A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness [113]
Then Matthew had shown up, uninvited and unannounced, with a gorgeous mixed-race vampire: Juliette Durand. Matthew and Juliette had waged a campaign to bring Marcus’s family to heel. Within days they’d formed an unholy alliance with a foppish young French vampire in the Garden District who had implausibly golden hair and a streak of ruthlessness as wide as the Mississippi. That was when the real trouble began.
By the end of the first fortnight, Marcus’s new family was considerably, and mysteriously, smaller. As the number of deaths and disappearances mounted, Matthew threw up his hands and murmured about the dangers of New Orleans. Juliette, whom Marcus had grown to detest in the few days he’d known her, smiled secretively and cooed encouraging words in his father’s ears. She was the most manipulative creature Marcus had ever met, and he was thrilled when she and his father parted ways.
Under pressure from his remaining children, Marcus made devout assurances to behave if only Matthew and Juliette would leave.
Matthew agreed, after setting out what was expected of members of the de Clermont family in exacting detail. “If you are determined to make me a grandfather,” his father instructed during an extremely unpleasant interview held in the presence of several of the city’s oldest and most powerful vampires, “take more care.” The memory still made Marcus blanch.
Who or what gave Matthew and Juliette the authority to act as they did remained a mystery. His father’s strength, Juliette’s cunning, and the luster of the de Clermont name may have helped them gain the support of the vampires. But there was more to it than that. Every creature in New Orleans—even the witches—had treated his father like royalty.
Marcus wondered if his father had been a member of the Congregation, all those years ago. It would explain a great deal.
Matthew’s voice sent his son’s memories flying. “Diana may be brave, Marcus, but she doesn’t need to know everything now.” He released Marcus and stepped away.
“Does she know about our family, then? Your other children?” Does she know about your father? Marcus didn’t say the last aloud.
Matthew knew what he was thinking anyway. “I don’t tell other vampires’ tales.”
“You’re making a mistake,” said Marcus, shaking his head. “Diana won’t thank you for keeping things from her.”
“So you and Hamish say. When she’s ready, I’ll tell her everything—but not before.” His father’s voice was firm. “My only concern right now is getting Diana out of Oxford.”
“Will you drop her off in Scotland? Surely she’ll be beyond anyone’s reach there.” Marcus thought at once of Hamish’s remote estate. “Or will you leave her at Woodstock before you go?”
“Before I go where?” Matthew’s face was puzzled.
“You had me bring your passport.” Now it was Marcus who was puzzled. That’s what his father did—he got angry and went away by himself until he was under better control.
“I have no intention of leaving Diana,” Matthew said icily. “I’m taking her to Sept-Tours.”
“You can’t possibly put her under the same roof as Ysabeau!” Marcus’s shocked voice rang in the small room.
“It’s my home, too,” Matthew said, jaw set in a stubborn line.
“Your mother openly boasts about the witches she’s killed and blames every witch she meets for what happened to Louisa and your father.”
Matthew’s face crumpled, and Marcus at last understood. The photograph had reminded Matthew of Philippe’s death and Ysabeau’s battle with madness in the years that followed.
Matthew pressed the palms of his hands against his temples, as if desperately trying to shape a better plan from the outside in. “Diana had nothing to do with either tragedy. Ysabeau will understand.”
“She won’t—you know she won’t,” Marcus said obstinately. He loved his grandmother and didn’t want her hurt. And if Matthew—her favorite—brought a witch home, it was going to hurt her. Badly.
“There’s nowhere as safe as Sept-Tours. The witches will think twice before tangling with Ysabeau—especially at her