« The girl was inside the big house yesterday. And you know what I have said about that, Marinette! »

Lila's words were spoken harshly, and Marinette bowed her head.

« I will speak to her, » she said quietly.

Lila swung her legs over the side of the bed.

« We are receiving a special visitor today, » she went on. « Everything must be perfect. Have you washed and starched my blue dress? The silk brocade? »

She stuck her feet into the slippers next to the bed. Their warmth was welcome. Even though the vicarage was a more splendid house than any Marinette had ever seen, it was still cold and draughty, and the floor was ice-cold in the wintertime.

« Everything is ready and waiting, » replied Marinette. « We have scrubbed every nook and cranny of the house, and butler Jean arrived yesterday and has already begun to prepare the food. He will start by serving stuffed codheads, followed by capon with gooseberries as the main course, and bread custard for dessert. »

« Excellent, » said Lila. « Gabriel Agreste's envoy should be served a meal befitting a lord. After all, Gabriel Agreste is the governor of the county of Paris, and he has been ordered by the king himself to speak to the vicars about this plague of witchcraft. Only a few days ago, Adrien told me of a witch who has been imprisoned in Senlis. »

Lila's cheeks had flushed crimson with indignation.

Marinette nodded. People could talk of nothing else these days. The recently formed witchcraft council had busied itself imprisoning witches all over Paris and soon the trials would begin. All over France, strong measures were being taken against this wickedness. Marinette shuddered. Witches and sorcerers. Travels to Guyana, witch mountain, and alliances with the devil himself. It appalled her that such evil existed so close to home. The witches' Sabbath, she heard saying of people in town, was a place where naked witches and demons danced in a circle around the Devil standing on a dolmen atop a tumulus praising him and all sorts of things.

« I heard from Edgar that it is because of you that Alya Césaire is now with child, » said Lila as Marinette helped her dress. « Whatever it is you did for her, I want you to do the same for me. »

« I can do only what my maternal grandmother taught me, » said Marinette, tightly lacing Lilla's bodice in the back.

She was not surprised by the request. Lila was nearing twenty, and she and Adrien had been married for two years, yet her belly had not yet swollen with child. And neither did it seemed that the two of them despised each other.

« Do whatever you did for Alya. It is time for me to give Adrien a child. He has started asking when this might happen. »

« I made Alya a herbal mixture from one of Grandmother's recipes, » said Marinette, as she began brushing Lilla's long hair.

The two sisters were very different in appearance. Marinette had inherited her mother's dark hair and bluebell eyes. Britta had hazel hair, and her chartreuse green eyes were like those of the woman who had taken Marinette's mother's place even before she died. Gossiping tongues in the village still whispered that Marinette's mother Sabine had died of a broken heart. Even if this were true, Marinette wasted no time thinking about it. Their father had died a year ago, and Lila was the only one who could save her and Manon from death by starvation.

« She also taught me certain words to speak, » said Marinette cautiously. « If you are not opposed, I could prepare the mixture for you and say the appropriate prayers. I have everything I need to brew the concoction. I dried plenty of herbs during the summer so that I would have enough to last the winter. »

Lila waved her slender white hand dismissively.

« Do as you please. I need to give birth to a child for my husband or risk bringing misfortune upon us. »

Marinette was about to say in that case perhaps it would be a good idea for her to share the marriage bed with him. But she was wise enough to keep quiet. She had seen the consequences of arousing Lila's ire. For a moment she wondered how a man as kind as Adrien could have married someone like Lila. No doubt their father had had a hand in it, eager as he was to see his daughter make a good match.

« You may go now, » said Lila, standing up. « I am sure there must be countless things you need to attend to before Agreste's envoy arrives. And speak to that girl of yours, or I shall have to let the rod do the talking. »

Elin nodded, though her sister's threat of beating Manon made her blood boil. So far Lilla had not lifted a hand against the girl, but when she did, Marinette knew she would not be able to answer for her actions. She would have to impress upon her daughter the importance of heeding her warning not to enter the big house.

Marinette went out to the yard and looked around uneasily.

« Manon? » she called.

Lila took a dim view of any servant who spoke too loudly. Yet another thing to remember if Marinette did not want to fall into disfavour.

« Manon? » she called a little louder as she went into the stable.

This was the most likely place to find Manon, but she wasn't there either. Unfortunately, Marinette's daughter had inherited not only her father's green eyes, but also his stubbornness. The girl never seemed to listen to her mother's admonitions.

« We are here, » she heard a familiar voice say.

Adrien. She stopped abruptly.

« Come over here, Marinette, » he said kindly from the darkness of the last stall.

« Yes, come here, Mother, » said Manon eagerly.

Marinette hesitated but then picked up her skirts to avoid soiling the hem with muck from the ground and quickly moved in the direction of their voices.

« Look, Mother, » said Manon, awe in her voice.

She was sitting at the very back of an empty stall, holding three kittens on her lap. They looked to be no more than a day old. They were turning their heads back and forth, blind to the world. Next to Manon sat Adrien. He too had a lapful of kittens.

« Truly one of God's miracles, » he said, petting a tiny grey kitten.

The creature meowed pitifully, rubbing its head on his sleeve.

« Here, take one, Mother, » said Manon, handing Marinette a black-and-white spotted kitten that flailed its paws in the air.

Marinette hesitated. She looked over her shoulder. Lila would not be pleased to find her and Manon here. And with Adrien.

« Sit down, Marinette. » Adrien gave her a small smile. « My dear wife is fully occupied with preparations for our grand visitor this evening. »

Still Marinette hesitated. But unable to resist the helpless appeal of the black-and-white kitten, she reached out and took it from Manon, then sat down on the straw and set the kitten on her lap.

« The vicar says I can choose one to be mine, all mine. »

Manon gave Preben a delighted look. Marinette glanced at him as well. He was smiling – a smile that reached all the way to his blue eyes.

« You must baptize the kitten too, » he said. « But as we have agreed, this must be a secret, just between the two of us. »

He held a finger to his lips and gave the girl a solemn look. Manon nodded, her expression equally solemn.

« I will tell no one. It will be my most precious secret, » she said, looking at the kittens. « That is the one I want. »

She stroked the head of a tiny black kitten. It was the smallest of the litter. Marinette looked over at Adrien, trying to shake her head without drawing Manon's attention. The poor little thing looked so scrawny, she doubted it would survive. But Adrien calmly returned her look.

« Manon has a fine eye for cats, » he said, scratching the black kitten behind the ear. « I would have made the very same choice. »

Manon gave the vicar a look that Marinette had not seen since misfortune had befallen them, and it made her heart ache. Adrien was the only one who had ever received such looks from Manon. Yet there was something about Adrien that reminded her of Luka. A kindness in his eyes that was soothing and invited trust.

« The name will be Plagg, » announced Manon proudly.

« A splendid name, » said Adrien.

He looked at Marinette. They had to hope the kitten did not turn out to be a female.

« Manon wants to learn to read, » said Adrien, patting the girl's dark hair. « My parish clerk gives the children lessons twice a week. »

« I do not see what use she would have for that, » said Marinette.

If there was one thing life had taught her, it was that womenfolk did best not to draw attention. Or to entertain great hopes. Disappointment was all they could expect in life.

« She must be able to read her catechism, » said Adrien, and Marinette felt ashamed.

How could she argue with the vicar? If he thought it beneficial or even advisable for her daughter to learn to read, who was she to object?

« In that case, Manon may attend the lessons, » said Marinette, bowing her head.

She herself had never learned to read. She had managed to handle the repeated catechism questions because she had learned everything by rote.

« That is decided then, » said Adrien happily, giving Manon one last pat on the head.

He stood up and brushed the straw from his trousers. Marinette tried not to look at him. There was something about him that attracted her, and she was ashamed the thought had even entered her mind. Adrien was her sister's husband and the vicar of the church. To feel anything but gratitude and reverence for such a man was a sin, and she deserved God's punishment. Marinette looked at Manon frolicking with the cat in a cheerful and lively way and felt inexplicably untroubled.

« I suppose I better return and help Lila with the preparations now, before she runs all the servants ragged, » he said cheerfully. Then he turned to Manon. « Take care of Plagg now. You have a good eye for who needs a helping hand. »

« Thank you, » said Manon, giving Adrien such an adoring look that Marinette's heart melted. And ached. The longing she felt for Luka struck her with such force she had to turn away. Listening to Adrien's retreating footsteps, she banished the memories from her mind. Luka was gone. There was nothing to be done about it. She and Manon had only each other now.