Jane Feather - Charade, Unknown [great novels to read TXT] 📗

of apprehension raised the hairs on the nape of his neck.What news was there about the child's mother that they must keep fromhim? "Come, Nicky. You must go to Tante Therese for a short while." Hescooped him up, ignoring the complaining wail, and bore him upstairs tothe sunny nursery where Tante Therese evinced no apparent surprise atHis Lordship's appearance and dealt with Nicky's incipient tantrum withserene firmness.

"Now." Justin faced the Earl and Countess of March. "What scrape doesshe find herself in this time?"

"If only it were just that," Lavinia moaned.

"Here, Linton, take a glass of sherry, and I will tell you the whole."Charles took over briskly, and Justin gave him a grateful if wan smile.

He heard Charles.out in complete silence, standing at the window,gazing blindly at the late autumn garden and the unfriendly gray seabeyond.

"This is the third time, you say, that she has made this journey?" heasked finally, turning back to the room and absently refilling hisglass.

"Yes, but they have never been away this long. It has been well overfive weeks and in another week, maybe less, the weather willturn and

Dream Girl

will beunable to make the return journey insafety.

Jake is too good a sailor to risk his ship and he will havemade it clear to Danny and the others that they must rendezvous inample time. We can only assume that he is waiting until the lastpossible moment and therefore that something has happened to preventtheir meeting."

"Yes," Justin agreed bleakly. "And it requires little imagination tothink what may have happened in that city of mayhem and murder." Hepaced the room. "I should have foreseen this. I know well enough whatshe is like."

"We did what we could to prevent her," Charles said with a heavy sigh."But I feel utterly responsible."

"Nonsense!" Linton cut him off abruptly. "You are in no wayresponsible, March. Stopping Danielle

when she has her mind set is asimpossible as halting the path of an avalanche. There is nothing we cando but await the return of

DreamGirl.

If what you say of your captainis true, he will return with or without them within the week. If hecomes alone, then I must go myself. It will be possible to makelandfall further up the coast throughout the winter."

*  *  *

How long had she been held in this way? Danny could no longer evenestimate. St. Estephe's latest move had been to bind her eyes so shecould no longer draw comfort from the thread of light beneath windowand door. But she took one small comfort—blindfolded as she was the

comte

could not see the fearin her eyes. She would be alone for aneternity and then the door would creak open and close and sometimes,for hours it seemed, she would sense his presence but he would make nomove until she wanted to scream—tell him to hit her again, anything butthis black silence as she lay, naked and spread-eagled on the roughticking, her ankles now also bound to the posts at the foot of the bed.Sometimes he would laugh and she would hear the door close again, andother times he would run his hands over her shrinking flesh and tellher in a soft sibilant whisper what he would eventually do with herwhen she begged him for release and he decided to grant it.

Jeanette's appearances were infrequent and brief. The girl was notallowed to untie the blindfold and Danielle had to accept her help intending to her physical needs. She continued to refuse all but amouthful of bread and took only a few sips of water. She was allowed towash and to brush her hair, however, and could only assume that St.Estephe's interest in her body was genuine enough for him not to enjoythe sight of her dirty and bedraggled. It was bleak comfort, but atleast she was saved the ultimate humiliation, although sometimes keptwaiting for relief almost to breaking point.

The others would be safely back in Mervanwey by now, or at least ontheir way back. It was a three-day voyage but surely her captivity hadlasted longer than that? She couldn't blame them for not coming to herrescue. Jake could not hold

DreamGirl

offshore for any longer than thelast week of October as he'd explained bluntly on the voyage over. Theyhad spent much longer in Paris than usual and the journey to the coasthad been slowed by the moans of their passengers. They had reached thecove on the last possible day that Jake had declared to be safe and ifany of them were to get out of France before winter set in then theywould have had to have left immediately.

It was all quite reasonable and understandable, Danielle told herself,as the hot tears stung her eyes and soaked the blindfold. If she criedher nose would run and she had no way of wiping it. She sniffedvigorously as the tears ceased instantly at the thought that St.Estephe must not see a sign of weakness.

*  *  *

In fact, it had been only thirty-six hours since Julian and his friendshad watched the cavalcade of horsemen take off across the fields. Inthe meantime, they had found dry clothes (rough threadbare fishermen'sgarb that both parties were more than happy to exchange), retrieved thehorses from the Legrand's pasture, and set off in search ofinformation. The Breton folk were cautious about divulging anything tostrangers, but the word had spread about these peculiar Englishers whocame out of the sea and left by the sea, causing no trouble but leavinglavish expressions of friendship in their wake. The arrogant Frenchman,on the other hand, was a very different kettle of fish. He had firstappeared some weeks previously with a group of henchmen who had paradedaround the village, clear intent in their

eyes as they looked over theyoung girls. As a result, every girl over the age of ten had beensequestered behind cottage doors and the murmurs of resentful hostilityhad spread.

Only the sour-faced miserly sonless widower Betrand Ville