Hotel Auberge, 17 May 1868
Marie alighted from the carriage, still shaken from her encounter with the man who had pulled a knife on her.
Focus on getting your traveling papers back. Obtaining them had cost her most of the francs she’d managed to squirrel away and hide from her mother’s ever watchful gaze, not to mention the trouble of managing the meetings and appointments with government officials to receive them. She wondered again how they’d ended up on top of the dressing table and not in the secret drawer. Sometimes her talent made her do things she didn’t remember, which was one more reason she needed to get away from this place and figure out who she really was. Then maybe she could balance everything and keep from losing her mind.
She walked into the hotel lobby and noted immedi
