Page 44 of Marrying Bluebeard

A frown tugs at the corner of Louise’s mouth. “Adelaide is fine.” There’s a bitter edge to her words as she adds, “Mistress Celeste seems quite taken with her. She speaks of little else, always wanting to know what Madame is up to.”

She’s jealous. A foolish reaction, but perhaps one I can make use of if I play it right. I quietly accept the loaf of bread Louise passes through the bars, murmuring a soft thank you as a wedge of cheese follows. My brows lift in surprise when a glass bottle filled with a deep red liquid appears next.

“Pig’s blood,” Louise explains. “To take the edge off.”

I give her a grateful smile despite the churning of my stomach. Drinking animal blood is even less appealing than harvesting my own, but if it helps keep me sane, I’ll consume every disgusting drop. “Thank you, Louise. That was a thoughtful touch.”

“Yes, well.” She fiddles with the basket, avoiding my eyes. “You’re a better employer than my last one. Men with money and rank often dismiss those of lesser standing, particularly when they’re of the opposite gender, but you’ve always treated me with respect, despite the fact that you’re…”

A blood-sucking monster.

The unspoken words hang in the stale air of the dungeon, condemning me with their truth. “How long have you been with us, Louise?”

“Eight years, Monsieur.”

I nod. “You came to us in your late teens, having worked as a scullery maid at Dredgeworth Manor, is that correct?”

“Oui, Monsieur.”

“What did you think of my late wife, Genevieve, and her arrangement with Celeste?”

Louise looks up, meeting my gaze through the bars. “It was a fair arrangement, one many women of my station would envy.”

I watch her carefully. “Even though she was confined to the tower, withering away over the course of two decades as Celeste fed off her?”

Louise shrugs. “She had no other prospects, aside from perhaps becoming a companion or a governess, and I suspect neither of those positions are any less mundane. At least here, she was happy.”

“Was she?”

“Of course. I don’t think I ever saw her without a smile, and she was always singing or humming as she worked her embroidery and such. She had a roof over her head and good food in her belly. What’s left to complain of?”

It’s easy to forget how others see the tower. Where I see dripping blood and desecrated corpses, they see plain, papered walls. When I hear ghostly wails, they hear birds twittering outside the window. They look at Celeste and see someone to be idolized: a beautiful creature suffering a tragic curse. The horror of what she does—what we do—remains shadowed in obscurity. I should tell Louise the truth of it, but escaping this cell takes priority. Adelaide takes priority.

I cock my head, looking her over as if noticing her for the first time. “Perhaps I should have made you my seventh wife. I’m sure Celeste would have appreciated such an eager companion, and god knows I’d be faring better.”

A flicker of interest lights her eyes, but she quickly looks away. “An entertaining idea, Monsieur, but a little late. You already have a new wife.”

“I do. Until I don’t.”

She narrows her eyes. “And what, pray, is that supposed to mean?”

I shrug. “Just that if something were to happen to Adelaide, Celeste would require me to obtain a new bride. And given the circumstances, it would be far more discreet to choose one from the household staff. No one on the outside would even need to know.”

“Are you implying you’d be willing to kill your own wife? The same wife you imprisoned yourself for mere hours ago?” She scoffs. “Please, Monsieur. Do not take me for a fool.”

“You’re right. I would never harm Adelaide.” I lower my voice as I glance toward the stairs. “But I would have her free of this place, no matter the cost. And as powerful as Celeste may be, she is neither all-knowing nor all-seeing. Bound to that tower room, how is she to know if Adelaide has an accident or not? If the two of us collaborate our stories well enough, we could convince her of Adelaide’s death and conveniently present you as an alternative at the same time.”

Louise’s chest rises, eyes shining eagerly as she breathes, “I could take Adelaide’s place at the mistress’s side.”

“And I could rest easier knowing Adelaide was free.” My heart pounds as I watch the idea take root.

She twists her hands around the basket’s handle while she mulls it over. After what seems like an eternity, she asks, “What would you have me do?”

Yes. “Let me out of this cell so that I can lure Adelaide from the castle and break her thrall.”

Her eyes widen. “You can do that?”

“If I get her far enough away, I believe I can.” I hold my breath as her hand slips into her apron pocket, the clink of metal as sweet as a choir of angels.