Chapter 9
The empress of the perfumer’s palette, jasmine must be harvested before the rising sun to retain the full force of its delicate fragrance. Fragile and fleeting, jasmine is a fair nymph of a flower with a potent perfume. A world without jasmine? Simply unimaginable. –DB
5 April, 1940 - Grasse, France
“I can’t bear it,” Danielle cried, panting through a contraction.
“Yes, you can. Breathe, Danielle, breathe.” Jon pushed her sweaty hair aside, kissed her forehead and gripped her hands. He and the midwife sat by the bed in her room, one on either side of her. “Squeeze my hands—harder.” His face was grim with determination, his dark eyes bloodshot, urging her on.
Danielle gritted her teeth through the pain, and then flopped against the damp, linen-covered pillows, her energy spen
