Standing by the trunk, Mr. Weatherall nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I remember she saved you from the hangman's noose. But the Carrolls . . ."

A guilty shadow pa.s.sed across Ruddock's face. "Well, she told me at the time that the Carrolls were coming for me."

"You knew them did you, the Carrolls?" asked Weatherall innocently.

Ruddock swallowed. "I knew of them, of course I did."

"And you scarpered?"

He bristled. "As anybody in my position would have done."

"Exactly." Weatherall nodded. "You did the right thing, missing all of the fun. Fact remains, though, they weren't going to kill you."

"Well, then I suppose you'd have to say that Elise saved my life once. I hardly think it matters and after all, once is enough."

"Unless they were going to kill you."

Ruddock gave a nervous laugh, his eyes still flitting around the room. "Well, you've just said yourself they weren't."

"But what if they were?" pressed Weatherall. I wondered, what on earth was he getting at?

"Well, they weren't," said Ruddock with a wheedling note in his voice.

"How do you know?"

"I beg your pardon."

Sweat glistened on Ruddock's brow and the smile on his face was lopsided and queasy. His gaze found mine as though searching for support, but he found none. I was just watching. Watching carefully.

"See," continued Weatherall, "I think you were working for the Carrolls back then, and you thought they were on their way to silence you-which they might well have been. I think that either you gave us false information about the King of Beggars or he was working on behalf of the Carrolls when they hired you to kill Julie de la Serre. That's what I think."

Ruddock was shaking his head. He'd tried a look of nonchalant bemus.e.m.e.nt; he'd tried a look of "this is outrageous" indignation and settled on a look of panic.

"No," he said. "Now this has gone far enough. I work for myself."

"But have ambitions to rejoin the a.s.sa.s.sins?" I prompted.

"No." He shook his head furiously. "I'm cured of all that. And you know who finally cured me? Why, the fragrant Elise. She hated both of your Orders, you know that? Two ticks fighting for control of the cat, was what she called you. Futile and deluded, she called you, and she was right. She told me I'd be better off without you, and she was right." He sneered at us. "Templars? a.s.sa.s.sins? I p.i.s.s on you all for a bunch of worthless old women squabbling over ancient dogma."

"So you have no interest in rejoining the a.s.sa.s.sins, and thus no interest in the letters?" I asked him.

"None at all," he insisted.

"Then what are you doing here?" I said.

The knowledge that the hole he'd dug was too deep flashed across his face, then he whirled and in one movement drew a brace of pistols. Before I could react he had grabbed Helene, pointed one of the pistols at her head and covered the room with the other one.

"The Carrolls say h.e.l.lo," he said.

As a new kind of tension settled over the room, Helene whimpered. The flesh at her temple whitened where the barrel of the pistol pointed hard and she looked imploringly over Ruddock's forearm to where Jacques stood coiled and ready to strike, fighting the need to get over there, free Helene and take Ruddock apart with the need not to spook him into shooting her.

"Perhaps," I said, after a silence, "you might like to tell me who these Carrolls are."

"The Carroll family of London," said Ruddock, one eye on Jacques, who stood tensed, his face in furious knots. "At first they hoped to influence the path of the French Templars, but then Elise upset them by killing their daughter, which gave it a somewhat 'personal' dimension.

"And of course they did what any good doting parents with a lot of money and a network of killers at their disposal would do, they ordered revenge. Not just on her but on her protector, oh, and I'm sure they'll pay handsomely for these letters into the bargain."

"Elise was right," said Weatherall to himself. "She never believed the Crows tried to kill her mother. She was right."

"She was," said Ruddock, almost sadly, as though he wished Elise could be here to appreciate the moment. I wished she was here, too. I'd have enjoyed watching her take Ruddock apart.

"Then it's over," I told Ruddock, simply. "You know as well as we do that you can't possibly kill Mr. Weatherall and leave here alive."

"We shall see about that," said Ruddock. "Now open the door, then step away from it."

I stayed where I was until he cast me a warning look at the same time as eliciting a shout of pain from Helene with the barrel of the pistol. And then I opened the door and moved a few steps to the side.

"I can offer you a trade," said Ruddock, pulling Helene around and backing toward the black rectangle of the entrance.

Jacques, still tensed, dying to get a shot at Ruddock; Weatherall, furious but thinking, thinking; and me, watching, waiting, fingers flexing on the hidden blade.

"His life for hers," continued Ruddock, indicating Weatherall. "You allow me to kill him now, and I free the girl when I'm clear."

Weatherall's face was very, very dark. The fury seemed to roll off him in waves. "I would sooner take my own life than allow you to take it, boy."

"That's your choice. Either way your corpse is on the floor when I leave or the girl dies."

"And what about the girl?"

"She lives," he said. "I take her with me, then let her go when I'm clear and sure you're not trying to double-cross me."

"How do we know you won't kill her?"

"Why would I?"

"Mr. Weatherall," I began, "there's no way we're letting him take Helene. We're not . . ."

Weatherall interrupted me. "I beg your pardon, Mr. Dorian, let me just hear it from Ruddock here. Let me just hear the lie from his mouth, because the bounty isn't just for Elise's protector, is it, Ruddock? It's for her protector and her lady's maid, Ruddock. You've no intention of letting Helene go."

Ruddock's shoulders rose and fell as his breathing became heavier, his options narrowing by the second.

"I'm not leaving here empty-handed," he said, "just so you can hunt me down and kill me another time."

"What other choice do you have? Either people die and one of them is you, or you leave and spend the rest of your life as a marked man."

"I'm taking the letters," he said, finally. "Hand me the letters, and I'll let the girl go when I'm clear."

"You're not taking Helene," I said. "You can take the letters, but Helene never leaves this lodge."

I wonder if he appreciated the irony that had he not followed me, had he just waited in Versailles, I would have brought him the letters.

"You'll come after me," he said, uncertainly. "As soon as I let go of her."

"I won't," I said. "You have my word of honor. You may have your letters and leave."

He seemed to decide. "Give me the letters," he demanded.

Weatherall reached into the trunk, took the sheaf of letters and held them up.

"You," Ruddock told Jacques, "lover boy. Put the letters in my bag on my horse and bring it around, then shoo away the a.s.sa.s.sin's mount. Be fast and get back here or she dies."

Jacques looked from me to Weatherall. We both nodded and he darted out into the moonlight.

The seconds pa.s.sed and we waited, Helene quiet now, watching us over Ruddock's forearm as Ruddock covered me with the pistol, his eyes on me, not paying much attention to Weatherall, thinking he posed no threat.

Jacques returned, sidling inside with his eyes on Helene, waiting to collect her.

"Right, is everything ready?" said Ruddock.

I saw Ruddock's plan flash across his eyes. I saw it so clearly he might as well have said it out loud. His plan was to kill me with the first shot, Jacques with the second, deal with Helene and Weatherall by blade.

Perhaps Weatherall saw it, too. Perhaps Weatherall had been planning his move all along. Whatever the truth, I don't know, but in the same moment as Ruddock shoved Helene away from himself and swung his gun arm toward me, Weatherall's hand appeared from within the trunk, the sheath to Elise's short sword flipped up and away, and the sword itself appeared in his fingers.

And it was so much larger than a throwing knife that I thought he couldn't possibly find his target, but of course, his knife-throwing skills were at their honed best and the sword twirled and I dived at the same time, hearing the shot and the ball zip past my ear as one sound, regaining my balance and springing my hidden blade, ready to leap and plunge it into Ruddock before he loosed his second shot.

But Ruddock had a sword in his face, his eyes swiveling in opposite directions as his head snapped back and he staggered, his second shot going safely into the ceiling, as his body teetered back, then he fell, dead before he hit the floor.

On Weatherall's face was a look of grim satisfaction, as though he had laid a ghost to rest.

Helen ran to Jacques and then for some while we just stood, the four of us, looking at one another, then at Ruddock's p.r.o.ne body, barely able to believe it was all over and that we had survived.

And then, once we had carried Ruddock outside for burial the next day, I collected my horse and went to continue loading my saddlebags. As I did so I felt Helene's hand on my arm and gazed into eyes that were bloodshot from crying, but no less sincere for that.

"Mr. Dorian, we'd love you stay," she said. "You could take Elise's bedchamber."

12 SEPTEMBER 1794.

I've stayed here ever since, out of sight and, perhaps even where the a.s.sa.s.sins are concerned, out of mind.

I've read Elise's journals, of course, and realized that though we didn't know enough of each other in our adult lives, I still knew her better than anyone else, because we were the same, she and I, kindred spirits sharing mutual experiences, our paths through life virtually identical.

Except, as I said before, Elise had got there first, and it was she who had come to the conclusion that there could be unity between a.s.sa.s.sin and Templar. Finally, from her journal had slipped a letter. It read . . .

Dearest Arno, If you are reading this then either my trust in Ruddock has been justified, or his greed has prevailed. In either case, if you are reading this, then you have my journals.

I trust having read them you may understand me a little more and be more sympathetic to the choices I have made. I hope you can see now that I shared your hopes for a truce between a.s.sa.s.sin and Templar, and to that end have one final request of you, my darling. I ask that you take these principles back to your Brothers in the Creed and make good on them. And when they tell you that your ideas are fanciful and nave, remind them how you and I proved that differences of doctrine can be overcome.

Please do this for me, Arno. And think of me. Just as I shall think of you, until we are together again.

Your beloved, Elise.

"Please do this for me, Arno."

Sitting here now, I wonder if I have the strength. I wonder if I could ever be as strong as she was. I hope so.

LIST OF CHARACTERS.

Albertine, Lucio: scholar.

Albertine, Monica: Lucio's mother.

Bellec, Pierre: a.s.sa.s.sin Bernard: informant Birch, Reginald: Templar Grand Master.

Burnel, Jean: young Templar Calvert, Jean-Jacques: Templar.

Carroll, Madame: Templar Carroll, May: Templar, daughter of Madame and Mr. Carroll.

Carroll, Mr.: Templar Christian: shoemaker de Calonne, Vicomte: French controller-general of finances.

de Flesselles, Jacques: French provost of the merchants de Kilmister, Marquis: Templar de la Serre, Elise: Templar Grand Master de la Serre, Francois: Templar Grand Master, father of Elise de la Serre, Julie: Templar, mother of Elise de Launay: governor of the Bastille de Molay, Jacques: Templar Grand Master de Pimdan, Marquis: Templar de Robespierre, Maximilien: president of the Jacobins de Simonon, Marquis: Templar Dorian, Arno: ward of the de la Serre family Dorian, Charles: a.s.sa.s.sin, father of Arno Dorian Emanuel: the de la Serre family's gardener Germain, Francois Thomas: Templar Harvey, Mr.: Templar hit man Helene: Elise's lady's maid Henri: gardener Hook, Mr.: Templar hit man Jackson, Captain Byron: ship's captain, smuggler Jacques: school groundskeeper Jean: the de la Serre family's coachman Justine: Julie de la Serre's lady's maid.

Kenway, Edward: a.s.sa.s.sin Kenway, Haytham: Templar Grand Master La Touche, Aloys: Templar, a Crow.

Lafreniere, Chretien: Templar, a Crow Le Fanu, Claire: wife of Monsieur Le Fanu Le Fanu, Monsieur: Templar Le Peletier: Templar, a Crow Levene, Madame: school's headmistress.

Levesque, Madame: Templar, a Crow Louis XVI, King: king of France Marat, Jean Paul: doctor and scientist Marie Antoinette: queen of France.

Mills: Jennifer Scott's footman Mirabeau: Master a.s.sa.s.sin Mother Superior: head of Elise's convent Olivier: the de la Serre family's head butler Poulou, Judith: Elise's schoolmate.

Ruddock: a.s.sa.s.sin Ruth: Elise's nursemaid.

Scott, Miss Jennifer: daughter of Edward Kenway, sister to Haytham Selene: servingwoman Sivert, Charles Gabriel: Templar, a Crow Smith: Jennifer Scott's butler Valerie: Elise's schoolmate.

Weatherall, Freddie: Elise's confidant and protector.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.