Darkest Longings (7 page)

Lorvoire.

For the moment shock paralysed her senses so that all she

could do was stare. Not in her wildest dreams had she

imagined him to look like that. He was tall, taller even than

Beavis, and his unfashionably long hair, which was combed

straight back from his forehead and curled over his collar,

was as black as night. His head was bowed and he appeared

intent upon what his companions were saying, then he

turned slightly, and Claudine started as she saw the

pronounced hook of his nose beneath the heavy, hawklike

eyes. His mouth was set in a firm line of concentration, but

she could see the cruelty in it as clearly as she could see the

hideous scar that curved jaggedly round his cheek bone to

his jaw. He was the ugliest, most sinister-looking man she

had ever seen.

Her mind started a slow spin, adding a strange lightheadedness

to her stupor. She was both appalled and

mesmerized; she couldn’t tear her eyes away as she felt

herself responding to the bewildering force of his presence.

It seemed to fill the room, to push aside the guests, opening

a path between them and pull her towards him. But he

wasn’t even looking at her, he didn’t know she was there.

Her lips parted, but still she made no sound, and her eyes

remained unblinking as a remote tightening sensation

spread throughout her body, engulfing her in feelings she

couldn’t begin to recognize.

Beside her, her father, though he was making a pretence of

talking to Solange, was quite aware of his daughter’s confusion.

Then suddenly Louis was mere too, taking his wife by

the arm and leading her away, almost as if he knew that Beavis

and Claudine needed this moment to themselves. Claudine

looked at her father, still too shaken to find her voice.

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said.

‘But why? Why did you… ?’

‘Claudine,’ he interrupted, ‘I have, from the start, made it

clear to you that the decision is yours. You have, of course,

put yourself in an extremely difficult position by letting

everyone know why you are here. However, should you …’

‘But he’s so … Oh, dear God, Papa.’

Beavis looked across the room with a grim smile. Then

turning back to her, he said, ‘You will, of course, meet him.’

It was the closest to an order she had ever heard him give.

It made her feel dizzy, and it brought, too, a suffocating

sense of betrayal. But worse was the feeling that she was

suddenly a stranger to herself; new sensations were confusing

her, frightening her almost. Then, as though they had a

will of their own, she found her eyes moving back to Francois. He was talking now to Anton Veronne, a man Claudine had always considered handsome. Yet strangely,

beside Francois Anton seemed almost insignificant. Then

she realized that so too did all the men around him.

Again she looked at Francois, and this time her mouth

dried with shock. He was looking at her, and his expression

made her want to step behind her father, to have him protect

her from such malevolence. But sensing her intention,

Beavis moved away into the crowd, leaving her still bound by

that invidious gaze.

Claudine blinked. It was inconceivable that someone

could have such an effect on her - but then she had never

before met anyone who emanated such power. She was

afraid, though she didn’t know why, and yet she was unable

to wrest her eyes from his. In the end, Francois was the first

to turn away, but as he released her eyes, instead of being

relieved she felt as though she had been cast adrift, left to

drown in her own internal confusion, and without realizing

what she was doing she found her arms starting to move

from her sides as if they were seeking something to save her.

‘It’s all right, cherie, I’m here.’

Claudine spun round to find Celine standing beside her

with a glass of brandy. ‘Drink it,’ she insisted. ‘You’ve had a

shock, you need something.’

‘A shock?’

‘Don’t pretend, Claudine, I saw your face.’

Unthinkingly Claudine took the brandy and sipped it.

‘Did you see the way he looked at me, Tante Celine?’ she

whispered. ‘It was as if he hated me.’

Celine smiled. ‘No, cherie, he doesn’t hate you. It is simply

the way he looks. Which, I take it, is nothing like what you

imagined.’

Already beginning to realize how ridiculous she had

made herself, and acutely aware of the curious glances

being thrown in her direction, Claudine forced herself to

smile. To her surprise, this actually made her feel better and

suddenly her indomitable sense of humour broke free

of the lingering pinions of shock, so that she actually

laughed aloud at her melodramatic reaction to her first sight

of the man she had vowed to marry. ‘Never mind,’ she said,

giving Celine an impulsive hug. ‘Anyway, now I shall go and

meet him.’

But to her consternation, he seemed to have disappeared.

‘What an infuriating man,’ she muttered. And then her

heart gave a monstrous lurch as a voice behind her said,

‘Would you be looking for me, by any chance?’

With every pulse hammering in her body, Claudine

turned around, and steeling herself, lifted her head to meet

the black eyes that gazed down at her from beneath their

hooded lids. For one fleeting second she thought she

detected a glint of humour in them, but then his shadowed

face was once again as severe as the tone of his deep,

strangely alluring voice, as he said to Celine, ‘If you can

bring yourself to do it, I should appreciate an introduction,

Celine.’

Celine’s response was delivered through gritted teeth.

‘Claudine, may I present Francois de Rassey de Lorvoire.

Francois, my niece, Claudine Rafferty.’

Thank you,’ he answered. ‘Now, as Mademoiselle

Rafferty has seen fit to inform half of Paris as to the purpose

of her visit here today, I’m sure there are a number of people

in this room requiring details of her first introduction to me.

Perhaps you would care to oblige, Celine.’

Celine’s gasp of outrage took his eyes, which had not yet

moved from Claudine’s, to hers. ‘How dare you!’ she

hissed. ‘I am not a servant to be dismissed …’

‘Celine, please go.’

Claudine watched as her aunt drew herself to her full

height and stalked off. Then turning back to Francois, she

said, ‘Was it necessary to be so rude?’

‘Shall we just say I try not to disappoint expectation,’ he

answered smoothly. ‘Now, unless you want to stand here

being ogled by the entire gathering, I suggest we take a walk

in the garden.’

There was an unmistakable lull in the general conversation

as Francois held open the door for her to walk out

ahead of him. She followed him through the dimly lit hall,

past the wide mahogany staircase and into a small, untidy

sitting-room. Curtains fluttered at the tall, open windows,

and Francois stepped over the sill onto the gravelled

courtyard outside, then turned back to give her his hand.

For a moment Claudine was confounded by the extreme

tightness of her skirt, and looking up, saw his eyes narrow

with impatience at her hesitation. By the time she had

hitched her dress up over her thighs, however, he had

already started down the wide stone steps that led down to

the water garden. He neither stopped nor turned round

when she started to follow - and pride prevented her from

hurrying after him.

When at last she caught up with him, he was standing

with one foot on the low wall surrounding a small, circular

fountain where three cherubs with arms and wings

entwined in stone spouted water from their pouting lips. He

had rested his arms on his knee and was gazing thoughtfully

down at the goldfish darting about in the pool.

Joining him, Claudine perched on the wall, and crossing

her legs demurely at the ankles began trailing a hand through the cool water. After a while the silence became uncomfortable. She was hunting about in her mind for a way

to begin, yet at the same time was stubbornly determined

not to. After all, he was the host, it was the correct thing for

him to address her first. But the awkwardness became so

insufferable that, unable to disguise her irritation, she said

at last, ‘Do you intend to speak at all?’

To her amazement and outrage, he merely threw her a

quick glance, then returned to his study of the fish.

She stood up, and as she walked round him he pulled at

his bow tie, loosening the knot until it was free of his collar.

Then he resumed his stance. The most infuriating thing

was that he gave every appearance of being completely

oblivious to her discomfort.

‘What were you thinking when you looked at me earlier?’

she demanded.

Casting her a look from the corner of his eye, he said, ‘I

wasn’t aware of thinking anything.’

Claudine decided to swallow her temper and try a

different approach. ‘Papa tells me you were delayed in

Paris,’ she ventured.

There was a brief pause before he spoke, but still he

didn’t look up. ‘My apologies for keeping you waiting.’ His

tone was so thick with sarcasm that she felt the colour rush

to her cheeks.

‘If the apology were meant I’d accept it,’ she snapped. ‘As

it is …’

He made no response to her unfinished sentence though

she stared furiously at him for several minutes. Then,

before she could give herself time to think, she had kicked

his foot from the wall so that he was suddenly ankle-deep in

the fountain. To hell with him, she thought, as she marched

angrily along the cobbled path. Then, hearing the slosh of

water as he drew his foot from the fountain, she started to

grin. She felt even better when she heard his footsteps

behind her, but she didn’t stop until she reached a nearby

lily pound, by which time her shoulders were shaking with

suppressed laughter.

‘I take it,’ he said, as he came to stand beside her, ‘that it is

your childish behaviour that so amuses you.’

‘Actually, no,’ she replied. ‘It’s your pomposity that so

amuses me. And after just these few minutes of knowing

you, I can already understand why Tante Celine dislikes you

so intensely.’

When she looked up into his face she could see that her

words had not succeeded in ruffling him at all, but when he

looked back at her she felt a horrible heat burn across her

cheeks, and turned quickly away.

‘Tell me,’ he said, ‘has Celine ever cared to enlarge upon

why she dislikes me so intensely?’

‘Are you going to tell me?’ she countered.

‘No.’

They lapsed into silence again, and Claudine, assuming

an air of nonchalance, looked about her. They were on the

edge of the forest here, and there were several inviting

pathways leading into the trees.

‘Why are you making this so difficult?’ she asked

eventually.

His answering laugh was more of a sneer. ‘My dear girl,’

he said, ‘if you are expecting protestations of love and

promises of undying devotion, then I am afraid you are

going to be disappointed.’

‘I was expecting nothing of the kind,’ she snapped. But a

small interior voice told her that that wasn’t strictly true. I

Suddenly she had had enough and reaching up to remove

the pin from her hat, she shook out her curls, and started off

into the forest. Should he take it upon himself to come after

her, then maybe she would try again - providing he

apologised first, of course - but as it was, she really didn’t

see why she should put up with his rudeness any longer.

And so, hitching her skirt up over her knees and gripping

the branches to help her up the steep path, she climbed

higher and higher into the woods.

As she reached the brink of the hill the shadows gave way

to bright sunlight, and she found herself in a narrow

meadow from which there was the most magnificent view

over the next valley. Every hillside, for as far as the eye could

see, was covered with row upon row, acre upon acre of leafy

vines, and at the heart of the valley, where the river

shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight, was a cluster of tiny

cottages.

The unexpected and awe-inspiring spectacles of nature

never failed to move Claudine, and by the time Francois

came up behind her she was too delighted to bother about

his earlier unpleasantness, or to feel any satisfaction that he

had followed her again.

‘It’s so beautiful,’ she murmured.

‘I’m glad you like it,’ he said, coming to stand next to her.

‘And these are all your vineyards?’

‘Yes,’ he answered.

Every time he drew near her, she felt a thrill of such

excitement, such recklessness … She should be repulsed

by his ugliness, and yet… She could not make sense of

what she was feeling. Could it be fear? All she knew for

certain was that she found his physical presence deeply

disturbing, and she moved away from him, walking on