‘Who is paying for this quest?’ asked Madame du Lac imperiously. ‘Show me.’
Jason hurried over to her, phone in hand, eager to share, and Ari met Rafael’s gaze.
‘You look most beautiful,’ he told her and the world seemed to tilt a bit off balance.
‘I…um…thank you. So do…I mean…you look well.’ God, she was babbling. But he did look well. More than well. Handsome. He wore a deep wine-coloured shirt and black trousers and the colours made his skin and eyes glow.
He shrugged, that most Gallic of gestures, as if to say ‘This? This is nothing.’
It probably cost more than her monthly pay cheque. She may not be able to afford hand-tailored clothes, but she could still recognise them. He wore the outfit like he’d picked it up off the rack and never thought about it again.
‘So, tell me about this find,’ he said. ‘This mask. It looks amazing.’
‘A mask?’ Laure exclaimed, moving in on Jason like a shark sensing blood. ‘Oh, show me. Look, Gwen. There’s a mask in the legend of Ys, Dahut’s mask. Do you think this is it?’
Ari was sure Rafael winced. Like he had when Jason had first showed him the photos. He hid it pretty well, but not well enough. He didn’t engage with his sister.
‘We don’t know it’s a mask,’ said Ari, letting her voice project just a little. Better to put a stop to any speculation as soon as possible. ‘And it could be nothing. It has to be properly examined and dated, if that’s even possible. We may never know the date.’
Jason glared at her and swallowed whatever his first instinct was to reply. Nico grinned instead, that knowing, teasing look he got when she didn’t toe Jason’s line.
‘But carbon dating or something would work, wouldn’t it?’ Laure went on regardless.
God bless people with just a little knowledge.
‘Not on ceramics. Carbon dating needs something organic. Perhaps rehydroxylation dating might work but…’ They all looked at her blankly. ‘It’s a way to date kiln-fired clay. But given the immersion in water and…well, any number of variables…’ She trailed off awkwardly. This wasn’t what they wanted to hear. They wanted to hear that it came from Ys, that they had found the lost city. Even if they hadn’t. They didn’t want fact and science, just fairy tales.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Madame du Lac whispered at last. She sounded overwhelmed and took a moment to compose herself. She reached out and took Nico’s hand, squeezing it in her thin fingers. ‘And you have it here? Did you bring it with you?’
‘Oh no,madame,’ Jason replied. ‘It’s secure back at the house. The university team from Brest will want to examine it as soon as possible. We’ll take it to them tomorrow, I expect. I’m just waiting to hear back.’
‘But the legend,’ Gwen said softly, in tones of wonder. ‘Youdoknow the legend, of course? You’ve found Dahut’s mask. Look at it.’ She zoomed in on the screen again and her eyes shone with joy. ‘It’s magnificent.’
Ari could see what they were all thinking. There it was, straight out of the story Simon had told Ari so long ago, Dahut’s magic mask which killed her would-be lovers if they didn’t prove to be true. And then she was transformed, cursed to haunt the seas, killing wherever she could, reduced to a monster because of her monstrous female ambition. A thousand feminist interpretations sprang to mind at once.
Could there really be a connection between the mask and the legend? Ari wondered. No, it was a story, that was all. How often had she told Simon that?
Laure peered at it and wrinkled her nose. ‘Under the barnacles maybe, and the dirt and the… Oh dear, what’s that?’ she said, and then gave a sharp laugh. ‘It could be Dahut’s mask though. If any of that was actually real. Look, Rafael.’ She grabbed the phone and lurched at him, her smile widening gleefully. ‘She knows you broke up with Jacqueline! She’s back to get you after all!’
Rafael shied back, clearly unable to stop himself. The irritation on his face would have sent anyone else scrambling. Not his sister though. Families, thought Ari. They were always the same.
‘Oh leave him alone, Laure,’ said Gwen. She smiled at him affectionately and something in his face softened. ‘He used to have nightmares as a child. Terrible dreams. Does she still tease you about that?’
Rafael rolled his eyes, sharing something in the manner of old friends that instantly made Ari feel like the worst kind of interloper. ‘Like anyone could ever stop Laure,’ he said and the moment of tension vanished. ‘Dinner is ready. Why don’t we go in? Mémé?’
‘Nicolas,’ she held out her arm imperiously, ‘will you accompany me?’
Before Ari knew what was happening, Laure had seized Jason’s arm and Gwen latched on to Rafael, so she was left to follow them into the next room feeling like some kind ofDownton Abbeyreject.
Jason looked so startled, it was rather funny. Nico was, meanwhile, charming Madame du Lac. Ari bit her lip to hide the smile of amusement, already aware that she was failing at that too.
And, of course, that was when Rafael looked back at her. His dark eyes had the air of something hunted in them and she thought about his riches, his apparent newly single status, his sister turning up with a very beautiful old friend as if by design and suddenly it wasn’t quite so funny anymore.
Dinner was delicious, rich and satisfying, each course varied and balanced, and the wine flowed freely. Ari sat beside Rafael, but he was deep in conversation with Gwen, their French rapid and musical. All the same, Ari was curiously aware of his closeness, his cologne intriguing and something else, his underlying scent making her skin warm. Every so often, he glanced at her or asked her something and she felt a peculiar glow inside her.
She tried desperately to focus on other things. The dining room itself gleamed, every surface polished to a shine. Like the house itself, the furniture was ancient but wonderfully cared for. She was beginning to doubt there was anything here from the twenty-first century until Rafael’s phone rang.
‘Ignore it, Rafael,’ Gwen murmured. ‘You’re entitled to an evening off.’
