Chapter 26
“Wherein a home is discovered, and our heroine agrees to play dirty.”
Lawrence was right of course, she adored Longueville. From the moment the carriage turned the corner onto the long, gravelled drive that led to the house she was enraptured.
It was a long, symmetrical, rectangular building three stories high and on each corner stood a round tower.
To the left of the great house sat a row of smaller dependences and behind them she could see the church tower.
Glorious lawns and topiary lay out around the front of the house with wide gravel paths and a fountain that splashed prettily.
“Well I am relieved to see it still stands at least,” Alex said from beside her as the carriage drew up at the house. “But if you would please stay here until I am assured that my men have made a thorough investigation of the place.”
Henri nodded and watched as he stepped outside the carriage. He had sent his men on ahead and they had heard nothing to suggest there was any trouble, so Alex had been content to bring her straight to the house.
“Oh, Annie, isn’t it beautiful?” she sighed, looking out of the carriage window with pleasure. Annie, who was still suffering the results of excess, made a non-committal sound before returning her head to the side of the carriage and closing her eyes once more.
The night, falling fast and heavy, brought a low mist creeping over the surrounding countryside, but Longueville looked solid and welcoming, and Henri longed to go inside and explore.
Of course, then she was struck with sorrow, as she realised what she truly wanted was to see it with Lawrence, who was chained to one of the wagons bringing supplies from the ship.
Henri shivered with melancholy and moved her feet from the hot brick they’d been on as it was now stone cold.
Shifting in her seat she strained to look behind her, to see if she could see him but the night was closing in and nothing, but dark shapes could be discerned moving about in the gathering gloom.
She could hear shouts from the men as they unloaded, and the glimmer of lamps was flickered past as they moved from place to place.
Little by little the house came alive, a warm glow surrounding it as lamps and fires were lit inside, and the sweet scent of wood smoke was redolent on the cold night air.
Henri tapped her feet on the brick to try to bring some feeling back as she could no longer feel her toes and then jumped with alarm as the carriage door swung open.
“Forgive me for keeping you so long in the cold,” Alex said, giving her his hand. “We had to be certain there were no unwelcome surprises awaiting us.”
“And were there?” she asked, stepping out of the carriage and hearing the soft crunch of gravel beneath her boots.
Alex turned to help Annie down before placing Henri’s hand on his arm and guiding her towards the house.
“No,” he said, the relief evident in his voice.
“I believe we have lost much of the silver but those servants we have left have been with the family all of their lives. They were, and still are, fiercely loyal to our mother who they adored, and so to us. We have been remarkably lucky,” he added, and she looked up to see him watching her in the candle light.
He paused and looked down at her. “Please do not take this the wrong way as I know it does not signify. I want you to understand that by now I feel quite assured it is Lawrence you care for and that this will change nothing, but I want you to know - if we can only get Lawrence to see sense - I will give him Longueville. So, this ...” He gestured with the lamp he held towards the house. “This would be your home.”
Henri felt something in her heart shift. To live here, with Lawrence ...
She blinked away tears and smiled up at Alex. “I feel I owe you an apology also,” she said, remembering how he had admitted to having misjudged her a few days before. “I know you have done everything you can for Lawrence and ... I am sorry for the things I have believed about you.”
“Oh, don’t be,” he exclaimed, and the cold eyes glittered with mockery. “I assure you it was all perfectly true.”
And with that he led her into the house.
An impromptu supper was supplied of fresh bread and cheese and cold meat while servants scurried about the great house like anxious mice, full of alarm and falling over themselves to please.
“Is there no ... resentment towards us?” Henri asked, pitching her voice as low as she could. There had been no anger or disgust in the eyes of those she had seen so far but still, they had been at war such a short time ago.
Alex shrugged and shook his head. “I had a long talk with Madame and Monsieur Bertaud, happily they have always looked on Lawrence and myself as being as French as our mother. Father rarely ever came here,” he added, picking up an apple from a pretty blue and white porcelain bowl in front of them, and cutting off a neat slice.
“She said our mother always treated everyone fairly and as we have always followed her lead since she left us they saw no reason not to continue here, where they have been happy and fortunate. Those who might have caused trouble have long since gone, headed to the city to find work.” She saw a frown cross his brow.
“They have been lucky here, I think. The vineyards are of value, but Longueville is not a huge estate nor widely known, and I think that has kept much trouble from our doors.”
He smiled at her obvious lack of understanding.
“Mother died once the war had resumed, but so far as anyone knew she still lived, and the estate was held in her name not father’s.
The vines here are still young and the war has not allowed us to make the most of exploiting them so .
..” He shrugged, his mouth quirking upwards a little.
“They did not realise the value of what is here and so overlooked something of a gem.”
“Do you think that would be an inducement for Lawrence to stay?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, and he sounded weary. She realised then he hadn’t slept at all as the storm had been upon them all last night.
“You must be exhausted,” she said, stifling a yawn of her own. “And I find I am also rather tired,” she added and then sighed as she wondered where Lawrence would be chained for the night. Alex seemed to read the concern in her expression with great accuracy.
“I’ve spoken rather candidly with Madame and Monsieur Bertaud,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper.
“I’ve explained our dilemma with my pigheaded brother, and they have assured us of the loyalty and the willingness to help of all the staff that remains on the estate.
Happily, it is the same here as at home and he was always their favourite.
” He gave her the benefit of a rare and somewhat rueful smile.
“For the moment I have been obliged to keep the men on the ship here, however, and so Lawrence is indeed chained in the cellars beneath us as I said he would be. But in the morning, they will return to The Revenge, and we can stop pretending he is our prisoner. I hope to persuade him to remain here, at least for a few days and ...” He gave her a hard look.
“And during that time, one way or another, Henri, you must induce him to stay, for good.”
Henri nodded, her hands twisting together beneath the table as she imagined what it would be like if she had to say goodbye to him, the idea of watching him walk away, knowing she would never see him again.
She swallowed hard and looked down at her plate before the tears that threatened to consume her began to fall.
“Henri.”
Henri looked up to find Alex’s grey eyes upon her and shivered. She could see a steel core in those eyes, the heart of a man who could be ruthless and cold-hearted if the need arose.
“May I be frank with you?”
She nodded, as unease rippled down her spine. “Yes, of course.”
Alex looked at her, apparently choosing his words with care. “My brother is an honourable man, Henri, but ... he is a man, like any other.”
Henri frowned, perplexed and feeling more anxious than ever.
“I am in no doubt of either your feelings for him or ... your character,” he said, and she felt her heart pick up a little more as she wondered what exactly he meant by that remark.
“I am also certain of the regard in which he holds you.” He gave a grim smile.
“That much has become obvious, the poor bastard can hardly look at me anymore. If I didn’t know him better, I might fear for my life.
” He gave Henri a pitying look, who was by now extremely alarmed and wondering where this was going.
“My dear girl, he’s so jealous I can see the desire to murder me in his eyes. ”
She gasped and then found she was laughing as he in turn snorted at her delight on hearing this information.
“There is no need to look quite so gleeful at the idea of my cold corpse at his feet,” he muttered.
“Anyway, the point I am trying to make is ...” He smirked and obviously decided he had to spell it out as his next words shocked her to her core.
“Henri, he wants you in his bed. No matter he feels he can’t have you, he wants you more than anything. ”
Henri felt the blush creep up her neck and settle to blaze upon her cheeks. This was not an appropriate conversation to be having with her fiancé - about his brother. But nonetheless she wanted to know what he was getting at.
“And so?” she said faintly and then felt her blush increase as Alex’s eyebrows rose to the heavens.
“And so,” he repeated, with clear impatience. “And so, you must seduce him!”
“Oh,” she said, though her voice sounded faint and rather a long way off.
Her mind had drifted back to the night in the cabin, to the feel of Lawrence’s hot mouth closing around her breast, the evidence of his desire hard between her legs.
She felt suddenly breathless and everything below her navel seemed to clench with an aching desire to run to Lawrence this moment and do exactly what Alex suggested.
She started as Alex sighed and spoke again. “Do you think you can manage that?” he demanded, scowling at her and clearly doubting her abilities.
Mortified, both by what she had been thinking in his presence and the idea he thought her incapable of seduction, she returned his scowl with one of her own.
“I think I might be able to manage it,” she snapped, gaining herself a look of amusement and watching as he fought not to smile at her annoyance. He cleared his throat.
“Well then ... good. Because if you can, I feel there is no way Lawrence will leave.” He frowned then.
“And if he tries to pass you back off to me after using you in such a way, then … Well then I shall have to take things into my own hands,” he said, with such an icy tone that Henri felt quite alarmed.
No, she would have to do this herself. She would use every method in her power to make sure the blasted man stayed here, with her, where he belonged.
With that in mind she made her excuses, only too eager to be free of the earl’s presence after that conversation and hurried off to find the one woman whose advice she most desperately needed.