3 At the time, Tourlaville was a small village in Cherbourg, Northwest France. A fledgling glass native blowing industry (all previous glass blowing in Europe had been confined to Venetian Murano) had sprung up around this town due to the availability of natural resources (i.e. timber for fuel and sand for glass stock) and river transport. Later this factory would move to Saint Gobain. From Sun to Earth 1665-1999 A History of Saint-Gobain.

4 A legend in French royal politics, Jean-Baptiste Colbert served as King Louis XIV’s minister of finance after the disgraceful exit of his predecessor Fouquet. Colbert was also appointed the king’s overseer of buildings and was charged with complete control over the Versailles project. Versailles by Jean-Marie Perouse de Montclos 1991 p. 48

10

"I held the cane and looked into the dragon's blue sapphire eyes as long as I could without blinking.”

"Did you ever perfect the mirrors?" I asked.

She gave a slight start as if she thought I was asleep. "I did, but not in time to put them in the Gallery of Mirrors. I did those by hand. They're not perfect, but they're close. I made my final breakthrough with the cast mirrors at the very end of the project. I took my final payment from Le Brun and helped a factory at St. Gobain in France to mass produce this new glass."

"What happened to it?"

"It worked. It's in operation today and I still own a nice percentage of the company."

"What was the social scene in Versailles like for you after your recovery?"

"I was respected for saying what everyone else had always wanted to but wouldn't. They were such pathetic creatures, but then again they always are. I despised them, which of course made me all the more attractive in their eyes. Having the reputation for killing Joubert was another thing I didn't like. Each day I wished I could tell the truth about what happened but obviously, I never could."

"Did you ever find out the truth about who shot him?"

"Ramsay did it. Weren't you listening?" she said sternly. "Sure, she never admitted to it, but she did it. It's the only explanation for what happened. Speaking of which, Ramsay might be in Zurich when we arrive. Don't let her or anyone else know that I told you her name."

"I won't," I said in the middle of a yawn. I looked over at the cane again and stared at it as long as I could until I fell asleep.

She was standing by the rail looking over into the open sanctuary below when I woke up. "Good morning," I said looking for my underwear.

"Good morning." She turned and saw me searching. "They're at the foot of the bed."

"Thanks." I put them on and slid across the bed to where she was standing. Reaching out and grabbing the rail, I was able to pull myself up onto my right leg. The view was amazing. The sun shone through the glass with the same brilliance of yesterday morning only now, from up here, the collage of random colors formed the same scenes from the panels on the hardwood floor below us.