building. A nurse took their hats and coats, and then they grouped around the bed on a chair and sofa. Danielle poured a round of cognac.
'I'm allowed to serve a drink to my visitors,' said Sarveux. 'But unfortunately alcohol won't mix with my medication so I can't join you.'
'To your speedy recovery,' toasted Guerrier.
'A speedy recovery,' the others responded.
Guerrier set his glass on an end table. 'I'm honored that you asked to see me, Charles.'
Sarveux looked at him seriously. 'I've just been informed you're calling a referendum for total independence.'
Guerrier gave a Gallic shrug. 'The time is long overdue for a final break from the confederation.'
'I agree, and I intend to give it my full endorsement.'
Sarveux's statement fell like a guillotine blade.
Guerrier visibly tensed. 'You'll not fight it this time?'
'No, I want to see it done and over with.'
'I've known you too long, Charles, not to suspect an ulterior motive behind your sudden benevolence.'
'You misread me, Jules. I'm not rolling over like a trained dog. If Quebec wants to go it alone, then let it be. Your referendums, your mandates, your incessant negotiations. That's in the past. Canada has suffered enough. The confederation no longer needs Quebec. We will survive without you.'
'And we without you.'
Sarveux smiled sardonically. 'We'll see how you do starting from scratch.'
'We expect to do just that,' said Guerrier. 'Quebec Parliament will be closed and a new government installed. One patterned after the French republic. We will write our own laws, collect our own taxes, and establish formal relations with foreign powers. Naturally, we'll maintain a common currency and other economic ties with the English-speaking provinces.'
'You'll not get your cake and eat it too,' said Sarveux, his voice hard. 'Quebec must print its own money, and any trade agreements must be renegotiated. Also, customs inspection stations will be erected along our common borders. All Canadian institutions and government offices will be withdrawn from Quebec sod.'
A look of anger crossed Guerrier's face. 'Those are harsh actions.'
'Once Quebeckers have turned their backs on the political freedoms, wealth and future of a united Canada, the severance must be unconditional and complete.'
Guerrier got to his feet slowly. 'I would have hoped for more compassion from a fellow Frenchman.'
'My fellow Frenchmen murdered fifty innocent people in an attempt to assassinate me. Consider yourself lucky, Jules, that I don't lay the blame on the doorstep of the Parti quebecois. The outrage and whiplash would cause irreparable damage to your cause.'
'You have my solemn word, the Parti quebecois played no part in the plane crash.'
'What about the terrorists of the FQS?'
'I have never condoned the actions of the FQS,' Guerrier said defensively. There lip service. You've done nothing to stop them.'
'They're like ghosts,' Guerrier protested. 'No one even knows who their leader is.'
'What happens after independence and he comes out in the open?'
'When Quebec becomes free the FQS no longer has a reason to exist. He and his organization can only wither away and die.'
'You forget, Jules, terrorist movements have a nasty habit of turning legitimate and forming opposition parties.'
'The FQS will not be tolerated by Quebec's new government.'
'With you at its head,' Sarveux added.
'I should expect so,' Guerrier said without a trace of ego. 'Who else has the mandate of the people for a glorious new nation?'
'I wish you luck,' Sarveux said skeptically. There was no arguing with Guerrier's fervor, he thought. The French were dreamers. They thought only of a return to romantic times when the fleur-delis waved majestically throughout the world. The noble experiment would be a failure before it began. 'As Prime Minister I will not stand in your way. But I warn you, Jules, no radical upheavals or political unrest that will affect the rest of Canada.'
'I assure you, Charles,' Guerrier said confidently, 'the birth will be peaceful.'
It was to prove an empty promise.
Villon was furious; Danielle knew all the signs. He came and sat beside her on a bench outside the hospital. She shivered silently in the cool spring air, waiting for the eruption she knew would come.
'The bastard!' he finally growled. 'The underhanded bastard gave Quebec to Guerrier without a fight.'
'I still can't believe it,' she said.
'You knew, you must have known what Charles had in the back of his mind.'
'He said nothing, gave me no indication-'
'Why?' he interrupted her, his face flushed with rage. 'Why did he make an abrupt about-face on his stand for a united font.'
Danielle turned silent. She had an instinctive fear of his anger.
'He's pulled the rug from under us before we could build a strong base. When my partners in the Kremlin learn of it, they'll withdraw their commitments.'
'What can Charles possibly gain? Politically, he's committing suicide.'
'He's playing the canny fox,' said Villon, coming back on keel. 'With a senile old fool like Guerrier at the helm, Quebec will be little more than a puppet regime to Ottawa, begging for handouts, long-term loans and trade credits. Quebec will be worse off as a nation than as a province.'
She looked at him, her expression turning hard. 'It doesn't have to be that way.'
'What are you saying?'
She clutched his arm. 'Bury the FQS. Come out in the open and campaign against Guerrier.'
'I'm not strong enough to take on Jules.'
'The French desperately need a younger, aggressive leader,' she persisted. 'The Henri Villon I know would never bow to English Canada or the United States.'
'Your husband cut me off in midstep. Without the time to build a proper organization it would be impossible.'
'Not if Jules Guerrier dropped dead.'
For the first time Villon laughed. 'Not likely. Jules may have every malady in the medical books, but he has the fortitude to outlive us all.'
A curious intensity showed in Danielle's face. 'Jules must die to save Quebec.'
The inference was crystal. VilloA turned inward to his thoughts and did not speak for nearly a minute.
'Killing the others was different, they were strangers. Their deaths were political necessity. Jules is a loyal Frenchman. He has fought the fight longer than any of us.'
'For what we stand to gain, the price is small.'
'The price is never small,' he said, like a man immersed in a dream. 'Lately, I find myself wondering who will be the last man to die before it's all over.'
Gly leaned over the stained washbasin toward the mirror and rearranged his face.
He placed a prosthesis made from white foam rubber latex over his battered nose, lengthening the tip and raising the bridge. The false addition was kept in place by spirit gum and tinted with a special makeup for coating rubber. His reshaped beak was dusted with a bit of translucent powder to remove the shine.
His original eyebrows had been plucked out. He peeled away their replacements and began attaching crepe hair with the spirit gum, dabbing the tiny tufts in place with tweezers. The new brows were arched higher and thickened to a bushier look.
He paused and stood back a few moments, comparing his handiwork with the photographs taped to the lower edge of the mirror. Satisfied with his progress, he took a highlight makeup a few shades darker than white and drew it from a point on the chin along the jawline to a point under each ear. Next, a low light earth tone was blended under the chin. The finished artistry gave his oval jaw more of a squared, chiseled appearance.
He realigned his mouth by covering it with a base makeup and then brushing a line under the lower lip with a
