Captain Nemo: The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius by Kevin J. Anderson Page A

enough to be . . . to be betrothed?”   Nemo lowered his eyes, afraid to say anything more.   He remembered the things they had whispered to each other, and the things they’d left unsaid.  
    Caroline looked up at him, startled.   She opened her mouth, about to say something.   Always before, they’d had all the time in the world, all the flexibility and imagination -- until real life had intruded.
    “Ah, André, there you are!”   Jules Verne rushed across the flower market in a tangle of long arms and legs, interrupting Caroline and Nemo.   His hair was tousled, eyes bright, skin flushed.   “I’ve heard what you’re going to do -- and I want to go with you.”
    Caroline and Nemo often spoke of their fondness for the redheaded young man . . . but they also knew that he didn’t completely comprehend them.   Nevertheless, Verne missed no opportunity to try to impress her.
    Nemo looked at his friend skeptically.   “Why would you want to go with me?   I have nothing to lose here.   But you . . . you have --”
    “ Prospects ,” Verne said with sarcasm.   “I know.   I am expected to stay here for the rest of my life and take over my father’s practice and become a boring lawyer and never leave France.”   He shook his head.   “You and I, André, we have too much excitement destined for us.   I belong with you on that ship.”   He puffed out his chest.   “We’ll write letters home.   And you, Caroline --” He raised his eyebrows.   “I plan to bring you the largest coral necklace I can find, just as I promised.   I’ll barter with the natives, and it’ll be worth a fortune.”  
    Verne crossed his arms over his narrow chest, but Caroline, considering the overblown promise, giggled.   “You are my friend, Jules.   I don’t want you to have any regrets about this.”   Nemo thought of all the times that Verne had intended to do a dramatic act, and then backed out at the last minute.   Nemo had always been the instigator and Verne the nay-sayer.   But he sighed and accepted his friend’s excitement.  
    Caroline pushed herself away from the table, uneasy now and sad at the opportunity she’d been forced to offer to Nemo, his only chance.   “The Coralie sails tomorrow at dawn with the tide, Jules.   Captain Grant may take you aboard along with André -- but I want you to think about this for the rest of the day.   No regrets.”
    “There won’t be,” Verne said.
    Nemo fixed his friend’s face with his dark eyes.   “Very well.   We’ll meet at midnight at one of the inns -- L’Homme aux Trois Malices.   Caroline, may we stop by late tonight?   So you can bid us bon voyage?”
    Tears shone in her eyes.   “Of course you may.”
    With Verne’s eager eyes on them, Nemo and Caroline remained circumspect, but they touched hands under the table and shared a knowing glance before they rose from their chairs.
    The three split up.   Caroline went back to Marie and her bouquets of flowers, and Verne went off to begin packing in secret.
     

    viii

     

    Though his stomach was knotted and his pulse raced with growing anxiety, Jules Verne made every effort to eat a large evening meal -- knowing full well that this might be his last home-cooked food for some time.   He’d read stories of the moldy biscuits and rotten meat served on long sea voyages.   When his mother remarked on his appetite, Verne claimed that her cooking was especially good (though an hour after leaving the table he could scarcely remember what the main dish had been).
    Verne was determined to make good on his promise, for once.   He would not back out of this adventure at the last minute.   He would share his dark-haired friend’s desperate situation, though he could not compare his own dull life with Nemo’s helpless straits.
    Before he went upstairs to his room, he embraced his parents, terrified they would notice his maudlin attentions.   Fortunately, his father was so focused on the