“Oh, I’m the same way. I live in London, technically, but I probably spend at least half of the year traipsing around the globe.”
“We are similar creatures then,” Finn smiled down at her. She glanced up and locked eyes with his for a moment, and suddenly felt butterflies. She frowned. Mckella was always feeling butterflies, she said, but Natalie had never known what she was talking about until this moment.
“May I give you my card?” he asked. “I would love to work with you sometime. Verdipax always has a great need for people like you to join our ranks, authors and activists who are not afraid to take on the big problems.”
“Certainly. I’m already a member, but I would love to do more than just donate.” She took his card, saying, “I had better go and find my brother. He’s having a minor personal crisis right now and might need my help.” She didn’t mention that Calvin’s “crisis” involved a very beautiful woman and a sudden attack of muteness.
Finn said he’d hope to sit near her at dinner and talk some more. “I’ll be here overnight, as Julien has asked me to discuss a new development.”
As Natalie walked away from him, she took a deep breath. Her heart was beating annoyingly fast. To compose herself, she gazed up at the enormous Alphonse Mucha fresco that adorned the ceiling. It was a singular work of art and Natalie had always been fascinated by it. It depicted a beautiful woman, of course, as Mucha’s work invariably did. Her arms were spread wide across a starry night sky and her hair swirled from an unseen wind, and around her spiraling golden tresses drifted flowers and leaves, which were also scattered across the field at her feet. The moon was huge and glowing behind her head, and looked like her diadem. After a few moments, Natalie regained her composure and rejoined her brother and Angelique, who were engaged in a heated, though muted, discussion with her uncle. When Natalie approached the trio, Angelique grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the little circle.
“Julien insists that we must search through the Bibliothèque Nationale tonight!” she hissed. “I ask him what could be so pressing, and he is silent!” She glared at her employer defiantly, complaining earnestly about being left out of Julien’s confidences. “He is too secretive,” she complained, “yet he wants me to participate in his schemes. If I am going to go along with his plots, I must know why!” she insisted.
Uncle Julien gave her a long look. “My dear, I’m simply going to look for a book. It’s that simple. I can’t tell you every detail about everything I do. It just won’t serve!”
Angelique crossed her arms stubbornly and stamped her foot. “Well, if you want me to help you, you will have to tell me why. Something’s up, I just know it! You’ve been acting strangely this evening, and I know we aren’t allowed to break in there in the middle of the night. You’re no longer the library’s director, you will recall!”
Natalie looked at her brother, who shrugged his shoulders in silent bewilderment. They seemed to be in the middle of Julien and Angelique’s power plays, and neither of them knew what to do about it. It was amusing to witness their uncle already so completely bowled over by his newest employee.
“Now, now,” Julien continued in a pacifying tone, “I still have my keys, and my security clearance. It’s only a matter of finessing the guards, and you know that’s my specialty. I can’t wait until morning because someone might get the book before me.”
“Before you?” Angelique asked, disbelievingly. “Who’s going to be checking out books at two in the morning?”
“Won’t you just trust me?” Julien pleaded. “You don’t have to come if you feel you shouldn’t.”
“Well,” she sniffed, relenting a little, “as you are well aware, I never thwart your plans. I just wish you would trust me enough to confide in me.”
“Mon cher, I do trust you. That is why I want you to come with us.”
She didn’t look mollified.
Calvin and Natalie had been watching their argument like it was a tennis match, their heads swiveling back and forth between opponents. Finally Natalie interjected. “Angelique, our uncle has very good reasons for keeping you in the dark, and I wouldn’t like it either, but you can trust him. You do, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” she began, “but …”
“It’s for a good cause,” Julien interrupted before she could argue more, “and as I said, you may remain here if you are worried, but should you decide to come with us, you may trust my nephew to protect you.” Those were the very words to get Angelique to cease all her arguments.
“Oh, well, in that case, I will protest no more!”
Calvin blinked, taken off guard somehow. Had his uncle just been playing Cupid? He couldn’t tell.
~
After dinner, at which Julien had cunningly seated Angelique next to his nephew, causing Calvin to wonder afresh at Julien’s romantic manipulations, most of the guests departed. Julien excused himself and closeted himself in his office with Finn. While they waited to leave for the library, Natalie suggested they return to the salon and play a game of poker next to the fire. Calvin’s initial nervousness with Angelique had eased considerably during dinner. Natalie noticed with satisfaction how often her uncle’s assistant broke out in infectious laughter while conversing with her brother. After a couple glasses of wine, he was more himself, and kept Angelique entertained at dinner with relative ease. The presence of Becky and Lorraine, the two artists currently in residence, also lightened the atmosphere considerably.
Upon entering the salon, Julien and Finn found Natalie happily winning everyone’s pocket money. “I see you found some new victims,” Julien said dryly to his niece and arching his eyebrow. “Kieran and Angelique probably have no idea that they’re playing with a totally unscrupulous card shark.”
Angelique tapped Natalie’s shoulder playfully. “And you were acting like you barely knew the rules! Shame on you!”
Natalie smiled ruefully. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. But you have to admit, it’s a useful skill to possess. I’ve gotten out of quite a few scrapes when I’ve found myself on foreign soil and devoid of the required funds to return home. Once I was able to buy a train ticket with my winnings after my satchel was stolen in Barcelona. I challenged a bartender to a game, and won 200 euros off him!”
“It’s the gypsy in you,” Julien said matter-of-factly. “That kind of survival instinct has always served our family well.”
Calvin glanced at his sister, both wondering how many of Julien’s acquaintances knew about their unusual birthright. Had everyone known they were Roma but themselves?
Julien and Finn joined them at the table. “We must have a powwow, as they say in America,” Julien began, and cleared his throat. “Finley is here on important business. I’m afraid it concerns our recent flight from England, and he has some unsettling information.”
“About Uncle Richard?” Calvin asked.
“That’s right,” Finn answered. “I was recently in California, meeting with some members of a company called Sofonte, based in Los Angeles. I imagine you’ve heard of them, Natalie. They’ve been giving Verdipax a great deal of unrest in recent years.”
“Oh God, I hate them!“ Natalie cried vehemently. “I’ve written so many articles condemning their herbicide, which is proven to be so toxic to amphibians and other wildlife.”
Finn nodded. “Unfortunately, most of the world’s food suppliers use the herbicide as well. We have been trying to convince these suppliers to use better alternatives, but it’s been an uphill battle, to say the least. Whatever is the easiest and