When their gazes met, she tugged at her jacket, self-consciously pulling it around her. “My condolences on your father’s passing,” she offered, finding her voice.
Theo inclined his head, seeming to see straight through her carefully crafted persona, the expert manuscript appraiser, only thirty-two, remarkably young for her achievements. She dressed in high-fashion vintage, wore only mascara and lipstick, and sported a sleek Ziegfeld bob that looked straight from the twenties.
Theo Bossard should have been charmed, been charming—given her a smile, a handshake, a welcoming gesture—but instead he looked at her with an unsettling seriousness, as if he had something important to say. The whole encounter left her unbalanced.
“Thank you, Semele,” he murmured in a voice so soft she barely heard him at all. Then he said nothing more the entire meeting.
If their introduction seemed odd, the attorney was happy to fill the silence. She launched into a monologue about the expectations of the estate, though she had already discussed the details with Semele over the phone.
“We’ve reserved you a room at the Grand H?tel Suisse Majestic, right across from Lake Geneva,” the attorney explained. “The family driver will pick you up in the mornings; the chateau’s chef can prepare your meals.…”
Semele could barely focus on what the woman was saying—she was too distracted by Theo. He was trailing several steps behind, keeping his gaze on her the entire time. Never had she been so unnerved by someone.
They headed to the room that housed the collection. Marcel Bossard had a special gallery situated off the main library, cloistered off from the rest of the estate.
Semele stepped inside and momentarily held her breath.
The enormous wood-paneled room contained every scroll, book, manuscript, and codex of the collection. A high-tech system controlled the temperature, humidity, and lighting, and all the works were locked away in electronic glass cases.
The attorney handed Semele several keys along with the codes to deactivate the security system, so she could come and go as needed.
“Four times a year a conservator from Geneva’s Rath Museum comes to inspect the works for any damage and readjust the temperature settings,” the woman explained, giving Semele a crisp nod. “Marcel took every precaution to protect his investment.”
“Very impressive.” Semele agreed.
She glanced at Theo and gave him an encouraging smile that he didn’t reciprocate. He continued staring at her with unwavering intensity. She cleared her throat and turned away, deciding it would be best to ignore him.
*
When Semele arrived at the chateau the next day, she was filled with jittery nerves at the thought of seeing Theo again. Eager for a distraction, she spent long hours holed up in the gallery, appraising each piece and deciding its fate.
Most of the Bossard collection spanned from around A.D. 300 to the end of the Renaissance. She also cataloged twenty significant works from Classical Antiquity.
The collection included gospel books illuminated with pictures so stunning they looked like stained glass brought to life, scrolls of parchment detailing Roman battles, letters written by St. Augustine in A.D. 412, and a pristine collection of Greek manuscripts on botany, zoology, astrology, and astronomy from about A.D. 350. There was also a Bible embellished in twenty-four-karat gold from Constantinople, but the most jaw-dropping piece was an original Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye from the 1400s, the first book ever printed in the English language. Only eighteen copies existed.
Semele was already looking ahead to the work she would need to do once she got back home. This was going to be the auction of the year, if not the decade. Her firm would hold a sale in New York for the most valuable pieces, and she would create smaller collections to donate to a select list of libraries and museums. The three weeks she had in Switzerland were barely enough time to sort everything out.
Each afternoon Theo would step into the gallery and ask, “Everything going well, Semele?” to which she would answer, “Quite well, thank you.”
They would then stare at each other for a suspended moment, the air charged between them. Theo would eventually give her a slight nod and leave.
In her hotel room she would think about that day’s encounter, reading more into their almost-conversations—the way he studied her, how he said her name—with each passing day. Then she would force herself to dismiss it all and try to sleep. She would lie restless in bed until she drifted off, unable to stop herself from imagining their next meeting.
In the morning, she found herself taking extra care with her appearance, to the point where every stroke of mascara felt like a guilty thought. She chose siren-red lipstick instead of her typical soft sienna, and wore her lavender angora sweater more times than not, knowing its feminine lines flattered her figure. She would turn from side to side in the mirror with critical precision, until the act of dressing for that single exchange with Theo began to feel like an infidelity to her boyfriend, Bren, back home.
Maybe she had acted the same way when getting ready for her first string of dates with Bren, but she couldn’t remember her appearance ever having mattered this much. That’s what bothered her the most. She wanted Theo to find her attractive.
Every day she tried not to look at the clock and wonder when he would stop by. She tried reasoning with herself. The chateau, its romanticism, and its eccentric owner were simply clouding her judgment. She enjoyed a good gothic novel as much as the next person, but that was not her real life.
*
One day Theo stayed longer. He looked as if he was about to leave, but instead he stopped at the door and turned back to her, his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
“You know, I met your father once,” he said.
Semele stared at him, speechless. That was the last thing she thought he would say.
Theo must have sensed her confusion. “At one of the World Book summits years ago,” he clarified. “He was keynote speaker for the International Federation of Library Associations. I had just begun working with UNESCO.”
Semele had no idea Theo was connected to UNESCO. “What kind of work were you doing for them?” she asked.
“I head one of the subcommittees that assesses nominations for the Memory of the World Register.”
She couldn’t have been more surprised if he had told her he was an astronaut and had landed on the moon.
Her father had been a curator at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and she knew all about UNESCO’s global conservation programs, including MOW nominations. Memory of the World was an international initiative to preserve archives and library collections that transcended the boundaries of culture. Being listed on the register was just as impressive as getting a National Historic Site designation and ensured that those works would survive.