The Rose of Provence Read Online Free PDF Page A

well.
Michel leaned closer to the dead body, because he noticed two tiny
red spots behind the left ear, three inches from each other. He
went to the second, then to the third table, and swept aside the
long curls in the same way. He discovered the same dots, the size
of a pinprick on these bodies, but they were on the right side of
the neck on the one, and on the left wrist of the other.
    “ I think, if I’m not mistaken if I say the death is in
connection with these small wounds.” He stated
contently.
    “ But what could this be? The bite of a giant spider?” asked
Pierre.
    “ Maybe, yes.”
    “ Then the cause of death is poisoning?”
    “ Probably, but we cannot exclude that the animal, which caused
the bite, spreads some kind of epidemic.”
    “ Let’s get down to the dissection, because the ice blocks melt
quickly and the decay had already started before the time of
resurrection,” the professor pointed to the tables. “Michel and
Pierre, together with me, are going to work on the blonde; the
three of you start to cut up this brown, and the rest, the
other.”
    The skin and soft flesh easily opened under the sharp
lancets, but to their greatest surprise, there was not a single
drop of blood in the girls’ bodies.
    “ But how could this happen? Did they dry out in the grave?” as
Pierre said what all of them were thinking about.
    “ Where did they bring these corpses from?” asked Michel,
furrowing his brow.
    “ From the Chateaurenard estate,” the professor was browsing
the yellowish sheet of paper.
    “ Who is the landlord there?”
    “ Earl Morgan d’Angerville.”
    “ I think it’s going to be best if I look around there,” stated
Michel.
    On the following day, early in the morning, he rode out to
the estate.
    “ I’m looking for the earl,” he said, instead of greeting when
the valet opened the door.
    “ Who is looking for him and what is your aim?” The servant
measured him up after he saw that it was not a nobleman that
arrived.
    “ I’m Michel de Nostradame, and I’m doing epidemic research by
commission of the university.”
    “ I’m sorry, but the lord is still asleep at this time. Come
back later.”
    “ I’d rather wait until he wakes up.”
    “ As you wish,” the valet stepped back, and offered a seat to
the uninvited guest in the hall.
    According to the ornate wall clock, Michel had to sit there
for almost two hours, but the time felt to be even more. At ten
o’clock, finally, he was told that the lord is ready to welcome him
in the library room.
    Stepping into the room, he was surprised how great a
collection the earl has. The room was at least twice as big as the
usual baronial libraries, and the shelves full of books, were also
lining up so densely that Michel felt himself in a labyrinth
without an exit. He wonderingly carried his look around when the
earl silently stepped forward from behind one of the ceiling-high
shelves. According to the amount of books, Michel was waiting for
an old man who enriched the collection, inherited from his
ancestors during his entire life. That is why he was surprised at
how young the man was. He was not much older than him; he must be
around thirty. His ebony hair reached his shoulders, and his thick,
dark eyebrows highlighted his azure eyes even more. His sturdy
jawbone and chin were bare, which was contradictory to the fashion
of the era. Michel had to admit that despite his serious look, the
shaven face and appealing smile gave the earl a boyish
charm.
    “ What wind blew you here, Monsieur de Nostradame?” greeted
d’Angerville. However, the distrust, hiding in the corner of the
man’s eyes, did not escape Michel’s attention.
    “ I came from the medical university of Montpellier, and with
your permission, I would like to ask you some questions because of
the suspicion of an epidemic arose in the case of the three
recently deceased women on your estate.”
    “ Go ahead, ask me your questions,” the earl pointed towards
the