The Heroic Baron (13 page)

She should have been satisfied with his tale, Alain
thought when he finished. But something about the
shrewd look in her eye suggested she was not. He
waited.

“Why would you risk so much for mere strangers?
Certainly your need to play the Good Samaritan was
assuaged by helping the Panchettes”

Alain smiled at that. “I could say the same of you.”

“I’m not the one who is spying in a foreign land.”

“My life was empty except for my dream, that someday the world would be a more equal place where peo ple need not live a life of oppressed drudgery simply
because they had not been born in better circumstances,” Alain said bluntly. He had not meant to say
more, but once started, he found he could not stop. Out
tumbled the story of his resort in Hythe and his hopes
for the little town.

Cecile shook her head. “You’re such a grand man. I
can’t imagine what you see in me, or that someone else
hasn’t already snatched you up. You don’t need a wife
like me”

Alain stared at her. “I need a wife I can love” He
hadn’t thought to tell her about Alicia, he hadn’t
thought it relevant. But it seemed it was. “I had a fiancee once. She was in the carriage with my parents.
She died calling for me. A doctor at the scene confinned my name was the last one she spoke. I mourned
her because I felt that I failed her by not being there
that day. For awhile, I confused my grief with guilt. I
did not love her.”

“Did she love you?” Cecile asked softly, sympathizing with the dead fiancee. She too knew what it was like
to love Alain.

Alain shook his head. “I think she loved the idea of
me. I suppose it sounds arrogant to say that, but looking
back on it all, I can’t say I knew that she loved me, unless one counts that it was my name she called at the
end” Alain stood up and offered Cecile his hand.

“It’s getting late. I have answered your questions.
Will you come?”

Cecile rose to stand beside him. “Answer me one
more question, Alain. Why do you want to marry me?”

“Why do you think?”

“I think you’re a man who takes his responsibilities
seriously. While that trait is admirable and rare, I don’t
wish to wed any man who views me as an obligation. I
hope you haven’t offered for me because you pity me”

Alain’s voice was soft. “I have offered for you, Cecile, because I love you. I thought I had made that
clear.” He risked a kiss and was rewarded with all the
passion they dared express in such a public place.

“Then I’ll come” Cecile whispered.

He loved her. He’d lied to her. He’d impersonated a
dead man. He loved her. Around and around her
thoughts whirled on the walk home, her heart alternating between plummeting disappointment and soaring
elation. She could never marry a liar or a man about
whom she knew nothing. She would only marry for
love, and he loved her. Her carefully constructed criterion was useless. How was she to weigh his love against
his lies? Was he the good man she’d seen these past
months or a stranger she didn’t know?

Her ethical quandary didn’t even begin to encompass
the risk factors involved in leaving. She’d be aligning
herself with a traitor to France. While she had no love
for the current regime, she did love her own neck and
Etienne’s. She’d be at Alain’s mercy until she learned
the language well enough to interact on her own. She
was not used to being so vulnerable. He was a baron, a
powerful man. He could do as he pleased with her and
she’d have no recourse.

What ifs rose to rebut her fears. What if all he said
was true? She would be a baroness. She and Etienne
would never be hungry again. There would be hot meals with meat, fine clothes, and shelter. She should
risk much to attain such permanent luxuries. If she
stayed in Paris, there would be nothing to look forward
to except another harsh winter and the struggle to eat
and stay warm without compromising herself.

Wasn’t going with Alain a compromise of sorts? Her
practical self argued. After all, look at the reasons she
was considering marrying him. How was escaping with
Alain different than taking General Motrineau’s offer
with exception that Alain’s offer came with the veneer
of a wedding band? She knew the difference. Alain’s
offer came with love and it was received with love.

The one unavoidable factor she could no longer
overlook was that she loved him. No amount of facts
could erase that. She loved the way he played with the
children, repairing their toys. She loved the way he
flirted with the old ladies and shook hands with the old
men. She loved that he did not lower himself to the base
behaviors of the other officers at General Motrineau’s
table. Most of all, she loved the way he looked at her as
if he’d lay the world at her feet if he could, like she
was … her mind groped for the words. Adored. Cherished. Protected. That was why she’d said yes. She
would do anything, go anywhere, in order to feel that
way again.

She was home. Cecile drew a deep breath and turned
the door handle. Etienne looked up from the chess
game he’d arranged on his board. Disappointment flitted across his features when realized Alain had not
come up.

“I am sorry you could not come on the picnic, Etienne. It was a lovely afternoon, and you would have en joyed it.” Cecile began without preamble. There was no
time to warm to the subject. The bells of the city had already tolled five o’clock. “It was important that Alain
and I have a chance to talk alone. Alain had something
he wanted ask me”

Etienne’s face grew animated, his sullen pout fading.
“He proposed?” Etienne guessed enthusiastically.

Cecile felt her cheeks blush. She bashfully looked
down at her hands. “Yes. He wants to marry me.”

Etienne was up instantly from the table, grabbing her
hands and swinging her around in a gleeful circle.
“This is wonderful news, good enough to be left out of
a picnic!” He whooped.

Cecile laughed with him and let herself enjoy the
moment. Under other circumstances, it would have
been a joyful moment indeed. “Be still, Etienne,” she
said after a few turns left her dizzy. “It is good news,
but there is more that you must hear and you must
speak your mind. I am counting on your counsel, dear
brother.”

Etienne settled back into his chair and waited expectantly. Cecile knelt on the floor in front of him and took
his long, thin hands in hers. “Alain has asked us to
come away with him. We must leave tonight.”

“Go to Poland with him?” Etienne queried. “He’s
gotten his marching orders, I’d wager.”

Cecile shook her head and lowered her voice to a
mere whisper. Etienne had to lean down to hear her.
“He’s an English baron” In the briefest of terms, she
related Alain’s incredible tale to Etienne. “What do you
think we should do? I told him I’d come but perhaps
you can see things more clearly than I?” Cecile said when she’d finished her tale. She rocked back on her
heels and waited expectantly.

“Do you love him, CeeCee? I mean really love him,
and not all the things he can bring us?”

“Yes. It is a frightening feeling. It makes me feel
helpless and powerful all at the same time.” Cecile rose
to her feet and paced the small room, pleating her apron
between her fingers as she walked. “When I am with
him, I feel I could change the world. He has dreams and
he makes them come true. He’s building a seaside resort in his town for middle-class families. He believes
people should advance in this world on their own merits
and not by merit of their accidental birth. He believes
all things are possible and when I am with him, I believe it too” Cecile paused for a moment, embarrassed
by her sudden burst of passion. “Before I met him, I
think I’d begun to lose hope that our lives would ever
change, Etienne. Nothing I could do would change our
circumstances short of giving into Motrineau’s offers”

Etienne nodded his head. “Then I think we should go.
All that matters is that he loves you and you love him. I
would not have you sell yourself even in marriage to a
man you didn’t care for. I have been a burden for too
long. In our new life, I will find a way to be useful.”

Cecile flew to his side. “Oh no, you must not think
you’ve been a burden. If anything, I blame myself for
not finding a way to send you to the country. I was too
selfish to let you go”

Etienne brushed aside her sentiments. “Enough of
the past. When are we to meet him?”

Cecile quickly outlined the plans. She’d go to work
as usual. Etienne would spend some of their precious hoard of livres for a hackney to a tavern on the outskirts
of town where Alain would be waiting. She would follow the same route. They would await her at the tavern
and continue their journey by night in a coach Alain
would hire. Instead of sailing out of Calais, they would
sail out of Le Havre, a port located one hundred and
thirty miles out of Paris. Le Havre was actually forty
miles closer to Paris than Calais, but such distances
were heady to Cecile. Alain had estimated it would take
three days with fast horses to make the trip. Then
they’d sail across the Channel and into their new life.

Etienne and Cecile packed very little except for the
barest essentials they’d need for the journey. As the
bells chimed seven, Cecile hugged her brother. “Be safe
and trust no one. Alain does not believe his role in all
this has been detected yet, but we must not risk any
more than we must. Go quickly after I leave. I will see
you soon” Cecile kissed him and hurried down the
steps for the last time. She would not be returning the
little flat again. The thought was both frightening and
elating.

Cecile’s caution was not misplaced. The general was
in a foul mood, which lifted only slightly upon seeing
Cecile. “Ma cherie, I am glad to see you. Wear the
lavender gown tonight and play the Vivaldi arrangement I like so much. It may be the only thing that can
soothe my temper after the day I’ve had” He took her
hands in his and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Indeed, the general did look upset. His eyes were
tired and his usual immaculate clothes showed signs of
wrinkles as if he’d worn them all day. But he gave no indication of what had been bothering him. Curiosity
nagged at her. Cecile wanted to ask but since she’d
shown no interest in such matters before, she feared it
would appear suspiciously out of place for her to do so
now. Instead, she changed into the lavender gown and
tuned her violin. She would keep her ears open at the
dinner table tonight. If the general was troubled, others
would be as well.

Cecile played the Vivaldi piece and followed it up
with a series of soft French folk songs, hoping to
soothe the general’s temper. The few guests around the
table were tense as well. The sign of so few people invited to dinner suggested the meal was a private affair.
For a change, everyone ate in silence. Something must
be dreadfully wrong. Finally, the general spoke.

“Gentlemen, there has been good and bad this day.
We have captured the traitor from within. It gives me
no pleasure to announce that my secretary, Pierre Ramboulet, was a high-ranking member of the secret society, Les Chevaliers de la Foi. We may drink to that”
When they had done so, the general continued. “He has
been interrogated. We have learned much from him.
There was indeed a plot against Napoleon, but I have
sent out troops to quell it. I think more than one meeting may be surprised tonight. That is good news. The
bad news is that L’Un, who was working to spirit family members out of France, has been revealed to be
none other than Captain Alain Stanislawski. Obviously,
he was simply impersonating the captain.”

The general pulled a letter from inside his coat
pocket. “To confirm the false identity, a letter arrived
this afternoon to inform me of the captain’s death. Ap parently, he died in a tavern brawl and this L’Un took
his papers, which is why it has taken months for the
captain’s body to be identified and this letter sent saying that the captain will not be reporting for duty.
Stanislawski’s residence was empty when my men
went over there to arrest him earlier this evening. The
place was empty. He has disappeared. We are hunting
for him. I am sure we can track him down and when we
do, he will hang if he’s lucky”

Cecile’s mouth went dry. It was all she could do to
keep playing as if she’d overheard nothing, certainly
nothing that made sense or was of interest to her. Alain
was in danger and she’d sent her brother into it as well.
She took refuge in the idea that his house had been
empty. Had he even gone home after the picnic? It
would be hours yet before she could leave the general’s.

The men at the table were laughing now over a comment she missed. The general beckoned her to come
over. Dutifully she went, pasting on a smile and trying
to look as if nothing had upset her.

“Ma Cherie, Cecile, Major Von Hausman recalls that
our young traitor had seemed taken with you on several
occasions. He thinks perhaps we should ask you if you
know his whereabouts”

The family motto, the truth or nothing, ran fleetingly
through her head. But the truth would see Alain and her
brother dead. She looked down demurely at the hand
clutching the violin. “I am sorry, General, if I caused
the captain to single out my attentions. It was not my
intention to do so. If his interest in me was other than
kindness shown to a simple girl, I was unaware of it. I
did not see him except for the times he was here” There, she had lied for him. Hopefully the lies had been
convincing.

“There, there, ma cherie.” The general patted her
hand. “I told you she would know nothing.” There was
a gleam of triumph in his eyes. Cecile knew she’d answered aright. The general liked the men to think that
she was his alone, completely unattainable by others.
Clearly, it must be true if she’d turned down the handsome captain’s efforts to woo her.

“Go back and play for us. Perhaps your new caprice
would fit our mood” The general sent her back to her
music.