Her father had not been a big man, but he had still been bigger than her. She had to tie a ribbon around her waist to make sure the pants stayed up, but at least they were more practical than the skirts.
Next, she moved to the bed and began stripping it. But as soon as she had begun, she heard a key turning in the lock and the door handle slowly moving. She rushed to the armoire and hid behind one of its open doors. Was her uncle back to yell at her some more, or maybe coming by to see if she was doing the kind of stupid thing she was doing? What she hadn’t expected to see was Jeanne creeping in.
“Constance,” she said, hurrying over. “I heard what happened at the hunt today. Are you all right?”
“Yes,” Constance replied, “no. Nothing is all right, Jeanne!” She hugged her maid, because she desperately needed a hug.
Jeanne returned the embrace. “We’re going to get you out of here. I know that your Tristan isn’t the master of this Beast.” She stepped back and for the first time took a look at what Constance was wearing, but she didn’t say anything. “I had to wait until your uncle and aunt wouldn’t know that I was in here. They are both quite angry, but they just don’t know all the facts. They’ve gotten confused. Morangis has spun everyone in a web of lies.”
Constance shook her head. “I can’t care about that now.” She wanted to believe that her family wouldn’t do this to her if they really understood, but she was so frustrated and afraid that she couldn’t really afford the time to think about it. “Tristan is out there. I have to find him and be sure that he’s alive!”
“How are you going to find him?” Jeanne asked. Her face was lined with concern.
“I hadn’t really gotten that far yet,” Constance admitted. She had been so focused on just getting out of the room that she hadn’t really thought about what she would do once she was free, but she would figure something out. “I could try going to the clearing where we first met. Maybe he will be looking for me and will be near there. I know there are a lot of caves and gullies in that area where he could hide.”
Jeanne still looked worried, but she nodded. “I suppose that’s your best option, but be careful, Constance. It’s dangerous out there. It was dangerous before and now half the province is combing the countryside looking for the same person you are. If they find you together, they may not make the distinction.”
Inhaling deeply, Constance nodded. “I know, but I have to.”
“All right,” Jeanne said, “then come with me.”
The maid walked out into the hall, leading Constance close behind her. She was afraid the beating of her heart might just be so loud that everyone in the house would hear it, but she knew that was silly. The light was already low as the sun outside began a slow crawl to the horizon, bringing night with it.
Even though it wasn’t yet dinner, there was a quiet in the house that Constance found unnerving. It made every noise that did arise that much louder, so while they crept like criminals through the halls of their own home, every sound made them leap into doorways and alcoves.
Servants were still milling through the house, in the way they always did. Usually it wasn’t necessary to avoid them so Constance had never thought about how much work it would be to do just that at this hour. They seemed to be everywhere. Jeanne seemed to know the secrets to their movements, however, and always got them out of sight before a fellow servant might see them and inform her aunt and uncle.
Jeanne was leading her to the servant’s entrance, which led to the stables and then out onto the grounds. It wasn’t the first time Constance had snuck out this way, so she knew that it was possible. The stakes were just higher this time.
Hold on, Tristan, I’m coming, she thought. Though what precisely she thought she was going to do that would actually help, she didn’t know. All that she did know was that she had to find him, to assure herself that he was all right, and then they would figure out what they had to do from there.
“Here we are,” Jeanne whispered as they reached the door. “Be careful, please.” She had already said it once but it couldn’t hurt to repeat it. She hugged Constance. “And good luck.”
She returned the embrace fiercely. “Thank you, Jeanne, for everything.” She had to move quickly. She slipped out the door, having no idea what was going to happen from here, but she felt like she was saying goodbye.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tristan couldn’t believe this was happening.
It had to have been hours since Morangis had pulled his mask off and sent an angry mob running after him, chasing him into the woods. He might otherwise have stayed and fought, tried to defend himself or convinced them that he wasn’t to blame, but when he’d seen the looks in some of those eyes, he knew that it was run or die. He hated to leave Constance behind, but there had been no alternative once they were separated. Her uncle was there, so she wouldn’t be alone with Morangis. He at least had that comfort.
Now, though, he found himself in the forests of Mont Mouchet. Even though he had nothing at all to do with the Beast, hiding like this made him understand the creature better and why they had never caught it. This mountain was riddled with caverns that weren’t easy to find, except when you were desperate and fleeing for your life. That urgency made the hiding spots easier to find and allowed him to evade his pursuers until the sun began to set.
Once he was sure that he was relatively safe, for the moment, he sat down on the hard ground inside one of the many caves. Leaning back against the jagged stone, he covered his marred face with his hands and tried to catch his breath. What was he going to do? He couldn’t go back for anything, but he had to at least find Constance. He didn’t know how he was going to do that when he was Gévaudan’s most hated man. Her family certainly wouldn’t let him anywhere near her and he had no one to help him sneak a letter inside.
His options seemed scarce, if he had any at all. If he felt like he had any tears left, he may well have cried them then. But he had long felt like he’d cried them all when he was originally attacked. Now, it was just frustration building into rage that crawled through him and lodged in every conceivable part of both body and spirit.
To make matters worse, night wasn’t that far off. It wasn’t that he feared the dark, or hadn’t spent his share of nights out of doors and sometimes by himself, but the idea that he’d still be out here once the sun had set just made everything seem worse. All he had were the clothes he was wearing and the knife in his boot. His musket and anything else he had brought to the gathering were still with his horse and back at the gathering place. The horse had undoubtedly been taken back to Morangis’ and probably confiscated by him, too.
“Constance, I hope you’re okay,” he said into his palms before finally lowering his hands.
Sitting here lost and feeling sorry for himself wasn’t going to do him any good. He had tried that before in his life and it hadn’t gotten him anywhere. He had to keep moving and figure out what he was going to do now.
Tristan began to creep out of the cave, making sure that there was no one waiting for him outside. As he moved, he thought. Could he leave Gévaudan? Perhaps if he could escape the province and get to his home territory, he would be able to recoup and send for Constance. But no, her uncle would never let her go and he couldn’t encourage her to leave on her own. That wouldn’t be safe. He had to stay here and clear his name. Besides, Morangis’ lie might even make it to Vivarais and his parents before he did.
Staying and defending himself was the only way to make all of this work, but he had to find the right person to talk to, someone who would listen. And he’d have to work quickly before Morangis took advantage and moved the wedding up. He was probably being heralded, again, as a false hero for throwing Tristan to the wolves.
Before he realized it, Tristan found himself standing in the very clearing that he had first seen Constance in. How strange that it should all come back here and he couldn’t help but take a moment to look around.
It was in that moment that h
e heard a sound crashing through the forest. He grabbed the knife out of his boot and slunk back into the tree line, waiting and watching.
One person staggered into the clearing, turning to disentangle clothing from the grasping tree limbs and briars. He saw the body of a woman in a man’s clothing. It was the mass of brown waves that he recognized even before her face turned towards him and he saw those familiar features.
“Tristan?” Constance called, walking into the clearing with a frightened but stalwart expression.
“Constance!” He rushed to meet her.
They embraced fiercely and he took her beautiful face in his hands, scattering kisses all over. She was crying and he brushed the tears away with his thumbs.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, even as his tone belied his relief. She must have taken such a risk in coming out here. He was simultaneously overjoyed and upset. “It’s not safe here, my love. I am sure that they are still looking for me and they could find me at any moment, and you shouldn’t be with me if they do.” He was still showering her with kisses over her lips and cheeks and brow.
“I know, but I had to come,” she replied, placing her small hands over his and looking up at him pleadingly. “My uncle locked me in my room, but Jeanne helped me escape. I don’t know what he might have done in time if I hadn’t left. I don’t know what he’ll do now, but I can’t stay there when I know you’re out here and your life is in danger. And it’s all my fault!”
He put his thumb over her lips. “Hush,” he said, gently but firmly. “I won’t hear you talk that way. I would chance a thousand angry mobs to be with you. It just... makes things a little more difficult.”
Constance laughed weakly. “I suppose,” she said around his finger. “What are we going to do now?” Her eyes were filled with absolute trust, expecting him to know what the right thing to do was. He didn’t mean to let her down.
Her being with him did give him some options he did not have before.
“We can either stay or leave,” he said. “If we stay, I don’t know how it will turn out. I don’t know how to make them listen if they find us or how to convince them that I am not what they say I am. But if we leave, we can never come back. I don’t even know if I can turn to my family for help, when word of this reaches them.”
“Do you think they’ll believe it?” she asked, horrified.
Tristan shook his head. “It’s not that, but they will be mortified that I allowed myself to be caught in such a scandal. I am sure word will spread of my corruption of you and falling in with characters of disrepute, thus landed me in this business of being accused of being in league with the Beast.”
She frowned, her upper teeth sinking into her bottom lip. “It’s so unfair,” she whispered, sniffling. “I don’t see how we can stay, but we don’t have anything. How can we leave?”
“We’ll make it,” he promised her. He hated to see so much sorrow written over her every look and gesture. “We could stay in this mountain for a while, I think, and be okay. We would just have to be very careful and very smart, and perhaps wait for the furor to die down before we make our way out of the province. I’m sure we can figure out somewhere to go and start anew.” He didn’t have any immediate ideas as to where, but he knew there must be a way.
“Stay here?” she asked doubtfully. “But how? What will we eat? Where will we sleep?”
He kissed her forehead. “I’ve spent enough time sleeping in the woods to know how to survive when I need to.” Admittedly, he had usually been better equipped ahead of time than he was now, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. She didn’t need to be any more worried than she already was. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, just that it’s not impossible.” He stared closely into her eyes and made sure she was looking at him. “I wouldn’t blame you if you chose not to stay with me. I don’t know how long it will be until we can find a new life, and this won’t be the sort of existence that you deserve.”
Constance grabbed his face and kissed him, hard. “I want to be with you! I wasn’t living the kind of life I should have before. I’d rather be destitute and living in the forest than stay in the hell I was in before I met you.”
New relief flooded him. He had meant what he said and would not have blamed her, but it would have broken his heart. He may well have just turned himself over to the crowd if she had gone back. But he wouldn’t have told her that, and she didn’t want to go back. They would find a way to make this work, somehow. It would take time, but they would do it. He had to have faith.
“We should find some place to hide now and spend the night,” he suggested.
She nodded and slid her hand into his, but they didn’t get very far before a cracking branch drew their attention and they watched Morangis walk into the clearing.
“You two keep making this very easy,” he admonished.
Tristan pushed Constance behind him. “Haven’t you done enough damage?” he spat. At least he didn’t have to worry about polite society anymore. “Why don’t you just go back to your life and let us go? There’s nothing more for you here.”
The other man shook his head. “That’s not precisely true,” he said. “See, I don’t like people taking things that belong to me. And I don’t like people who stand in my way and you, my friend, have done both. I can’t let that go unanswered.” He looked at Constance, who clung to Tristan’s back. “If you had just given into the inevitable sooner, none of this would have happened.”
He heard her whimper behind him and put his hand back, brushing her side to reassure her that he was there and that he didn’t blame her. “There’s nothing here for you. Just leave us alone and we won’t bother you again. You’re not going to win here.”
“I think that’s where you’re wrong,” Morangis said. He stepped to the side and Tristan watched as the Beast stalked out from behind him. Another man followed. How had he missed the two of them? The man was familiar but it took a moment before he recognized him as one of the men that had followed them on that earlier hunt. It was the younger Chastel, Antoine.
They were all working together with the Beast? Even knowing what he did, Morangis’ part in the Beast had never occurred to him, but it made a lot of sense in retrospect.
That did not, however, help him right now. He sized up their odds. He had a knife that was on the ground and a scared lover behind him, facing a madman with a sword and another evil man with a wild, man-sized Beast. He already knew how hard that animal was to fight. He couldn’t allow himself the luxury of panic, but he knew a bad set-up when he saw one.
“Kill him,” Morangis ordered.
Antoine whistled a single high-pitched burst. The Beast erupted in a roar and leaped, all his power exploding through his back legs and propelling him forward. Tristan only had a moment to brace himself to catch the animal and take them spiraling, tumbling down to the ground away from Constance. Through the growls and snapping jaws, he could hear more whistles from Antoine.
Constance had again watched everything unfold with horror. It was like her life was a series of cataclysmic implosions and for at least the past several years, Morangis continued to be at the center of all of them. The strange man sent the Beast after Tristan. She could do nothing to help as she watched them fall to the ground together. He had defeated the creature once. Surely, he could do it again. And the stranger was engrossed entirely in the Beast’s actions, but that left her alone with...
“You could end it all now,” Morangis said. His cold eyes bore straight into her. “I control the Beast and I can call him off at any time. All you have to do is agree that you were wrong and come with me. We’ll make this right again.”
For a heartbeat and a breath, she was tempted. Not because of any newfound affection for him, of course, but because she wanted to save Tristan’s life and to erase the damage that she had caused. If she just gave herself over, it would only be her that was hurt. Everyone could just go back to the lives they had been living and it would be all over. Sh
e could convince him to call off the Beast entirely, or...
She was being an idiot, she realized. It would be easy to give herself up here, but Morangis was evil. He wasn’t telling the truth. He would take her, torment her for the rest of her life, and kill Tristan in the process. He’d been telling the truth when he said that he didn’t let things go unpaid for. He wouldn’t let it go now just because she agreed to be with him.
“No,” she said. She could barely make her voice loud enough to be heard amid the noise. She knew Tristan was fighting the Beast, but she kept her eyes on Morangis. She wouldn’t let him stab Tristan in the back.
How would she stop him, though?
“Why... why are you doing this?” she asked. “Why are you in league with the Beast?” She needed time to think.
“Why not?” He shrugged. “There is no power without fear, and power is everything.” After a pause, he went on, “Now, let’s end this foolishness. Just agree to be mine and to come with me now and all this can stop.”
“No!”
“Stop being a fool!” the comte snapped. “This idiocy has gone on long enough. Now it’s time to come to your senses.”
“It’s only now that I have come to my senses!” she shouted back, shocking herself, but it was time. She would not be afraid of this man anymore. He had already done so much to her and now to someone she loved. If she didn’t stop him, who would? And she couldn’t do that unless she found it in herself to stand up to him. To look him in the eye and tell him that it wasn’t going to happen. That he wasn’t going to be allowed to get away with all of the wickedness he’d been getting away with for so long. “You’re not going to get away with this anymore!”
“Who is going to stop me?” He smirked darkly. “You?” He advanced on her, but not with any great haste because what threat could she be?
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