Cursed in the Blood: A Catherine LeVendeur Mystery Read Online Free PDF

hugged Hubert. “We are in grave danger. Word has come that you have been reported to the bishop as an apostate.”
    “What?” Hubert blindly took the cup Johanna thrust into his hand. “Who? How? What proof have they given?”
    His mind flashed to his other daughter, Agnes, who had discovered his secret two years before and had refused to live under his roof since then. She couldn’t have betrayed him. She didn’t hate him that much, did she?
    “We don’t know who,” Eliazar told him. “But there can’t be much proof or you would have been brought before the bishop at once.”
    “One of the canons is a friend of Edgar’s and mine,” Solomon explained. “He came to me this afternoon to tell me. He doesn’t believe the accusation.”
    “But does Bishop Stephen believe it?” Hubert asked.
    Eliazar shrugged. “We don’t know. You’ve never hidden your birth, exactly.”
    “I’ve simply told no one that I was born a Jew, nor have I admitted to being your brother, as well as your partner.” Hubert shook his head. “Most people assume that I’m the natural son of Gervase LeVendeur. There aren’t many now who remember differently.”
    “Someone does,” Solomon said. “Or thinks he does. We must convince Bishop Stephen that there’s no truth to this accusation before it becomes public.”
    Eliazar agreed. “Even the rumor could destroy us, Brother. The other merchants would believe we had taken unfair advantage. Abbot Suger would never trust us again.”
    Hubert sat staring at his hands, but what he was seeing was his mother’s face as the soldiers pounded on their door. Her beautiful dark hair and wide eyes. Her face so like Solomon’s and so very much like … “Catherine,” he whispered.
    “What’s that?” Eliazar had been lost in his own memories.
    “She must leave Paris,” Hubert said. “If a mob comes for me, I won’t have her taken as well. I’ve seen it, an angry beast with no mind. No one will believe she’s a Christian. They might even say we were trying to convert Edgar.”
    “Yes, it would be safest if she and your grandson were sent away,” Eliazar agreed. He looked at his wife.
    “Don’t even suggest it,” Johanna said. “I’ve stayed at your side through fire, flood and famine and I’ll not leave you now.”
    “Catherine won’t go, either, if she knows why,” Solomon pointed out.
    Hubert sighed. “I know that. She’s more stubborn than Ballam’s ass.”
    “Would she go to your son at Vielleteneuse?” Eliazar suggested.
    “Too close. She’d be back at the first hint of trouble,” Solomon answered.
    Hubert agreed. “No, there’s only one thing to do, much as it galls me. Edgar’s brother has arrived with news of death in the family. I suspect that he wants Edgar to return with him. I must convince Edgar to go and take Catherine and the baby with him. And may the Holy One protect them.”
    “It will take a lot of convincing,” Solomon warned.
    “Not if I tell him the truth,” Hubert said. “And not if you go with him.”
    Solomon’s jaw dropped.
    “I would never leave you two to fight this out alone!” he told them. “What sort of coward do you think I am?”
    Eliazar grew stern. “My brother is right. Solomon, you are the last of our family who still keeps the true faith. If you’re killed, then the seed of our father will never grow again. There are few enough of us.”
    “Absolutely not,” Solomon said.
    Hubert and Eliazar looked at each other in silent agreement. Solomon would go. They would make him understand that if it took them all night.
     
    Edgar came downstairs before Catherine had wakened and, finding Hubert in the great hall, explained the situation. The response was not what he had hoped for.
    “What do you mean, you think I should go?” Edgar was furious. He had expected support. “I know! You want to see your daughter widowed, don’t you, so you can find her a more suitable husband?”
    Hubert snorted. “Nonsense! Do you