“Yes, he is,” Kate says. “And I would be happy to organize a time when the three of us can have a chat. I think, Mamie, that after hearing Louis’s story, you will discover he’s a very special case.”

The older woman nods. Just then, Jeanne opens the back door and Odette runs across the room to her great-grandmother. Mamie throws her arms open wide. “Who’s my darling little cabbage?”

I return to the table, relieved to have survived the encounter, but feeling shaken.

“Workout?” Ambrose offers, before scooping an enormous slice of tiramisu into his mouth.

“Nah,” I say, picking up my plate and taking it to the counter. “I think I’ll get moved in.” Mamie’s words made me feel like an alien in the house. Maybe getting my stuff moved in and having some time to myself will make me feel more at home.

Jeanne waves me away from the dishes. “I prepared Jules’s room for you,” she says. “It’s the ‘bachelor pad,’ and he is most definitely no longer a bachelor. He and Ava visit so rarely from New York. Anyway, she would probably thank you for taking over the space he occupied during his wild years,” she says with a wink. “Give me a minute, and I’ll show you where it is.”

“Don’t worry,” I say. “Just tell me, I can find it.”

“Okay, but first...” She takes a pair of scissors from the counter, and in one swift motion takes a strand of my hair and snips it off. She carries the lock of hair to the counter and tucks it into a colorful enamel box the size of a teacup.

“Um, what was that for?” I ask, stunned.

Vincent gives a ghost of a smile. “Just call it life insurance,” he says, making Kate laugh.

“Now,” says Jeanne, wiping her hands on her apron, “up the grand staircase to the library, down the hall, and up another little flight of stairs. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks,” I say. “And thank you for the best meal I’ve had in...oh, a bit over five years.”

“Bran’s cooking is that bad?”

“Don’t tell him I said so,” I joke. But as I leave the kitchen’s atmosphere of warm conviviality and head toward my new room, it doesn’t matter that I’m in a house of people who, for the most part, accept me...who might even want me there. I still feel completely alone.

Chapter Ten

A battle axe slices so close to my ear that I want to check for blood. But there’s no time: a spiked mace is approaching the other side of my head with frightening speed. I duck and fall to the right, taking the ground on one shoulder to roll across my back. I spring back to my feet in time to raise my sword just as the axe swings back down.