Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly [66]
“Certainly. After the Revolution, in the early eighteen hundreds, several men came forth, each claiming that he was the lost king of France, that he had been smuggled out of the Temple prison in 1795. The most convincing of them was a man named Karl Wilhelm Naundorff. Several former servants of the royal family believed he was indeed Louis-Charles.”
I stop eating, surprised. I had no idea this had happened. For a few seconds, I’m excited and hopeful, thinking that maybe Louis-Charles escaped somehow. Maybe he got out of the Temple, changed his name, and came forth years later, after the danger from the revolutionaries was over.
“Did Naundorff turn out to be the lost king?” Jean-Paul asks.
“No,” my father replies, dousing my hopes. “In the nineteen nineties, DNA from his hair and from one of his bones was tested against DNA from Marie-Antoinette’s hair. Results disproved any connection between him and the queen.”
“But his descendants do not accept the results. They still claim he was the lost prince,” G adds.
“Which has great importance for France, no?” Jean-Paul says.
“Very much so,” G says. “If Naundorff was the son of Louis XVI, well, that would change the history books quite a bit. It would also bring up some thorny issues of inheritance. In fact, the president himself has taken an interest in the case. The extreme significance—and sensitivity—of our findings is why we have asked Dr. Alpers, an American, to lead the testing. By not choosing a French geneticist, we hope to avoid accusations of advancing any particular agenda. We know Dr. Alpers’ methodology will be precise and his findings unquestionable.”
“Dr. Alpers, why the long wait to conduct testing on the heart?” Jean-Paul asks. “It was given to the Trust in the mid-seventies, yet the testing is only being done now.”
“For many years, the Trust was reluctant to allow tissues to be taken from the heart,” Dad says. “There were concerns about its fragility and about the accuracy of the results. Of course, enormous advances in DNA testing have been made since the seventies and the Trust is now confident in the technology.”
“There are two other geneticists participating in the testing, no?”
“Yes,” Dad says. “I’ll conduct tests in France. Professor Jean-Jacques Cassiman in Belgium and Professor Bernard Brinkmann in Germany will conduct tests in their respective countries. With three sets of tests coming out of three top-notch labs, we hope to produce unimpeachable results.”
“Fascinating!” Jean-Paul says. He turns to the camera. “Results of the DNA tests will be announced at St-Denis in the coming weeks, and when they are, Agenda will be there. Will the heart give up its secrets? Is it indeed that of Louis-Charles, the young prince? Such important questions! Join us to get the answers. Thank you, Professor Lenôtre and Dr. Alpers.”
Lili switches off the TV.
“I didn’t know there was so much doubt,” I say.
“About what?”
“About the identity of the heart. I didn’t realize it might not belong to Louis-Charles. I mean, G sounded so certain about it. I guess I should have. My father wouldn’t be here otherwise, right?”
“No, he wouldn’t,” Lili says. She takes a sip of wine. “You are right about G—he has no doubt. He’s positive the heart belongs to Louis-Charles. He’s been obsessed with it for decades and he wants a final answer. Me, I’m not so sure I want an answer. Maybe the heart should keep its secrets. Some things are too painful to know.”
And then she changes the subject. She asks me how I’m doing, and how the research on my thesis is going. “How’s the elusive Mr. Malherbeau?” she says.
I make a face. “Elusive,” I say.
“Don’t give up on him. And don’t forget his house. G says the portrait there is quite stunning.”
I think about my day at the archives and how I got nothing done because I got so lost in the diary and I almost tell her about it, but I don’t. I’ve told Vijay, but I don’t want to tell anyone else. I don’t want to show Alex to anyone else. To share her. I’m afraid they’ll take her away from me. Put her in an acid-free box. Make