Starling (25 page)

the best I can do, all right?”
“But he’s a killer,” Cass said. “How can you feel safe?” She
couldn’t believe this turn of events. Feliciana returning willingly to
Joseph Dubois’s employ . . .
“Joseph favors me—he always has. And he doesn’t realize how
much I know about the Order,” Feliciana said. “Honestly, it was
Cristian who scared me into leaving, always lurking around, watching me. What proof do you have that Joseph is a murderer that didn’t
spill forth from the lips of that madman?”
“Just Dubois’s involvement in the Order makes him a killer,” Cass
insisted.
The sky rumbled again with thunder. So far the rain had held off,
but the air had taken on a sudden chill.
“Not necessarily. You told me he had his physician dissect
corpses. Unsavory. Blasphemous, to be sure. But not murder.”
Cass could not believe Feliciana was defending Joseph Dubois.
“But he ordered the death of Sophia.”
“According to Cristian.”
“Why would he lie?” Cass asked.
“Because he’s a lunatic?”
Feliciana was wrong. Cass knew it. She knew it in her head and
her heart. Joseph Dubois was a monster. You didn’t have to spend but
five minutes with Dubois before the stink of evil became unbearable.
“He had Luca imprisoned.”
Feliciana pursed her lips. “Allegedly.”
Cass sighed deeply. There would be no changing Feliciana’s
mind, at least not tonight. She didn’t know if Feliciana really believed in Dubois’s innocence or if she was picking a fight because
Cass had judged her sharply for returning to her old employer. Cass
didn’t care. She just wanted to protect her former handmaid. She
didn’t think of her as a servant anymore, she realized. She thought of
her as a friend. “Stay with me. Don’t go back to Palazzo Dubois. It
isn’t safe for you.”
Feliciana arched an eyebrow. “And here I thought perhaps you’d
be pleased. That you’d ask me to do a little investigating for you.
Listen in for whispers about the Order.”
“I would never ask you to risk your life to further my personal
agenda,” Cass said.
“Wouldn’t you?” Two words. So much pain.
All this anger was about Siena, Cass knew it, and maybe she deserved it. “Listen,” Cass started. “Come back to San Domenico with
me so we can talk. I’ll tell you the rest of what happened. I’ll tell you
everything, even words your sister said to me in confidence. Whatever it takes to help you get through this.”
A burst of music intruded on their private moment. Beyond the
clothesline, a group of men appeared, shouting to one another and
strumming lutes. They wore bright green and purple clothing and
large hats adorned with peacock feathers. If they were worried about
the weather, they didn’t show it.
“Follow them,” Feliciana said. “They’re heading to the Piazza
San Marco for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. You might find a
fisherman there who’s spent all his money and needs a fare to the islands.”
“But you—”
“I can’t go with you. Joseph has some . . . duties for me tonight,”
Feliciana replied. “I wish you and Luca luck in whatever future you