AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Giradet,’ he repeated. ‘How strange. I have heard that name.’
Of course he would know the name, his sister had married her father! ‘Perhaps you read it in the London newspapers,’ she said, thinking quickly. ‘The Comte’s arrival in England was hailed as a triumph.’
‘Yes, that must be it. If my memory serves me, he was taken out of France by two Englishmen.’
Only then did she realise the damage she had done. It would not be difficult for him to fill in the whole story with what she had told him, James Smith’s real name, the names of Lord Portman and his friends, not to mention her own and the fact that she and Jay were not married. If he hated Jay as much as Jay hated him, there could be terrible repercussions. ‘You do not need to tell Monsieur Robespierre about that, do you? It would be an ungrateful way to repay those concerned for saving the Comte and his daughter from almost certain death.’
He smiled. ‘You may trust me to do what I can, Mrs Drymore.’
‘And please, do not say anything to my husband.’
He laughed. ‘My dear, you may depend on that. I have no wish to converse with that gentleman.’
‘Thank you.’ She looked up to see Jay striding towards them, his coat open and flapping out behind him. She turned to bid her companion good day, but he had disappeared down a side road leading to the Tuileries Gardens.
Chapter Nine
‘Lisette, was that Gerald Wentworth?’ Jay asked when he reached her.
‘Yes, we met quite by chance and passed the time of day.’
He turned to walk beside her. ‘Speaking of time of day, what are you doing out so early and without an escort? Don’t you know how risky that is?’
‘Why is it risky? I am an Englishwoman, a stranger to France, who speaks no French. Who would be interested in me?’
‘Wentworth, perhaps? Did you tell him who you really were?’
‘Certainly not. That would be madness.’
‘I am glad you realise it. Did you have breakfast before you left?’
‘No.’
‘Then let us go back to the Embassy and have it together.’ He took her hand and tucked it beneath his elbow. ‘I need to talk to you.’
‘About your wife? About Marianne?’
‘No, why did you say that?’ he asked in surprise. ‘What has Wentworth been telling you?’
‘He told me you had driven your wife away with your cruelty and that she fled to him and died falling from her horse.’
‘I told you how she died myself.’
‘So you did, but you did not tell me about Mr Wentworth.’
‘It is not something I wish to talk about or even remember. I beg you to refrain from bringing up the subject, we have more important things to discuss if you wish to free your brother.’
He had become once again the ice-cold man she had met in Honfleur. ‘You know I do.’
‘Then let us concentrate on that.’
She gave up. He was not going to tell her his side of the story, but perhaps that meant there was some truth in what Mr Wentworth had told her and he was ashamed. She looked sideways at him, wondering if she ought to be afraid of him, but found she was not. He might belay her with words, but he had never once threatened her person. Apart from taking her hand now and again, he had never even touched her. Sometimes, during that long journey from Calais to Paris she had wanted him to take her in his arms, to make her feel that she meant something to him, but he never had, not even when they had shared a bed. Ought she to feel glad of that? Why, oh, why were her emotions so confused?
They entered the ambassador’s residence and Sam joined them for breakfast. He was dressed in the dreadful garb of the night before. ‘I am going to La Force,’ he told them while eating the unappetising grey bread, butter and plum conserve which was all Madame Gilbert said she could obtain. She had put the food on the table together with a pot of coffee and gone off to do her housework, grumbling that she only had one pair of hands and could do with some help. Jay had promised to see what he could do.
‘Are you going to try to see Michel?’ Lisette asked Sam. Her early morning jaunt had made her hungry and she was obliged to overcome her distaste of the food to eat.
‘If I can.’
‘Tell him I am thinking of him and am doing my utmost to have him released.’
‘I will if we can speak without being overheard.’
‘What are you going to do, Commodore?’ she asked.
‘I am to meet Lord Portman. We are going exploring. I need to learn the geography of Paris.’
‘May I come?’
‘No. We will be going into some unsavoury quarters and your presence would cause curiosity and suspicion.’
