his bed for now. The sleep would rejuvenate him as he matched wits with his beloved Madeleine. When rested, he would begin his search for her in earnest.
Although Garrett thought he’d confiscated all of Madeleine’s jewels when he removed them from her tunics, she must have had more hidden, counting on selling them to aid her escape. He’d visit as many jewelers as he could. Surely, she would turn up that way.
*
It took two days before Garrett found a man who remembered her. He was a wizened bag of bones but his eyes sparkled as he spoke of her.
“Oh, yes, my lord, she was a vision of loveliness. I really didn’t want what she was trying to pawn, but the poor woman seemed desperate for money. I gave her the best price I could.” He sighed. “Would you like to see the piece?”
Garrett had no desire to but his need of further information from the shriveled little man drove him to respond. “Yes. Show it to me.”
The jeweler reached under his counter and lifted a necklace, placing it on black velvet for better display.
Garrett glanced at it perfunctorily and then whipped his eyes back, startled that the necklace was indeed very familiar to him.
It had belonged to Lynnette.
How had it come into Madeleine’s possession?
He felt a queasiness in his stomach as a moment of doubt flooded him. Did Madeleine know what happened to Lynnette? Was this the unspeakable act she referred to? Was the woman who filled his every waking moment in league with someone who knew where Lynnette was?
He turned to the shriveled jeweler. “You said the woman I described sold this to you?”
“Oh, yes, my lord. ’Tis a nice piece, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Garrett agreed. “Very nice. How much?”
*
It was early afternoon when Garrett climbed the stairs of the dark, dank building. A child wailed loudly in the distance. The smell of urine and stale vomit overwhelmed him. A tattered woman and her young son passed him on the stairs, their eyes downcast, their faces covered with filth. Garrett shuddered at the place Madeleine had chosen to hide, guessing her funds must have dwindled considerably if this was the best she could afford.
It had been easy to find her. She’d given the jeweler a good idea where she could be found in case he had further interest in her stones.
Garrett heard her voice as he neared the top of the rickety stairs.
“Zut, zut! When will this end?”
Yes, that was his darling, cursing in French. Quietly, Garrett opened the door.
The alcove was small, with barely enough room for a narrow bed and chair. Stale air hung like a curtain, blanketing the entire space. A fat rat scurried by his foot, as if glad to make its escape from the enclosed place. The only window was cracked down the middle and he felt the sharp wind pouring into the nook, chilling him.
Madeleine was on her knees next to the lumpy bed, her fingers laced together, her head bowed. She was giving God a dressing down, with a few apologies thrown in for good measure. A single shaft of sunlight fell upon her, radiating a halo around her head. His desperate, runaway angel.
“Oh, Sweet Christ, I cannot say any more Hail Mary’s! I’m so tired and lonely and frustrated. I want only to serve You—but I cannot stop thinking of Garrett.”
She sighed, biting her lower lip. “I know I must never see him again, my Dear Lord, for I know marriage vows are sacred. I am so very sorry, indeed. I just want to go home now and see ma mere et mon pere. I miss them so much. I promise to go to the convent if You’ll only grant me a few days of peace with them.”
She crossed herself once and then again. “In Your Name, oh Holy Christ, I offer these prayers. Amen.”
Without opening her eyes, she flung herself against the tattered quilt. Once again, her sobs were silent. Somehow, Garrett felt these noiseless tears were a key connected to her past.
He stepped inside and closed the door quietly behind him.
She banged her fists against the bed several times and then croaked out, “Oh, Garrett, I miss you so.”
“Then why did you run away?” he asked softly.
Her head snapped up, her face tearstained, her eyes swollen from crying. She began to violently tremble. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head back and forth. “It can’t be.” She rose unsteadily to her feet. “I . . . I don’t want to