Martina stared at her as if she were mad. ‘It’s going to be light soon, which means the children will be waking. We need to be home before the rest of the household rises.’
‘We just need to do this one thing. I promise you, it won’t take long.’
Bless her, Martina did as she was asked, and twenty minutes later they were outside another house, this one not quite so opulent. Delphine wasn’t surprised to see lights on inside; Andreas was Florian’s godfather, after all, which meant that asone of his closest friends in Geneva, he would likely have been notified by the police already.
After promising Martina that she’d be as quick as could be, she stood at the door and knocked. Within minutes it swung open, and she was faced with a man who looked nothing like what she remembered from the one time they’d met. Andreas’s eyes were hollow, his usually immaculate hair sticking up as if he’d only just risen from slumber, and there was a pain bracketing his face that she imagined was reflected in her own.
‘Delphine?’ he said, looking her up and down, most likely as shocked by her unkempt appearance as she was by his.
‘Andreas,’ she said, as tears streamed down her cheeks. ‘You’ve heard the news.’
‘I have.’ His face crumpled and she stepped forward to hug him. ‘I can’t believe he’s gone.’
‘I know. I’ve been saying the same thing to myself, over and over.’
She knew that Andreas was the only person Florian had told about their relationship, which was why she was standing there, ready to trust him.
‘Why are you here, Delphine? Did you come to tell me the news?’ he asked.
She held up the bag she was carrying, having left the cashmere jersey in the car. ‘Before he died, Florian told me to keep this safe. There is a sapphire missing. You will understand when you see it, but the tiara can only be returned to the person who has the missing stone.’ She watched as he looked into the bag, his eyes wide when they looked back up at her.
‘What do you mean, there’s a sapphire missing? I was the one who sourced this for him. It should never have been tampered with!’
‘Which is why I’m trusting you with it,’ she said. ‘Please, you must keep it safe, you mustn’t let anyone else try to claim it because it belonged to Florian, and he intended it for me.’
Andreas looked uncertain, but he took the bag when she pushed it into his hands.
‘Just promise me, it must be kept securely until the missing sapphire is returned.’ She stared into Andreas’s eyes. ‘Promise me.’
‘I promise,’ he said. ‘But Delphine, this is a very valuable piece. Anything from the House of Savoy is highly coveted, and?—’
‘Is there not a confidentiality clause?’ she asked. ‘No one other than you, me, Florian and whoever sold it to him even knows that it’s part of his collection. Am I right?’
There was a noise behind him and Andreas shifted somewhat uncomfortably. She doubted he’d know how to explain her presence to his wife if she suddenly appeared behind him.
‘I can trust you?’ she asked.
‘Yes, Delphine, you can trust me. I’ll make sure it stays hidden.’
She backed away, her tears beginning to fall again.
‘He truly loved you, Delphine. He told me that he fell in love with you the very first time he set eyes upon you by the lake.’
A sob escaped her lips then and she turned and ran back to the car, barely able to breathe as she fell into the passenger seat. Martina stayed silent as she cried, reaching for her hand and holding it, as if they didn’t have to hurry back to the house, as if her world hadn’t just fallen apart.
‘I’m going to have to get us home now,’ Martina said, gently. ‘You can cry all the way back, but when we get there, you’ll have to hold your head high and pretend as if everything’s fine. You can have a day in bed if you need, I’ll tell the children you’reunwell, but they must not see your eyes red and puffy. We don’t want them saying anything to their father when he returns.’
Delphine nodded, leaning her head back against the headrest and staring out of the window.
‘Delphine?’ Martina said, as if to make certain she’d heard her instructions.
But Delphine’s head was a million miles away, thinking about what she’d do next, about how she was going to navigate the coming months. Puffy eyes were going to be the least of her problems.
‘There’s something else I need to tell you,’ Delphine whispered, turning to Martina as they sat in the car, as the woman she trusted more than anyone else in the world raised her eyebrows in question.
‘You can tell me anything,’ Martina said. ‘Nothing could be more complicated than what we’ve been through tonight.’
Delphine looked into her eyes, her voice quavering. ‘I’m pregnant.’
