Passion and Pride (A Historical Romance) (31 page)

“What?”

“Take off the sheets! I’ll be back!” she commanded, and left the room carrying the grey dress.

Evan shook his head, then quickly stripped the sheets and padding off the bed.

It was an elaborate wooden frame supporting four thick mattresses. He stood there wondering what the hell she was up to when Marian reentered
sans
dress, followed by the maid.

“When the soldiers come, you must tell them I threw him out angrily, that we had a lover’s quarrel – do you understand?”

“Yes, madame.”

“Here, help me with the top mattress!” she said to Blake.

The pulled the top mattress off completely, then slid the one underneath it out a couple of feet, so that its edge overlapped the two beneath it.

“Get in,” Marian directed.

Evan stared at the gap. “And do what?”

“Hide, of course!”

“Are you mad?! I’ll die of suffocation!”

“Get in, or we all die together!”

He pulled out his dueling pistol.

“What’s that for?!” she cried.

“If they find me.”

“One pistol against twenty muskets and swords?”

He grumbled, then rolled across the mattresses and dropped into the gap.

“Quickly, Francoise, put the other mattress on top of him!”

“Leave me a little room to breathe, for God’s sake!” Evan hissed as they laid the mattress on top of him.

There was a loud banging from the front door.

“Help me quickly!” Marian cried, and they hurriedly threw on the padding and sheets.

The banging intensified.

“I can get it from here – go, go!” Marian said, and shooed her maid out of the room.

It was no good. The bed looked like it had been slept in, the sheets were so disarrayed.

“Then I’ll just have to sleep in it,” she declared, and got into bed.

There was the sound of dozens of heavy footsteps on the floorboards of the main room, followed by a slight knock on the door.

You can do this,
Marian thought to herself.
There is nothing wrong, you are in bed, it has been a long day… you can do this.

Still, her heart was hammering in her chest, and the fear that ran through her was greater than any she had ever felt.

“Come in,” Marian called out.

The door opened and the maid peeked in. She looked absolutely terrified.

“Madame?”

“You may show the soldiers in,” Marian informed her.

The maid nodded and withdrew.

Within seconds, Lt. Villars strode into the room. He would have looked exceptionally handsome in his uniform, except that a cruel and brutish smile marred his face, and his eyes were full of malice.

He stopped short when he saw her in bed, though.

She was still wearing her shift, and nothing else. She was quite aware that the neckline was cut low, and that the plunging neckline exposed a great deal of her chest. That was why she had it tailor-made. If there was one thing Marian knew from her experience over the last two years, it was where men’s eyes wandered, and what they always looked at, no matter how hard they tried not to.

As though to confirm that fact, Villars’ eyes dropped to her breasts. He struggled to look into her eyes, but his gaze kept dipping back down.

“
Citoyenne
,” he said curtly.

“Lieutenant,” she said, allowing some of her fear to show through. She crossed her arms as though she were trying to protect herself – but it had the added benefit of pressing her breasts together and swelling their size.

Villars still continued the pretense that he was not looking at anything other than her face – but the dozen soldiers who followed him into the bedroom did not bother to play games. They were mostly farm boys and commoners, and their manners betrayed it.

It started with a low whistle.

“I’d keep
that
warm in the winter!” one of them quipped.

“I’d make her hot right now!” another one laughed.

“Lean forward a bit, Citizen!” a third hooted.

The entire company laughed – all except for Villars, who turned on them in jealous fury.

“QUIET!” he roared, and the men immediately went silent – though their eyes pawed Marian’s body like invisible hands.

He turned back to her, and she could see the possessiveness burning in his eyes.

That was another thing she had learned – to read men like open books. And then to pluck their emotions like violin strings.

If she played this right, she and Evan might just escape the guillotine yet.

“To what do I owe this honor, may I ask?” she said coolly.

“A routine check, nothing more,
Citoyenne
,” Villars said, and gave her a smile that managed to be both unctuous and mocking at the same time.

“And what are you looking for?”

“Members of the Swiss Guard.”

“I assure you, I am not harboring any of them, if that is your concern.”

Villars looked even more smug. “We have information that someone entered your apartment within the last thirty minutes.”

“Yes, Evan Blake,” she said simply. “The Englishman. You met him last night at the salon.”

The shock on Villars’ face was priceless. He had not expected her to be so forthright.

“But I made him leave,” Marian continued. “You can ask Francoise.”

The maid nodded her head mutely. She looked like she might faint dead away any second.

Before Francoise could do anything to ruin things, Marian barreled along. “He tried to get me to go with him. When I refused, he became verbally abusive. He left when I threatened to call the Guard – and here you are, thank God! Did you see him in the street as he left?”

“No, we did not,” Villars said, visibly less pleased.

“Did he do something?”

“We believe he has helped a traitor to the Revolution,” Villars said.

“If you go now, you might catch him.”

A light sparked in Villars’ eyes.

Marian’s stomach twisted in fear – fear that she had overplayed her hand.

“We shall need to search your quarters first,” he said. “A mere formality, I assure you.”

“Of course. Please, go ahead.”

“Will you get out of bed?”

“I – ”

She let her eyes flit to the men standing behind Villars, who were all waiting with bated breath. Then she let a fraction more of her fear show through, and clutched her arms even tighter across her chest.

Which served to only push her breasts tighter together.

“If… if you so wish it, Lieutenant,” she said timidly.

Following her gaze, Villars glanced to the side and saw the wolfish lust in the faces of his underlings.

Just as Marian pulled back her sheets, Villars put up a hand.

“That will not be necessary. You may stay in the bed,
Citoyenne
.”

She clutched the sheet to her chest, obscuring the view. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

Cheated of their show, the crowd of soldiers began to mutter angrily.

“QUIET!” Villars roared. “Search the room!”

The men began a thorough search – inside her closet, her wardrobe, her
boudoir
. They moved furniture away from the walls, they stuck their arms between her hanging gowns, they pulled back curtains. They searched beneath the bed, sweeping their bayonets under the frame. They even pulled back her pillows and sheets, making sure no one was in bed with her.

The one thing they did not do was pull the bed out from the alcove.

But, without fail, they all managed to walk by the bed and try to peer down the front of her shift.

She watched and waited until they were finished.

“Well, it appears you were telling the truth,
Citoyenne,
” Villars said, not quite so pleased as before. “We shall check the other room and your maid’s chambers, as well.”

“Lieutenant, while your men are searching, could I have word with you… in private?” Marian asked.

The soldiers all looked around at each other and smirked.

“Of course. Out!” Villars commanded the group, who slowly exited the room, all of them throwing back glances at Marian before they left.

Once the soldiers were gone and the door was shut, Marian relaxed slightly. Or at least pretended to.

“Thank you, Lieutenant.”

“Of course,
Citoyenne.
What can I do for you?”

“What will you do when you and your men leave?”

Villars smiled thinly. “I plan to leave a few soldiers outside to wait for the Englishman. Perhaps he will return, and then we shall have him.”

Oh no, that won’t do at all,
she thought.

“Lieutenant… may I speak frankly?”

“Of course.”

“The man you are seeking… Evan Blake… he and I used to be involved.”

Villars’ eyes burned, she noted with satisfaction.

“Which you made clear last night,
Citoyenne,
” he said.

“He is a degenerate and a swine. He thinks he owns me because of – because of our past history. I fought with him for two hours last night, and I was fearful the entire time that he would force himself on me. Finally I got him to leave, but as you know, he returned tonight. He was trying to take advantage of the quite frightening events of today, and worm his way back into my affections.”

“Why would the events of today be frightening,
Citoyenne?
” Villars asked coldly. “They were glorious to all good citizens and supporters of the Revolution.”

“Oh, of course,” she said hastily, hoping she had not made a tactical error. “It is just… I had never seen a man killed before, and… it was somewhat disconcerting.”

“Surely you have seen vermin die before,
Citoyenne.
There is no difference between that and what you saw today.”

His smile – and his complete and utter seriousness, without a shred of human decency or even the darkest of gallows humor – chilled her to the bone. She tried not to show it.

“Of course, it’s just… I’m afraid that he might come back.”

“If he does, we shall catch him.”

“Could… could
you
perhaps stay with me? Would that be enough to catch him?”

She lowered her eyes and then raised them. Playing the blushing virgin was an act; Villars would know it was an act. But hopefully he would buy the ruse as an attempt at seduction, and not probe deeper for the reason behind it.

He drew himself up tall and straight. “I have duties to attend to,
Citoyenne
. Houses must be searched.”

“Of course… but if this man did what you said, don’t you want to catch him?”

“It might make things more difficult in apprehending him.”

“If your men are posted outside, he might see them and run away. But if he comes back to the apartment in the middle of the night, and you’re inside, he’ll never know until I let him in.”

His face showed the slightest bit of struggle.  “I suppose I could station a couple of men here and wait with them…”

“Oh,” she said, her voice betraying a disappointment she did
not
feel. At least, not for the reasons she wanted Villars to believe. “I was hoping that… you and I might… spend some time together.”

Villars looked down at her. Though she never took her gaze from his face, her practiced eye could see that the front of his pants was beginning to bulge the tiniest bit.

He paused for a few seconds more.

“I would not want to intrude.”

“I would welcome your… ‘intrusion,’” she said, looking at him from under her lashes.

Another few seconds of silence.

“I would not want to compromise your reputation,
Citoyenne.
”

Now that he was laying all his cards out on the table, she could finally play her aces.

She smirked seductively. “Lieutenant, we both know that my reputation is already compromised past the point of no return,” she said in a low, silky voice.

She allowed her eyes to fall to the front of his pants and linger there.

The swell of his manhood increased even more.

Then she bit the corner of her lip slightly, and slowly raised her eyes to his.

“I was hoping that my reputation…”

Here she dropped the sheet she had been holding in front of her chest, and used her arms to press her breasts together as she leaned forward slightly, deepening her cleavage.

“…would not bother you.”

Villars opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His eyes were fixed on her chest.

After he regained his senses, he said, “It is an excellent trap you propose,
Citoyenne.
One moment.”

She smiled, ran her tongue over the tip of her teeth, and let her eyes greedily fall back to his crotch.

No matter that the entire time she did it, she felt like throwing up.

Villars turned around, adjusted his pants while his back was turned to her, and then opened the door. “Sergeant Guillat!

A squat little man walked up. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Take the patrol and return to the Vicomte de Noilles. Resume the search, then move up the street and check the houses one by one. I will stay behind and wait for our quarry here.”

Guillat glanced past Villars into the bedroom, trying to steal a peek. “How many men shall I leave here?”

“None. Take them all with you.”

The sergeant looked both irritated and alarmed. “I could leave some outside – ”

“Do not make me repeat myself, Sergeant,” Villars said icily.

Guillat snapped to attention. Marian could see by his eyes that he loathed his commander almost as much as she did.

“As you wish, Lieutenant.” Sergeant Guillat turned back to the soldiers searching the apartment. “Attention!”

Within five minutes, the soldiers were gone, and only Villars remained.

When she was sure everyone had gone, she smiled at Villars, who stood across the room. “Well, Lieutenant.”

Her mind was racing, trying to figure out a way she could communicate her intentions to Blake.

Villars looked slightly ill-at-ease – a man trying to appear suave, but not quite convincingly. “So… how do you propose we spend our time,
Citoyenne?”