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Back Dangerous Remedy
Chapters (86)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Paris, June 1794
  8. PART ONE
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. PART TWO
  17. 1
  18. 2
  19. 3
  20. 4
  21. 5
  22. 6
  23. 7
  24. 8
  25. 9
  26. 10
  27. 11
  28. 12
  29. PART THREE
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. 6
  36. 7
  37. 8
  38. 9
  39. 10
  40. 11
  41. 12
  42. 13
  43. 14
  44. 15
  45. 16
  46. 17
  47. PART FOUR
  48. 1
  49. 2
  50. 3
  51. 4
  52. 5
  53. 6
  54. 7
  55. 8
  56. 9
  57. 10
  58. 11
  59. PART FIVE
  60. 1
  61. 2
  62. 3
  63. 4
  64. 5
  65. 6
  66. 7
  67. PART SIX
  68. 1
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 6
  74. 7
  75. 8
  76. 9
  77. 10
  78. 11
  79. 12
  80. 13
  81. 14
  82. Postscript
  83. A Ship in Le Havre Port
  84. Acknowledgements
  85. About the Author
  86. About Zephyr

‘What?’ Camille stared at her, stunned. The chatter of people on the bridge rose to a roar in her ears, the splash and slap of water against the boats below was deafening. She felt the void gape beneath her, horror rippling through her body. She wasn’t here. It wasn’t now. For a flash, she was eight months back. Alone in a crowd as the blade of the guillotine dropped with a whistle and thunk; she could smell the blood that had splattered her dress, feel her chest seize as she watched a head roll across the boards towards her.

‘How?’ Olympe asked, twisting the fingers of her gloves. ‘Why didn’t you know? Couldn’t you have rescued them?’

‘He kept it from us,’ replied Ada. ‘I wondered why he was always stealing the news-sheets… I don’t think he wanted us to know. Or wanted our help.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘It’s – I’m not…’ Ada squeezed her eyes shut. ‘He can explain it himself, if he wants to. But right now I can’t blame him for not wanting to do this.’

‘Where is he?’ asked James. ‘We have to go after him.’

‘No.’ Camille shook herself. ‘He made his choice. We’re doing this without him. We have one shot at this and I’m not going to mess it up.’

She wrapped her hand around Olympe’s arm and pulled her over.

‘Cam…’ started Ada.

Camille ignored her and headed towards the Left Bank. ‘James, get in position. Ada, the duc is expecting you.’

She had to move fast, keep moving or her nightmares would catch up with her.

They reached the Quai d’Orsay, and James saluted.

‘See you on the other side.’

Ada came with them as they followed the river towards the Champs de Mars. The mountain rose above the crowds like the quiet eye of the storm that swirled around it. Up there, the Revolutionaries would be congratulating themselves. Comtois and Molyneux. Camille curled one hand around the handle of her pistol, eyeing the toy-like figures on the platform at the top.

They paused while Ada squeezed Camille’s hand, then she disappeared among the crowds on the Pont de la Révolution, heading towards the Jardin des Tuileries to meet the duc. Camille led Olympe past the columns of the Palais Bourbon and onto the vast grasslands of the Champs de Mars where the mountain finally came into full view.

‘Is that where Docteur Comtois is?’ asked Olympe.

‘That’s the spot.’