And yet I must confess I always feel more at ease when I know where he is and what he is doing. He is a little like a ferocious dog. I do not like to imagine him roaming about freely in the garden . . .’ Arnaud de Laincourt nodded and then turned his head towards Saint-Lucq when the latter said: ‘Perhaps Rochefort is too busy with La Donna . . .’ The half-blood was lying stretched out on the bed away from the others, in the shadows. Remaining perfectly still, hat over his eyes and fingers crossed on his chest, he had appeared to be napping until now. With Laincourt and Almades to accompany La Fargue, his presence here was useless and he knew it. But the cardinal had specifically asked that he came. He did not know why. At the mention of the Italian lady spy, La Fargue pursed his lips doubtfully. The Blades had been without news of Alessandra since Saint-Lucq had laid hands on her once again. They only knew that she had since been incarcerated in the Bastille and later transferred elsewhere.
