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Back The Shoe Queen Save as PDF
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. “And may I say, those shoes are adorable.”
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. ( I )
  7. ( one )
  8. ( two )
  9. ( three )
  10. ( four )
  11. ( five )
  12. ( six )
  13. ( seven )
  14. ( eight )
  15. ( nine )
  16. ( ten )
  17. ( II )
  18. ( eleven )
  19. ( twelve )
  20. ( thirteen )
  21. ( fourteen )
  22. ( fifteen )
  23. ( III )
  24. ( sixteen )
  25. ( seventeen )
  26. ( eighteen )
  27. ( nineteen )
  28. ( IV )
  29. ( twenty )
  30. ( twenty-one )
  31. ( twenty-two )
  32. ( twenty-three )
  33. ( twenty-four )
  34. ( V )
  35. ( twenty-five )
  36. ( twenty-six )
  37. ( twenty-seven )
  38. ( twenty-eight )
  39. ( twenty-nine )
  40. VI
  41. ( thirty )
  42. ( thirty-one )
  43. ( thirty-two )
  44. ( thirty-three )
  45. ( thirty-four )
  46. ( VII )
  47. ( thirty-five )
  48. ( thirty-six )
  49. ( thirty-seven )
  50. ( thirty-eight )
  51. ( thirty-nine )
  52. ( forty )
  53. ( forty-one )
  54. ( forty-two )
  55. ( VIII )
  56. ( forty-three )
  57. ( forty-four )
  58. ( forty-five )
  59. ( forty-six )
  60. ( forty-seven )
  61. ( forty-eight )
  62. ( forty-nine )
  63. ( fifty )
  64. ( fifty-one )
  65. Acknowledgments
  66. Acknowledgments
  67. Questions for Discussion

“Nevertheless, I do see that I’ve overstepped the mark and—”

Robert felt his face go stiff. Something crumbled behind his eyes. The Englishman twitched and started. He had seen it crumble, whatever it was. Slowly he set his hat back down on the chair.

“In my experience,” said the detective, “the fairer sex…Well, let’s just say that ladies, however virtuous, can fall prey to an unscrupulous man, through no fault of their own. The sort of bounder who knows how to seek out the chink in their moral armour, so to speak.”

“I trust Genevieve.”

“And very commendable that is, sir. But do you trust the gentleman?” Out came the snuff again. A filthy habit. A filthy man.

Robert dabbed at his brow with his handkerchief.

“Ladies are…vulnerable, sir. With your permission, I should like to look a little further into this situation.” Felperstone gave three mighty sneezes and blew his nose. “Just to be on the safe side.”

( twenty-six )

THREE DAYS HAD PASSED since the incident at the Jardins du Luxembourg. The Shelby Kings were eating a tense breakfast together, a strangeness reverberating between them. Genevieve was doing her best to play the happy wife, hoping that if she acted hard enough it would cease to be an act. Robert was peering at her as one might peer through a dirty windowpane. His mood was changeable, to say the least. When they’d first sat down, he’d issued another irritable diatribe about the infamous horse statue. (Which hospital was the bronze cleaner in, and how bad was his accident? He didn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be able to ask the man where the statue was and go to fetch it.) But minutes later he was clutching Genevieve by the hand, staring into her eyes and proclaiming that she was looking lovelier than he’d ever seen her look and that he must, as a matter of urgency, commission a larger-than-life portrait of her by “the best guy in town, whoever he is” to hang above the mantel in the salon.

All in all, Genevieve was only too glad when he left for work. Sitting at her desk in the study, she took out a sheet of paper and picked up her pen. But how, in all seriousness, could she even think of writing a poem after that conversation with Betterson? It was as though he’d robbed her of something—the ability to pour out her feelings and find a kind of peace for herself. Distractedly, she began doodling a figure in the margin. A long-legged figure. A man running.

No!

As soon as she realized who the figure was, Genevieve tore up the sheet of paper and threw it in the basket. She was still sitting, frozen, a few minutes later, when she heard an odd sound coming from the salon.

Someone was crying.