“Thank you, Agnes,” Lottie said as she hugged her. “What am I going to do without you?”
“I don’t want to know that either,” she said.
Lottie figured Père François had to be involved somehow in these underground dealings, and if she could get word to him about Paul’s slaves, then he could help. There was still information she didn’t know, like when Paul planned to do anything or even the names of the people in the family he wanted to separate. She would have to figure out a way to get that information and soon. Going to Paul’s house was out of the question, and they weren’t going to see one another until the opera in two days.
“You ready?” Agnes walked to the front door with a basket on her arm.
“What’s that for?”
“I might see something along the way I want. Never you mind. I’m going, ain’t I?” Agnes opened the door and waited while Lottie’s six-foot-wide flowered-muslin dress pushed through a four-foot-wide doorway.
* * * * *
This time Lottie didn’t need to rattle the doors of the cathedral. She stepped into the alcove and let her eyes adjust from the glaring sun to the dim light. A few people were scattered about. Some were on the kneelers with bowed heads. The others, she noticed as she quietly walked past, sat with their rosary beads, their lips moving in silent prayer.
Not seeing Father François at the altar, Lottie suddenly realized she had assumed he would be in the church, and she had no idea where to find him if he wasn’t. She remembered Gabriel saying he lived behind the cathedral, and she hoped she could find the place. Agnes was in the last pew, kneeling and praying, probably with one eye open to track her. Lottie sat in the first pew, scanning the front of the church and the alcoves nearby. Still no sign of Father. She couldn’t sit here all day. Actually, she could. It was Agnes who couldn’t. Lottie thought she might be able to convince Agnes of that if she needed to do so.
She pushed her fifteen yards of fabric off the pew and on to the kneeler. This had to work. Show me, please, how to save this family. Except Paul couldn’t know she was involved. She had to protect her grandparents. Without that sale, they would lose everything. As long as they had the money they needed, she would deal with the rest later. God, Agnes said You always find a way.
Lottie didn’t know how long she knelt there, only that she could feel the seams of her petticoats pushing into her knees. She looked up when she heard doors opening and closing. The confessional. Father François had been there. It had looked like a large closet, and she had not even noticed it. He passed close enough for her to reach out and tug the sleeve of his cassock.
“Father,” she whispered, “I need to speak to you. It’s important.”
He looked at her, she could tell, not remembering her.
“I gave you the note for the collection box.”
“Ah, yes.” He scanned the church then told her to meet him in the confessional, as there was no one else waiting.
She stood, and Agnes had her in her sights just as Lottie had hoped. She pointed to the confessional. If Agnes had looked up and not seen her, the church might have become a great deal less solemn. Agnes nodded and smiled, probably thinking Lottie was making her confession. She’d explain later.
Father François entered through one door and Lottie the other. He sat in his space; she knelt in hers. Only the outline of his profile could be seen through the small woven cane screen separating them.
“How can I help you?” he said softly.
Lottie explained enough for him to know that a family was about to be torn apart and sold to pay a gambling debt. “I thought, Father, if you contacted the person you pass the notes on to, this family could be helped.”
“Without more information, I can do little.”
“What do you need?” It shouldn’t be that difficult to find out their names. The challenge would be knowing Paul’s plan. Maybe she needed to leave that part up to God.
“There is another way,” Father said. “Many of the slaves congregate in Congo Square on Sunday. Can you get word to them to look for a gentleman wearing a red-and-black cravat? They need to be there by noon. I will tell the gentleman to be prepared to meet a man, his wife, a son, and a daughter. Correct?”
Lottie nodded then realized he couldn’t see her doing that. “Yes, Father. Thank you. Bless you.”
“Please make sure they know they cannot be late, for there is a schedule. And if they cannot be there or you cannot contact them, you must tell me as soon as possible. Four other people might be waiting to take their place.”