"At the hotel," Mira said, "I met Rand Berkeley for the first time. There was a woman with him—they were not married, but they seemed to care for each other. The woman was Rosalie Belleau. She was ill, and I helped to take care of her while they stayed at the hotel. I went with Berkeley and Rosalie when they retired to the country for her to recuperate. During that summer I was her companion, and we became very fond of each other." Mira smiled wistfully. "But there were many things that I did not know about Rosalie, including the controversy that was taking place in England at the time. She was rumored to be the illegitimate daughter of Beau Brummell."
"Ah…" Alec nodded thoughtfully. "I remember the scandal now… it was in all of the newspapers. The Berkeleys have since covered it up well, but Lady Rosalie has quite a checkered past."
"Yes. Guillaume, my brother, found out about it and followed me to the chateau where we were all staying. He was involved with a bad crowd of people, an organization that extends from England to France. They convinced him to do terrible things. I did not know what he and they planned, but I knew somehow that Guillaume was making use of my friendship with Lord Berkeley and Rosalie, and that he was going to take advantage of their trust in me. I didn't say anything, blindly hoping that he would not do anything wrong. I was happy for the first time in my life. I had a home and security, and I wanted it to go on forever. Berkeley and Rosalie asked me to come back to England with them. I would have, but then… then—"
"Guillaume interfered?"
Mira nodded slowly. "Yes, Guillaume tore it all apart. He arranged to have Rosalie kidnapped, rightout from under Berkeley's nose. She was… she was sold to someone for a great deal of money, to someone who wanted her because she was Brummell's daughter. And unwittingly I was the one who made it all possible. My friendship with Berkeley and Rosalie nearly ruined their lives." She closed her itching eyes and rubbed them gently. "I ran like a coward when I found out what Guillaume had done. I couldn't face Berkeley; I was afraid he would kill me. I loved Rosalie and I wanted to die when I realized what she might have been suffering. I don't know how Berkeley got her back, but he did. Eventually I found out that things had turned out well for them… but I was too overwhelmed with guilt and shame to approach them. During my stay with them I had learned many things, you see… I realized how many people I had hurt, how many bad things I had helped Guillaume to do. So I left Guillaume and came here. He followed me, but I kept on running and hiding from him—I didn't want his love anymore."
"And that's why you're so distraught over their arrival tomorrow?" Alec asked when it appeared that she had finished. His tone was dry and faintly ridiculing, as if her fear and shame had been unfounded.
"If not for me, all of those people wouldn't have been hurt, and Rosalie would never have been kidnapped—"
"Wait… stop for just a second. You didn't intentionally help Guillaume arrange the kidnapping, did you?"
"No, but—"
"Then you have nothing to feel guilty about," ' said matter-of-factly.
"But all the other people I stole from—"
"Do you really think they give a damn about your pangs of conscience? No. They've forgotten all about the dirty turn that some little French imp did to them once, and they're going on about their lives as usualwhile you're here stewing and fretting over nothing. Mira, my mixed-up brat, you should put your energy to better use than this."
"I'm not stewing over 'nothing,' " she said halfheartedly, beginning to feel comforted by his practical assessment of the situation. "I'm facing the very real problem of how to leave here."
Suddenly Alec's face hardened.
"Leaving is very simple, m'dear. Choose two or three of your favorite gowns, a change of undergarments, and a good pair of shoes. Throw them into a bag and squeeze a little money out of Sackville before you go. Does that solve your problem? Or is there something that makes it difficult to walk out the door? Perhaps you care for Sackville more than you thought you did? Or do you find that you are reluctant to leave the luxuries behind?"
"Now you're being hateful," Mira said, staring moodily at the open door of the pagoda. What had happened to set off his quicksilver temper? Why had he suddenly decided to goad her now, when he had been almost kind a few minutes ago?
"Why leave at all? Is it that you're afraid of what the Berkeleys will say when they see you?"
"Yes, of course I'm afraid! Only a fool wouldn't be afraid! Rand Berkeley will wring me out like a towel to find out where Guillaume is. And I don't even know. I haven't seen him for years—but Berkeley won't believe that."