Broken Legacy (Secret Lives Series) (24 page)

Prosecutor Fouquier gestured for her to pause. “I believe we understand, Citizeness. Instead of staying, you ran. You may continue from there.”

“I had no place to run except back to the only home I had known…Nana Adele. If I went back to my uncle’s, he would have been forced to return me. My father…it was not an option. It was dangerous also for Nana Adele. So Luc took me to his cottage situated in a remote area outside Calais. We knew it was wrong…perilous…We planned to marry…run to America. We were going to where the status on one’s birth didn’t matter…only…only the vicomte found me…”

She stopped, choking back her emotions. An eerie silence hushed the
 courtroom on her confession. Through the blur of her tears, she saw all eyes upon her.  

“Please
, Citizeness, continue,” Prosecutor Fourquier brutally pushed. “You and your lover were discovered by the vicomte. If you allow, I will relate what I understand. You were with child at the time. The vicomte took the child from you immediately after her birth. He used her to blackmail your compliance to his wishes. It was at this time that your lover was arrested and tortured for giving you aid. It is here that I must insist that you give us details of what transpired.”

What seemed to be an eternity was in truth only moments; Eloise found all silent
, waiting for the finish to her tale. She breathed in deeply as the comprehension of the irony swept through her. Prosecutor Fouquier set up a defense for Miranda without her uttering another word, laid out an acquittal with facts, not on her case but Eloise’s. Outlaying that if one aristocrat had performed so monstrously, so, too, had the other. Now Eloise had only to relate the horror she lived.

Transported back to that night, all around Eloise felt surreal
, as if the words came from another. She looked back up at the prosecutor, the president, and then at her husband who was being restrained. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Eyes stared back at her. She couldn’t breathe. She could feel her legs weakened beneath her. The next moment, everything went black.

A fog surrounded her. Within the haze, she could make a man’s naked body laying oddly on the ground, cut from four stakes that expanded the width of his limbs. Every bone in his body had been broken and shattered before having been tied to the wheel. It had been Calognac who forced her to watch every moment of the brutal, inhuman torture. Luc’s cries shattering her as Calognac’s man took an iron bar and crushed his arms and legs.

Oh, God let it end!
Calognac held her, making sure she did not miss any of it. Then the fiend released her and he walked to the motionless Luc. He knelt and taunted the dying man, whispering loud enough for Eloise hear Calognac describe every vivid detail of what he had planned for Eloise and their child. She saw Luc resist, useless, but he cried out. “Rosabel. Save her, Eloise…”

She watched Luc struggle for a breath. Calognac laughed and drank down the last of the bottle of whiskey he held in his hand. Quite drunk, Calognac gestured to his men to depart. “I need time alone with my wife! My wife will learn the meaning of submission!”

Calognac laughed, a horrible, mocking laugh and grasped hold of her.

“What did you tell Luc?” Eloise demanded.

“Only what happens to those who disobey me, my darling wife! Did you think you had escaped my wrath tonight? You will wish you were dead by the time I am through, but I will not let you die.”

“I do not care what you do to me!” she screamed at the man. “Rosabel? What did you tell him of my daughter?”

“I painted a clear picture of what lay in store for you and your child…I was quite descriptive…do you want to know? Do you want to know the path that will lead to her death…it will not be an easy one…You have witnessed what I’m capable of,” he sneered. “And then I will feed what is left of her to the dogs!”

“No! No! No!” she screamed. Frantic
, she charged at him. Hitting him over and over again, but he laughed and pushed her down on the ground. Scrambling in the dark, she crawled her way to Luc’s side and cradled his head in her lap. Tears flooded unchecked down her face. She didn’t know how long she sat. Only when she looked up, he towered above her.

His face…didn’t look human. In the dark night’s light, his bulging wild eyes illuminated his intent. His lips tightened firm into a wicked grin
, as if anticipating his foregone satisfaction with her punishment. Trepidation surged throughout her body.

Her heart raced. She scrambled backwards, scooting over the ground where Luc’s blood had spilled. Calognac’s laugh echoed all around her. She felt his arms grip her leg. Frenziedly, she fought, grasping anything she could reach.

Calognac jerked her up and she swung wildly with a sharp stick, cutting his face and pushing her back with such force she stumbled over Luc’s body. She looked up. Calognac reached up to his face and pulled back his hand covered in blood.

The look in his eyes…never had she seen such rage. She was a dead woman. She saw but could not move. His eyes narrowed and stepped toward her. Then he lunged. Self-preservation instincts responded and she rolled to the side. The moment froze in time. Calognac tripped over Luc’s body and spiraled onto one of the stakes
, headfirst.

Eloise stared
, unbelieving the sight before her. It was as if Luc had grasped Calognac’s leg, but that would have been impossible. Yet, Calognac lay motionless …dead. Luc…Luc’s eyes frozen open, only…his eyes blinked.

“Find her, Eloise.” Luc’s words echoed in the haze.

Eloise bolted upright for a moment, not knowing where she was. Cupping her face in her hands, she calmed herself.
It was only a dream. Only a dream.
Suddenly, comprehension of where she was swept through her.

“Do not be scared,
mademoiselle,” a small voice comforted her. “That man said he would return momentarily.”

Eloise looked down. Louie Frances sat beside her on the floor. His tiny hand patted hers. She gripped his tightly. “Thank you for your kindness,” she uttered in a low voice. She glanced around the room.

No one else was within and she heard no commotion. How long had she been out? She needed to compose herself. The trial…

Then the door opened. Giarden walked in, smiling broadly.

“Congratulations, Citizeness. The jury returned a rare acquittal.”

* * * *

A terrible sound echoed in the corridor. A roar erupted, again and again. Another prisoner received a guilty verdict no more than fifteen minutes after Citizeness Miranda Ralston received her acquittal. A diversion, no doubt. The people came to the courts for one reason: blood—vengeful passion for the heads of all those responsible for their misery to pay. These creatures took pleasure from the thought of another head dropping from Madame Guillotine.

Lenister stood staring at the filled hallway. He waited…in vain. Eloise would not be appearing to return with him and the children. Never had sadness enveloped him so deeply.
Bloody Hell!

It shouldn’t have…no…
he needed to collect himself. He had his children. He could never put into words the moment he held his children in his arms again. His children…his precious children. He never…ever thought he would be able to wrap his arms around them again. But at what price?

He had hoped, prayed, but the reality was no matter his words, he doubted his success in this mission. He wouldn’t have been…nor would he have a chance of escape from Paris without his wife.

From the moment he saw Eloise enter the courtroom, he understood well what Giarden planned and there wasn’t a damn thing at that point he could do to stop it. Every word she uttered cut through him like a knife. Then she fainted; he had to be physically restrained. If not for Marc Pierre, he had no doubt he would have been arrested.

The guard held tight
ly to Lenister’s arm while Marc Pierre finished testifying for Eloise. Marc Pierre’s words confirmed every aspect of her tale, but Lenister could not take his eyes off the door Eloise had been carried out. The guard released him only after the verdict was read. Freed! Miranda was freed. He had done as he promised the colonel. Now, he had only to leave Paris with his family.

“Come, Lenister,” a voice called from behind him. Lenister turned to see Marc Pierre standing with a young child by his side. “This is Louie Frances, Citizeness Ralston
’s young son.”

Lenister nodded. He wondered briefly why Miranda hadn’t mentioned where her young son had gone when she was freed, but he had no time to waste trying to figure out the woman.

Marc Pierre leaned over for Lenister’s ears only. “Come. Now. We haven’t another choice. Rest assured I won’t let this pass.”

Lenister sighed heavily. No, the man wouldn’t. Marc Pierre was in love with his wife
, whether the man realized it or not. Lenister comprehended it quickly upon the first time he was introduced to Marc Pierre.

“But of course,” Lenister agreed.

Marc Pierre was correct also in the assumption they had to get Miranda and the children as far away from this place and as quickly as they could. Lenister broke his gaze from the corridor. Many times in his military career, he had his back up against the wall. This was different. It was his family, his heart, the reason for his living…his children…his wife.

Lenister followed Marc Pierre. The children and Miranda would be waiting in the carriage. He had to make sure they got safely out of Paris
, away from this madness. Walking down the steps of the courthouse, he caught sight of a man who sauntered out the door with a wide grin. Giarden.

Lenister’s eyes narrowed as a rage burned within him. Suddenly, a tiny hand reached up and took his.

“Monsieur,” he whispered until Lenister leaned down.

“Louie France
s, you must use Citizen…” Lenister corrected the little one.

“
Oui..oui
. I am sorry, but the lady said,” he said, tugging on Lenister’s sleeve. “She said to tell you that it is well your children have been freed. She said,” he paused as if remembering the exact words, “you need to get everyone out of Paris. It is what she wants.” The young boy looked up at Lenister. “You will. Won’t you?”

“Yes,” Lenister said. “I will.”

Lenister pressed his lips tightly together. He would not let Eloise down. He would get the children safely out of Paris, but he was not going to leave her. He would make certain his children were safe in England, but he was never going to leave this place without her. He would see to his children’s safety. Then nothing else mattered except her.

Lenister paced back in forth in the small room. He stewed in his anger, directing most of it at the only occupant in the chamber. The room had no furniture. Two windows faced each other on opposite walls with only one door as an exit
. A private compartment to talk, nothing more.

“I gave my word to Eloise. If nothing else, it should convince you of my intentions.”

The voice came from an obscure corner of the room. Lenister’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clutched tightly as he turned to face the man leaning against the wall. Lenister grimaced at the sight of Marc Pierre still dressed in his balgoon uniform. Doing little to conceal his growing ire, he asked, “Forgive me if I’m not as trusting as Eloise.”

Marc Pierre’s own frustration surged out openly. “
Lord Lenister, it is quite unnecessary to take your anger out on me.”

Lenister drew in a deep breath. He needed to get a grip on his emotions. They would only interfere with his mission. He needed to concentrate. Frustration and resentment swelled within him, not only at his attempt at rescuing his wife, but at Miranda’s dramatics and his…his man’s words.

Good Gawd!
The children held themselves together better than Miranda. She had already swooned twice, once in the carriage and once more on their return to Marc Pierre’s apartments.

Gone was any semblance of love he held for the woman. Without question, she had lost little of her beauty except she was dreadfully thin. Her cheeks hallowed, but her manner had changed little. The selfish creature had done little to comfort her terrified children.

Patience
, Seamus had urged him. “The children are already on edge. Do not forget that it was not only the children who survived the terror. She has lived without hope for months. It would be only natural to want to leave this city swiftly.”

But Lenister could not
bear to look at her…nothing was as it was supposed to be. Eloise…Eloise should be beside him. Instead, the children huddled to themselves, clinging to each other while their mother lay upon the couch, unconscious.

Time was
running out if they had any hope of saving Eloise. Of that Marc Pierre and he could agree, but little else. When Marc Pierre returned from the courthouse, he had immediately sought a private audience with Lenister.

Tension filled the air of Paris. Giarden turned the tide of sympathy to Eloise, but neither Marc Pierre or Lenister thought the goodwill would extend long to
Lenister. He stood for everything they hated.

“Damnation
, man! Do you not believe that I looked into your past before you arrived?” Marc Pierre growled at him. “You are well known in Paris. Do you not know I suspect you have bribed everyone who has had any connection to your children? I know you saw them on your last visit. I know you well have paid for their extra food and comforts.”