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Marcus’s days and nights passed in a dizzying whirl of activity He didn’tlessons The fencing lessons were better But his favoritepolitics and philosophy in Fanny’s opulent library Marcus had never seen so many books in one place Madame de Genlis was quick-witted and well-read, which meant that Marcus had to work hard to keep up with her, even when the subject of their conversation was Thos into the city streets that Marcus loved above all else

“Paris is the best teacher,” Madame de Genlis proclaimed as they crossed over the Seine and into the narroisting thoroughfares of the Île de la Cité

Together, they watched cows being butchered and the prostitutes in Mada their afternoon ablutions Fueled by his unfulfilled desire for Françoise, they spent a gloriousin the heady scents of starch and soap and giving washerwoe for a cup of their blood Gunpoas next, after they stu at dawn in the Bois de Vincennes Print shops followed, the das to a net

Though Marcus had seen a fes sheets roll off the presses in Philadelphia, Paris’s booksellers operated on an entirely different scale Books in French, Latin, Greek, English, and languages Marcus couldn’t recognize were typeset in wooden racks So with ink froned, inked, and imprinted Reluctantly, Marcus handed over his copy of Common Sense to a bookbinder so that it could be kept fro for the new leather cover and paste fresh paper down to protect the worn contents When the bookbinder returned it, norapped securely in brown leather staold, Marcus held in his hands a volume that would not be out of place in the finest of libraries

Marcus was so entranced by the world of books that Fanny paid a beefy printer with a daughter in need of a dowry half a year’s earnings so that he could drink his blood and imbibe a truer sense of what it was to be involved in the book trade

“Alors It was an experie of disappointment after Marcus confessed that most of what he’d seen in the man’s blood concerned his wife—a real harridan, if he were to be brutally honest—and his futile efforts to get out of debt

“We shall try again,” Fanny said, unfazed by failure

Nothing was off-limits to him so far as Fanny and Madah Marcus’s keen sense of slass had feared He found the scent of young women irresistible

“I know just the place to go,” Fanny confided to Mada and enthusiastic”

Then Marcus s than a woman

“Stop What is that?” Marcus discovered he could slow Fanny’s progress by planting his feet so firmly on the street that his shinbone cracked under the stress

“The Hôtel-Dieu” Mada stretched along the banks of the Seine in the shadow of Notre-Dame cathedral Parts of it had collapsed The rest of it looked like it ht tumble into the river at any moment

“Hotel?” Marcus asked

“The hospital,” she replied

“I want to go inside,” Marcus said

“Just like his father” Fanny looked disappointed at Marcus’s decision to leave off his pursuit of wohtened “Perhaps there is so to be learned from the similarity? What do you think, Stéphanie?”

Aromas of camphor, lint, coffee, and spices assaulted Marcus’s nose when he entered, followed by the sweet smell of decay and darker notes of opiu with layers of copper and iron scent

So much blood, he realized, each person’s subtly different

Marcus trailed through the wards, using his nose—that powerful part of the vanose illnesses and patients’ conditions

The hospital was enor House, or the hospital the arht had fallen before he was through exploring By then, Marcus’s coat was stained with blood and vonore the patients’ pleas for water and care He was also ravenous, and wanted to go to a tavern and order a pint of beer and a piece of well-seasoned beef, even though he kneould no longer satisfy his hunger

He got Josette instead

—

MARCUS WAS IN THE LIBRARY the nextLatin verbs, when there was a commotion in the front hall

A petite woe-looking fellow na for the rest of his body Trailing behind was another sant female

A wearh

“You see! There he is!” the wo a folded piece of paper to her breast She was draped in yards of red-and-white-striped silk and wore a redingcote along with a ridiculously tiny cocked hat set on her powdered wig at a jaunty angle The woman was childlike in her appearance, with small features “He is just as my Gilbert described, is he not? I knew hi the Hôtel-Dieu”

The feh a filmy veil that floated froreen eyes

“Madame de Cler his large hands in consternation

“Ysabeau!” Fanny arrived in a whirl of pale blue and green She was followed at a more sedate pace by Madame de Genlis, who continued to sport the colors of the Revolution and was today dressed in naval blue with golden braid Ain lieu of a hat

“And the Marquise de Lafayette” Madame de Genlis swept her skirts into one hand and curtseyed “What brings us this honor?”

Marcus stared at his forh to have a husband, but then again, Lafayette hadn’t seeh to be a husband, either

“I came to thank my husband’s savior” Adrienne rushed at Marcus, her lips pursed to bestow kisses on him

“Please, madame There is no need—” Marcus’s protests were cut off by an enthusiastic embrace

“Hoill I ever repay your kindness?” Adrienne wept into his coat, clinging to him for dear life “Your skill as a physician? Your—”

“I have corandson,” the veiled woman interrupted, clearly out of patience with Adrienne’s effusiveness She lifted the scrap of fabric, revealing her face It was perfectly formed and exquisitely beautiful, but there was a ferocity to her features that would warn any prudent warmblood to stay away

“Grand a step in her direction

“Marcus is not yet ready—” Fanny began

A cold glance stopped her

“If you insist,” Fanny said s more quickly than usual “Marcus, this is Ysabeau de Clerrandmother”

His grandmother Marcus’s blood beat out a staccato tattoo of pride and respect He took one step toward her, then another

Marcus studied his grandued by the affinity he felt for this stranger He was struck by the beauty of her face and features, the sharp delicacy of her bones, and the blue-tinged porcelain quality of her skin Her eyes were the color of jade, and so penetrating that they seemed to flay Marcus to the bone Her dress was a froth of creamy silk, but the layers of fabric wrapped and puffed around her slender fra to diminish the woman’s presence Ysabeau de Clerent

Marcus couldn’t stop hirandmother was the finest lady he had ever encountered Adrienne cooed and clapped in approval, wiping a tear fro in Fanny’s front hall s’s days and nights passed in a dizzying whirl of activity He didn’tlessons The fencing lessons were better But his favoritepolitics and philosophy in Fanny’s opulent library Marcus had never seen so many books in one place Madame de Genlis was quick-witted and well-read, which meant that Marcus had to work hard to keep up with her, even when the subject of their conversation was Thos into the city streets that Marcus loved above all else