destroy some-one else's life? Why was Grandmere
 
 Catherine so sure this was the right thing for me to
 
 do? My twin sister obviously resented my very
 
 existence? What was to keep my father from doing the
 
 same? My heart teetered on the edge of a precipice,
 
 ready to plunge and die if he came into this house and
 
 rejected me.
 
 Shortly after, I heard the sound of Edgar
 
 Farrar's footsteps as he raced down the corridor to
 
 open the front door. I heard other voices and people
 
 hurrying in.
 
 "In the living room, monsieur," Beau Andreas
 
 called, and a moment later my eyes took in my real
 
 father's face. How many times had I sat before my
 
 mirror and imagined him by transposing my own
 
 facial features onto the blank visage I conjured before me? Yes, he had the same soft green eyes and we had the same shaped nose and chin. His face was leaner, firmer, his forehead rolled back gently under the shock of thick chestnut hair brushed back at the sides
 
 with just a small pompadour at the front.
 
 He was tall, at least six feet two, and had a slim
 
 but firm looking torso with shoulders that sloped
 
 gracefully into his arms, the physique of a tennis
 
 player, easily discernable in his Mardi Gras costume:
 
 a tight fitting silver outfit designed to resemble a suit
 
 of armor, such as those worn by medieval knights. He
 
 had the helmet in his arms. He fastened his gaze on
 
 me and his face went from a look of surprise and
 
 astonishment to a smile of happy amazement. Before a word was spoken, Daphne Dumas
 
 came up beside him. She wore a bright blue tunic with
 
 long, tight sleeves, the skirt of which had a long train
 
 and an embroidered gold fringe. It fit closely down to
 
 her hips, but was wider after. It was buttoned in front