She scrambled up beside him and impulsively took his arm. For a moment he looked down at her and then put his arm about her shoulders and pressed her to him. His bulk and warmth enveloped her like a comforting mantle and she laid her head against his chest and allowed herself the luxury of feeling protected. He was her bulwark, strong and steadfast, and she needed someone like that. But sometimes she needed a little tenderness, too, and he did not seem able to provide that.
‘Thank you,’ she said, looking up at him. He was looking straight ahead, almost as if he were embarrassed by that simple show of affection.
‘For what?’
‘For saving my life again. Once more I am in your debt and I don’t know how to thank you.’
He removed his arm and took up the reins in both hands again. ‘You could try doing as you’re told.’
She drew back from him and looked into his face, expecting thunderous looks to match his words, but there was no sign of anger, only a quiet desperation. ‘I know. I am truly sorry. But I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t stay at the château. I had to leave.’
‘Why?’
‘To protect you.’
‘Protect me!’ He laughed. ‘How could you possibly protect me?’
‘By relieving you of a responsibility you find onerous and because you were right, we had outstayed our welcome. Men came to question your uncle after you left; after they had gone I heard the Marquis say you should never have brought me to them and he had to think of the safety of everyone else. I dared not wait for you to return.’
‘I half expected it. But my uncle satisfied them, I dare say.’
‘I think so, but then I thought of the risk my presence was causing them and you and so I decided to leave.’
‘And where did you think you were going?’
‘To Italy. I thought if I could cross the frontier …’
‘Without me? Without your brother?’
‘You could not find him. And the longer you searched, the greater the risk.’
He grinned. ‘You may set your mind at rest. Your brother is safe.’
‘Why didn’t you say so before?’ she cried, eyes bright with eagerness. ‘Where is he? Where did you find him? He’s not in trouble, is he?’
‘No more than he was before, but he will not leave Nanette and has gone back to the château to try and persuade her to come with us.’
‘Oh, no! He’ll be caught, just as I was.’ She paused, suddenly realising that no one at the château could have known she had been arrested. She had refused to give her name. And if that were so, how had Jack known where to look for her? ‘How did you know where to find me?’
‘You were seen leaving.’
‘Oh, I was followed. I guessed as much. Those men were the same ones who had been at the château. They found me in the stables at Malincourt.’
He twisted in his seat to face her. ‘What, in the name of all that’s holy, were you doing there?’
‘I was looking for somewhere to sleep for the night and I saw the gates and decided to go in.’
‘The place is in ruins.’
‘Yes, it must be very sad for you,’ she said gently.
‘Sadder for the ci-devant comte de Malincourt.’
‘Yes, to be sure. Did you know that coach had once belonged to the comte?’
‘Yes. We used it when we escaped the first time. We hid it in the barn of a deserted farm near Calais when we embarked for England. I remembered it when I needed a conveyance to get us to Paris.’
‘You didn’t want to take me to Paris, did you?’
‘Of course not. But as soon as you knew your brother was there, you were determined to go, with or without me. I could not allow you to run into danger, which you surely would have done had you gone alone.’
‘And then I did, in spite of your care. Oh, how angry you must have been that I had disobeyed you.’
‘Not angry,’ he said softly, remembering how he had felt when he had seen her hanging from the lantern. ‘There was no time for anger and afterwards …’ He shrugged and flicked the reins across the horse’s back, though, if he were honest with himself, he did not want it to go any faster. He was content for the moment just to have her safely by his side again.
When he had learned that she had been arrested, it had taken all his self-control not to dash after her and make a scene in the courtroom. He had pictured her in a crowded cell and then put up before the court and all the onlookers baying for blood like so many thirsty hounds. His first task had been to discover how much was known about her and what she had been accused of and then to devise a plan.
‘And then I went and did it again,’ she said. ‘How did you manage to save me this time? That jailer handed me over to you without a qualm. He was laughing.’
He smiled crookedly. ‘I used the same story that worked before. I told them you were my foolish wife, a complete scatter-brain. You were in the forest gathering firewood when you came upon the old coach. It had obviously been abandoned and so you came home and fetched the horse and harnessed it up and brought it to our cottage.’
‘How clever of you. They obviously believed you.’
‘Yes, I said I had told you to put it back where you found it, that we could be in grave trouble if we kept it.’
‘But what about my English sovereigns?’
‘You found them hidden in the coach. We quarrelled when you wanted to keep them. You went off in a temper while I was working in the fields and I did not know you had gone until a neighbour came and told me you had been arrested.’
‘I am so sorry, but the more I realise all the risks you have taken to rescue me, the more I wonder why.’
He threw back his head and laughed. ‘I should have thought that was self-evident, you keep putting yourself in need of rescuing.’
‘I am grateful, of course I am, but that doesn’t answer my question. You did not need to do it. I have no claim on you.’
He smiled slowly. The claim she had was unbreakable; it tied him to her with bonds stronger than chains. He would die for her. ‘Let us say I must and leave it at that, shall we?’
‘Because of James?’
‘James?’ He was puzzled. ‘What has he to do with it?’
‘He saved your life when you were arrested last year. Maybe you thought you owed it to him.’
‘Who told you about that?’
‘Nanette.’
‘My goodness, you did have a pretty little coze about me, didn’t you? What else did she say?’
‘That you had been betrayed. Is it true?’
‘You could say that. Did she say why and by whom?’
‘By your wife. Nanette said she was forced into it.’ She looked up at him, waiting for his comment but the only reaction was a slight twitch in his jaw and a tightening of his hands on the reins. He obviously still found it difficult to talk about. ‘It is a terrible situation to be in, being so frightened you say things you don’t mean.’
‘True. But you did not, did you? You were not so frightened that you confessed all you knew. That was very brave of you.’
She must have been terrified and he would not have blamed her if she had spoken out, but as soon as he got to the court and started telling his cock-and-bull story, he knew she had remained silent. And he had been so proud of her when he saw her emerging into the sunlit street with her head high. Gabrielle had not even been under duress and, in any case, what she had told the prosecutor had been a tissue of lies.
‘I know very little.’
‘Enough. I shall have to devise a way of making you safer.’
‘How?’
‘I shall think of something.’
He fell silent, as if cogitating on the problem, and Kitty used the opportunity to look about her. They were climbing steadily along a dusty track. The sun beat down and the heat shimmered on the distant hills. Either side of them were terraced vineyards with people hoeing between the bushes. It was too soon to be gathering grapes, but they hung in
clusters on the stems of the bushes, small and green. She wondered if the harvest was going to be good and hoped so for the people’s sake.
As they approached a crossroads, she noticed a man sitting on the ground beside a heap of stones which had been collected from the fields. He was eating a hunk of black bread, but stuffed it into his bag and rose as they approached. She gasped when she saw it was the roadmender.
‘Jack, that man …’ She nodded in his direction.
He laughed and pulled the horse to a halt. ‘It is my good friend, Thomas Trent.’
‘Your friend?’
‘Yes.’ He reached out and shook the man’s hand. ‘Bonjour, Thomas.’
‘Bonjour, mon vieux. Did you have any trouble?’
‘None at all. This, as you have no doubt guessed, is citoyenne Kitty Faucon, the bane of my life. Kitty, may I introduce Captain Thomas Trent.’
The captain smiled and climbed up beside her. ‘Bonjour, citoyenne. I am glad to make your acquaintance and only sorry you had to wait so long for rescue.’ His English was perfect and she realised, with a little sense of shock, that he was an Englishman.
‘You knew? Was it you who told Jack I had been arrested?’
‘Yes.’
‘I am glad you were there.’ She smiled. ‘You seem to be everywhere.’
He laughed, but made no comment. Jack set the horse off again, turning right and making for a stand of trees on the hills above the vineyards. She wondered where they were going, but did not dare ask.
Now there were three of them the intimacy she had shared with Jack was gone and she regretted its passing. For a little while he had seemed relaxed, willing to talk. He had almost dropped his guard. Almost. Now it was back again, as impenetrable as before.
‘Anything to report?’ he asked the roadmender.
‘No. I gave James your message.’
‘Any sign of the gendarmes?’
‘No, but they cannot be far away.’
‘Do you think they will be looking for us?’ Kitty asked.
‘Perhaps.’
‘But if they believed Jacques’s story …’
‘They would still follow it up.’
‘Then James is in danger. Jack, we must warn him. Where are we? How far is it to your uncle’s?’
He laughed. ‘You see, Thomas, what I have to contend with? She can’t help herself, you know. As soon as she scents an adventure, she must rush headlong into it …’
‘It’s no more than you do,’ she retorted.
‘I never rush headlong anywhere,’ he said, laconically. ‘I stop and think first.’
‘What are you thinking now?’
He smiled. ‘I am thinking that somehow, God knows how, I must cure you of your impetuosity.’
‘That’s not what I meant. I was speaking of warning James.’
‘Oh, that,’ he said calmly. ‘You must leave that to me, my dear. After all, there is nothing to connect Jacques Faucon and his erring wife with the ci-devant Marquis de Saint-Gilbert. Is there?’ He turned to look at her, requiring confirmation that she had said nothing to her captors.
‘No, I suppose not. If it was Monsieur Trent and not the gendarmes who saw me leave.’
‘Quite.’
‘But you told me to forget Jacques Faucon, to deny all knowledge of him.’
‘That was while we were at my uncle’s, where I expected you to stay. Your flight changed everything. We have left there now and nothing we say or do must lead anyone back there, you understand?’
‘Yes. I would not for the world betray his hospitality.’ She was a little hurt that he had even thought that she might, but, remembering what Gabrielle had done, she could understand why.
‘Turn left here,’ Thomas said, as they reached the edge of the woods. ‘The track is rough, but the cart will make it if you are careful.’
It was an understatement. It took all Kitty’s efforts to retain her seat and several times she grabbed Jack’s coat sleeve to save herself as they bumped their way between the trees. The only consolation was that they were now out of the sun and it was cooler. After several more concisely given directions they reached a clearing and there before them was a tiny cottage, dappled in sunlight.
They stopped in front of it and the Captain jumped down. ‘Here we are, safe as houses.’
Jack climbed down and turned to Kitty, holding out his hands to help her. ‘Come, my dear. This is as far as we go for the moment.’
She grasped his hand and jumped straight into his arms. After the relief of being rescued and sitting so long on the hard bench, she felt weak at the knees and unable to stand.
He held her for a moment longer than he needed to, savouring the feel of her small body against his, wishing he could claim it, to make love to her, to tell her she need never be afraid again. But that was foolish; they had a long way still to go and heaven knew what dangers still faced them. If only he could keep her safe. He had to, whatever it cost. She was dearer than life to him. He bent to put a kiss on her untidy curls and then released her.
‘Come inside,’ Thomas called to them from the door.
The little cottage was very primitive, having only one room downstairs, with a lean-to addition at the back, but it was clean and warm and the food Thomas prepared, though simple, was good and hot. Jack would not allow her to speak until she had eaten her fill, by which time she was feeling decidedly sleepy, although it was barely dusk.
‘Did you sleep last night?’ Jack asked, smiling at her.
‘No. There was no room to lie down and too much to think about.’
‘Then it’s time you went to bed.’ He reached out his hand towards her.
‘But what about James …?’
‘Leave your brother to us. Come along.’
It had been a long day. She had lived through terror and isolation even in the crowded cell, had felt herself slowly giving up hope. And then there had been the immeasurable relief at seeing Jack waiting for her, followed by that bone-shaking ride which had numbed her bottom. And meeting Captain Trent and eating and drinking while the two men talked generalities and never once mentioned their plans. It was all too much.
She took Jack’s proffered hand and allowed him to lead her across the room to a narrow staircase which led up to the loft. ‘Up you go.’
He followed as she climbed the stairs. There was only one room which contained a narrow bed and very little else. She stared at it, then turned to face him, noticing how tired he looked. His face seemed grey and the lines about his mouth and on his forehead were more pronounced, though his eyes still seemed able to see deep into hers and winkle out whatever thoughts she might be trying to keep hidden.
And the thoughts she were trying to hide were shameful. She wanted him to sleep with her, to hold her and make love to her, and she knew if they shared a bed again, it would happen. Since they had been at the château, they had behaved correctly towards each other, putting on a semblance of gentility with their good clothes, bowing and referring to each other by their titles and avoiding being alone together. Which was as it should be, she told herself, but it put a distance between them.
‘You may have the bed,’ she said. ‘You need it more than I do. I shall go downstairs. There is a settle …’
She turned to go down but he grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him. His own emotions were so ragged, he could only control them with levity, by teasing her; he could not handle tenderness, not now, not yet. ‘No. You will have my friend Thomas wondering what sort of a wife you are if you cannot be pleased to see me after the ordeal you have endured.’
‘You are despicable!’ Why, after all the time they had been together, she should choose this particular moment to think about propriety, she did not know.
‘You would rather I had left you to the mercy of Madame Guillotine?’
‘No, of course not. I am grateful for your timely rescue, but that doesn’t mean I am prepared to … to …’ She stopped because he was doubled up with mirth. �
�What are you laughing at?’
‘My poor dear Kitty, we travelled three hundred miles and spent—how many nights was it?—on the road, often in the same bed, what is so different now?’
She wanted to say, Because now I know I love you, because now I know that what I want most is to be your wife in reality and not just pretend, that if I lie beside you, I should surely give myself away. Because you are married and love your wife and I could never respect a man who betrayed his wife with me, however much I loved him. And because you are a nobleman and I am nothing, a nobody. Instead she said, ‘That was an expediency for the duration of our journey—’
‘Which is not yet ended. In fact, this is less than halfway. The second half will, I hope, take us back to England.’
‘Us? You mean you are coming too?’ She could not keep the pleasure from her voice.
‘Yes.’
‘And we go on as before?’
‘How can we? Things are different …’
‘Yes,’ she said. Did he mean different in the same way that she meant it? ‘Tomorrow, James will come and …’
‘And what will James do? Will he be able to make everything right again? James says he loves Nanette and wants to take her to England.’
‘She told me she would not leave her parents,’ she said.
‘Then James might want to stay here.’
‘It is too dangerous.’
‘Love conquers all, you said that yourself, or something very similar.’
She looked up at him then and he thought his heart would burst. She was extremely pale; there was no colour in her cheeks and there were dark smudges beneath her eyes and tears glistening on her lashes. He reached out and wiped them away with the back of his forefinger.
‘What are you trying to tell me?’ she asked. ‘That I have been on a wild goose chase? Do you think I don’t know that? I know I never should have come. I know I should have turned back at Calais. Judith would still be alive if I had. And even after you rescued me the first time, I could have said I did not want to go on to Lyons. It was not too late to turn back.’
Jack Chiltern's Wife (1999) Page 16
