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"You are brilliant," Olivia said, sincerely "If there are any coins to be given out, I shall rinned "It was my idea, but we did it, all of us So, is it comfortable up there, my lady? The mattress issmooth?"

"Of course," Olivia said, rather less than truthfully She hesitated and then asked, "Aren’t you rather young to be a soldier?"

"I’m almost sixteen," he said stoutly But then he added, with a little droop to his lips, "Nothing ever happens in this garrison, because Le Capitaine is interested only in brandy My iusted

Olivia smiled at him "I think your mother is very wise"

"Petit! Ti stone corridor

"What is needed is a distraction that ht cause Madame to leave her kitchen," he said, his brown eyes now sparkling "Soarrison before your duke hands Bessette those guineas he is derinned "I shall think on it"

He disappeared, sla the door behind him Olivia heard the lock slide into place

A distraction? What good would that do, unless she could escape from this cell? She ran her hand over the uneven ht in Petit’s eyes One could almost think that he had tried to drop a hint about her s over the side and stood on the stepladder She slipped her hand between the first two ers She tried the next two, and the two before that

It was a key

A key tucked between theiron key that looked exactly like the one the young soldier had used to enter her cell A smile spread across her face She would wait for Petit to create the distraction he had pro and into Quin’s arh the kitchen, she’d thu pin

A bellow sounded down the corridor "Spy, what do you think of rinned "I’ve had better," she shouted back

"Putain!"

Thirty-one

The Bark of Cerberus

Quin was e of sheer panic by the tie of Wissant Lucy was as tired as he was, so he was carrying her tucked inside his jacket, which wasn’t comfortable for either of the of une anglaise, though they knew that soravely wounded, had been living in Père Blanchard’s hut

"The soldiers were not hurting anyone," the smith told Quin, arlish" He shrugged "So are you I would guess that Bessette scooped up your wo of a schemer He’ll have handed her over to Madame Fantomas, and he’ll want a reward"