat. “Again, I ask you: What did he say?”
“Forgive me, but”—the man’s very presence rattled Simone. How much had he overheard?—“What did whom say, my lord?”
“Your otherworldly companion.” The baron’s eyes roamed the chamber as if searching for the boy. “You bade him apologize to me and I’d hear it now, if he would.”
Simone looked from Nicholas to her brother and back again. Was the baron admitting he believed Didier spoke to her, or was this merely a bit of subterfuge to further implicate her in her madness? She chuckled to herself—it mattered not. Better to pull the man fully into her and Didier’s world and see the strength of his mettle. At least she would have the satisfaction of shrugging off the tired ruse of his nonexistence, if only for a moment.
“You heard Lord Nicholas, Didier,” she commanded, her spine growing taller. She pointed to a spot on the floor before the large man. “Come down and make your regrets.”
“Surely you jest,” Didier said, his small features skewed into an expression of distaste.
“I do not.” She pointed to the floor again.
Simone caught Nicholas squinting toward the top of the dressing screen as Didier jumped from his perch and swaggered to stand before the baron.
“He’s directly in front of you, my lord,” Simone offered, feeling foolish for the man as he leaned forward at the waist. Nicholas was peering intently at the floor as if Didier were the size of a mouse.
Simone’s brother cast a disparaging look at her over his shoulder and rolled his eyes.
The baron cleared his throat and spoke rather loudly. “Very well, er…boy. Let’s have it, then.”
Didier sighed. “Lord Nicholas, I am very, truly sorry that you behaved so badly that I was forced to put fire on you,” Didier said with such solemnity that Simone could feel his sarcasm. “I certainly do hope for your sake that it will not happen again.” He turned to Simone. “There. Are you satisfied, Sister?”
“I suppose it will suffice.” She fought to hide her grin when Nicholas turned questioning eyes to her. “My lord, Didier says that he is very sorry to have burned your chausses. ’Twill not happen again.”
The baron merely grunted at her translation. He stared at her—through her, it seemed—for several uncomfortable moments before speaking again.
“Prove him to me.”
“My lord?” Simone’s eyes flew to her brother, who had turned from them in obvious disgust and now lay across the bed. She looked once more to the baron, leaning against the door again as if unsure that he would stay.
“Prove to me that Didier exists—that he is in this chamber, right now.” His eyebrows rose. “Surely you do not expect me to take you at your word—if that were so, I’d be addressing you as Lady Halbrook.”
Simone’s cheeks burned. She returned his hard stare even as she gave her command.
“Make the flames dance again, Didier.”
In an instant, the glow inside the hearth flared to a crackling display of red and gold. She tilted her head. “Is that proof enough?”
“Merely a draft from the chimney,” Nicholas reasoned, although Simone could detect a flicker of shock in his eyes.
“Very well,” she said smoothly. “What would you have him do?”
“Ay, now!” Didier sat up in the bed. “I’m not here for your entertainment!”
“Hush,” Simone hissed. She turned back to the wary Nicholas. “Well? What will convince you, my lord?”
