‘Are you aware, Commissaire, that there are Allegondan revolutionaries here in Sulien?’

He had been expecting the usual tale of a stolen necklace, a pilfered jewel box – not revolutionaries.

She laid one hand on her creamy breast and closed her eyes, obviously greatly distressed. ‘I… I fear for my life.’

She seemed about to faint. Alarmed, he went to her side and, one arm around her slender shoulders, helped her into a chair.

‘I’m… so sorry,’ she said in a whisper.

‘Let me get you some water?’

‘No… no…’ She weakly raised one delicate hand in negation. ‘I’ll be all right in a moment.’

‘My dear madame, tell me your story.’

‘My late husband… the Conte… died loyal to the Prince. I came to Sulien to… get over his death. But they followed me here. Now I fear I have become a target in his place.’ She raised her eyes to him, brimming with unshed tears. ‘They are desperate men, Commissaire. And I am so afraid.’

Desperate men. She had come to consult him in a professional capacity. He went back to his chair, placing the desk between them.

‘You have papers, madame, to prove your identity? I am obliged to ask, you understand.’

‘But of course.’ She handed him a folded document.

He opened it.

An Allegondan passport, stamped by the Sulien office, a visa for a stay of six months from Fevriar to Iul in Tourmalise. It gave her name as Fiammis, Contesse of Tal’Mont and Reial, her age as twenty-seven, hair – fair, eyes – blue, height – eight and a half spans. Other distinguishing feature – a small rose-mole on the right upper lip. The description in no way did justice to her beauty, or to her desperate vulnerability. But she was a noblewoman – and as a good citizen of the republic, he felt uncomfortable dealing with the privileged scion of an antiquated system Tourmalise had long ago rejected.

‘This seems to be in order,’ he said gruffly, handing her back the passport. ‘But as to your concerns… I am powerless to act.’

‘Even though they are dangerous revolutionaries?’

‘They may have been revolutionaries in Allegonde but here in Tourmalise they are merely visitors. We are a citizens’ republic, madame.’ He would not call her Contesse.

The brimming eyes implored him. ‘So I am defenceless.’

‘I can only arrest these individuals if you have proof. Or if a formal complaint has been made against them by a citizen of Sulien.’

‘They could attack me here and you would not lift a finger to protect me?’