Page 66 of The Spy and the Nightingale
“He is not involved. Or rather, he is aiding me. He is not?—”
“If he is in league with Compton or Dubois?—”
“He is not. He is—” She looked around, furtively. She couldn’t know for sure that this room was not watched as the room had been last night. She had been told to trust Chrysanthème, but she hadn’t an abundance of trust to go around. Then again, if unfriendly ears were listening to this conversation, it was already too late.
She did not know how much time she had with Lucy. It was critical to convince her of Nathaniel’s trustworthiness. “He is working against them. Against Compton. It is how we crossed paths, and he has finally infiltrated their circle. I chose to come tonight, hoping against hope I’d see you. I want to bring you home,” she added softly.
Lucy sighed raggedly.
“If it can be done, if he can devise a way... He can,” she said more firmly. “He will, with his resources.Willyou come home with me?”
“I want to, but...” Lucy’s eyes glinted, but the expression on her sister’s face was far harder than any she could remember. This woman was no longer her gentle little sister. “What is possibly left for me after the mess I’ve made? When I’ve—” She broke off.
Oh, there was no time to say everything there was to say. Most important was this: “Iam left. And I need you, Lucy.”
“I am not—” Lucy looked away. “I am not as I was before. Not the sister you knew. I am... changed. Choices I’ve made...”
“Nor am I the sister you knew, not after this past year. Butyou are and will forever bemy sister. My Lucy. Will you come home, if it can be done?”
After a pause Lucy said, almost inaudibly, “Yes. Yes, I will. Although I do not know if it is possible.”
She smiled tremulously. “We will make it happen. I promise, we will find a way.”
“You trust him?”
“Wholly. With my life.”And yours.“He is not without resources and friends, which means we are not either.”
“I do not know how it might be done,” Lucy reiterated. “I am watched, almost constantly. Compton does not wish to lose his... his investment, one might say.”
She would examine her emotions later, away from here. There was no time for it now. “Will you return here soon?”
“Cuvelier does not tell me his plans much in advance, generally. He said only this morning that my presence was requested here tonight.”
“Where are you living? Perhaps?—”
Lucy cut her off. “No. It is not possible. I am watched, and there are no servants I would trust to help. Do not even think of trying to deliver a note. But there is one excursion, two evenings from now... a performance at the Théâtre de la Gaîté on Tuesday. Cuvelier has a private box.”
She was unfamiliar with the Théâtre de la Gaîté. “A play?”
“A melodrama in three acts, although I have not yet seen it.”
Surely something could be contrived in two days’ time, even if it was only to deliver a message to Lucy. “If someone waited at the theater, someone trustworthy, can you leave your box long enough to receive a message? Perhaps even leave with someone safe?”
“Perhaps. I could seek my own refreshments without raising suspicion, although my maid will accompany me, and she is firmly in Cuvelier’s employ.” Lucy bit off a hard laugh. “ProbablyCompton’s, in truth. But Cuvelier is often mellowed by drink by the intermission between the second and third acts. Sometimes he is even asleep.”
“Between the second and third acts,” she repeated. “Oh, Lucy, I cannot promise anything, much as I wish I could, because it is not myself who must plan.”
And Nathaniel could not jeopardize his entire operation to remove Lucy from her situation. But surely even if nothing could be managed at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, something else would be possible.
The hardest part—surely the hardest part—has been accomplished. I’ve found you.Something could be devised; shemustbelieve it.
“I know you cannot promise anything.” Lucy touched the drying wine stain on her gown.
How much time had passed? She had the sense they were rapidly growing short on time. They must not remain apart from the men too long. And their dresses, the ostensible reason for this, were not yet repaired in any way.
She grasped Lucy’s hands. “I will find a way, however long it takes. I will not give up, Lucy.” She looked her sister in the eyes, willing her to believe the words.
Lucy’s nod was nearly imperceptible, but her hands returned the tight clasp.
