wish about me, but not that my affection was false. I’ve liked you since I met you—more than that, I admire you—that’s the truth.”
She conveyed a wordless wonder. The conviction in his voice drew her toward him. She took a tentative step, then another, but she stopped at the third as if she’d remembered an important point.
Nina bit her lip and there was a girlish quality about the gesture, but then she fixed her eyes on him, steady and calm. “I thought I could never forgive you, but I realize that is not the case. I stand here before you, and I do not hate you as I thought I would. But I cannot forget either,” she said.
They were quiet. Her talent, which had been perceptible a few moments before, simmered and died.
“Please send no more gifts, Mr. Auvray. Send nothing more,” she said. She was trying to keep emotion out of her voice and could not manage it, but when she walked out, she did it with composure. She’d broken the colored glass windows in Oldhouse, might have broken the world in half in that moment, but she’d learned to rein herself in.
He’d taught her card tricks, but he hadn’t taught her that.
He went to the window and looked down, scanning the street below, until he saw her marching out into the street. She turned a corner and she was gone.
The sun, as if mocking him, had shrouded itself behind a cloud.
It was he, then, who sent papers and writing instruments scattering across the table with a flicker of his eyes, happy to hear the noise of them landing against the floor and filling the silence she’d left behind.
CHAPTER 6
She wished Gaétan would go away and let her be, but he kept buzzing around her, stubborn. He never sensed anything about her, too obtuse to notice her moods.
“But, darling, you cannot possibly stay home,” Gaétan said. “It’s the Haduier party.”
“Why not?” Valérie replied. “Make an excuse for me.”
He was standing behind her, and she could see his sour face in the mirror. Agnes Haduier was a gossipy, wrinkled wretch. Lucian Haduier was a boor, the kind of fellow who in his cups would loudly bellow the most indecent words. Besides, the Grand Season was brimming with parties. They had already been to the De Villiers’ and the Gannels’, which were the more important balls of the early season.
Valérie adjusted the sash around her waist and stretched out a hand, running her fingers along the bottles filled with oils and perfumes, settling upon a jar containing a new face cream she’d purchased at Ambre. It smelled like almonds; it would be delicious against her skin.
If she’d been alone, she could have enjoyed trying it on. But he was standing there, eyeing her without truly seeing her.
Gaétan didn’t see anything.
“Go by yourself.”
“I cannot go without my wife. And after I bought you that new dress! And the brooch! Twenty perfect seed pearls. You were supposed to wear my brooch tonight.”
“I’ll wear it another time.”
“When a man goes through a monumental expense for a party, he does not expect this response,” Gaétan said.
He had not heard her or did not care. It was all about him. His wife who would not wear his dress and his brooch.
“Besides, Nina will be there. We haven’t seen her in a long time,” he added.
As if that would induce Valérie to go. She watched as Gaétan took off his jacket, muttering to himself. Was he really going to stay in? She hated him when he acted like this.
“With this migraine, I can’t do anything but go to bed. Head off on your own,” she said, hoping the prospect might induce him to simply leave her be.
“No, it’s fine. I am tired and could use the rest. I’ll miss seeing her, though.”
She really did have a migraine, and this development was not going to improve it. Valérie decided to make the best of it since he had offered her an opportune opening.
“Take Antonina to dinner sometime,” she replied, making a vague motion with her hand. “Speaking of Antonina, did you meet with Luc Lémy?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
“He is a pleasant man.”
“Pleasant enough. I don’t think he knows how to do anything but have fun and drink.”
“He’s young. Besides, he told you about his business idea, didn’t he?”
“Yes.” Gaétan nodded as he undid his necktie. “It’s not a bad one, and I think he said he has a fellow interested in providing a portion of