The Adventuress
Page 27
Margaret, however, had no such problems. She had sent a telegram as well, to Mr. Michaels, whom she had ordered to meet her in Nice as soon as possible. “You didn’t take me to the ruins, Emily,” she said, “so I shall have to make him do it.”
I thought it unlikely we would see Mr. or Mrs. Wells again, and on that count I was correct, but Augustus was waiting for me in the lobby of the hotel that evening when Colin and I returned from a quiet dinner at a restaurant in town. He presented me with a small package, bowing ever so slightly as he gave it to me.
“I believe you prefer them unbound,” he said, and slipped away. I unwrapped the parcel. Inside was a glass box, the sort used by scientists to display entomological specimens. Within it was a single pin, stuck through nothing but the white backing that filled the case. Next to it was a label, written in a neat hand: Iolana iolas. I unfolded the small piece of paper that accompanied it. The note said I am not so bad as you think.
“I may have misjudged him,” I admitted, as Colin read over my shoulder.
“Either way, I am very glad to be done with the Wells family,” he said. “I am not, however, certain that I am done with Cannes. Let’s go back, today. I have already contacted the hotel.”
“What a marvelous idea,” I said. “We could wait for Margaret and Mr. Michaels—”
“Not a chance,” he said, slipping his arm through mine and pulling me close. “I want you all to myself. No more parties, boat excursions, fireworks, dinners, prisons. Just the two of us, no interruptions.”
“I do rather like fireworks,” I said.
“Then you shall have them in spades,” he said.
“What about Roman banquets? Do you object to them?”
“Not in principle, but if you think I am going to willingly don a toga, you could not be more wrong.”
It had taken a considerable effort to persuade him to let me bring the cat home with us. I decided to keep the toga in reserve for future use.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The seeds of the story of The Adventuress were first sown while I was writing A Fatal Waltz, a novel in which Emily and Jeremy’s friendship blossoms even as it becomes complicated. While they are in Vienna, he talks about an uncle who has always coveted the Bainbridge estate, and wonders aloud if he might ever have bastard children who might challenge their cousins for the title.
Part of the inspiration for Jeremy’s character came from William Cavendish, the sixth Duke of Devonshire, commonly referred to as the Bachelor Duke, who never married after Lady Caroline Ponsoby chose William Lamb over him, but Jeremy’s commitment to debauchery is his own. He does not mention his brother in A Fatal Waltz because I had not yet decided exactly how his story would transpire. All I knew at the time was that Jeremy’s brother had no interest in the dukedom. It was only when Amity Wells made her presence known to me in the last scene of The Counterfeit Heiress that it all started to fall into place. As soon as I had I finished writing that book, I was compelled to tell the rest of the story.
The Hotel Britannia does not exist in Cannes. It is based largely on the lovely Carlton, where I stayed when researching this book. The Hôtel Excelsior Regina in Nice, however, is real, and was built with Queen Victoria in mind. Her majesty adored Nice, and spent a great deal of time there. Louisa, Countess of Antrim, a lady-in-waiting to the queen, left in her diary a marvelous collection of photographs and souvenirs to accompany her memories of her experiences. They proved invaluable when researching the Victorians’ (and Victoria’s) love of the Côte d’Azur.
I explored the ruins at Cimiez in detail, knowing the instant I saw them that this was the place where Amity would at last confront Emily, just as I knew, when I stepped into it, that the Man in the Iron Mask’s cell had a place in this book. Emily’s feelings about the island and the prison are my own; it is a place at once beautiful and horrifying.
We first met Christabel Peabody, named by reader Linda Kimmel, in The Counterfeit Heiress. Linda adores Elizabeth Peters’s wonderful Amelia Peabody novels as much as I do, and she chose the name partly to honor Peters’s heroine. Fans of Amelia will not be surprised to have read that Christabel’s distant relation was not interested in forming an acquaintance in Egypt. And surely Amelia’s husband would have objected in the strongest of terms.
Finally, I hope that Andrew and Jane recognize the reference to the Cannois on occasion carrying a live chicken in a bag. We saw a fashionable lady of a certain age strolling along La Croisette with what only could have been a well-cared-for pet chicken comfortably ensconced in an Hermes bag. The chicken appeared to be just as delighted with the display in the Dior boutique’s window as his owner. I will never forget either of them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tasha Alexander attended the University of Notre Dame, where she signed on as an English major in order to have a legitimate excuse for spending all her time reading. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, divide their time between Chicago and the UK. You can sign up for email updates here.
ALSO BY TASHA ALEXANDER
And Only to Deceive
A Poisoned Season
A Fatal Waltz
Tears of Pearl
Dangerous to Know
A Crimson Warning
Death in the Floating City
Behind the Shattered Glass
The Counterfeit Heiress
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Amity: Twelve months earlier
Chapter 2
Amity: Seven months earlier
Chapter 3
Amity: Six months earlier
Chapter 4
Amity: Five months earlier
Chapter 5
Amity: Four months earlier
Chapter 6
Amity: Four months earlier
Chapter 7
Amity: Four months earlier
Chapter 8
Amity: Four months earlier
Chapter 9
Amity: Two months earlier
Chapter 10
Amity: Cannes, present
Chapter 11
Amity
Chapter 12
Amity
Chapter 13
Amity
Chapter 14
Amity
Chapter 15
Amity
Chapter 16
Amity
Chapter 17
Amity
Chapter 18
Amity
Chapter 19
Amity
Chapter 20
Amity
Chapter 21
Amity
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Author’s Note
About the Author
Also by Tasha Alexander
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE ADVENTURESS. Copyright © 2015 by Tasha Alexander. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photographs: woman © David & Myrtille/Arcangel Images; balcony and water © Mary Gaudin/Getty Images; Eiffel Tower © Antonio Gravante/Shutterstock
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-05826-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7607-1 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466876071
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First Edition: October 2015