I’d been delusional. We barely knew each other. He owed me nothing. And my disappointment in him was less than nothing. Not when compared to the startling news I’d just uncovered in the basement.

“Oh, Violet.”

I spun on my heel in a rush of anger. I didn’t know much, but I knew this: I was going to turn the house upside down for every note, every letter, every last scrap of paper. Whoever had been in that library with Violet, I was going to find the bastard.

Chapter Fourteen

Johanna

1890, July 25, Amsterdam, Netherlands

“I want you and our little son to recover.” Theo embraced me with tenderness on the platform next to his train. The cool of Amsterdam misted over us. The slower rhythm of the city felt comforting, like an all-healing balm.

I loved Paris’s sunshine, even if it blinded me when the light reflected off the white palaces of the Champs-Élysées. I loved swimming in the colorful currents of the greatest city in the world, where, if you listened carefully at night, you could hear life’s heartbeat. But after a year, as a young mother, I was happy to be home. After running the household and taking care of Wil alone, I craved the helping hands of my mother and my sisters.

Theo had come with me for a summer holiday with the baby, but after four short days, he had to return to Paris for work. He had a buyer for the Diaz, and we needed the commission from the sale.

Theo kissed my cheek and then Wil’s head. “I love you both. Every day shall be misery without you. I promise to hurry back.”

“Please do. I want us to have the grand vacation we all need.”

I clung to him, my heart filled with more love than I had ever been able to imagine as a silly girl. We had not spent a day apart since we had married. I didn’t want him to leave. I had found my happiness at last, that flawless state of joy I had daydreamed about as a young girl. I was certain that our luck was turning at last.

“By the time you see us again, I promise we’ll be the pictures of well-being. Wil’s infection is clearing up. Did you see how heartily he ate his lunch?” And my own health was improving too. Each day we had been back in the Netherlands, Wil and I had grown stronger.

Theo hung on, as reluctant to leave as I was to release him. “I will be back before you have a chance to miss me, dearest. Do rest while I am gone.”

“I shall plan the rest of our vacation. Long boat rides and lovely walks along the canals, The Rijksmuseum, The Hague.”

He took my hand as if he wasn’t able to help himself. “And what shall I bring you for a gift?”