Forever Young The Beginning (25 page)

“
Monsieur Rousseau. I was
most impressed by your work and inspection of the incident of the
two missing children at the
Angels’
Care
facility.”

“
I only did my job,
sir.”

“
Most wouldn’t have bothered
to do as thorough a job as you, monsieur. Not for missing orphans
anyway. We think that you’ll go far in government and we want to
help you do that. If you make the right choice this evening, you
will soon become chief inspector for Marseille. You may choose your
replacement. We’ll be watching you and you’ll be promoted from time
to time.”

‘
How can you know that?
You’re not officials, are you?”

“
We’re not officials, but we
know many who are, and monsieur Rousseau, they do listen to us.
You
will
be
promoted, and it won’t be the last time either.”

He sat sipping his wine as he pondered
that. “I’m honored to be considered, monsieur’s but I must ask
first, what do you want in return?

“
We want you to always be as
thorough as you were in handling the affair of which I spoke. There
may be a favor asked of you from time to time, but you’ll not be
asked to commit sedition or treason against the crown.

“
In no way will I be a party
to any criminal activity.”

“
Good. Because that would be
most unfortunate for you. We won’t be asking you become a
lawbreaker, or to involve yourself in theft or anything that would
compromise your position. Mostly what we want from time to time is
information., and sometimes help.”

“
I can do that monsieur, but
how do I know who I’m helping?”

“
You only have to know and
remember the name Laforge. You’re never to divulge our name to
anyone, even to your twenty-four year old wife of four years and
three months, Louise. To do so would be to risk your career at the
very least. We’re not seekers of publicity of any kind, especially
unwanted publicity. Later in your career, a private bank account in
a friendly country will be given to you. It is to supplement your
retirement and to help you with your familial obligations, such as
when your three years and seven months old daughter Alicia might
marry. You’ll be given full access to it when you retire. It will
be generous, I assure you. Until then, you’ll be able to draw only
a set amount from it, once a year. If more is needed, we’ll know
and will provide it. Extravagant living won’t be permitted unless
you come into a lawful inheritance. Once you enter this agreement,
it is binding for the rest of your public life as an official of
the government of France.”

Henri handed a signet to Rousseau.
“This is our insignia. It’s made in to appear as a piece of women’s
jewelry, as if for a necklace. It’s not a valuable piece, but you
should memorize every detail. If we write to you, this insignia
will appear on our communications as a way for you to know that
you’re reading our own words. It can just be put in a box and put
away somewhere, or if you discard it, destroy it with a hammer. Any
written communication from us must be read and then burnt. Failure
to do that is a breach of our agreement and will be dealt with as
such. You’ll be demoted quickly to an obscure post and will lose
your private bank account too. If all goes as it should, when you
retire from government service, you’ll be very well off financially
and you’ll be through with us. It will be as if we never met. It’s
that simple.”

He sat in thought for a
while.
My God! What do they not know about
me? Still, I feel as if they are… trustworthy, and what an
opportunity!
He raised his eyes to meet
Henri’s gaze and then said “I can do that, and I am most
grateful.”

“
Then let us drink a toast
to seal our bargain. “To your career, monsieur Rousseau.” They
drank to that and then their order came and they dined in pleasant
conversation, artfully steered by Henri. They parted company around
dark.

As they returned to the Chateau, Ian
asked “What was that all about?”

“
That’s one of our new men
inside of the government. We’ll be grooming him over the years to
advance to a high position. When we make our generational move and
leave the chateau we will leave the name Lafayette behind too.
We’ll be the Laforges. And we will have another grateful ally in
the French government to assist us as we take up life as the
Laforges. There are others and there will be new ones added, but I
wanted you to see how it’s done.”

He was more than impressed. “Henri,
I’m impressed by what I’ve seen and heard today.”

One evening a courier came bearing a
letter for Marie. She opened it and quickly assembled
everyone.

“
I’ve received notice from
Caryn Rochelle in Paris. She’s your aunt, Celeste. She wants for
you to live with her in Paris.” Celeste smiled sweetly, then said
“I am so grateful, Madame. I’d be just as happy to stay here though
with all of you, if only you’ll allow me.”

Marie looked distressed, and looked to
Henri. She said “Celeste, we can’t keep you if your aunt wants to
raise you. It is the law in France.” She held her arms open and
Celeste came to her embrace. “You’re a lovely girl and we would
love to have you stay with us forever, and I know that Ian and
Cosette feel the same way. There’s no reason to be sad or afraid.
Your Aunt is a famous fashion designer and lives quite well. Paris
is a beautiful and exciting place to live. I’ve met her and she’s a
very nice person. I also have a young friend living there who is an
associate of your aunt. She is very nice and you’d like her. You’ll
attend the best schools and I’m going to see to it that you get
voice training to enhance your lovely singing. You might even
become a famous performer someday.”

“
I’ll do as you wish,
Madame.”

Ian spoke “Cosette and I are going to
the Netherlands, and to my home in Scotland. We can take you to
Paris. We’ve wanted to see it and would love to see it with
you.”

Coming to sit next to him she said “Oh
Ian that would be so nice.” He hugged her warmly and held her head
to his chest, saying “We wouldn’t want to see Paris without you.”
Cosette nodded her assent, smiling sweetly. Celeste leaned over and
pillowed her head on Cosette’s shoulder with a sweet
smile.

Unnoticed at the end of the
table, Sophia sat, her eyes brimming with tears.
What’s happening to me? I’m almost at the point
of tears. I never knew that people live and care for each other
this way.
The love she was seeing was
melting the hard veneer that she had created to insulate herself
from the harshness of her life.

Marie said “That settles it then. Ian
and Cosette have to be here for at least another ten days or more
before they can go to Paris, so you have plenty of time yet before
you leave, Celeste. I’ll write to your aunt that Cosette and Ian
will bring you to Paris no earlier than two weeks unless she wants
to come here herself.” She then gave Celeste a bright smile and
said “I can be persuasive.”

About then Henri said “That is for
certain.” to which Marie responded by jumping up from her chair and
plopping herself down into his lap and smothering him with kisses
as all laughed heartily. Li noticed that Sophia laughed through
eyes brimming with tears of emotion. He had been noticing a lot of
things about her of late, and he genuinely liked everything he
saw.

***

The sea had small whitecap waves that
day and white puffy cumulus clouds dotted the sky from horizon to
horizon. Alandra idly sat with Celita near the bow, watching
Barcelona grow nearer, as she thought of the time she had spent at
the Rodriguez home in Almeria. She had to admit that it had been
fun. She had gotten to see so many new sights that her spirits had
been lifted in spite of her sadness. Philippe’ had been so
attentive and had proven not to be a boor at all, but was charming
in his own way. She had gotten to know him somewhat and wasn’t
repelled at all, but genuinely liked him and his family very much.
Papa had been right. This trip had been good for her.

She knew that her father
would soon want to have the Rodriguez family come to Barcelona and
that would move her betrothal to Philippe’ that much closer. She
sighed deeply. Celita hummed a tune from the night when the crew
of
Elsie’s Cloud
had celebrated getting safely through the storm. They had both
danced with Captain McCloud and a couple of the ships’ officers.
Recalling that night was one of her warmest memories, but all of
the time spent with Ian were her most cherished memories of all.
Her mind produced a montage of pictures of him. It was more than
she could stand though and for once, she was actually grateful when
her little brother teased her, unknowingly breaking her
reverie.

***

The idyllic days passed and both Ian
and Li grew in strength. Ian’s blood fast had ended some time
before, having gone five days. At the end of it, he had been quite
weak and Cosette had persuaded him to end it.

Sophia for her part had let go of all
reservations about these people, and had abandoned all of her
carefully constructed neutrality and her fatalistic outlook. She
bloomed like a flower in this environment, becoming a favorite of
the children, playing games with them with the total abandonment of
a child. Everyone including Li noticed this right away. More than
once Li had caught Sophia watching him as well. She had gotten to
where she would now smile anytime she met his eyes, rather than
look away. She had joined in when the group would be singing in the
evenings and had a good voice, easily carrying any melody once
having heard it sung by the others. Secretly she dreaded the end of
her assignment. The thought of returning to her former life was
distasteful to her now, but she kept that to herself.

Ian’s tolerance to sunlight
had been reduced but no Adept in the memory of either Marie or
Henri could come close to taking the direct sunlight that he could
take. Henri told him that he was a Sun
Walker, and that there were no others that he knew of. It was
phenomenal to say the least. Marie spent a half day teaching him
how to appear to be more human. He practiced knocking over drinking
glasses with an elbow or the cuff of a coat, dropping silverware,
or even such things as bumping his head if bending to retrieve
something. He had been taught to regulate his heartbeat and to
control the glow of his eyes when surprised emotionally, all while
imprinting. Marie told him that the time could come when he might
need to make a vampire think that he was human.

While he was practicing she said “Ian,
you must remember to breathe when around humans in cold weather.
You would stand out immediately should you be the only one who
didn’t have the steam clouds coming from your mouth that are
normally seen in those conditions.” She also cautioned him about
letting people know how many languages he could speak. “You would
be amazed at the things people will let slip if they think they are
in the presence of someone who doesn’t speak their
tongue.”

“
You’re the best one I’ve
ever seen imprinted, and I’ve seen my share. It is time for you and
Cosette to take Celeste to Paris and to see your family. Henri has
some instructions for you to take care of things for him in Paris,
Brussels, and Amsterdam. You’re to learn finance and business
management when you return.”

“
I’m ready to do my
part.”

“
We have to cover a lot of
territory and Henri can use the help of someone he can trust.
Cosette can accompany you or remain here at any time you’re needed
by us. That is completely up to you two.”

“
Have you noticed the change
in Sophia?”

“
Yes, and I’m impressed, as
is Henri. We may be discussing some future for her with us
soon.”

“
I think that she is shaping
up to be a good addition to our family, but you and Henri are far
better judges of that. I suppose it would all depend on how she
truly feels about Li and he about her.”

“
We’ve been discussing that
recently. After our evening gathering, Henri and I must speak to
you and Cosette privately. But for now, take Celeste and the others
for their last excursion together. You three leave for Paris
tomorrow.”

Aldric Moreau sat contemplating what
he had learned to date. He knew that the Lafayettes had founded the
orphanage where the four girls were abducted in the police report.
He knew that there were supposed to be five. The one girl not
accounted for was of no real consequence, yet he was thorough if
nothing else. He couldn’t turn up anything else that had happened
in Marseille regarding children, which might fit with what he was
trying to learn. So he thought that these four had likely been four
of the five expected by Francoise to have been delivered to him
before now.

The death of LeBlanc looked to be
coincidental and accidental. He had found no money though, and
wondered about that. With a character the likes of LeBlanc, the
King’s Gendarmes would not so much as blink if no money was found
there. He associated with only the scum of Marseille anyway. It was
not beyond reason that any associate of LeBlanc would rob his place
if they found him dead. Could LeBlanc have been killed for his part
in this thing by the Lafayettes? If so, they would never have taken
any money afterward. He knew Henri well enough to know
that.