Lulu was hardly likely to be in a servant’s room. Bent uncomfortably to one side, he started toward the far end of the passage to see if there were stairs there, thinking that perhaps she’d come this way as a shortcut to somewhere else. He was halfway along the corridor when something grabbed his cassock skirt. He yelped in surprise and jumped away from whatever it was, but a small voice commanded,
“Shhh! In here!”
Anne-Marie de Bourbon pulled him through one of the little doors and shut it. Charles found himself in nearly complete darkness, with something panting and jumping against his legs.
The dog, Louis, he realized, and squatted down to where he thought the child was.
“What are you doing here, Your Serene Highness? Why-”
“Hush!” She clutched his arm, an agony of fear in her voice. “He’ll hear you!”
“Who? What game are you playing?”
“It isn’t a game! Louis got away and I chased him up here. We had to hide because I heard someone coming and I’m not supposed to come here.” He felt her shiver. “So I came in here. At least it’s empty. The servants don’t go to bed till after we do. Then I looked out and-”
“There’s no one out there now, so you and Louis can-”
“No, listen! I opened the door a little crack to see who was coming and it was Lulu. She went into the room across the passage. It’s the footman Bouchel’s and he’s still in there!”
Charles was glad the darkness hid his astonishment. “With Lulu?”
“No, she left. She was crying and very angry. They were shouting at each other.”
“How do you know?”
“I heard them. Some of it, anyway. At first, I could just hear voices, but not what they said. Then she got louder and started crying and told him he had to help her. He tried to hush her, but she wouldn’t be quiet. He was talking louder, too. He said he’d tried to protect her and what else could he do? He sounded like he was almost crying. Then something crashed against the wall and she ran out into the passage. Maître, she told him that if he didn’t help her get away, she would kill herself!” Anne-Marie’s small hand was shaking. “I’m so worried! I know she’s unhappy about the marriage-but to go to a servant for help? And to say she’ll commit a mortal sin if she has to go to Poland? Please, she likes you, please talk to her and make her see she cannot do that, even if-”
He heard her catch her breath. “Even if what?”
“Just keep her from doing anything terrible!”
“Your Serene Highness, you saw this morning that I can’t make her do anything.”
But Charles thought suddenly of the lake, and his own fears rose. “Do you have any idea where she’s gone? Are there stairs at the far end of the passage?”
“Yes, she went that way.”
The chapel lay in that direction. Charles hoped against hope that Lulu had taken her lonely misery to St. Ursula, that other beleaguered virgin. Or had at least taken refuge there until she had herself in hand again.
“Maybe she’s gone to the chapel,” he said.
“She might go there. I’m coming with you.”
As Charles pulled the door open, the dog darted into the passage, and the door across the way began to open. Charles ducked out of the room, pulled the door shut behind him, and was leaning against it when Bouchel ducked through his own doorway into the passage.
“Ah, bonsoir, Bouchel,” Charles said, wiping his forehead as though he’d been running.
“What-what are you doing here?”
“Chasing Mademoiselle d’Enghien’s little dog,” Charles said, with a tolerant smile. “And now I’ll have to chase him farther, he’s gone that way.” He nodded toward the far end of the corridor.
“Oh. Yes. He’ll have gone down the stairs there.” Bouchel wiped his hands over his face and through his hair.
He looked, Charles thought, like a man who’d just taken a heavy blow. “I thought earlier that you seemed unwell. You look as though you’re feeling worse.”
“Oh. No. No, not at all!” The whites of Bouchel’s dark brown eyes flared in the dim light. “I just came up to-to see to something. They’ll be after me, I must go back now.”
As Bouchel ran unceremoniously down the near stairs, Charles stood staring after him and wondering why in God’s name Lulu had gone to the footman.
Behind him, Anne-Marie pushed her way into the passage. “See? I told you. We have to find her!”
Together they returned to the ground floor and found Louis happily wolfing down cake someone had dropped. Anne-Marie picked him up and started toward the chapel. The salons here were nearly deserted, since most everyone made a point of being seen at the gambling. He is a man I never see was the worst thing King Louis could say of anyone entitled to be at court.
When they reached the Salon of Abundance at the east end of the chain, out of which the chapel opened, Charles stopped in the doorway. “Wait,” he said softly to Anne-Marie.
At this hour the chapel was lit only by the salon’s few candles shining behind them and by the small lamp on the high altar. He heard clothing rustle and gripped Anne-Marie’s shoulder to keep her from rushing into the dark. Then he heard a metallic sound and what sounded like the whispering of skirts.
“Stay here.” He walked toward the sound.
He could just make out Lulu crouching at the foot of the side altar where the reliquary was. “Your Highness?”
She straightened.“There was no need to come hunting me.” Her voice was chilly and remote.
“Anne-I mean Mademoiselle d’Enghien-was worried about you. She heard you in Bouchel’s room.”
“In-? No, she is lying.”
Flying feet came down the chapel aisle and Anne-Marie flung herself at Lulu, holding to her skirts. “I am not lying; you were there, you shouted at him, you said you would kill yourself. I was so frightened!”
Lulu sighed but made no move to comfort her. “Very well. Since you spied on me, yes, I did ask Bouchel’s help. He has always seemed-very kind.” She shrugged disdainfully. “And he’s a peasant. That kind of person always wants money, and I thought I might be able to bribe him to help me run away. He won’t. There. Now you know. And I know what I must do. And there’s an end of it.”
“But you said you would kill yourself! Lulu, you mustn’t even think that, you can’t-”
“Don’t be silly.” She put Anne-Marie gently but firmly aside. “Children are so tiresomely fanciful,” she said to Charles, and swept out of the chapel.
He put out a hand to stop Anne-Marie from following her. “Let her be. She doesn’t want either of us just now.”
“I know that.” The little girl twisted out of his grasp and faced him. He half expected tears, but she said fiercely, “You see? There’s only you and me to care about her. Someone has to help her, but no one will, because they’re afraid of the king. So what are you going to do?”
Charles looked warily at her. This one could probably lead armies. “I don’t know,” he said frankly. “I’m leaving very soon. I can tell Père La Chaise I’m worried about her.”
She sighed impatiently. “That won’t help. Lulu doesn’t like him; she won’t listen to him.” Her hazel-gold hawk’s eyes caught light from the altar lamp as she looked up at him. “I see that I must tell you. Listen. After the Comte de Fleury-”
Louis began to bark in the aisle as heavy footsteps pounded into the chapel.
“Your Serene Highness! Come here. At once!”
“Hell’s lecherous devils!” Anne-Marie said startlingly, looking over her shoulder. “I am busy, madame.”