“Did not Lydia come in right behind me?” Anne looked about the shop. “Elizabeth, keeping your youngest sister contained is like nailing jam to a tree.”
CHAPTER 29
Madrid - 1660
In a dimly litroom in Madrid came the hushed voices of three men. The men argued, talking over one another in Spanish, watching as a nobleman lay dying of a mortal wound sustained in a duel. Duelling was not yet outlawed, and sometimes there were so many in one night that the streets of Madrid might be littered with corpses by the dawn.
The door opened, and a physician, garbed from head to toe in black, with rings on every finger, and an enormous red stone hanging from his neck entered with his servant and the men sent to fetch him. Whispers made their way through the room, and only two words were understood from the rest.San German.
The men watched doubtfully as the healer and his servant began to treat the dying nobleman with rare herbs and strange techniques, blending science with mysticism. When they completed their work, the nobleman’s pallor had returned to normal, and his wound had been expertly bandaged. Still, the other men in the room doubted that he would last the night. The physician had given a good show of competence, thendisappeared with his fee, but the men were all certain that the nobleman would be dead by morning.
Several hours later, the men returned to find their friend sitting up in his bed, drinking wine and partaking heartily of his breakfast, his bandage discarded, and the wound which it had covered completely healed, without even the trace of a scar.
A week later,the man known in Madrid asSan Germanlooked out his window as the inquisitors invaded the neighbourhood. Two score men converged upon his home, ready to arrest, torture, interrogate, and kill him for having used medical science to heal the wounded nobleman. It had been too much to expect the nobleman and his friends to remain silent about the wonder they had witnessed.
Shouts were heard as the men pounded up the stairs. The door burst open to reveal a completely empty room. The man known asSan Germanhad disappeared entirely.
CHAPTER 30
Lydia Bennet had not intended to separate from her companion when they arrived at the confectioners. But as they entered, a display in the milliners window across the street distracted her. It was an enormous bonnet… With a stuffedbirdon it! It was nearly the most ridiculous thing she had ever seen. Lydia was drawn to the shop window, wishing that she could draw so that she might sketch the hat for Kitty and Mama’s amusement. There was also aturbanin the window, in a lovely sea foam green silk. Mama had always wished for a turban, though the milliner in Meryton never sold such things. Lydia could see the turban on her mother, perhaps at Mary’s wedding, and simply had to inquire about it.
“May I ask the price of that turban?” Lydia asked as she entered the shop.
“Bit mature for you, don’t you think, miss?” The milliner said smartly in reply.
“Oh, not for me! My mother has always wished for one, and my sister is getting married in August. I thought it might make a superior gift,” Lydia explained.
“Well! In that case, you should know that Mr Johnson has the matching silk at the haberdashery, a dress length for one and six. The turban is four pounds, miss,” answered the woman.
Lydia wondered how she could afford such a gift as she looked about the shop. “Your wares are lovely,” she marvelled. “What a delightfully colourful shop.”
“Thank you, my dear,” the woman replied with a smile, as she arranged an attractive display of colourful norman bonnets. There was a lovely bridal bonnet that would be perfect for Mary.How on earth am I to afford all of this?she thought as she asked for the price of the wedding bonnet.
“That one is two and seven,” the milliner informed her.
“My sister is safeguarding my funds, but I shall return, directly!” Lydia promised as she left the shop, and the milliner bid her good day. Lydia was just about to head across the street when she saw a familiar face duck into a nearby alley. She followed to the edge of the alley and peered around. ItwasMr Wickham! He turned in another direction, and Lydia pursued him halfway up the market street, ducking in and out of alleys and behind buildings and shops. Finally Mr Wickham stopped in a secluded area, and began to talk to another gentleman.
Who was he again? Lord Buxton? Bixby? Bexley? Yes. Bexley.thought Lydia as she watched the two men speak. Wickham passed the man a heavy purse.Where would Mr Wickham get money? Lydia wondered. Her eyes had been opened to the man’s true character by Georgiana, who was still ashamed of herself for her stupidity. Yet here he was, handing Viscount Bexley an enormous purse.
Lydia smothered a squeak as someone touched her elbow. TheComteSt Germain pulled her away from the alley. “Ma petite, you should not follow such disreputable men. Indeed, you should not followanymen.”
Lydia looked abashed as thecomteregarded her sternly. “I should not have. I know that man in the uniform, and I was curious to know what he is doing here.”
“I know who he is,” thecomtereplied, giving nothing else away. “He is dangerous. You must remain with your sisters at all times,ma petite.”
“I am certain Lizzy shall send me home after I have been caught following an officer,” Lydia said miserably.
“I shall say nothing. You were in the milliner’s shop. That is all,” thecomte promised.
“Why would you do that?” Lydia asked curiously, wondering why the man had followed her so far.
Thecomtehesitated, then seemed to decide upon honesty rather than elusive speech for once. “I was terribly unkind to someone once, and I have suffered the consequences ever since,” confessed the man with a strange look in his eye. “The most important lesson I have learnt in my time here is that one ought never be unkind to those who do not deserve it.”
“What about those who do deserve it?” said Lydia with interest as they made their way through the market town, back to the confectioner’s shop.
Thecomte’seyes turned hard. “You save all of your rage and malice for those who do,ma petite.”
“Who was it?” Lydia asked. “The one you were unkind to.”
