Page 9

That evening, the museum hosts a party for local horologists, historians and collectors. I hear about the party with three hours’ notice, just enough time for me to iron clothing for myself and Sophie and get both of us dressed and ready. I suppose it’s more than enough notice, but I’m still annoyed at being left out of the loop.

I have to remind myself that I’m new here. Elena has to get used to me just as much as I have to get used to her.

In any case, Sophie and I are clean and dressed nicely when the guests start to arrive. Hans Weber is the first guess. I noticed with wry amusement and some irritation that Elena apologized to him for her behavior yesterday with far more grace than she showed when she apologized to me.

When Elena is finished, Hans smiles at me. He kisses my hand, and I feel a blush come to my cheeks. I’m not used to this greeting, and it makes me slightly uncomfortable, but that’s not uncommon in Europe.

“How are you, Miss Mary?” he asks me.

“I’m wonderful, thank you. It’s good to see you again.”

“It’s wonderful to see you,” he replies. He bows low to Sophie. “And to see Princess Sophie. Herr Bertrand tells me you helped him repair our favorite automata clock.”

She curtseys. “Yes, I helped him fix the cuckoo clock.”

Hans laughs. “Well, I’m pleased to see that the Rousseau family has another young horologist to carry the family’s future into the next generation.”

He straightens and looks toward the front door. His smile fades, and he turns to us. “Excuse me. I must introduce myself to the other guests.”

He walks away, and I look toward the front door to see Elena smiling and talking with a tall, severe-looking woman with dyed brown hair that falls to just above her shoulders in a crisp bob. She wears a shimmering silk evening gown and diamond earrings that are very haute couture. They smile at each other, but their smiles look more like grimaces than true smiles.

“That’s Margot Keller,” Sophie tells me. “Grandma hates her.”

“That’s not a polite thing to say,” I correct her.

She shrugs. “It’s true.”

Elena leads Margot to us and says, "Margot, this is my new governess, Mary. And you know Sophie, of course."

“Of course!” Margot says.

She lowers her hand to Sophie with an oversized diamond ring facing upward. Sophie smiles wryly at the ring, and for a moment, I’m afraid she’s going to kiss it, but she only shakes Margot’s hand. “How do you do, Miss Margot?”

Margot laughs. “Oh! How charming!”

I’m beginning to understand why Elena doesn’t like her. She offers me her hand, and I have to fight harder than I care to admit to keep from kissing her ring myself. “A pleasure to meet you as well. I assume you’ll be babysitting Sophie?”

Sophie bristles, and I lay my hand on her shoulder. “Fortunately, Sophie is a perfectly well-behaved young lady. I’m sure the two of us will have a very enjoyable evening.”

Margot laughs again. “Oh, of course! Of course!”

She walks away without another word. Elena watches her leave with her lip curled in contempt. After a moment, she looks at Sophie and sticks her finger in her mouth, miming throwing up. Sophie puts her hands over her mouth and giggles.

A little more of my anger toward Elena softens. After all, I am a stranger, and she did lose a very valuable timepiece. She seems like a great grandmother, and I will forgive all sorts of bad behavior from a good parental figure, especially considering what poor guardians my own parents were.

The door opens, and two more guests walk in.

One of those guests is a young boy around Sophie's age. He has a cherubic face, fine blonde hair, and blue eyes and he wears a very handsome, tailored outfit with a wool overcoat and a matching beret. I look at Sophie and see her blushing furiously and smiling shyly at him. He catches her smile and turns as red as a tomato.

I smile and place a hand behind Sophie to lead her to the newcomers. She resists for a second, and I stifle laughter when I see the father doing the same thing to his young son. He and I share a knowing look, and a moment later, the father—as handsome as his son and about thirty years older—says, “Good evening, Elena. And good evening, Miss Sophie.” To me, he says, “And you must be Sophie’s new governess.”

“Mary Wilcox,” I reply, extending my hand. I smile down at his son and say, “And who is this handsome young man?”

The father pats his son’s shoulder. The boy swallows and stammers, “L—Luc. Luc Meyer.”

"It's wonderful to meet you, Luc. Have you met Sophie before?"

Luc shakes his head, turning even redder. Sophie giggles, then brings her hand to her mouth, mortified that such a sound could have escaped her.

Elena smiles at her. “Sophie, maybe you could show Luc around the museum?”

Sophie, not surprisingly, instantly forgets to be shy at the prospect of being allowed free from supervision. “Okay! Come on, Luc.”

She grabs Luc’s hand and pulls the poor boy away without giving him a second to adjust. I know it’s an old woman’s sentimental fantasy, but I can’t help hoping that the two of them end up married someday.

I imagine Sean rolling his eyes and have to stifle a giggle of my own. Fortunately, the father pulls my attention back to the present when he extends his hand and says, “I’m Lukas Meyer. It’s nice to meet you, Mary.”

“It’s lovely to meet you as well,” I say, accepting the handshake.

His grip is quite soft, and I have to relax mine to match. Oh well. I suppose no one’s perfect. “And how do you know Dr. Rousseau?” I ask.

He chuckles and thankfully releases my hand. "I handle the museum's finances. I operate a banking firm here in Geneva that caters to wealthy clients and businesses who need long-term security and stability. Most banks are interested in maximizing growth. There's nothing wrong with that, and I often partner with other firms to grow my client's wealth, but sometimes people simply want to ensure that they won't lose what they have rather than scrambling to obtain more. My firm specializes in meeting those needs."

Elena laughs. “Please, Lukas, don’t bore her. I’m sure she’s not looking to redistribute her wealth right now.”

I have no reason to believe that Elena means that as an insult, but I still have to keep myself from telling her that I’m actually worth over eight million dollars, not exorbitant wealth in today’s world but far from destitute. Fortunately, I retain enough maturity to limit myself to, “It’s lovely to meet you, Lukas. I’ll allow you and Elena some time to catch up while I ensure the children aren’t preparing to destroy the museum.”

They laugh politely and continue on. I walk through the party and take note of the guests. I do keep my eye out for the children, but if Elena is confident enough to allow them to run free, then I can definitely share the same confidence.

I do find them after several minutes. They're in the history exhibit on the second floor, sitting cross-legged on top of a replica of an ancient Egyptian sundial. They're laughing and whispering to each other, and once I decide that they're not damaging anything, I leave them alone. Sophie needs to interact with children, and there's no need for me to hover.

I leave the history exhibit and head for the stairs, but I stop when I hear voices from behind one of the grandfather clocks. I stop and listen carefully.

The first voice is Elena’s. “You’ve convinced me that you’re very upset. Is that supposed to sway me?”

“It should sway you,” Margot retorts. “I’m sure you don’t want your family’s history to become public knowledge.”

I stifle a gasp. Elena laughs and says, “Would you like your family history to become public knowledge?”

There’s a brief pause. Then Margot says, “You don’t want to threaten me. You run a toy museum. I’m one of the wealthiest people in Geneva.”

“I very much doubt that,” Elena retorts. “But I don’t give a damn who you are. I purchased the timepiece fair and square. You had your chance, and you didn’t purchase it. That makes me wonder just how wealthy you really are.”

“You do not want to test me!”

“You seem very confident about what I don’t want to do. Let me enlighten you of what I want to do.” Elena’s voice drops in pitch and becomes deadly and far stronger than I’ve heard before. “I want to ruin you. I want to laugh while the world recoils in horror at you and your family’s history.”

Margot sounds afraid when she replies, “You wouldn’t dare. You’d ruin your reputation too.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t dare. As it stands now, I wouldn’t dare. I strongly suggest that you do nothing to upset the current balance. If I had nothing to lose, I might be willing to make sure that you lose everything.”

“Oh, go to Hell, Elena.”

“You first.”

I hear heels click and quickly duck behind another grandfather clock. Margot comes into view, storming toward the stairs. Her heels echo as she descends to the party below.

A moment later, Elena comes into view. After what I’ve heard, I expect to see triumph on her face. Instead, she is pale and shaking with fear. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and she bites her lip, looking at her retreating foe.

I don’t know exactly what I’ve overheard, but it’s clear that Elena’s concern with the Rousseau family reputation isn’t unfounded. They are at risk of suffering a scandal.

The question is why?