To Sketch a Sphinx - Rebecca Connolly Page 0,30

of it?”

The look his wife gave him would have made her a widow, albeit not an especially wealthy one.

More’s the pity.

“At any rate,” he went on quickly, “I’ll take your wager, and furthermore, you’d have hated being up and about with René, de Rouvroy, and myself just the same.”

“I highly doubt that.” She sipped her coffee slowly, and John felt the almost bitter taste of the beverage in his own mouth, wondering how in the world she could drink it. “Walking about in silence would have been an improvement on the situation, let alone having intelligent conversation.”

John shook his head and buttered the dry toast before him. “Nothing intelligent about it. Your cousin and his son, bless them, are worse than any sixteen-year-old girls I have ever met. They knew everyone and had to chat with everyone. They were energized by each conversation and dragged me from person to person as though I were a pawn in a social game of chess.”

“Who won?” Hal murmured, eyeing him with a smile over her cup.

“Amusing.” He cleared his throat. “I had to meet nearly every person in attendance purely so I could meet the one man I wished to.”

Hal’s eyes widened and her throat moved on a swallow as she set her cup down. “You met him? Why didn’t you say anything last night?”

He raised a brow at her. “How could I? René insisted on riding with us and chatted the whole way home. You did your best to give him the right impression, scowling every time he asked a question about England, even if he is too simple minded to have noticed.”

“That’s a bit harsh,” she scolded, though there was no force behind her tone.

“He isn’t simple in the mind,” John told her, rolling his eyes. “He’s only filled the space with more fluff than he should and thus has no room for weighty matters. Even you can admit that.”

She nodded as she spun her teacup on its saucer. “Of course I can. I only felt the need to defend him as my relation. So René prevented the revelation last night, but it’s not as though he shares rooms with us. Why not tell me then?”

“Because I was deuced tired, and so were you, and nothing could have been done last night. Now, would you like to know or not?”

Hal gestured quickly, sitting forward in her chair eagerly.

“Monsieur Laurent Fontaine,” John told her with a small smile. “Influential, wealthy, stately, but all in all, none too impressive. Showed absolutely no inclination to be friendly to de Rouvroy or René, though he took no pains to discourage them from conversation.”

“Did he react at all to your name?” Hal demanded. “Did he seem familiar to you at all? Did he recognize you?”

“No, no, and no.” He let his smile spread as he bit into his toast and cut into a piece of ham. “You are the only one between us who suspects him, for which I thank you. Any details come to you yet?”

Hal sat back in her chair roughly, pursing her lips. “Sort of. It was one of Gent’s faces, and I think it was from a party. The trouble is that he does so many of them and I’ve drawn so many faces for him that I cannot place him in particular. I don’t suppose it matters, though.” She smiled ruefully and plucked a piece of toast from her plate, taking a quick bite. “I never have the details of their assignments when I make the drawings, so we really are no worse off than I ever am.”

No, they were not, and they had, in fact, gotten further than John would have expected to at this stage. They hadn’t even been in Paris for a week and they already had a lead to investigate. They might not know how exactly he was tied in, or what he might be suspected of, but any person, male or female, whom Hal had drawn for an operative was worth pursuing.

There was some question as to how exactly they could investigate Monsieur Fontaine, but a sociable host would certainly be a benefit in that regard.

Unfortunate for John, but a benefit for the mission.

That would undoubtedly become a pattern.

A knock sounded at their parlor door, and they glanced at each other in confusion. As a general rule, they were not disturbed here, which was part of the attraction in remaining within.

“Come,” Hal called, shrugging her shoulders, eyes widening.

One of the footmen entered, the brilliant blue and