Of course he wouldn’t notice you,I chastised myself, shaking my head.You’re merely a servant, beneath his notice.
But why was he observing the shop? I craned my neck to see that it was an apothecary. An advertisement for a medium was in the window as well. Some sort of occult shop then. What was Montoni’s interest in such a curious place?
I flicked my eyes back toward Montoni to see him step back into the shadows of an alley, yet he remained watching the storefront. Perhaps he had followed someone there and was waiting for them to reappear? Either way, it unsettled me, and I moved along before he noticed me lingering.
Another minute and I was standing at Bram’s doorstep. Before I could talk myself out of it, I lifted the heavy door knocker and announced myself. I was debating knocking again when I heard the lock being unfastened, and a woman pushed the door open to regard me.
“Can I help you?” she asked, looking me over. “I’m afraid the doctor is out on a house call at the moment, but if it’s urgent—”
“Oh, no,” I apologized, stepping back. “I was looking for Bram, er, Monsieur Valancourt. I didn’t mean to disturb him.”
“Not at all. He should be in his study. Please, come in.”
“Thank you.” I sent her a grateful smile and followed her inside and down a short hall.
“Bram doesn’t have many visitors,” the woman prattled on. “He’s always so busy with his work, doing this and that. I think he’s trying to prove to his father that he’s ready to take on more responsibility, but I think he needs to get out more. Anyways, he should be right through here. I’m Sybille, if you need anything.” She pushed open a door that was slightly ajar and glanced around briefly. “A visitor for you, monsieur.” She slipped out of the study as I entered a small room lined with books.
Bram was sitting at a desk but pushed back his chair and stood when he realized it was me. “Emile. What a pleasant surprise.”
I rubbed the back of my neck shyly. “Hello, Bram. I didn’t mean to interrupt your day. I came to offer to buy you lunch. As a thank-you.”
Bram waved the gesture away. “No need. That is to say, I’ll let you buy me lunch one day, but not as payback.” He pulled a chair out for me, across the desk from him as he returned to his seat. “I already ate today, I’m sorry to say.”
“That’s okay. Another time then.”
Bram grinned. “I hope that’s a promise. I had a wonderful time the other night.”
“Me too.”
Bram watched me for a moment and then frowned. “Are you sleeping well? You have circles under your eyes.”
“Oh,” I straightened and rubbed at my eyes, as if that would help. “I … not really, to be honest. We had the late night at the opera, and then something unexpected happened that kept me tossing and turning last night.”
“What was it?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. “It’s nothing.”
Bram leaned forward. “Emile. You can tell me anything. Maybe talking about it will help.”
I swallowed hard, meeting his eyes. Those beautiful dark eyes rimmed by those long lashes. I wondered how they would regard me if he knew the truth about me. Henri had reacted in an unexpected way when he’d ferreted out the truth about me. Not everyone would react the same, but it made me hesitate nonetheless. Especially since Alexander had nearly seen me at the opera, and being so nearly discovered had been a close enough call. I didn’t need to invite more trouble to my doorstep. Revealing truths about myself would do nothing but make me more conspicuous.
“What is your opinion of Count Morano?”
“Count Morano,” Bram’s mouth turned downward imperceptibly. “I would watch myself around that one.”
I sat up. “Why’s that?”
Bram hesitated. “Count Morano used to come around often, if you must know. He seemed to enjoy my company and would invite me to dine with him and his sister. Once after supping with them at a pub, I’d forgotten my hat and went back in to retrieve it, when I overheard him talking about me to several men at the bar. He said that he felt sorry for me apprenticing to a man who had such backward ways of conducting medicine, that the townsfolk wereexperimentsfor him in his attempt to advance the field. These were some of my father’s customers, mind you, his livelihood.Ourlivelihood. He said he wouldn’t trust us with his horse, let alone his family, and they should reconsider who they had seeing to their health.”
I winced. “That’s awful.”
Bram fidgeted, as if embarrassed by relating this encounter to me. “When the most powerful family in town talks about you like that, word gets around. We lost the confidence of several patients. We still haven’t recovered some of them. Morano, at least, had the decency to look chagrined when he realized I’d overheard, but then said, ‘I don’t suppose we’ll be seeing you for dinner tomorrow then.’ Like this wasn’t my profession he was calling into question.” Bram shook his head. “That boy is thoughtless and doesn’t care about the difficulties he causes to those around him.”
My stomach twisted. This account served to confirm my opinion of Henri’s character. He could spin pretty words to cover ugly lies, but I would remain wary around him. If that was how he treated his friends, I could only imagine how he would treat his servants in the end.
Bram sat up. “Emile? Did something happen with Count Morano?”
I gazed around the study, searching for something to change the subject, but my mind was spinning, and I couldn’t focus.
