The Heroic Baron (14 page)

Cecile gratefully retreated. She had lied for Alain because she loved him, just as Alain had lied for the love
of his dreams. It may not make lying right, but perhaps
it made it understandable. Suddenly, the world was a
crazy place where very little made sense and very little
mattered except warning Alain.

Darkness closed around her, acting as both blessing
and curse while she wended her way through the narrow, curving streets of Paris. Cecile tried to guess what
traps might lay ahead. The darkness concealed her but it
also hid others. She worried Von Hausman would ask to
have her followed. He hadn’t been pleased with the general’s quick dismissal of her involvement with Alain.

To that end, Cecile was careful to do nothing out of
the ordinary. The general knew she didn’t squander
coin on rides so she refrained from hailing a hackney
when she left the general’s home. The general would
wonder where she’d gotten the extra money, and why
she felt it necessary to ride home on this of all nights.

She walked halfway home along her usual streets,
trying to stay calm when all she really wanted to do was
fly straight away to Alain. Convinced she wasn’t being
followed, Cecile backtracked to a better part of town
where hackneys would be waiting for evening fares. She hailed one and climbed aboard, giving the driver
the name of the tavern. Once inside, she allowed herself to relax. She was safe now. No one knew where she
was and there was no reason to guess the hackney bore
anyone of consequence to General Motrineau. Then
she bolted upright. What if someone asked the cabbie
for a description of his passengers? How many fares
had the driver had this evening? Would she stand out or
had he been so busy that she would blend in? Thanks to
her foolishness, the driver also knew exactly where she
was going. She should have been more circumspect and
asked to be dropped off in a different place. Now the
driver could tell the general exactly where she was.
How foolish she had been!

From his seat near the tavern door, Alain strained his
ears above the din of the pub for the sound of a carriage
in the yard outside. Beside him, Etienne cast anxious
looks at the door every few moments. Alain placed a
hand on Etienne’s leg in comfort. “You can do Cecile
no good if you raise suspicion. Stop looking at the
door. Try to relax and give the impression you’re enjoying ale with your favorite uncle.” Alain knocked a
tankard against Etienne’s untouched one and winked.

He was just as nervous about Cecile’s safety. There
had been a man watching the house that afternoon
when he’d come back from the picnic. Discreetly, Alain
had detoured and entered the house by the back entrance. Cranston had been ready and they left immediately with no one the wiser. It was likely the man
watching the house was a common criminal waiting for
a chance to burglarize the house. It was also likely that the man had been sent there to spy on him. Alain could
take no chances. Etienne had shown up safely at the
tavern around eight o’clock and Alain was glad his departure had been uneventful. Still, he would feel better
once Cecile was with him.

“Sir, you love my sister, don’t you?” Etienne broke
into Alain’s thoughts with his nervously asked question.

Alain smiled fondly at the boy. “It is right to protect
your sister, although she is more than capable of protecting herself. I am not taking advantage of her if that
is what you want to know.” He met Etienne’s gaze
evenly, wanting the boy to see the truth of his love for
Cecile. They would both be safe with him. “I’ll marry
her as soon as she’ll permit it once we arrive at my
home” He paused, and the conversation lagged. Etienne went back to watching the door. The poor boy was
probably unaware of doing it. He would have to be distracted or people would start to remember them.

“Etienne, I have a sister too. Her name is Isabella
and she’s a year or so younger than me. You will meet
her when we get to Hythe. We’re very close, she and I”

As hoped for, the subject opened up a flood of questions from Etienne. He was interested in Alain’s sister.
Alain regaled him with stories of his childhood with Isabella, how they loved to race their ponies on the beach
and swim in the coves along the coast. The mention of
ponies prompted more questions about Hythe and
Alain’s home.

“It sounds like a wonderful place!” Etienne exclaimed when Alain paused between tales.

Alain chuckled at Etienne’s enthusiasm. “I hope I
haven’t painted an overly idyllic picture. It’s certainly not a center of high society and fashion. The land is
rugged, practically carved out of the sea and you must
be a strong swimmer just to swim in the sheltered
coves.” Alain stopped in mid sentence. Had he imagined it or had he heard hooves in the inn yard? Etienne
looked to him in expectation.

“Etienne, wait here. I am going outside to use the
necessary,” Alain winked.

Lanterns lit the yard, outlining the shape of a carriage. Alain strode to the driver. “What have you
brought tonight?” He asked convivially.

The driver jerked his thumb at the coach. “A young
woman who ought to have more sense than to wander
the streets alone so late and frequent taverns,” he said
gruffly.

The carriage door opened and Alain watched with
great relief as Cecile emerged. He hastened to her side
and swung her down. Then he reached in his pocket
and pulled out coin to pay the driver. Cecile was here
and she was safe. Relief flooded through him.

“Come inside, are you hungry?” Alain asked. “Etienne can hardly wait to see you. I think the adventure
has made him nervous.”

“We should all be nervous” Cecile looked at him
sharply. Suddenly, he saw how pale her face was. The
hand that clasped his arm was tense with alarm.

“What has happened?” Alain whispered, drawing
Cecile into a dark corner of the yard.

“The general knows you are L’Un. He arrested Pierre
Ramboulet earlier today, and Ramboulet told him
everything.”

It all made sense. The man outside his house had in deed been a spy. By now the house had probably been
ransacked. He and Cranston had a closer escape than
they’d known.

“Alain, they’re looking for you. The general has sent
out troops to scour the area for you. They suspect
you’re leaving France” Cecile’s voice broke. “What
shall we do? The coast will be watched”

“Not if we get there first, and we have the advantage.
We know where we’re going. They’ve got to cover all
the ports. With luck, the general will have thought to
catch me in Paris. He won’t have sent out runners to the
ports until after he’s convinced I’ve fled Paris. We got a
small head start.” And we’ll need it. The general’s men
would be on horseback. They would travel faster than
Alain would with his entourage in a carriage. He and
Cranston could ride, but Cecile and Etienne would not
be able to keep up.

Alain squeezed Cecile’s hand in reassurance. “We’ll
manage. Go in and see Etienne. We’ll leave within the
half hour.”

Alain called to an ostler to bring around the post
chaise he’d leased from the innkeeper. It was small and
sturdy. He helped the ostler harness the horses. The
horses looked well kept and Alain hoped they had the
speed he needed. His plan was to use subterfuge as long
as he could by sticking to back roads. They would travel
by day and night to cut down on the time they’d be in
France. It would help they were headed to Le Havre, but
Motrineau would not leave Le Havre unnoticed.

Thirty minutes later, Alain handed Cecile into the
post chaise and Etienne scampered in behind her. Alain
vaulted into the box and took the reins himself while Cranston positioned himself on horseback beside the
vehicle. With a crack of the reins, Alain set the team in
motion. The race had begun.

He drove through the night, putting as much distance
between them and Paris as he could. When dawn
pinked the sky, Alain’s arms ached from their efforts
and he knew he needed to stop. Cranston rode ahead
and located an abandoned barn. The weathered structure looked perfect to Alain: unobtrusive, plain, and defensible if it came to that. From the hay loft, there
would be a commanding view of the countryside. Anyone approaching would be visible with fair warning.

Alain skillfully maneuvered the carriage through the
wide barn door, thankful he had a place to hide the conveyance and the horses. The barn would still look abandoned from the outside. He jumped down, grateful for
the chance to stretch his legs and shoulders. Etienne
and Cecile piled out of the carriage and looked around.

“I hope you’re not disappointed.” Alain gestured to
their surroundings. “I thought it would be safer to avoid
inns. Innkeepers have remarkably good memories if
they’re paid enough. I didn’t want the trail to us to be so
obvious.”

“It’s fine,” Cecile said optimistically. “Etienne and I
are country folk, after all”

Etienne squared his adolescent shoulders. “I slept in
the carriage. I’ll take first watch,” he offered manfully.

Alain hid a smile as Cecile began to protest. He held
up a hand to stall her. “Etienne is right. He should take
the watch. Cranston and I need to sleep, and you are no
doubt still weary from working as well as your flight to
the tavern”

Alain reached under the driver’s box and pulled out a
rifle. “Do you know how to use this?” he asked Etienne.

“No, sir,” Etienne replied shamefacedly, casting his
eyes down.

“I’ll show you. You’ll need to fire it if anyone comes
our direction.” Alain placed a hand on Etienne’s arm to
steady him and gave him a quick shooting lesson before sending him up to the hayloft.

“He’s just a boy,” Cecile began when her brother had
disappeared up the ladder.

“He’s more than a boy. He’s on the brink of manhood and has no one to show him how. He can do this,
Cecile,” Alain admonished softly, coming to take her in
his arms and press her close against him. “How are you,
my love?”

“I am tired.” She yawned into his shirt. “You must be
exhausted”

“I’ll be fine” It was easy to forget the discomfort in
his shoulders and his fatigue with Cecile in his arms.
She had come willingly, without protest. He took it as a
sign of her trust in him; a heady ambrosia indeed. He
would not fail her.

Alain slept for a few hours. When he awoke, a glance
at his pocket watch told him it was late morning, time
to be on the road again. He stretched and looked around
the barn. Cecile’s bedding where she’d laid down on a
pile of hay with her cloak was empty. A moment of
panic struck him. Had Cecile and Etienne run off? Had
she changed her mind?

Cecile appeared in the doorway, a basket on her arm.
Alain’s heart began to beat again. “I’ve been picking
berries.”

No London belle could have been finer in their satins
and silks as Cecile was at that moment, framed in the
doorway with the sun streaming in behind her. She was
the epitome of the country in summer. She looked utterly divine in her simple work dress and basket, with
her chestnut curls falling loose over her shoulders. Her
face glowed as if freshly scrubbed, her sherry eyes
smiling with a light of their own.

Alain went to her. “If I were a painter, I’d capture
your beauty on canvas. You make a most enticing picture.” He placed a kiss on her cheek, reveling that he
could do such a thing and that soon, he’d be able to do
much more. He was her fiance. This incredible woman
would be his wife.

He dug into his pocket. “I forgot to give this to you
last night.” He opened his hand. A simple gold band lay
in his palm.

Cecile looked from the ring to him and back to the
ring. Hesitantly, she reached out to touch it with her fingertip. “This wasn’t necessary” Her eyes were large
and luminous when she looked up at him.

“Yes, it was. You had doubts in the park about the legitimacy of our arrangement. I thought this would serve
as a token of my devotion to you” Alain reached for her
hand and slipped the band over her knuckle. The ring
was only slightly loose. “I have better rings for you at
home in Hythe. This one is plain, but it’s the best I
could arrange in such short notice.”

Cecile held her hand up, spreading her fingers and
studying the band. “It’s absolutely marvelous, Alain. I
don’t need better. Thank you”

Alain covered her hand with his. “I will marry you as soon as it can be arranged. I can hardly wait to start our
life together. You make me strong, Cecile.” Alain lifted
her hand to his lips and gently kissed it. He wanted the
journey to be over, with all of them safe at Hythe. Most
of all, he wanted Cecile to himself. He looked forward
to strolling through town with her, showing her the little
shops, the beach, St. Leonard’s church, and his buildings. But between then and now there were three difficult days on the road and French soldiers to avoid.

The days on the road passed in a surreal blur to Cecile, and she imagined they passed the same way for
them all. There was no day or night, only resting and
riding. They journeyed most the nights and part of the
days, pushing the horses as much as they dared. Alain
did not want to risk changing the horses at an inn in
case soldiers had passed that way looking for them. To
Cecile’s way of thinking, she wasn’t sure what was
worse, pulling into an inn and knowing soldiers were
hunting them or not knowing who pursued them. It
could be they were pushing themselves for no reason,
that soldiers had not been sent in this direction but were
instead pursuing phantoms on the Calais road.