Free Zipporah's Daughter (Knave of Hearts) by Philippa Carr Page A

There is nothing I like better than finding a happy future for pretty ladies. Have you the money for the sitting?’
    Lisette reached into her pocket and found it.
    Madame Rougemont took it and put it into a little drawer. She looked intently at Lisette, and then at me.
    ‘Come and sit at this table, dears. I’ll tell you together, shall I? First one … then the other … unless of course there are secrets. Those I shall tell you when we are alone … if that is necessary. But first let me see if they are there. You are very young, aren’t you? Tell me your ages, my dears. It helps a little.’
    Lisette said she was seventeen. I exaggerated a little and said I was sixteen.
    ‘And you live here … in Paris?’
    ‘Some of the time,’ I told her.
    ‘Not always. You are with one of the rich families, eh?’
    ‘Yes,’ I said quickly. ‘Yes.’
    ‘I thought so. Give me your hands.’
    She took mine first. ‘A pretty little hand,’ she said. ‘So white and clean. How do you manage to keep them so white … a lady’s hands. That’s what they are.’
    Her fingers gripped my hand tightly and the look of speculation in her eyes alarmed me. I knew we shouldn’t have come. I glanced at Lisette. She was still enjoying the adventure.
    Now Madame Rougemont had taken one of her hands so that she held us both.
    ‘Another pretty little hand,’ she said. ‘Oh, I see great things here. Rich husbands for you both …. Long journeys and excitement … plenty of it. You are going to be so happy.’
    I heard myself say: ‘Is it the same for both of us then?’
    ‘There are variations, of course, but you are both lucky young ladies. You are going to meet your fate …one of you will meet it today.’
    ‘Which one?’ asked Lisette.
    Madame Rougemont put her hand to her head and closed her eyes.
    ‘I think,’ she said, ‘that we should look into the crystal ball. First the fair lady.’
    She drew the crystal towards her and closed her eyes. Then she began to speak in a dreamy voice. ‘I see him. He is tall, dark and handsome. He is close … very close … He will love you dearly. You will ride in carriages. Beware of hesitation. If you do not act promptly you will lose your good fortune, my dear.’ She turned to me. ‘And now you, little lady. Ah, here it is again. The finger of fate. Your future will be decided soon … and it is in your hands. When fate comes to you, you must be ready to grasp it. Again, hesitation could lose all. It may seem sudden but if you do not take advantage of what the gods offer you now you could regret it all your life. I see that your fate is entwined with that of the other lady and that is what makes it difficult for me to speak more openly. Don’t despair. If the turn of one of you is not today, it will be tomorrow.’
    I stood up, for every moment I was growing more and more uneasy. There was an oppressiveness about the place which seemed to shut me in.
    ‘We should be going,’ I said. ‘Thank you very much, Madame Rougemont.’
    Lisette stood beside me. I think she was beginning to catch my uneasiness.
    Madame Rougemont said: ‘You would like a little refreshment. I never send my clients away without a little hospitality. I have a little salon just across the passage. Come on.’
    ‘No,’ I said. ‘We must go.’
    But she held us firmly by our arms.
    ‘We serve wine here,’ she said. ‘A little wine bar. Ladies and gentlemen like to come in when they are thirsty.’
    The girl who had shown us in appeared again; she opened a door and we were more or less pushed into a room in which were little tables and red plush chairs.
    A man was sitting in one of them. He looked as though he were tall and he was certainly dark and handsome.
    ‘Ah, Monsieur St Georges,’ said Madame Rougemont. ‘How nice to see you! I was just going to drink a glass of wine with these two young ladies. Please join us.’
    She made a sign and a waiter appeared. She nodded to him and he went away.
    Monsieur