Broken Legacy (Secret Lives Series) (16 page)

The house seemed bare even though furniture still remained. The house had been stripped of any personal items. No paintings, mirrors, or ornaments hung on the wall. With each footstep, the hall echoed off the marble flooring.

The house seemed to serve as a home for a barrage of National Guard soldiers. Lenister glanced back at Seamus, who stepped up to his side.

“All seem
s as we had hoped,” Seamus said under his breath. “It is good.”

Lenister nodded, but his eyes remained on his wife and her friend. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more there than met the eyes.

* * * *

Eloise glanced nervously over her shoulder and hoped Marc
Pierre would make his appearance soon. Lenister had kept a close eye on her since their arrival, not allowing her an opportunity to see her friend in private…overprotective, he had told her. Her husband had forbidden her to leave their lodgings without him by her side. She had obeyed until she received Marc Pierre’s note.

Marc
Pierre had been the epitome of a gracious host. He had escorted Lenister to different officials over the last couple of days. As of yet, no progress had been made. Lenister had been met with one delay after another. He had not been allowed to even see his children.

Eloise’s worries mounted with each passing moment. Despite every precaution her husband had taken to ensure their safety, she could feel the tension in the air about their presence in Paris. There was no safety within this city.

Paris was a city on edge. The reigning power ruled by fear. If rules were not followed, then death would be the price paid. The only issue was that no one knew what the rules entailed. One could be arrested only on an assumption. No one was exempt from the hand of France’s justice. The citizens of France had been instructed that foreigners were not to be trusted, even those who had come only to plead for their children.

 
Moreover, to Eloise’s dismay, Marc Pierre had made no effort to contain his familiarity with her around her husband. In fact, she thought he took enjoyment in tormenting Lenister. Both men thinly veiled the animosity brewing between them.

She sighed heavily and hoped Marc
Pierre would hurry. Lenister would miss her soon enough, although she left him with Seamus in deep discussion.

Her attention turned
, hearing brisk footsteps outside the door. Eloise looked up across the moderate size room paneled with shelves. She noticed that most of the shelves were still filled with books. She had no interest in reading, but it would serve well as a cover. The door’s handle turned and the door opened. Marc Pierre entered. He was dressed casually with his shirt loose about his pants, his hair down to his shoulders. He closed the door behind him and she heard a click. He had locked the door.

“I thought the library would be an excellent meeting place for us. That is
, if your husband misses you.” Marc Pierre’s eyebrows lifted as he walked to her side. His eyes glared at her, simmering with an underlying anger. “And I think he will miss his bride. Will he not, Eloise?”

“Is that the reason you are angry with me? That I married
? I had no choice,” she retorted.

He laughed. “It is me you are talking to
, Eloise. Come. At least be honest.”

She slapped him, hard. Immediately, Marc
Pierre grasped her by her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

 
“Never do that again,” he said, glowering at her. “Tell me. Tell me, Eloise, how is it that you did not manage to elude this trap you say your husband sprung?”

“Let go of me,” she insisted. She twisted in a vain attempt to free herself. “He caught me completely unaware. I let my guard down. A mistake on my part, but why would it matter to you? Did you not tell me the last time I saw you that you wanted nothing more to do with me?”

“I told you not to make any more demands of me. I can do no more for you. I would not cover for you any longer. You would not listen to reason. You were becoming reckless. Do you think I want to see you lose your head?” He paused. Then he released her and took a step back.

“No,” she replied. Her voice softened and her eyes welled with tears. “As I do not want to hear of your death! You may have told me not to come back, but I begged you to leave!”

“I told you well that I would not abandon my country!”

“The country that you are loyal to no longer exists! Madness and chaos is all around you. It has encompassed you to where it is all you know.”

“Do not turn to try this upon me, Eloise.” His eyes narrowed. “It had been ordained by the National Convention
that terror would be the order of the day
for anyone considered to be an enemy of the Nation. Do you understand, Eloise, in that scope of their law, you would be an enemy if they found out? Why the hell did you return?”

His words silenced her for a moment. Finally, she looked up and met his glare. “I have contemplated the whole of the
situation. How can I explain it to you, Marc Pierre, that some things mean more than one’s life? I was raised a common bastard. My family did not acknowledge me until after my seventeenth year. Tell why anyone would think differently?”

“Don’t be an imbecile! No matter the secrecy that took place, there is always someone
who knows something. Someone who has heard a rumor. A rumor is all it will take for someone to look further into the matter.” Marc Pierre shook his head in disgust. “It was recorded, Eloise. It was a foolish mistake to have dismissed it as irrelevant.”

“It was irrelevant to me,” she said.

“It would not be to the Tribunal. There have been changes, Eloise. There has been a new tribunal created. Punishment is set to be swift and quick, without a chance of appeal. They will have to face the Revolutionary Tribunal. The circumstances of those accused are indeed dire.

“Can you not understand? The Tribunal wants nothing more than to eradicate France of all they consider conspirators, spies, emigrates, royalists
, and any they consider enemies of the nation.”

“This is nothing more than a circus, a horrible nightmare of
a circus.”

“It very well might be. I agree that not much of their reasoning of late makes sense. I’ll warn you, though, Eloise, I know well how your mind works. But you don’t know these men. All
are extremely curious, especially Gairden. They do not leave a suspicion alone; they will investigate until they are satisfied. It would only take one outburst against you…one who has heard gossip. It would be all it takes. You said you married your husband to protect the ones who you now put in danger. You know well what will happen to everyone who has any connection to you if discovered!”

“You have nothing
to concern yourself with, Marc Pierre. I would never betray anyone.”

“No, I suppose you would not intentionally,” he said reflectively. “You have always been the better part of us all. To be truthful, I doubt I hold any goodness in me anymore. Time has destroyed it. I do now the only thing I know. I have long since given up any thoughts of returning to being a
n attorney. I have decided to remain in the National Guard.

“It is what I have need to tell you. We are trying to keep a civil war from breaking out. There have been several
factions that have given us issue. The borders also are unsafe. You were lucky to have found me within Paris. I am to be sent out once more. I believe I am to head to Italy. I came back only for orders.”

“You have given up on going to America?” Her voice could not disguise her disappointment. She stared at him. “Why, Marc
Pierre? Why?”

“This is all I know, Eloise. You…you have found another life. You have lived between two different worlds, but now you have been pulled into one. He has done that, Eloise. Do
you not think I cannot see it? It is in his eyes…it is in yours.”

Slowly
, comprehension sank within her. She reached out and took his hand in hers. She said, “The thought of his torment still keeps me awake at night, my brother. I loved him dearly, too. He is never far from my thoughts.”

“Yet…”
He frowned, a grave look clouding his face. He withdrew from her. “It is not for me to judge.”

“Yet you do
.” She raised her eyes to his. “What is it that you want from me? You want me to suffer because I lived and Luc died…that I failed him. Do you not believe it does not weigh upon me? He asked only that I save our daughter and in that I also failed. I still dream he comes to me and tells me to search for her. I tell him she should be with him, and he shakes his head. Even in my sleep, I can find no peace.

“Do you not understand I died that night also, Marc
Pierre? For days and weeks, I could not rise from my bed because of the sadness that encompassed my being. You blame me for Luc’s death, but no more than I blame myself. I had always held dear to the teachings of the church and to the belief that the soul is immortal, but that night…the night Luc took his last breath, my soul perished.”

Marc
Pierre gazed at her in silence. She swore she saw water build within his eyes. Her own tears fell unheeded down her cheeks. “The girl you once knew is no more. Hold against me if you will, but yes, I hold to my new husband. It is not what I had planned and I hold no hope that it will last, but God forgive me if I grasped at a semblance of happiness, no matter how fleeting.

“Please, Marc
Pierre, help him. He wants to save his children. He is risking his life to rescue them.”

He shook his head and grasped her shoulders once more so tight
ly that it pained her. “He is risking yours as well for his selfish needs.”

“
Non
, my brother, do not blame him. This was my choice and mine alone. You said you know me well. Then you know the words I speak are the truth.”

“The Devil take it, Eloise! I can deny you nothing. I will never forgive you if anything happens to you. You are all I have
.” His voice faded. He sighed heavily and drew in a deep breath at the confession. He eased his hold on her.

Eloise gave him a tentative smile. “I know that, my brother. Do not feel guilt about me. You know I hold you within my heart. You are my brother whom I love dearly.”

“Nothing I do will convince you to leave?”

“
Non
,” she said. “It is too late. I am committed to this plan.”

“Then listen carefully,” he said in a hard voice. “You know that Citizen Gairden has pressed me since he came to power about you. He is not a man to miss an opportunity. He knows well your history. He is also not a man to trifle with. He is dangerous, Eloise, but I have arranged a meeting tomorrow night with Gairden. I will introduce Lord Lenister to him. It is all I can and will do.”

Eloise opened her mouth, and then thought better of saying anything more. He had done what he could. He did not like it. Despite his protest to the contrary, a heart still lived within him and that gave Eloise hope. She said no more, but returned to her chamber.

Lenister rode through the streets of Paris in a hackney
with Eloise by his side. Four years ago, the streets would have been busy and people walking to enjoy a warm early summer eve. Since the rebellion, however, the streets were quiet.

Eloise sat looking out the window.
Lenister had watched her take painstaking efforts on her appearance for this evening, knowing she wanted everything to go smoothly. She had upswept her hair in a similar fashion as the first time he had met her, except there were no flowers in her hair. Ringlets framed her oval face, highlighting her lovely expressive eyes. The carriage halted. She looked over at him and gave him a nervous smile.

Her friend, General Marc
Pierre Bernard, had arranged this meeting with the greatest reluctance. A sense of urgency swept through Lenister. This was his last appeal for his family. He reached over and squeezed his wife’s hand. He need not tell her that the whole of their success rode upon this meeting.

Lenister had no complaints about their arrangements since they arrived. Bernard had seen to their needs in admirable fashion. The
suites he had given them were adequate, clean, and comfortable. The man carried himself as an officer and a gentleman, but Lenister didn’t trust him. Something in Bernard’s manner irritated him to no end.

Though at the moment, Lenister’s main concern lay with his children. His
hope of a simple solution dissolved the moment he arrived. Even from the few weeks of his last visit, the city had fallen deeper into the dark. Churches had been desecrated; tombs disturbed. Of one thing he was certain: France seemed to have turned their back on God.

Lenister
wasted no time in escorting his wife through the doorway between two buildings and crossed a small courtyard to the house where Citizen Jean-Antione Gairden resided. Lenister raised his hand to ring the bell, but it opened.

An older man, rather short with sparse gray hair, greeted them. He looked at them both with disdain. He gestured for both
of them to follow him up the stairs.

Lenister
extended his arm for Eloise. She glanced up at him. She was frightened. He could see it in her eyes and feel her hand tremble when she grasped hold of him, but she composed herself well enough to hide it from most. He walked beside her, up the stairs to the second floor where a door lay open. The man extended his hand forward for the two to enter. Then the old man disappeared.