Leaning back in her chair, Jane stared at the ceiling and chewed on her lower lip in thought. Even if she were to remain and find Vincent, she did not have sufficient funds to ransom him. For that, she must have the aid of a patron. Given his work for the Crown, she felt justified in asking for that very thing, though she knew Mr. Gilman hardly at all. Her fear, though, was that if she left Binché without discovering where Vincent had been taken, she would be unable to find him later. With no way to know when and where they might move him next, Jane was loath to venture too far from the town.

And yet, she absolutely must speak with Mr. Gilman.

Jane set down her pen and rose from the table. She would need help of a local sort and considered where she might turn for assistance. Mme Meynard was absolutely out of the question, given her relations with Lieutenant Segal. Even if she were not a Bonapartist, her discretion had proved notably lacking. Most of Jane’s acquaintances were equally ill-suited for the task, but she thought of a few who might prove amenable.

Jane went first in search of M. Chastain, and acquainted him with her wish to accompany them so far as Brussels and then return to Binché. Though he was notably displeased by the latter part of her decision, he could offer little argument, save that he would be unable to send the carriage to carry her back to Binché. Jane rather suspected that he hoped she would remain in Brussels with no easy means of return, but she had no such intention.

She went next to find Yves Chastain. Though she was well aware that the boy would be accompanying his family to Brussels, she had hopes that his friends would remain behind. She had further hopes that these friends would be sympathetic to her plight, having seen the will with which they joined in throwing shoes at the glamourist the previous night. . . . Had it truly been only the night prior? Jane felt the weight of a lifetime between the two events, and yet not even a full day had passed.

When she explained what she wanted, Yves quickly supplied her with the direction of his friends. Jane began her visits with M. Giroux, the young bookish fellow who had accompanied them the previous night. She thought him the likeliest of the group to have some measure of discretion. Yves offered to run round to M. Giroux for her, but Jane declined on the grounds that his mother wanted him close at hand.