The Phantom of Rue Royale (37 page)
Read The Phantom of Rue Royale Online
Authors: Jean-FranCois Parot
On 10 August, he had left Paris with Nicolas. Sartine had duly provided his deputy with letters and orders from the Duc de Praslin, Minister of the Navy, introducing the Indian to the commander of the ship. They had reached Nantes in a rented berlin, after travelling along the Loire in small stages. Naganda had gone into ecstasies over the beauty of the towns they had passed through and the prosperity of the countryside. Their long conversations had drawn them together, and Nicolas never ceased to be surprised by his companion’s knowledge and curiosity. But when he asked him about the vision he had had of Élodie’s murderer, the Indian said nothing. Nicolas had the feeling that his reply would have been similar to the comment made by Père Raccard at the end of the hearing. He did not insist.
As soon as they arrived in Nantes, Nicolas was surprised by the dilapidation of the older districts, where the streets were so narrow that their berlin had several times to reverse in order to find a wider lane. High buildings, close together, with lattice windows, dominated the roadways. They put up at the Hôtel Saint-Julien on Place Saint-Nicolas. It turned out to be old, dirty
and full of vermin, like most of the places they had stayed in since leaving Paris. An inn on the banks of the Erdre provided compensation with a tender roast duck, locally raised, washed down with a wine from Ancenis. The next day they boarded a two-decker whose appearance had been transformed in order to pass it off as a merchant ship leaving for the coast of Africa, and thus deceive the English fleet. Its fifty cannon had been loaded secretly at La Rochelle. They received a polite welcome from the commander. The farewells had to be kept brief. The Indian thanked Nicolas for his support, and expressed the hope that one day he would welcome him among his people.
Now, from the garden of the Capuchin monastery situated on a high rock overlooking the city and its surroundings, Nicolas contemplated the landscape. The river as it widened split into several branches, with a number of little islands, some deserted, others covered with tumbledown houses. Between them could be seen, here and there, the masts of a multitude of vessels. Ahead of him stretched a monotonous countryside of fields, flocks, mills, marshes and the dark masses of distant forests. To his left was the town, with its many steeples, the well-to-do merchants’ districts, and the imposing silhouette of the castle of the dukes of Brittany with the cathedral towering over it. He thought with emotion of Guérande, so close to here, where he had spent his childhood, and this thought led him on to look back over his past. Too many of his friends, he told himself, had left him to cross the seas. Pigneau was continuing his mission in Siam, and now Naganda was going back to his own people. He searched for the
Orion
with his eyes, but it was nothing more than a toy in the distance. Nicolas filled his lungs with sea air, imagining that, one day, he too would take
to sea, and slowly went back down to the town. Paris was waiting
for him, with its crowds and its crimes.
1
. Concierge of the palace, who had recently died.
1
. ‘Here, there is nothing.’
2
. Louis XV’s eldest daughter (cf.
The Man with the Lead Stomach
).
3
. The author cannot resist quoting this very eighteenth-century statement by Talleyrand, spoken when he presented to Emperor Franz of Austria the jewels originally given as a gift by Napoleon to Marie-Louise.
4
. A net was stretched across the Seine at Saint-Cloud to collect the bodies of the drowned.
1
. French baroque painter (1644–1717).
2
. Cf.
The Châtelet Apprentice and The Man with the Lead Stomach
.
3
. A name given to Madame de Pompadour, who owned this chateau near Paris.
4
. Author of
Paradoxum médico-légal
(1704).
5
. Author of
Vernünftiges Urteil von tödtlichen Wunden
(1717).
1
. ‘Beneath a mask of simplicity and modesty, he remained impenetrable, simulating a taste for letters and a love of poetry the better to conceal his soul.’
2
. A casual garment worn in the morning.
3
. This disaster had a long-term effect on the capabilities of the French Navy.
4
. The largest and most important Indian tribe in the maritime regions of Canada. They were steadfast allies of the French against the English.
5
. A women’s prison.
1
. Cf.
The Châtelet Apprentice
.
2
. The Duc de Richelieu.
3
. The Treaty of Paris, which ended the war between the French and the English and enshrined the loss of New France.
4
. ‘The Lord having seen him, he was touched and said to him: Do not weep.’ (St Luke’s Gospel)
5
. Racine’s
Andromaque
.
6
. Racine’s
Britannicus
7
. It will be recalled that Nicolas, abandoned as a child, eventually discovered that he was the illegitimate son of the Marquis de Ranreuil (cf.
The Châtelet Apprentice
).
1
. The Comtesse du Barry.
2
. The month in which he died was in fact November.
3
. A fashionable mixture of tea and orgeat.
4
. The captain’s quarters on a galley.
5
. The King’s eldest surviving daughter in 1770.
6
. Contrary to received opinion, it was not Marie-Antoinette who introduced hygiene to Versailles. Quite the contrary, in fact.
7
. Leather caskets for dispatches and files.
8
. The Maréchal de Villeroy.
1
. Small, cone-shaped wafers.
2
. Cf.
The Châtelet Apprentice
, Chapter XI.
3
. Ibid., Chapter IX.
1
. Cf.
The Châtelet Apprentice
, Chapter IV.
2
. Madame de Pompadour.
3
. Cf.
The Man with the Lead Stomach
.
4
. Three times, in fact.
5
. Cf.
The Châtelet Apprentice
.
6
. Ibid.
1
. This expression was used for the marshals of France.
2
. St Paul.
3
. Cf.
The Châtelet Apprentice
.
1
. Where banned works were printed.
2
. This was done to distract the customer from the bitter taste of the medication.
3
. A highly malignant disease that makes the skin appear dead.
1
. Concierge of the palace, who had recently died.
The Châtelet Apprentice
The Man with the Lead Stomach
THE PHANTOM OF RUE ROYALE
Jean-François Parot
is a diplomat and historian. His Nicolas Le Floch mysteries have been published to much acclaim in French. The first two novels in the series,
The Châtelet Apprentice
and
The Man with the Lead Stomach
, were enthusiastically reviewed on publication in English
Howard Curtis’s
many translations from French and Italian include five novels by Jean-Claude Izzo, four by Marek Halter and three by Gianrico Carofiglio, as well as works by Balzac, Flaubert and Pirandello.
First published in 2008
by Gallic Books, Worlds End Studios, 134 Lots Road, London,
SW10 ORJ
This ebook edition first published in 2011
All rights reserved
© Jean-François Parot, 2008
The right of Jean-François Parot to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 9781906040529
