Colt was rigid. “Just tell me which direction to head.” Nothing was going to stop him from seeing Dani. He was going to hear with his own ears that she knew nothing about this, that she would back him up legally to recover all the gold. And then, God help Gavin Mason.
“East,” Briana told him. “It is about a four-hour ride by carriage. I went there once to pray at the fountain outside the walls, where the waters are supposed to be holy. I took Charles with me, in hope of helping him.”
“And did it help?” Colt asked her.
“No,” she replied. Then she ventured, “Helping Gavin was the only way Charles could have the operation he needed in order to live. His spine was being crushed.”
Colt shook his head. It was all a lie, of course. She had been promised a part of the money involved and needed no persuasion. When she started to speak once more, he snapped at her to be quiet. He had other things on his mind besides listening to her attempt at self-justification.
They rode in the darkness for an hour, and then the road became narrow, rougher, as they began their ascent into the mountains. Colt and Branch decided they would stop for the night and leave again at first light.
With the horses tied, Branch discreetly disappeared among the brush to find his own place for the night, leaving them alone to fight.
Briana sat on a rock, staring into the blue-and-purple night. She heard the inviting sound of water rushing. A stream would be cold, but a bath was too tempting to resist.
She began walking toward the sound.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She stopped but did not turn around. “I need a bath. I was tied in that hellhole for nearly two weeks. Maybe more, I don’t know.”
“I’ll go with you.”
She panicked. “No! I want privacy.”
Colt laughed, an ugly sound. “You didn’t want privacy those nights you seduced me. You were plenty eager to have me see you naked then.”
Briana swayed. She had to tell him the truth, and tell him now…
“Oh, I forgot,” Colt growled, reaching her side. “You have to be bought, don’t you? There is a difference between a prostitute and a whore, isn’t there? I imagine you command a very high price.
“Tell me,” he continued, “how much of a cut did Mason offer you? I’m curious to know how much it cost me to bed a woman like you. It’s a pity I can’t remember what it was like because—”
Briana slapped him.
Colt wasn’t fazed. He continued to gaze down at her, and when she raised her arm to slap him again, he caught her and slung her over his shoulder. Ignoring her cries, he carried her through the brush, all the way to the bank of the rushing stream, and dropped her into the frigid water.
Briana floundered, struggling to stand on the slippery rocks. The stream was waist-deep, and she couldn’t get her footing. She fell backward, the cold water closing over her, and she fought her way to her knees. “You bastard!”
Colt laughed. “Perhaps it’s best I don’t remember it. You’re probably no better than the average whore.”
Briana stopped shivering. His cruel taunts were like a great warming fire, filling her with deep rage. Yes, she had deceived him. But she had stopped short of coupling with him. He didn’t know that, but she did. The knowledge that she had outwitted Gavin and spared both herself and Colt that terrible degradation was one thing she could be proud of. And she was proud of it.
She had fallen in love with Colt, but now that love was turning to hatred. Despite his rage, he might have allowed her a chance to explain. She had suffered, too, by God. He wasn’t the only one.
She decided to ignore him, to keep her knowledge to herself…for the time being, anyway.
As the first shadows of night began to succumb to dawn, the trio moved from the quiet forest and on toward the convent. Briana spoke only once, to ask that she be allowed to ride with Branch. Colt grunted assent. We didn’t want her anywhere near him.
They rode in dejected silence. Colt attempted to dwell on thoughts other than the ones at hand. France, he acknowledged, was a beautiful country. The northern part was farmland, nourished by the waters of the Loire and Seine rivers. The south, where they were, offered an uninterrupted string of golden beaches fringed with palm trees, olive groves, and orchards.
Kitty had written Colt glowing letters about her life in Paris, describing the city as prosperous and gay. Travis had work to occupy him, and, denied his company much of the time, Kitty had become involved in studying art.
Impressionism, she had written Colt, was Paris’s gift to art and had brought an absolute revolution, a renaissance in painting. All the great Impressionist painters—Monet, Renoir, Sisley, and Pissarro—were French, she wrote.
Colt missed his parents very much, but he was glad they’d been given this opportunity to live in Europe. Of course, once this ghastly mess was sorted out, he would go to Paris to see them. And, he realized grimly, he was going to have to tell them the whole story.
He tried to brighten his disconsolate mood by promising himself to see all of France before leaving. The land, he knew, was divided between four great river basins and several mountain ranges. Besides the Seine River, flowing through Paris and winding north to the English Channel, there was the Loire in the west, known for the historic châteaux studding the valleys it flowed through. The Loire flowed all the way to the Atlantic Ocean at the north end of the Bay of Biscay. In the south, also flowing into the Bay of Biscay, .was the Garonne River, with its wide tidal estuary known as the Gironde. The Rhône River rose in the eastern Alps and wound its way south through valleys famed for their fine vineyards.
Colt looked toward the mountains in the north, the breathtaking cluster and slopes of the Alps, including the highest peak in all Europe, Mont Blanc, rising to more than fifteen thousand feet.
“Colt.”
Branch’s sharp voice brought him from his reverie, and he turned around. Branch was pointing straight up. “See what I see?”
There was a formidable wall of rocks ten feet tall and, beyond it, surely, his sister’s convent. It looked cold, forbidding. How could Dani… But there was no time to think of it just then.
The trail up was narrow and rutted with holes. In some places, the trail was bordered by nothing but a sheer drop down to death against the jutting rocks.
They reached iron gates, and Colt dismounted to peer beyond the gates to a courtyard. The ground was covered by pebbles, and here and there were marble benches and a vast array of marble religious statues. There were no shrubs or trees, and the scene was entirely severe.
Stretching to either side of the courtyard and situated just behind it was the convent. It was rectangular in shape and constructed of stones. The building covered about half an acre. There was a high, tiled roof above the two stories, and there were a dozen windows facing the courtyard, all of them tall and arched.
A squat building stood to the left, connected by a roofed walkway to the convent. There was a belfry at the top of that small building, and remnants of ivy clung in feeble desperation to the decaying rocky structure. Colt, Briana, and Branch could hear the sound of women’s voices singing inside it. Except for the singing, there were no signs of activity.
The antiquated lock on the iron gates offered no resistance to the butt of Colt’s gun. The iron entranceway opened, grating and squeaking. Colt stepped into the courtyard, motioning to Branch and Briana to follow him.
As though waiting for their entrance, a plump woman appeared suddenly, from around the corner of the chapel. She wore flowing white nun’s garb. Not a wisp of hair showed from under her wimple. The starched white cloth was pulled tight across her forehead, and the top peaked tall and pointed. A short white train hung to her shoulders.
As she drew closer, the three visitors discerned that a gracious welcome was not in store. Her eyes, behind thick spectacles, were cold. Her lips were tight, and she walked with long, purposeful, angry strides.
She addressed the
m in French. “What do you want here?”
In the calmest voice he could muster, Colt explained, “I’m looking for my sister, Daniella Coltrane. She’s a nun here.”
Briana was quick to clarify, “A novice, Sister.”
The nun’s eyes swept over Briana, first with curiosity, then with contempt. Briana felt most uncomfortable in the trousers Branch had given her.
“My sister,” Colt prompted. “I wish to speak with her.”
The nun glared at him. “I know nothing about this. Did you write to the Mother Superior and tell her you were coming?”
Briana whispered, “She probably isn’t allowed to tell you even that Dani is here. Dani will have a new name now, taken from a saint. Her worldly name wouldn’t even be known.”
Colt nodded solemnly, then addressed the nun. “I want to see my sister, and I’m going to see her even if I have to take this place apart stone by stone.”
The nun’s eyes widened, and she stepped back. No one had ever challenged her authority in the forty-two years she had been at the Convent of the Blessed Virgin. The convent tradition was to give any visitor as good a meal as possible, and then send him on his way. That was all any visitor could expect. It was, she knew, a five-hundred-year-old tradition.
Sister Marie walked to the gate and pointed at the twining road leading down Jaune Mountain. “Go in peace, my son.” She made her voice gentle. “What is done is done. There is no one here who can call you her brother anymore.”
Colt muttered an oath. Enough was enough. He pushed by her and headed straight for the chapel.
Sister Marie was right behind him, crying, “No, no! You must leave at once. People of the outer world cannot come in here.” Her voice cracked. Why wouldn’t he listen? Nuns in this convent renounced the world, all of it, including their families. Christ became their family—their only family. The family each nun left behind had to understand this, hard though it was.
Colt kept on walking toward the chapel, and Sister Marie wrung her hands in frustration. “Why won’t you listen to me?” she called to him, and he turned and looked at her. “She cannot speak with you, for to do so would be to break her vows. It is forbidden. You’ll be causing her harm if you…”
Colt continued his march, and in a moment he reached the wooden double doors of the chapel. He opened them and stepped inside.
Heads turned at the sound of intrusion, and forty pairs of eyes were on him. He couldn’t help but be impressed by the hallowed aura of-the chapel. Shafts of rainbow light shone delicately through the stained-glass windows, spilling across forty women in white. The nuns were on their knees, hands clasped beneath their chins.
At the front of the chapel were statues of the Virgin Mary and three other saints. Hanging above the altar was a silver Christ on a mahogany cross. The nuns were a sea of white as they continued fingering their rosary beads while staring at Colt.
Colt saw so many faces, knew that he would never recognize Dani. He walked to the front of the chapel, turned, and said quietly, “I apologize for interrupting, but I must talk to my sister, Daniella Coltrane.” He searched the curious, frightened eyes, then urged softly, “Where are you, Dani? I need you. Please.”
No one spoke.
From the rear, Sister Marie cried, “She cannot answer you. She has taken vows, and she cannot speak with you.”
“She owes me something, Sister,” he called to her. “I’m her brother, and I need her. I figure that’s as important as honoring a vow.”
The nuns gasped, and there was the faint sound of whispering. Colt looked to his left as a nun stood up and moved toward him.
A ripple went through the chapel.
Cinnamon eyes gazed up at Colt. A voice as soft as a summer breeze said quietly, “Yes, John Travis. How may I serve you?”
Colt stared down at his sister.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The bitterness of Dani’s estrangement from the Coltranes, cobwebbed memories of fighting…all these vanished as brother and sister embraced in the shadows of the chapel.
For long moments, they clung together.
Then the magic ended as Sister Marie reached them. “You have committed a sacrilege,” she hissed at Dani, “by disrupting this service and communicating with an outsider.”
Dani knew she was right. Still, the mission, the duty, of their order was to pray perpetually for the peace of the world and for the salvation of souls in purgatory. Was there not a similar need here? Before her stood her brother in obvious torment. Should she not minister to her own brother?
Sister Marie clutched Dani’s shoulders. “Heed me and obey.” She gave her a gentle shake. “Turn your back on him, my child, just as you have turned your back on all worldly things.”
Dani looked from her to Colt, saw the terrible need in his eyes. Only something vitally important would have brought him here. Beyond him, she saw Briana. Yes, something was very wrong, and she could not refuse to help her friend and her brother.
Dani touched the nun’s hands on her shoulders. “I must do what my conscience tells me to do, Sister. I cannot expect you to understand, but I will answer my brother’s call.” She held out her hand to Colt. “Come with me.”
Colt motioned to branch and Briana to come with them, and Dani led him out of the chapel as the nuns resumed their service.
They entered the courtyard, then walked to a small garden behind the convent. There were marble benches situated around a tiny fish pond, and after embracing Briana, Dani gestured to the three to sit. “Now tell me why you have come,” she said. “I know it is terribly serious.”
Colt started at the very beginning. When he explained Briana’s deception, Dani held up a hand for silence. “You did such a thing?” she quietly demanded. “You went to claim my inheritance? And why was I not told of the letter from my father? The first in fourteen years!”
Briana was about to attempt an explanation when Colt quickly interrupted to say that there had been other letters over the years. “He wrote to you regularly, Dani. You never answered.”
Dani stared down at her tightly clasped hands. “I never received them,” she whispered. “I never knew. I always wondered why he did not respond to my letters.”
Colt suddenly realized what had happened. His eyes met Dani’s, and Colt murmured, “Alaina. She made sure the two of you were never in touch with each other.”
Dani sighed. “She has done a terrible thing.”
Then she looked at Briana again. “But why did you agree to help with the deception? You were my friend. I thought I knew you.”
Briana had only to say one word: “Charles.”
Dani looked at her carefully, then nodded. “I see. Where is he now?”
Briana explained about the orphanage, and told her briefly about the operation.
“Then some good has come of all this,” Dani said, smiling, and Briana was glad to see a flash of the old Dani in this solemnly garbed woman.
Colt cut in to state, “She told me about a sick brother, but I didn’t believe any of it.”
Dani assured him that indeed the story was true. “Forgive her for the deception,” she said. “I would have done the same for you.”
That surprised him. “I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive any of this,” he murmured.
“You must.” She leaned over and surprised him further with a kiss on the cheek. “It is the only way we can know peace in this life, by being able to forget wrongs committed against us.” She paused, then went on, “I came here to find peace, and I have.”
Colt looked at the dreary surroundings. He knew it wasn’t his right to judge, but what a terrible place to live. He’d never claimed to be religious. He figured that if there was a Supreme Being he would worry about it later. If Dani felt otherwise, then so be it. But did she have to live in such bleakness? He supposed it wasn’t important that he understand. It was her life, not his. “I suppose I’ve ruined this for you. That nun was pretty angry with you.”
Dani di
dn’t look at all concerned. “God’s will be done. God brought you here, so He meant for me to help you. Now, tell me what you want me to do.”
“Nothing, I guess,” Colt told her. “I just had to see you and talk to you and—forgive me, but I had to make sure you had nothing to do with any of this. I’ll go back to Monaco now and get the gold. I’ll deposit your share in a bank for you, if that’s what you want me to do.”
Dani’s eyes widened. “No. It is not necessary that my share go to the church immediately. Take my share back with you and buy back the ranch and the mine. Protect my interest as you do your own, and one day, my share will go to the church. Maybe this way I can make up, somehow, for all that’s happened to you. My share should be aiding the Coltrane family.”
“You don’t have to make up for anything,” he told her firmly. “None of this was your fault.”
She clasped his hand and gave him a sad smile. “Maybe it was, in a way. Had I been stronger, more like Kitty, Alaina might not have been able to turn my head and take me away from my family. Let me make restitution in some way. Take my share back with you, John Travis.”
Branch could remain silent no longer. “That will be a help, miss.”
Colt glared at him, and Branch shrugged apologetically.
Briana offered shyly, “Don’t worry, Dani. I’ll do everything I can to help, too.”
Colt stiffened, and Dani asked, “Why were you persuaded to sign over your interest to her? I know you thought she was your sister, but why would you want to give away everything that was yours?”
Branch glanced away uncomfortably. He had pretty well figured out what had gone on between the two. Now, from the way Colt was looking and the way Briana was looking, it didn’t take much to figure his suspicions were right.
Dani had spent most of her life around Alaina, and she began to realize why Briana and her brother looked so uncomfortable. She paled.
For a brief instant, Briana almost exploded with the need to tell Colt the truth. But would it make things worse for Colt to find out he had been doubly swindled? She didn’t know anymore. She was so confused. Why make him hate her even more? If she told him the truth, she couldn’t do so in front of other people.
Love and Fury: The Coltrane Saga, Book 4 Page 28
