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‘Oh, no, you don’t.’
She squirmed round, but she already knew who held her. Jay was looking very annoyed and very determined. ‘I was only going to ask if Michel is there,’ she told him.
‘He is not. Louis is not allowed to have any of his old retainers with him.’ He turned her round to walk back the way she had come. She did not resist.
‘He has been arrested, his valet told me so.’
‘So that was what you were doing at the Palace.’
Mr Roker must have followed her, or Albert Mouchon, ordered to do so by Jay, who did not trust her, after all. ‘I wonder you did not think of enquiring there yourself.’
‘Oh, but I did. Michel was arrested for assaulting a Deputy, one by the name of Henri Canard, and for assisting in the escape of the ci-devant Comte Giradet. He is in La Force.’ La Force, situated in the Rue du Roi Sicile, was one of the many prisons in Paris.
‘Who told you that? Auguste said he did not know where he was.’
‘I have ways of learning these things,’ he said. ‘It is a pity you cannot trust me.’
She did not know what to say to that and was silent as they made their way through the crowded streets to the Embassy. No one challenged them, though she was on tenterhooks that they might. Once someone pushed past her, nearly knocking her over. Jay grabbed her and from then on kept her arm firmly in his.
‘What else did you learn?’ she asked, glad of his strength, though she would not admit it.
‘About your brother?’
‘Yes. I care nothing for politics.’
‘It is politics and politicians that have brought France to this pass. They cannot agree among themselves about what is to be done, but if Marat has his way, every nobleman in France will lose his head. It is to be hoped that less bloodthirsty factions will restrain him.’
She glanced up at one of the bodies swinging gently from a lamp post. ‘They don’t seem to be having much success.’
‘No, which is why we must proceed with caution.’
‘So, what are you going to do?’
‘Tonight, you and I are going to dine with Maximilien Robespierre. He is a committed Republican, so mind what you say.’
‘I do not wish to go. He is one of the chief oppressors.’
‘Whether you wish it or not, you will, as my wife, accompany me.’
‘According to Auguste I am wanted for aiding my father’s escape. If Monsieur Robespierre learns of that, not even you will be able to save me.’
‘I am aware of that. It is why you are here as my wife, to give you some degree of protection.’ He ushered her into the house. ‘I must go and change and you should, too. Nothing too elaborate, we do not want to embarrass our host.’
‘I do not have anything elaborate. I brought only what I could carry in a portmanteau. I have clothes in plenty at Villarive which I was obliged to leave behind. No doubt Henri Canard’s wife is enjoying them. According to Auguste he has taken over the château and is living like a lord.’ She gave a short, humourless laugh. ‘Is it not strange that those who advocate equality and want to do away with the nobles are the first to ape them when the opportunity arises?’
‘It is human nature. Now go and change. Come down to the salon when you are ready. We must give you a new history, an English one.’
They parted on the landing to go to their separate rooms. Lisette turned her clothes out on the bed. There were only two gowns to choose from: a dark blue cambric and a rose-coloured taffeta with a plain quilted stomacher. She chose the latter as being more suitable for an evening occasion. It had no false hips or cage, neither of which could be accommodated in her luggage. With no one to dress her hair, she simply brushed it out and tied it back with a ribbon. Then she made her way downstairs.
Jay was already in the salon. Dressed in a plain suit of dark blue cloth with a dove-grey waistcoat and white shirt, he was standing with his back to the fire. He moved away when she entered and came forwards to take her hand and lead her to a sofa.
‘We have half an hour before we need to leave,’ he said, sitting down beside her and retaining her hand in his. ‘And we must decide who you are and how we came to meet and marry. I think it will be safer if you are English with no French antecedents.’
‘Very well. I could use my mother’s maiden name of Wentworth.’
‘Not that,’ he said sharply.
‘You do not like it?’
‘It will not serve.’
‘Will you tell me why?’
‘It is too well known and too easily checked.’
Curiosity got the better of her. ‘Is that the only reason? I noticed your reaction on a previous occasion when the name was mentioned. There is, I think, some enmity there.’
