Sir Kelly shrugged. “Some in our group take the Count at his word. Others assume it was merely poetic hyperbole. Either way, Saint-Germain had already gained a reputation for agelessness. Account after account stated how the man always appeared to be around fifty years old, with dark hair and an unblemished complexion. His regimen in life was very strict. He would never eat in public, avoided all meat and wine.”
“So, the first vegan,” Archie said.
While this was meant as a joke, Sir Kelly simply shrugged. “Quite likely, young man. Additionally, Saint-Germain studied with village healers, where he gained a great understanding of herbs and plants, and concocted medicines that he regularly consumed.”
Tag sat straighter, eyeing the book with renewed interest, plainly drawn by his interest in ancient herbal remedies. “So he was both a vegananda holistic pharmacologist.”
“Perhaps. Whatever elixir he did develop, there are repeated accounts of him sharing his recipe. Like with a countess of his time, Madame de Georgy. It is said his elixir maintained her youthful look for twenty-five years. She eventually earned the title, the Everlasting Countess.”
Moira maintained a stern expression. “Or hiselixircould have been some new cosmetic regimen, one that would be the envy of the Paris fashion houses today.”
“We cannot dismiss this possibility,” Sir Kelly admitted.
“And what about the Marquise’sConfrérie?” Sharyn asked. “How are they still plaguing us now?”
“Ah, eventually the Brotherhood changed with the times. Interest in the book waned as it remained out of their reach and became more legend than real. Still, power does not tolerate a vacuum. Over time, the Brotherhood grew stronger and wider, rooting across Europe and the New World. Its members eventually sought new avenues of power, pathways not found buried in some lost grimoire. Thus, the book was all but forgotten.”
“Until World War II,” Duncan noted.
Sharyn remembered what the Frenchman had told them about the discovery of a cache of gold coins.
Sir Kelly steepled his fingers at his chin. “After the First Adage was deciphered, aided by codebreakers during the war, we popped up on the Brotherhood’s radar once again.”
Duncan frowned. “Those codebreakers? Where were they from?”
“Bletchley Park, a team working under Alan Turing as he broke the code to decrypt Nazi communications.”
Duncan’s eyes pinched at this revelation. Sharyn recalled his story of his grandfather’s involvement with a team of codebreakers.
Was it this same group?
Duncan noted her attention and must have read the question on her face. He gave her the smallest nod, confirming the same.
Before she could digest more, Sir Kelly continued. “Once Saint-Germain’s diary proved itself to be of astounding value, theConfrérierenewed their pursuit of the book.”
“Scooping us up in the process,” Naomi noted.
Archie let out an exasperated sigh. “Even if you could make the book vanish, what about us? Those bastards framed us good.”
“I understand. TheGardienswill do our best to clear your names.”
Sharyn frowned. “Gardiens?”
Moira answered. “TheGardiens du Livre. The Keepers of the Book. The name given to those who sought to preserve Saint-Germain’s diary and keep it out of the hands of those who would abuse it.”
Her father nodded. “The First Keeper who took possession of the diary was Countess d’Adhémar, the former lady-in-waiting to Marie-Antoinette. She received the book directly from Saint-Germain in 1820, long after his supposed death.”
“Unfortunately, she wrote about this encounter in her personal diary,” Moira noted sourly.
“She did,” her father confirmed. “But she must have suspected no one would read her words. Unfortunately, fourteen years after her death, someone found those journals and published them, which exposed the book to theConfrérieonce again. By then, the book had moved on to its Second Keeper, someone the Countess had entrusted to continue her guardianship, giving birth to our organization.”
Moira looked across at their group. “Your professor, Julian Wright, was the intendedThirteenthKeeper.”
Sir Kelly turned to Sharyn. “A role you sadly had to assume, if only for a short time.”
“So for two centuries,” Duncan said, “your group has kept this book under wraps, while slowly piecing together its secrets.”
“Indeed. It took us five decades to even discover how to safely open it. Saint-Germain had it booby-trapped, infusing the pages with an incendiary chemical.”
