The Girl Who Remembered the Snow (31 page)

Armand Caraignac handed it to Emma.

“It is over now,
ma petite,”
he whispered, struggling to his feet. “The darkness that has hung over all these lives is ended now. Please, listen to an old man who knows too well that justice has been served. I beg you, do not let the old tragedies consume you. There was no evil here, only people who made mistakes.”

Emma nodded and walked to the mahogany door.

“If there is ever anything I can do for you â¦”

“I'll let you know,” she said and let herself out without looking back.

Emma walked back down the long hall of Caraignac et Cie the way she had come, ignoring the curious stares and breathless whispers. She breezed past Mademoiselle Filante at the reception desk and walked out into the street.

Soft snow was still falling over Paris. The scene all around was pure whiteness, but now for the first time in her life, the snow didn't make Emma feel frightened and alone. It was as if a missing
piece had at last been snapped back into place and she was whole again.

Emma wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. Armand Caraignac was right, she knew. There had been no evil here. Everything that had happened, however misguided, had happened because of love. It was time to look to the future, not the past. It was time to be reborn.

Emma opened her tightly clutched hand. The ferocious golden dragon seemed to be smiling at her. She opened its golden jaws, brought it to her lips and blew with all her might. The resultant whistle was clean and loud and broke the pure white air like the song of a lark.

Also by Charles Mathes

The Girl with the Phony Name

THE GIRL WHO REMEMBERED SNOW. Copyright Â© 1996 by Charles Mathes. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK.

An imprint of St. Martin's Press

Design by Nancy Resnick

eISBN 9781429953931

First eBook Edition : July 2011

Title page illustration by Arlene Graston.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mathes, Charles.

The girl who remembered snow / Charles Mathes.â1st ed.

p. cm.

“A Thomas Dunne book.”

1. Title.