“Reverend Mother, there’s a gentleman to see you.”
The mother superior looked up from her desk, which was covered with documents. A frown crossed her forehead. “I’m not expecting anyone.”
Sister Agnes shook her head. “I didn’t think you were, and I don’t believe you want to see him.”
“Why not, Sister?”
“He’s not respectable.”
Humor glinted in the mother superior’s eyes. “Jesus wasn’t considered respectable in His day.” She loved to tease Sister Agnes, but she saw that she had gone too far. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to put it like that. What is he, a tradesman?”
Sister Agnes’s mouth tightened. “I don’t know what he is. He’s almost like a beggar, his dress, anyway, and he has a—well, a rather rough look about him. He looks like a criminal.”
“Well, criminals come under the gospel decree, I suppose. Did he say what he wanted?”
“Only that he had to talk to you, and it was private.” Sister Agnes sniffed with disdain. “Be best to send him on his way.”
For a moment the mother superior drummed her fingers on the desktop, then shook her head. “I’m afraid to do that.”
“Why?”
“A few times in my life I missed opportunities to serve our Lord with people. I wouldn’t want to miss another one. Just think, Sister, what if Jesus didn’t stop at the well to talk to the Samaritan woman? Her life wouldn’t have been changed, and you remember the story in the Bible. It says that the whole village pretty well came to know Jesus because of her testimony. No, I don’t think I’ll take the chance. Send him in. I’ll get rid of him if necessary.”
“As you say then.” Sister Agnes was miffed as she turned and walked outside the door.
When the man entered, without meaning to, Reverend Mother thought, Sister Agnes was right. He does look like a criminal.
“My name is Blaise Mignon.”
“Won’t you sit down, Monsieur Mignon?”
“Thank you.” Mignon took his seat. He was a small man, his face was lined and burned with the sun, and his hands, Reverend Mother noted, were callused and twisted. He had dark eyes almost hidden by heavy lids, and there was a sinister air about the man.
“What can I do for you, Monsieur?”
“I want to inquire about a young woman who, I understand, was one of your pupils here.”
“Which young woman would that be?”
“Her name is Leonie Dousett.”
A slight alarm went off in the mother superior’s head. She had spent a great deal of time years before trying to find something of Leonie’s history, all to no avail. Though two years had passed since the young lady had left the convent, she still kept in close contact with her. The woman’s protective instinct arose. “Why are you interested, may I ask?”
Mignon hesitated. “I understand you can’t give information about your pupils to anyone who walks in here.” He grinned. “Especially to a rough-looking fellow like me.”
“It’s our policy to be very cautious about giving out information.”
“Very commendable, Reverend Mother, but you may rest assured I mean the girl no harm.”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to have a little more assurance than that, Monsieur.”
“Of course. I understand completely.” Mignon leaned forward. His eyes were almost hooded, yet there was a glitter in them of intelligence and even audacity. “I was not always as you see me now. Many years ago I was a man rising in my profession—the law, if you can believe it—but misfortune overtook me.” He hesitated for a moment, then said, “I have been in prison. You probably guessed that.”
“I’m sorry to hear it, sir.”
“So am I,” Mignon said almost solemnly. Then he managed a grin. “Like all the others, I was totally innocent.”
The mother superior didn’t respond.
Mignon said, “I cannot give you the name of the family I worked for, but I think you would know it if I did.” He leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “I have reason to believe that the young woman that you know as Leonie Dousett is the daughter of a very wealthy, indeed, a noble family.”
“You astonish me, sir!”
“I would give you more details, but let me ask you, Reverend Mother, were there any clues to the infant’s identity when she came to this place?”
“Sir, there was very little. I found the child myself.”
“You did? Where?”
The mother superior decided there could be no danger in revealing the details of Leonie’s arrival. “It was very early in the morning, when I left to go to the village. A basket was on the doorstep and an infant was in it.”
“And the basket, was there anything in it that would lead to the child’s identity?”
“Only a locket and a book.”
“No names? No letter explaining the infant’s arrival?”
“Nothing like that.”
“No doubt. Well, what about the locket?”
“It had a man’s picture in it. It was an expensive locket.”
“Could I see it?”
“I do not have it, sir. I gave it to Leonie on her twelfth birthday. It was all she had of her family.”
“The picture inside—had you ever seen the individual?”
“It was perhaps the child’s father—but who could say?”
“I must see this young woman, Reverend Mother. If I am right, and she is who I think she is, she will be very fortunate indeed. She would be an heiress to a very large fortune.”
“Of which you would expect a liberal reward, Monsieur?”
Blaise Mignon laughed. “You are right indeed. But I will do all things aboveboard. The crime for which I was sent to Devil’s Island was not theft but violence. I killed the wrong man in a duel. He was very prominent. But I will not rob the girl. You yourself will know all the details as soon as I discover them myself.”
The mother superior said, “Let me see your face. Look me in the eye.”
Mignon lifted his head, his eyes open wide. He did not speak, and for a long moment the two were totally silent. “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face,” Mignon said. “I believe that comes from Macbeth, and he was right. Some of the most angelic-looking men I’ve ever seen were villains at heart. You can tell nothing by my face.”
“I do not agree, but I cannot ignore your request. Monsieur, return tomorrow at this same time.”
“Ah,” Mignon said with a smile. “That means she is in New Orleans or very close. You wish to contact her and tell her about her odd-looking benefactor.”
Ignoring Mignon’s words, the mother superior nodded a dismissal. “You may come back tomorrow at this same hour.”
Mignon rose, bowed, and left without another word. As soon as he was gone, the mother superior got up and began to pace the floor. She was excited but at the same time cautious. What can the man want? It could not be money, at least not from Leonie, because she has none. If he’s telling the truth, I have no right to withhold it from her. She walked to the door, opened it, and called out, “Sister Agnes, have someone take word to Leonie that I wish to see her immediately.”
As soon as Leonie entered the mother superior’s office, she saw that the older woman was nervous. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure. Sit down. I want to talk with you.”
Leonie sat down at once and felt a tension growing. The mother superior was usually a calm woman who showed little strain.
“A man came to see me yesterday, Leonie. His name is Blaise Mignon. Have you ever heard the name?”
“Why, no. Never.”
“I didn’t think so—nor have I. He had a very strange claim.” The mother superior fixed her eyes on the young girl. “He said that he knew something about your background.”
“My background? Is he related to me?”
“Don’t get excited. It may all come to nothing. No, he’s not related to you.”
“Well, who is he then? What does he want? How does he know about me?”
The mother superior slowly explained every detail of Mignon’s visit. She saw that Leonie was pale and paused to warn her. “He spoke of your family as being wealthy and prominent, but why would a wealthy, prominent family abandon a baby?”
“Perhaps—perhaps I was stolen.”
“That sounds like a fairy tale or a romance novel.”
Leonie looked down at the floor for a moment, and her voice was almost inaudible. “I’ve always longed to know who my family was and why they gave me up. I assumed it was because they were poor and couldn’t take care of me.”
“Leonie, I must beg you not to build your hopes on this. The man may be a scoundrel. Indeed, he appears to be one, at least to the eye.”
“That may be, Reverend Mother, but I must talk to him! I would do anything to find out who my parents were and if I had brothers and sisters.”
“I thought you might say that, and in fact, I would say the same thing myself. Very well, Leonie. I will give the man your address, but I must caution you, child: be very careful. You are young and innocent, and this man has a terrible background. I ask you to come and see me as soon as you have talked with him. Perhaps I can give you some counsel.”
“Oh, I will, Reverend Mother. Will you tell him to come as quickly as you can?”
“I assure you, child, he will be knocking on your door almost by the time you get home. He made no secret of the fact that he expects to be well paid if he’s the agent of reuniting you with your family.”
“That would be only fair.”
“Come and see me immediately after you have met the man.”
“I will. I promise.”
As soon as Leonie walked out, the mother superior shook her head and murmured, “I hope I’ve done the right thing. But who is to know about things like this?”