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‘What makes you think you might have to adopt a disguise?’
‘Well, you never know, do you?’
‘Oh, yes, I do. You will take no part in the rescue.’
‘You might need me.’
‘Never!’
That one word silenced her. The pleasure went out of the evening. She had been rejected yet again.
The carriage came to a stop outside the Embassy and Sam jumped down to open the door for them. Lisette preceded them into the house, made her excuses and went straight up to her room.
‘What’s the matter with madam?’ Sam asked, fetching the half-empty bottle of Calvados and a couple of glasses from the cupboard in the salon. ‘Did the evening not go well?’
‘It went as well as can be expected. Robespierre assures me that the French government has no plans to declare war on England, though we are in bad cess with them over our willingness to shelter émigrés. He would like us to force them to return, but I told him we could not do that. England is a free country, they are welcome to stay as long as they abide by our laws. They want the names of anyone helping them out of France.’
‘Lord Portman and Nathaniel Kingslake, for instance,’ Sam said. ‘And you and me.’
‘Yes. James Smith is the only name they have.’
‘Is that a sticking point?’
‘I do not think so. They are fully committed to war in Europe, they cannot afford to go to war with us. They haven’t the men or the money.’
‘What about Giradet?’
‘Ah, Giradet. What did you find out about La Force?’
‘It was once the residence of the Duc de la Force, but was converted into a prison twelve years ago. It is a warren of rooms and corridors, all secure and well guarded. Which one houses Monsieur Giradet, I have not yet been able to ascertain. If we are going to get him out of there, it will have to be by subterfuge—we’d need an army to fetch him out by force.’
‘My thoughts exactly. We could try the same method we used to free his father.’
‘You mean pretend to be guards conveying him to his trial? Do you know when it will be?’
‘Not yet.’
‘I suppose you can’t ask Monsieur Martin to find out.’
‘No. I have to keep my government business and the rescue of Giradet as far apart as possible. Unfortunately, Miss Giradet cannot understand that.’
‘Oh, I see. She is sulking.’
‘No, I do not think she is sulking, she is simply angry with me.’
Sam laughed again. ‘I am thinking that it is as well you are not married to the lady—your life together would be tempestuous.’
‘Oh, I don’t know. She is frustrated. It might help if I could give her something to do that will not involve her in danger.’
‘Buy her some knitting.’
Jay laughed. He could not imagine Lisette sitting still long enough to knit. But it left him wondering just how well he knew the lady. Did she sew and embroider? Did she read? Did she like shopping for clothes? What was there to buy in Paris?
He put the suggestion to her the next morning. She seemed to have forgotten their disagreement and was anxious to please him. He was not sure if that boded well or ill. ‘We may be here longer than I thought,’ he said. ‘Two gowns and a skirt and blouse are hardly enough.’
‘It is more than some women have,’ she said, surprised that he knew the contents of her meagre wardrobe.
‘True, but you are not some women. If we are asked to another function, you cannot appear in the same dress. I will give you assignats to go shopping, but make sure you take Madame Gilbert with you.’
‘And what will you be doing while I am gone?’
‘What I came to France to do.’
‘Making peace with the monsters?’
‘Yes, but also trying to free your brother.’
‘You have a plan?’ she asked eagerly.
‘Not yet. I need to find out everything I can, whereabouts in the prison he is being held and the routine of the guards, when and where he will be tried and on what charge. Then I need to appoint a defence lawyer whom we can trust to help us.’
‘You mean to try and defend him in a court of law? You know the result of that is a foregone conclusion. He will be sentenced to death.’
‘I hope and pray it will not come to that.’
As soon as they finished their breakfast, he left to go about his business and Lisette and Madame Gilbert set off to look for clothes. Many of the shops had been looted, even those selling ladies’ finery. Lisette had seen several women in bedraggled gowns that had once been fashionable, the material of which was too fine to last in the hurly-burly life of a Parisian peasant. they were already so faded and grubby it was difficult to tell the colour they had originally been. She was not looking for finery and eventually they found a bolt of blue silk and a mantua maker to make it into a gown. Stays were another matter. There were none to be had except second-hand ones and she would not buy those. The dressmaker was instructed to make a simple round gown with a bodice that closed at the front. That done, Lisette went in search of masculine garments.
