Page 24 of Royally Romanov
“Really?” Madame Dubois flipped the photo over and bent to examine it. A few of the other assistant curators in the room turned their heads.
Great. Now the photo was a thing. “I’m really not prepared to present it. I haven’t verified its authenticity. And there’s a question about the photograph’s provenance.”
Madame Dubois peered at the picture, then picked it up by its edges using only the very tips of her fingers. She inspected both sides, then looked up. “This could very well be authentic. Have you taken it to the research department to have it tested yet?”
“No, madame. It just came into my possession.”
The senior curator lifted a brow. She almost looked impressed, which was a rarity. “Wherever did you find it?”
Merde.Finley took a deep breath. “A gentleman who attended my presentation last night brought it to me this morning.”
“Was this the gentleman who came by earlier to see you?”
Finley nodded. “Yes. Maxim Laurent.”
Madame Dubois’s gaze flitted from Finley to the photograph and back again. “I see, and where did this Monsieur Laurent get it?”
The room had grown uncomfortably quiet. Finley got the distinct feeling that the other assistant curators were waiting for her to make some ridiculous mistake. These people might be her coworkers, but at the end of the day, they weren’t her friends. All of them wanted the same elusive thing. Full curatorial positions didn’t come along every day.
She swallowed. “The photograph is a family heirloom. It belonged to his grandmother.”
Madame’s eyes narrowed. Finley would’ve given anything for the floor to open up and swallow her whole. “Hisgrand-mère? Who was she? A servant? Someone with ties to the royal household?”
You could say so.
“I’m not sure. As I said, I’m still trying to establish provenance. I hope to clear some things up with Monsieur Laurent later this evening. We have a...”Don’t say date. Do. Not. She forced her lips into a smile. “... an appointment.”
After what seemed like an endless pause, her boss nodded. “Very well. I’ll expect an update in the morning.”
That gave her less than twenty-four hours to explain Maxim’s existence.Quelchallenge. “Oui, madame.”
“This could be quite a find.” Her boss handed her the photograph. Finley transferred it to her desk as though it were a live grenade. “Unless your Monsieur Laurent has contacted you in order to make a claim under the Century Rule.”
Every thought in her head snagged on the wordsmake a claim. She felt sick all of a sudden.
Madame Dubois turned her attention to the treasures that had been carefully catalogued and arranged on the table. “This makes twelve Fabergé eggs in total for the exhibition,oui?” Her gaze moved slowly from one item to the next.
Finley did her best to ignore the panic that had lodged itself firmly in the pit of her stomach. “Yes, twelve. These final four are the most valuable. The Rosebud egg is one of the most well-known Fabergé treasures. It was the very first one Nicholas II gave his wife, Alexandra.”
Finley had gone to the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg to collect the masterpiece in person. Even though she’d seen more photographs than she could count of the bejeweled, red-enameled egg, the priceless treasure was more intricate and lovely in person than she could have ever imagined. She still wanted to pinch herself every time she touched it to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. This was real life.Herlife. A life she’d managed to build for herself at a time when she’d felt helpless and alone.
She’d done it. She’d bounced back... for the most part. And she wouldn’t let anything or anyone jeopardize this life she’d so painfully put back together.
“The Rosebud egg still has its surprise, unlike so many of the others.” Madame Dubois slid on her cotton gloves and gingerly picked up the yellow enamel rosebud that Peter Carl Fabergé’s workshop had fashioned to tuck neatly inside the dazzling red-and-gold egg.
Most of the Imperial eggs originally contained “surprises”—tiny objects that fit inside the eggs when they were closed. Photographic evidence showed that the surprises were usually tiny diamond crowns or pendants. Such small items were easily lost or stolen, and few remained.
“The yellow rosebud surprise has never been separated from the Rosebud egg, but the rosebud itself opens up as well. At one time it contained a diamond-and-ruby crown, as well as a cabochon ruby pendant. They’ve both been lost for years.” Finley took a deep breath. Could the lost pendant be the same one in Maxim’s photograph? What if it was somehow in his possession?
She needed to calm down. He didn’t know what happened to the necklace—he’d already said so. Besides, the idea that he could have lost Romanov treasures lying around his flat was crazy.
And something about the sound of the Century Rule gave her a very bad feeling. As much as she dreaded the answer, she couldn’t go another minute without asking what exactly it was. “Refresh my memory about the Century Rule,s’il vous plaît?”
Several of the assistant curators looked up. One of them, Maurice, frowned and shook his head.
Message received. I’m the American, the odd girl out.
She squared her shoulders. Shedidbelong here, damn it. She’d spearheaded a major exhibit at the Louvre. She’d just signed books at Shakespeare and Company. She was no idiot.
