“You…” Dauphine looked as though she were about to burst into tears. “You are far kinder than I’ll ever be, but…you’ll be so mad when you find out.”
I leaned forward, patting at her arm. “Find out what?”
She shook her head, hiccupping back a sob.
“Dauphine,” I said, pawing at her, mussing the rows of pleated ruffles slashing across her bodice. “Tell me. You can tell me anything.”
“It’s about…” Another hiccup. “It’s about the babies.”
Alarm bells clanged in my mind, cutting through the strange haze that had settled over me and setting my heart to an uneven patter. “The babies… The babies in the jars?”
I froze, realizing what I’d just done. Realizing what I’d just given away.
But she nodded, seemingly unaware of the mistake I’d made. “The jar babies.”
“You know about them?” I asked carefully. It wasn’t until after I swallowed that I was even aware I’d picked up my glass. The wine’s tart aftertaste lingered on my tongue. With a flinch, I pushed it from me.
“Oh yes,” she confirmed after a moment of painful silence. “I know,” she said, tapping at her temple. “I know all about them. How they were designed. How they were made. But I don’t see. He wouldn’t let me see them.”
“Gerard,” I asked, needing confirmation.
She nodded.
“Gerard makes them. The babies in the jars.”
“He tries,” she said with a laugh, even though there was nothing humorous about the conversation.
“I saw them.”
Dauphine grasped my hand, my arm, clutching on to me as if I were a life preserver. “You have? You saw the babies?”
I think I nodded.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
I leaned in as she gestured for me to come closer.
Her breath was hot and wet in my ear. “I’m the reason they’re in those jars.”
“What?” My gasp rang out in the quiet room as sharp as a slap.
Dauphine had confessed.
She’d confessed to it all.
She knew of the experiments.
She’d helped with them.
She’d helped Gerard in their messy aftermath…
“I mean, I didn’t put them in the jars,” she clarified, her hands restlessly drumming against the table. “But I was the one who kept them…kept them from being born.”
I recalled how small many of the babies had been.
“What did you do?” I whispered, feeling sick.
She blinked, her eyes impossibly large and glassy. “I tried to stop him.”
“Stop him?” I echoed. “You wanted to stop Gerard?”
Dauphine nodded, her earrings swaying back and forth with fervor. “Of course. I couldn’t stop him from finding the women—all those golden, golden women—but I could stop the babies. Just—” She made a slashing motion. A pair of scissors snipping thread. “Before they could draw breath.” She pushed back a wave of hair, as if seeking to right herself. “He’s not the only one who understands what plants can do.”
“Does Gerard know?”
She shook her head, then rubbed at her forehead as if warding off a dizzy spell. “Of course not. He never can see the whole picture, only the pieces that interest him. He blamed the women. He thought them too weak. He never could see that I…that I…” She trailed off as if unable to admit exactly what it was she’d done, even to herself.
“You poisoned them?” I confirmed.
“Most of them.” She licked her lips. “There were so many golden women.”
“The women were golden?”
My head ached, feeling impossibly sluggish. Words I knew held no meaning. My mind was a jumble of nonsensical ideas.
“Their blood. Golden. Just like yours.”
I struggled to follow along. “If you didn’t want those babies being born…why did you write to me? Why did you bring me to Chauntilalie?”
She took another sip of the wine and I placed my hand on her forearm, stopping her from draining the glass. The tears that had grown in her eyes spilled over now, falling down her cheeks, her remorse palpable. “Gerard wanted you for his experiments, I can’t deny that. But I…I wanted you for Alexander.” She rubbed at her cheek. “He’s so content and…stagnant. I don’t want him to remain at the estate, forever alone, forever waiting to take on the next step of his life. I want him to find love, to find a partner who will see the world with him, open up his life in ways I never could. My letter to you wasn’t a lie, not all of it. I am friends with Mercy. When I was at court, she told me so much of you and I knew—I just knew—if Alexander could meet you, he’d love you.” She let out a deep sigh. “I suggested bringing you to the estate for the portrait, and Gerard…he’d heard the rumors about your family. About the things that had happened to you when you were a little girl. About the things happening to you now, I guess.”
Her voice was soft, careful.
“You knew all of the things he wanted to do to me, and you still brought me here,” I accused, my stomach sloshing. A wave of anger trembled through me. “How could you do that?”
Dauphine’s lips rose in a painful smile. “Because I knew that nothing would come of it. Alexander’s injury…I knew he wouldn’t be able to have children.” She nodded earnestly and I couldn’t tell if she meant to reassure me or herself. “And even if he could, he’s nothing like—”
She stopped, catching herself just in time.
“Like Julien,” I supplied. “Like Viktor.”
Dauphine took in a sharp breath. “How do you know about them?” She frowned. “Gerard’s diary. You found Gerard’s diary?”
“I’ve met them.”
Her eyes grew large. “Where?”
“At the house…in the secret passages. They…they’re at Chauntilalie.”
The glass fell from her grasp, shattering on the table.
“That’s not possible. No.” Her denial was hushed, a plea for contradiction.
I nodded. “They’ve been there for weeks.”
Dauphine closed her eyes, her breath shaking, as the serving girl came back into the room.
“I thought I heard…Oh, oh, let me clean that up,” she said, crossing to the table, hands fluttering.
“Leave us,” Dauphine instructed.
“It won’t be a moment,” the barmaid said, picking up the biggest pieces of glass. “I’ll just—”
“Leave. Now!” The order came barking out of her throat and the serving girl jumped. All of the pieces she’d gathered scattered across the floor as she scurried away.
Dauphine’s eyes opened. “We need to get back to Chauntilalie. Alexander is in terrible danger.”
“From them?”
She nodded.
“No,” I disagreed, even as I remembered Viktor smashing his smoldering hands on the bench. “They’re not…They’re angry, yes, but they’re not dangerous. They want to put a stop to everything, to hold Gerard accountable.” I brightened, relief easing the ache along my sternum. “You can help us. You can explain what he’s done to the authorities. You can verify everything.”