Page 25 of Royally Romanov
“The Century Rule is a French regulation providing restitution for families and individuals who have been victimized by government policy.” Madame Dubois sighed mightily. “This is the kind of thing you should be familiar with, Finley. Surely you’ve heard of it.”
Maybe shewasan idiot after all. “Does this have anything to do with returning art that was stolen by the Nazis during the Holocaust?”
Finley was well aware of the Washington Conference Principles, an agreed-upon set of guidelines followed by the United States and most European countries for returning Nazi-confiscated art to its prewar owners or their heirs. Several important pieces of art, such as Gustav Klimt’sPortrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, had been removed from museums in recent years and returned to heirs of families who’d had art confiscated by the Nazis. The art world reeled every time it lost an important painting, but it was only fair to return the work to its original owner, or at least Finley thought so.
“Oui, the Century Rule was instituted here in France after so many claims were made on notable pieces. Put simply, it’s a statute of limitations. A family has one hundred years to claim ownership of artistic treasures confiscated by a governing body. Once a century has expired since the art was seized, the remaining heirs give up any and all of their rights.” Madame Dubois nodded. “I only bring it up because the one-hundred-year anniversary of the Romanovs’ execution is coming up soon.”
Finley’s knees wobbled.
“What would happen if someone stepped forward and purported to be a direct descendant of the Romanovs?” It took superhuman strength for Finley to keep her voice steady. Maxim couldn’t possibly know about this French rule, could he? He barely remembered his own name. Being up to date on French legislation didn’t seem like it would be a priority after what had happened to him.
Unless he was lying.
Madame Dubois peered at Finley over her glasses. “If the claim was made while all of this art was on French soil, it would be catastrophic. The government would prevent us from returning the pieces to the institutions that loaned them until the identity of the claimant was verified.”
Every drop of blood in Finley’s body pooled in her feet. She had to lean backward against the edge of her desk to prevent herself from slumping to the floor.
This can’t be happening. I’m supposed to get promoted, not single-handedly bring down the most famous museum in France.
If Maxim thought he was Anastasia’s grandson, did he also think he was going to waltz into the Louvre and take away all the Romanov treasures?
Of course he did.
He wasn’t some beautiful, brooding mystery. He was a con man. How could she have been so stupid?
Madame Dubois smirked. “Thankfully, the days of all the fake Anastasias are over. As you well know, many women claimed to be Anastasia in the decades following the Bolshevik Revolution. None of them were real, obviously. I was being tongue-in-cheek about the Century Rule, Finley. The Romanovs died out in 1918. We have nothing to worry about. You know that as well as I do, right?”
“Absolutely.” Somehow Finley forced the word out of her mouth, even though it was probably the biggest lie she’d ever uttered in her life.
Nothing to worry about?
She hadeverythingto worry about, starting with Maxim Laurent.
