Bruges, Flanders
Charles sat sprawled in a large chair under the window in the parlour of the agreeable house he occupied on the Rue Haute in Bruges. Outside, the late February weather threw sleet against the window, but for once, Charles didn’t particularly care. He’d actually had enough money to pay for firewood this winter. In his right hand he held a letter.
Across the room Louis stood, waiting, very still. He hadn’t wanted to disturb Charles until he’d read the letter. But, by the gods, it had been a quarter of an hour since Charles had opened it. What did it say?
Unable to wait any longer, Louis spoke quietly. “Well?”
“General Monck is receptive to the idea of my return,” Charles said as Louis walked out of the shadows. “He is pleased that I have been conducting myself in the manner of a king. With dignity.”
Louis laughed softly. “He has heard that you have removed your mistresses…but not that you’ve sent them to Woburn, or with whom they now reside.”
“But…”
“Ah, I knew there was a reason for this silence.”
“He counsels that it may be many months yet before I can return by invitation. He hopes that disappointment won’t make me think to invade. He reminds me of his military command, and their experience.”
“If only he had half your experience,” Louis said.
“What is past is past,” said Charles, “and should remain so.” He sighed, finally holding the letter out for Louis to read. “I should have known. My thirtieth birthday is yet many months distant. Fate, or the Game, or whatever, shall conspire to keep me from England’s green shores a while yet.”
Louis read the letter, then put it aside on a nearby table. “And Noah?” he asked, his voice very soft now.
“I have heard only that Marguerite and Kate and our children arrived safe, and that they now live with Noah in a house within Woburn village. More than that I do not know.”
“There must be more!”
“Louis, I am sorry. What can I say? I dare not write them, nor they I, and to try and touch them magically might harm them. Besides, Marguerite has the turf. We may no longer convene the Circle.”
There was quiet for many long minutes.
“I wish…” both men said together, then they both smiled a little self-consciously, and lapsed back into silence.