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Mary Magdalene’s magnificent, untold story. But that treasured gospel was now out of his reach and in the hands of the Church. Further, it appeared that Maureen was also out of his reach. While he knew he had the ability to assist in her latest quest for the illusory Book of Love, she did not currently share that sentiment.
    It was his own fault that Maureen did not want to include him in this. After the Church commandeered the gospel, Bérenger had behaved like an insensitive dolt toward her, something for which he now did heavy penance.
    At a loss to determine exactly what his role was currently, he was feeling rudderless and alone. This thing called destiny was a complex and often inscrutable taskmaster.
    “Bérenger, may I speak to you?”
    Turning to the door, Bérenger smiled at the hulking, masculine form of Roland Gélis, his closest friend and confidant. Roland had lived at the château since he was a child, when his father was major-domo during the life of Alistair Sinclair, Bérenger’s grandfather and the fearsome family patriarch who built a billion-dollar fortune in North Sea oil. Together, the boys had been raised in the traditions of Pommes Bleues , the French phrase that translated to “blue apples.” It was a reference to the large, round grapes found in that region ofFrance, grapes that, for centuries, had represented the bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The association was derived from the verse in John fifteen, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” All descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, either genetically or spiritually, were branches of the vine. The Languedoc was high heretic country.
    Though the Gélis family had worked in service to the Sinclairs for several generations, they were not subservient. They were nobility in their own right, in the quiet way that so many families in the Languedoc and Midi-Pyrenees region were, carrying the secret traditions of their people with extraordinary grace and dignity, even when subjected to the greatest persecutions. The Gélises were of Cathar heritage, and they were pure.
    “Of course, Roland. Come in.”
    Roland sensed immediately that the Scotsman was not himself.
    “What is bothering you, brother?”
    Bérenger shook his head. “Nothing. Everything.” He took a breath and managed to look embarrassed as he confessed, “I fear I am something of a lost sheep without my shepherdess.”
    “Ah.” Roland understood immediately. Bérenger had been self-flagellating over Maureen since the argument that had trounced their fledgling relationship before it had ever had time to grow. Prior to that explosion, they had all assumed that given the immense adventure they shared during the search for Magdalene’s lost gospel, they would remain inseparable: Bérenger Sinclair and Maureen Paschal, Roland Gélis and Tamara Wisdom, who was Maureen’s best friend and Roland’s fiancée. They were the Four Musketeers, bound by honor and a common mission—to defend the truth against the world. They had even installed a wood plaque inscribed with the famous quote from D’Artagnan over the library door:
     
    A LL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL—THAT IS OUR MOTTO, IS IT NOT ?
     
    But when Maureen returned to California to work on her book, some of that intimacy began to erode. Maureen was consumed withthe passion to tell Magdalene’s story, and to chronicle their adventures in finding it while they were still so fresh in her mind. That was her mission and Bérenger respected her for it. They had all left her alone and hoped she would return to the château when she was ready. But since the release of the book, Maureen was busier than she had ever been. She had time only for the work that Mary had given her.
    And then there was Peter.
    Father Peter Healy was Maureen’s cousin and closest confidant. He was also the reason for the crack in the foundation of Bérenger’s relationship with Maureen. It was Peter who had stolen the Magdalene gospel and taken it to