Captain Nemo_ The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius - Kevin J Anderson [171]
Caroline chuckled and leaned back in her chair. “Or at the very least, distracting, no doubt.”
Verne countered before he could take his words back. “And what about your husband, Caroline? Is the good Captain Hatteras still lost?”
Her face turned stony. “I still have not heard from him.”
Verne shook his head. “I don’t understand why you so steadfastly refuse to remarry. You’re a . . .” He swallowed. “A beautiful woman, still young. You have no children, no man to run your personal affairs.” He knew the words were wrong even as he spoke them, but years of longing for a woman out of his reach had built up behind a dam of bitterness that now began to break. “It can’t be that you loved Hatteras -- you barely knew him. What are you waiting for?”
He pretended that he didn’t already know the answer. Caroline faced him as she poured a cup of chocolat chaud for herself. “No. It is not that, Jules.” She lifted her cup to take a sip.
Verne leaned his elbows on the mahogany surface. “It’s because you miss Nemo so much, isn’t it?” When she didn’t answer, he nodded in triumph. “I thought as much. Well, I have something to tell you, Caroline. I’ve kept it secret for years, because I wasn’t entirely sure anyone would believe me.”
Caroline gave him a wry smile, suspecting nothing. “What could be so preposterous that even I would not believe you, Jules?”
Verne took two bites of the pastry, finishing it. He had opened his mouth and let the truth spill out; now he had no choice but to tell her all of it. “Everyone thinks I simply concoct my novels -- but I’ve used experiences. You, more than anyone, saw how much I took from your balloon trip across Africa, how much I extrapolated about your Captain Hatteras at the North Pole, and . . . Nemo’s experiences underground for A Journey to the Centre of the Earth.”
“I have read every one of your books, and of course I recognized the inspiration.” She gestured to the wall, and he was surprised to see the bound illustrated editions on her shelf. “I am very proud of your success and whatever small hand I may have had in encouraging you when we were younger.”
“I have something to tell you,” he repeated. And her cornflower-blue eyes widened, as if she already guessed. “Nemo isn’t dead, after all, Caroline. His death was falsified in the Crimea.”
Caroline clutched his hand, then sat back to listen. While consuming two more pastries and two more cups of chocolat chaud, Verne explained how Nemo had been taken captive by a Turkish caliph and forced to build a sub-marine vessel. Her eyes widened to hear of his journey for days beneath the sea. Stunned and thrilled, she was rapt with a sense of wonder. “You are right, Jules. But I know you, and I know André. If anyone could do such things, he could.”
Verne looked at her, his face grim as he told her the most important part. “Nemo also has a young son -- and a wife. He married her in Turkey, and he told me he loves her very much.” He watched as Caroline struggled to compose her expression; his heart went out to her, but she needed to know this.
“In fact, when Nemo dropped me off on the French coast, he said he was going back to get them.” He brushed crumbs from his beard, avoiding her gaze, not wanting to see if tears sparkled in her eyes. “I haven’t heard from him again, not in five years. He knows you’ve thought him dead all this time, and he was sure that by now you would have made your own life, married someone else. He said he doesn’t want to torment you by coming back to visit you, when he is already bound to another woman.”
Caroline managed to cover the flicker of dismay that crossed her beautiful face with a stoic expression. “Thank you for telling me, Jules. I hope they are very happy together. After all he’s been through,