SPOILERS!!!
The conflicts between Catholics and Protestants continue, and the novel focuses on France where the king has signed a treaty of religious tolerance. Neither faction is happy because each one wants to be the prevailing religion. Ned is in France, assisting Walsingham. It is there that he meets Sylvie, who comes to sell him paper, but she eventually tells him about the Bibles. As they get to meet several times, they become close. Sylvie feels attracted to him, and Ned thinks that she is the first woman who could be a substitute for Margery. Sylvie tells him about Pierre and how he betrayed her horrendously, and she also tells him about how Pierre’s maidservant, Nath, is her friend and confindante, and thanks to her, she gets acccess to the notebook where Pierre writes down the names of Protestants he is after.
After Princess Margot marries Henri the Bourbon, a Protestant, the atmosphere in Paris is more and more tense. There is an attempt agains the life of the leader of the Huguenots, Gaspard de Coligny, orchestrated by Pierre. What Pierre and Henri de Guise plan is to kill the main Protestant noblemen, and that is what Ned learns from Jeronima Ruiz, the woman who became Archdeacon Romero’s mistress. Yet, when he and Sylvie go to find Pierre’s notebook thanks to Nath’s help, they find it gone. ç
As for Barney, he is now the owner of his own vessel, and at the first opportunity he sails to Hispaniola, longing to see Bella. It has been eight years since he last saw her, and he doesn’t know if she is married or still lives there. When he asks around, he is told that Alfonso, his father, died and left her a house. Barney goes there and finds that Bella is dying of dengue fever, and he reveals that he has a son, Alfon.
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