The sheets were ripped to shreds.
Henri went pale and held me against him as he observed the scene with horror. “I will speak to my uncle in the morning,” he promised, voice unsteady. “And you arenotsleeping alone in this house again. Understand?”
Grateful, I buried my face in his neck.
“I think it was a warning,” Henri told me the next day as we sat down to dinner and waited for the others to join us.
I nodded slowly. “You spoke to your uncle?”
“Oh, we exchanged words all right. I’m not going to tolerate you being in danger in this house.” He straightened. “But I didn’t tell him about the bodies. I think it’s for the best if we keep quiet about that for the time being.”
“You still think I was seeing things.”
“I’m trying to keep you safe, Emile,” Henri hissed, leaning toward me. “There’s a very delicate …balanceto the situation at the château. Please just trust me for now. Keeping quiet about the bodies is in your best interest.”
I clenched my jaw. “Fine. For now.” Although I had to wonder what sort of balance he was speaking of. Was he trying to manage Montoni? Did this circle back to what he and Blanche were talking about in the hedge maze when I’d overheard them weeks ago?
“But I told him about your bedsheets. He claims that a servant was stationed at the door, so no one could have entered the château without being seen.”
Blanche chose that moment to enter and dropped into a deep curtsy before me. “Marquis.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, stop that.”
She smirked, before noting the troubled looks on our faces. “And what’s this then? Did I interrupt something?”
Henri cleared his throat as his sister took a seat beside him. “We were discussing how the servant guarding the door didn’t see anyone enter the château last night.”
I scoffed. “Nobody sawmeleave, did they?”
“You left the château last night?” Blanche asked, looking interested. “To see Valancourt?”
“I’ll tell you about it later,” Henri told her with a meaningful look.
“Will you tell herallof it?” I asked. “Or just the part about the bed linens?”
“Yes. Annette was in a tizzy this morning over the state of them.” Blanche’s face pinched, and she exchanged a quick look with Henri. There was something in that look that left me a little unsettled.
I leaned toward Henri. “Henri. The servant didn’t see me outside either.”
Henri hesitated. “No, he didn’t. I brought that up to uncle. He’s going to have someone watch the servant entrance as well, just in case. But I think it’s more to keep an eye on your movements. It’s probably for the best, as you’re safer in the château at night. I don’t want you wandering outside anymore, especially alone.”
That also cut off my only escape route, unfortunately.
“So, he doesn’t believe me either.”
“Ibelieve you. I saw your bedsheets. So did the staff. You didn’t invent that.”
“I suppose your uncle believes I tore them up myself?”
Henri swallowed and glanced at his sister. “I think we all know that strange things happen around here.”
I scowled at his evasiveness.
“Strange things do occur around here,” Count Montoni said, sweeping into the room with Aunt Cheron on his arm, looking smug, “Why, just last night, Fournier left the château. He took all his things with him and left his immediate resignation behind. There’s nothing nefarious in that unless you count the ungratefulness of a servant.”
I met Henri’s gaze and he looked away guiltily. Fournier …left.How convenient. Just what did Henri know about this? Was he working with his uncle? Why would he when he so clearly loathed the man? Either way, a murder had just been covered up, and Henri knew something about it.
Blanche wrinkled her nose. “But uncle, Fournier wouldn’t up and leave like that. He’s been with our family forever. I should think we know his character fairly well. He was Henri’s valet for—”
