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"I aone I have no children of my own"
Fernando bit into his wrist and clenched his fist The blood welled up fro onto the black-and-white floor "I dedicate my blood and body to the service and honor of your family"
"Blimey," Leonard breathed "That’s not how Father H does it" I had seen Andrew Hubbard induct a creature into his flock, and though the two ceremonies weren’t identical, they were siain everyone in the house waited for my response There were probably rules and precedents to follow, but at that moment I neither knew nor cared what they were I took Fernando’s bloody hand inyour trust in Matthew," I said si up at me with sharp eyes "Now it is time for Matthew to trust himself"
25
"I found it" Phoebe put a printed e- desk’s tooled-leather surface The fact that she hadn’t first knocked politely on the door to the sitting roo had happened
"Already?" I regarded her in a for an item for the de Clermont family--a picture of a tree drawn by Athanasius Kircher" Phoebe glanced around the rooold chinoiserie chest on a stand, the faux bas on a chair, the colorful silk cushions splashed across the chaise longue by theShe peered at the walls,the name Jean Pillement and words like "impossible" and "priceless" and "museum"
"But the illustrations in weren’t drawn by Kircher" Frowning, I picked up the ee torn out of a ood sale," Phoebe explained "The temptation to link the picture to Kircher would have been irresistible And if the edges of the parchment were cleaned up and the text was invisible, it would have co"
I scanned the nation and future ht my attention:
[BEGIN MESSAGE]
I do find record of the sale and purchase of "an allegory
of the Tree of Life believed to have once been displayed
in the museum of
Athanasius Kircher, SJ, in Ro?
[END MESSAGE]
"Who bought it?" I whispered, hardly daring to breathe
"Sylvia wouldn’t tellto the final lines of the e-mail "The sale was recent, and the details are confidential She revealed the purchase price: sixteen hundred and fifty pounds"
"That’s all?" I exclaimed Most of the books Phoebe had purchased for me cost far more than that
"The possible Kircher provenance wasn’t firh to convince potential buyers to spend more,"
she said
"Is there really no way to discover the buyer’s identity?" I began to iic to find the out more
"Sotheby’s can’t afford to tell their clients’ secrets" Phoebe shook her head "Iine how Ysabeau would react if her privacy was violated"
"Did you callin the arched doorway before the seed of my plan could put out its first shoots
"Phoebe’s discovered that a recent sale at Sotheby’s describes a picture very like the one I’ for," I explained to Ysabeau "They won’t tell us who bought it"
"I knohere the sales records are kept," Phoebe said "When I go to Sotheby’s to hand in my keys, I could take a look"
"No, Phoebe It’s too risky If you can tell ure out a way to get access to the of thieves and lost boys could e it But my mother-in-law had her own ideas
"Ysabeau de Clerainst the roos
Phoebe looked shocked "You can’t just call the director of Sotheby’s and expect hi"
Apparently Ysabeau could--and did
"Charles It’s been too long" Ysabeau draped herself over a chair and let her pearls fall through her fingers "You’ve been so busy, I’ve had to rely on Matthew for news And the refinancing he helped you arrange--did it achieve what you had hoped?"
Ysabeausounds of interest and expressions of appreciation at his cleverness If I had to describe her behavior, I would be tempted to call it kittenish--provided the kitten were a baby Bengal tiger
"Oh, I alad, Charles Matthew felt sure it would work" Ysabeau ran a delicate finger over her lips "I ondering if you could help with a little situation Marcus is getting married, you see--to one of your employees They met when Marcus picked up those miniatures you were so kind as to procure for me in January"
Lord Sutton’s precise reply was inaudible, but the warm hum of content" Ysabeau’s laugh was crystalline "Hoitty you are, Charles Marcus has his heart set on buying Phoebe a special gift, soo--a picture of a family tree"