Chapter 22 #2
We spent the next quarter hour discussing our finances, during which I couldn’t help noticing that Mina appeared more animated than I had ever seen her.
She was still a woman of few words, but the many trials we’d faced in recent weeks had brought out the fierce determination in her that I had only glimpsed before.
I wondered if it was because we’d been placing more trust in her, or if Mina, like most, simply felt her best when presented with visible evidence of her usefulness.
Afterwards, I wandered through the shelter, greeting our visitors and saying hello to the cats.
Most I had not met before, including a voluminous tabby that Mina had named Champlain.
At the sight of me, he began to rub his side enthusiastically against the bars, which made it impossible not to open the cage and give him a proper greeting.
Champlain, though, was the sort of cat élise and I referred to as a dine-and-dasher, possessed of a disposition so desperately affectionate that they remained at the shelter only long enough to partake in a meal or two before someone fell in love with them.
As soon as the cage door swung open, he was clambering into my arms and rubbing his head against my chin, purring.
“Here, Maman!” one of the children exclaimed, pointing at Champlain. I gave a quiet laugh and placed the big cat in the girl’s arms.
Anya, a university friend of Mina’s and our newest volunteer, approached as I was petting a tuxedo named King Francis. “That man was asking for you,” she said, gesturing. “He came by yesterday as well.”
I turned, though I already knew who it would be—Laurent had stopped in at the other shelter a few days before, when I had been down in the basement. Sure enough, he stood by the register, chatting with Mina while his dark gaze studied me.
I felt my heart speed up—mostly from nervousness, I think, but it was also possible there was excitement there. I could hear élise’s words in my head: That detective obviously likes you, and you like him, too. And he at least is an ordinary man, and quite possibly a decent one.
She had been convinced that Laurent would invite me to dinner, and that I should say yes, because I needed to forget about Havelock.
And she was correct about that, but I couldn’t say if she was correct about my feelings.
Certainly I found Laurent attractive, but was there more to it than that? I couldn’t say.
Is it Robin? élise had asked, watching me closely.
I had shaken my head, and she hadn’t pressed the matter.
No, it wasn’t thoughts of Robin that kept me from entertaining thoughts of Laurent.
The truth was that I had always assumed I would find someone else eventually, and this had never aroused any turmoil within me.
Not because I was content to replace Robin, but because I knew he would never be replaced.
Someone else might take up space in my heart, but they would never encroach upon the largest space, as quiet and cavernous as a cathedral, which would always belong to him.
I made my way towards Laurent, but before I’d taken three steps, an older man with abundant grey eyebrows stepped in front of me, thrusting his hand out.
“Roger Fairwood,” the man said, shaking my hand. “I just dropped by to thank you again. Never have I slept so well in my life. What a wonderful organization this is!”
“You adopted Juliette,” I said, smiling in recognition. But my smile faded as I heard his words again. “Wait—was it you who told Rémy you had adopted an enchanted cat?”
Fairwood laughed. “I don’t know that I used those words. I don’t wish to get you into any trouble.” He glanced over his shoulder at Laurent, grimacing slightly. “But I simply had to thank you for dear Juliette.”
I forced myself to smile. From the look the man was giving me, he was convinced I was a magician and had enchanted Juliette myself. I didn’t think Laurent could hear our conversation; he was still regarding me, though.
“I’m convinced it was her,” Fairwood continued.
“And of course I have additional cause now—I hear others have also benefited from your cats. Is that not so? I was chatting with one of the librarians at the main branch, and she told me her joints have never felt so spry since she took home a delightful little thing called Tapioca. I will not ask how you do it, but I do wonder—how do you know what each person needs?”
I hadn’t the slightest idea how to respond to this, particularly as he stood there gazing at me with a kind of quiet reverence. Fortunately, when I only stuttered, he put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently.
“I shouldn’t have asked,” he said. “No doubt it’s beyond my comprehension. Thank you, Agnes. I have seen many things in this life, you know. Too many, I sometimes think. I did not believe I could be surprised anymore, let alone awed.”
He tipped his hat to me and departed, and I was able to make my way to Laurent, feeling more than a little discombobulated.
It wasn’t just that Fairwood had taken me for a magician, it had been his uncomplicated, almost childlike reaction to magic.
Yes, he thought my supposed magic had benefited him, but had he forgotten all the ills magic could bring about? He had not seemed to fear me at all.
“You’re a difficult woman to pin down,” Laurent said, turning from the cage to smile at me. “Been busy?”
“Very.” I was only too happy to tell him about the success of our new shelter—I was ever aware of his scrutinizing gaze, which seemed to perceive more than it revealed, and was eager to discuss something I could be honest about.
“I’m not surprised,” he said. “You’ve managed to make friends in high places. Fairwood seems a great admirer of your charity.”
I flushed. This implied Laurent had heard the rumours about our enchanted cats—and yet, his expression was friendly rather than suspicious.
Even if he had heard the rumours, did I need to worry?
The trafficking of Artefacts was illegal, but there was nothing illegal, to my knowledge, about placing a harmless charm upon a stray cat.
It seemed the sort of item most politicians would not think to put into law, even as a footnote.
“Roger seems kind, but I admit I don’t know him,” I said carefully.
“No?” Laurent looked surprised. “His is one of the largest shipping companies this side of the Atlantic. Not to mention he owns a sizeable percentage of the city’s warehouses, as well as the Daily Gazette.”
“Oh! How silly of me.” Of course I had seen the Fairwood name on the side of many of the ships that roamed the St. Lawrence. “I didn’t make the connection.”
Something about the mention of the Gazette made me uneasy.
That, and Roger Fairwood’s influence in the city—no wonder our rumours were spreading so well, with him on our side.
Yet, it was what I’d wanted, wasn’t it? Gossip of magical cats, entertaining enough to draw the attention of the general public, but too vague to be widely believed?
We made small talk for a while, Laurent asking after Lynx and me gently teasing him with stories of how the cat was clearly pining for him, seeming uninterested in other suitors.
“The winter festival begins next week,” Laurent said. “I don’t suppose you’ll have any time to spare for it?”
“Oh—I doubt it,” I said. I loved the festival, which consisted of an outdoor market, tobogganing, ice castles, and other events scattered throughout the city.
Robin and I had attended every year: I’d been content to tour the many food stands, eating toasted cheese and sugar pie until I felt ready to burst, while he’d been particularly fond of the masquerade in the park.
My attention drifted from Laurent as a familiar melancholy settled over me. The festival was so intertwined with memories of Robin that I’d never contemplated attending without him.
Laurent glanced away, but not before I caught the flash of disappointment in his eyes. It hadn’t been a casual enquiry—he had been asking me to attend with him!
“I always make a point of seeing the snow sculptures,” he went on before I could speak. “I used to compete as a boy. I won third place when I was ten.”
“No!” I said, smiling. “For what?”
He looked sheepish. “A polar bear.”
“Ah.” I nodded gravely. “They say the classics are the trickiest to execute. The standards are so high.”
“That’s what I tell everyone,” he said. “The truth is that the dinosaur I had in mind proved a tad overambitious. All those pointy bits.”
We laughed, and he told me how the contest had been a family tradition, passed down from his grandfather, who had won a record eight years in a row. His eyes grew warm when he spoke of his family, which made me like him even better than I already did.
“Anyway,” he said, “if you do have any spare time—not that it’s of interest to everyone—”
“I would love to go with you,” I said, realizing that it was perfectly true.
He smiled, the opacity of his demeanour dissolving, and he promised to call upon me again to arrange the details.
“élise will be pleased,” Mina said after he left, giving me an uncharacteristic wink.
I scowled. “I thought you were unloading the supplies.”
“I was, but élise made me promise to report any developments where your detective was concerned.”
I gave her a mock swat and she went away laughing. I turned back to the cats, feeling more buoyant than I had in days.