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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

‘Yes, me too,’ Camille replied perfunctorily. ‘What do you think about the Al situation? Has he become too much of a liability?’

Ada deflated, and looked back at the river. ‘Oh. I don’t know. Probably. But I can’t help feeling we should cut him some slack. He’s been through a lot.’

‘All of us have, that’s not a free pass.’

‘No, I know. But be a bit gentler. Sometimes I think … maybe he ends up back in the tavern when he can’t cope with your disappointment.’

‘Are you blaming me for his drinking?’ asked Camille.

‘No.’

‘It sounds like you are.’

‘Well. Maybe. You can have quite an effect on people.’

Camille disentangled their arms.

‘I see.’

‘I didn’t mean it like that.’

This conversation hadn’t gone the way Ada wanted at all. For a moment it had been good. Camille safe, tucked warmly against her side and heading back to their cosy rooms above the Au Petit Suisse. Somehow her foot had found its way directly into her mouth.

‘I’m sorry.’ She put her arm around Camille’s waist. ‘Do what you think’s necessary with Al. I just meant that I think he still has something to offer. We’re not all at our best all of the time.’

Camille settled. Ada could feel the tension ebbing from her.

‘Don’t I know that,’ she said, and gave Ada a soft smile that set her heart blooming.

They’d reached the Left Bank and were about to turn right onto the Quai de la Conference when a carriage halted abruptly beside them. It splashed a puddle of dirty rainwater that splattered Ada’s skirts and soaked her ankles. She stopped with a yelp, and hastily shook the excess water from her dress.

So she wasn’t paying attention when two men leaped from the carriage and slung a black bag over her head.

11

An Unknown House in the Forêt de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The bag was whipped off Camille’s head so fast it yanked some of her hair with it. She was blinking in the lamplight of a wood-panelled study, her hands and feet tied to a solid oak chair. They’d taken her pistol off her too, its comforting weight gone from her hip. Ada was nowhere to be seen. Whoever had taken the bag off her head stayed behind her; she couldn’t see them no matter how much she twisted.