4
BROTHERS AND SISTER
LYON, FRANCE – MAY 1713
Charlotte is the daughter of my and your mother's closest friends. They handed her over to our family's custody. Our family. That includes you. I trust you and Henri will make certain she does entangle herself or Raoul in any trouble.
Laurent de la Fleure to Antoine de la Fleure - 1713
The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky. Raoul and Charlotte were nowhere in sight, father was occupied with sorting through the business ledgers, and mother attended to her correspondence. Peace and quiet reigned in the de la Fleure household, and Antoine and Henri were bored to oblivion. By mid-day, they had swum in the river (before their siblings woke up), shot at the rats (their siblings bet and watched), finished a fencing round (their siblings wat
