Her brow rose. “You’ll have to do better than that. Youhardly look older than the fire that took her life. I will ask one more time, Miss Blythe. Why?”
I kept my gaze steady on her. “What was she like? Was she as wonderful as everyone says?”
Her narrow little lips pinched further in.
“Was she a rival, perhaps?”
Her jewel-eyes flashed.
“Anyone would be jealous. She was remarkable, from what I’ve heard.”
She hesitated. “Harry did make quite a fool of himself over her, before he met me.”
“Theyweremarried then, weren’t they?”
She leveled her unblinking gaze on me for several ticks of the clock before answering. “Yes.”
Yet somehow, even though it was what I’d expected to hear, the answer seemed a deception.
“Come, sit down in the parlor. I’ll tell you everything.” We took our seats in the hushed floral room where she neatly arranged her skirt and lifted her gaze to me. “Delphine Bessette was a mystery, even before her death. Thus, she was greatly misunderstood. It’s time to set things straight, if her story is to be told.”
“Who set the fire, Lady Gower? Who disliked her so greatly?” I studied her face for signs of guilt, of knowing.
“This may surprise you.” She took a breath. “It was Napoleon’s men.”
I blinked. “Napoleon Bonaparte?”
“She was a spy against them.” She straightened. “Everyone believes dancers to be silly creatures, but Delphine was quite intelligent. She was also quite good at befriending French officers and wheedling information from them. That’s how Harry cameto know her, in fact. They worked together in the underground resistance, helping to bring the great army down.”
“Why ever would she care about that?”
“Don’t you know? She had grown up in Sweden and she didn’t want her home country attacked. They were Napoleon’s next goal. Everyone loved Delphine, and she could walk into nearly any room and command any man to do her bidding. She used that to her benefit and saved many lives on the continent.”
I clasped my hands in my lap, thinking before I spoke. “What a resourceful woman. She must have been quite magnificent, even in everyday life.”
“No woman can ever live up to her, on or off the stage. Her charms were known through the world, her beauty unrivalled. But not even her beauty could stop those men from being rid of her. She was simply too smart, too powerful against their cause. So one night when she practiced late, all they had to do was slip unnoticed into the theater with a kerosene lamp...”
“It’s all so remarkable.”
“Such a woman would have to go out in a blaze of glory.” She inhaled, eyes fluttering closed. “The world would believe no less for her final curtain call.”
The room was quiet, save the echoing footsteps of distant servants and muffled voices.
“So what do you think of Delphine Bessette now, Miss Blythe?”
“It was a most brilliant story.” I grasped the chair arms and leveled my gaze at her. “Unfortunately I don’t believe a word of it.”
She leaned forward like a crouching tiger, eyes narrowing. “Who are you?”
I hardly knew how to answer. And with the sudden change in her expression, I felt an urgent desire to leave, even before the tea. I stood, brushing out my skirts. “I should return to London before dark. Thank you for the offer of tea, and I’m sorry I could not stay long enough to accept. Good day, Lady Gower.” It was the most ill-mannered exit I’d ever made, but relief washed over me as I neared the drawing room doors. I focused on the open space beyond, and the double doors that led outside, to freedom. Which I desperately felt I needed then. I paced toward those doors quickly. With intention.
A hand clamped down on my arm. I cried out and spun to face her dangerously calm expression. Her eyes were like steel, her voice low. “Where is she?”
I swallowed. “Out of reach.” I jerked away and ran into the hall, nearly colliding with a shocked-looking manservant holding an empty salver to his chest.
After a long coach ride back to London, I hurried to Jack’s flat and flew into his arms the moment he admitted me. I spoke into his chest, giving my account in rapid little sentences that probably made no sense.
He embraced me, smoothing one hand down my back while my words continued to erupt until I was breathless. “Come, sit and have something to drink.”
