by Joan Wolf
They entered their room and Gabrielle bent to pet Colette so she wouldn’t have to look at Leo.
He said in a cold voice, “It’s a little early for me to go to bed. I hope you won’t mind if I read for a while.”
Colette’s fur was like silk under her fingers. “Fine,” she said. “I would like to go to sleep, though. I am tired.”
“Will the lamp disturb you?”
“What do you care?”
“I am asking you to be polite. Will the lamp disturb you?”
His voice was measured and that annoyed her even more. “No,” she snapped. “It will not disturb me.”
“Good. Let’s get undressed, then.”
Getting undressed was even more uncomfortable than it had been the night before. For the first time she found herself resenting his presence. For some reason, she just couldn’t ignore him anymore.
He’s too big, she thought. He takes up too much space in this room…in this bed. Poor Colette is squashed onto my side because of his big feet.
He plumped his pillows up to make a bed rest and opened a book. He looked perfectly comfortable, and she thought, I should have made him sleep on the floor.
He regarded her over the pages of his book. “Sleep well,” he said.
“Humph,” she replied, then turned away from him, pulled the covers over her shoulders and shut her eyes.
Twelve
It was raining hard in Paris when a small man was admitted into the office of Francois Nicholas Mollien, the French minister of the Public Treasury. He shook the raindrops off his coat, rather like a dog, and approached the desk of the minister.
“What is this news you have for me, Le Brun?” the minister asked.
“I’ve just learned through channels that Monsieur Nathan Rothschild has bought up millions of our newly minted napoleon d’or coins in Holland, Monsieur le Ministre. The sale took place about two weeks ago.”
Mollien raised his thick black brows. “Nathan Rothschild?”
“Yes, Monsieur le Ministre.”
“He’s the Rothschild who lives in England?”
“Yes, Monsieur le Ministre.”
“Damn.”
Le Brun remained silent.
“He’s going to try to get the money to Wellington. That must be it.”
“It would look that way, Monsieur le Ministre.”
There was a silence as the minister frowned into the distance. Then he returned his attention to his underling. “Very good, Le Brun,” he said, dismissing him. “I will take care of this situation. Good job.”
As soon as Le Brun had left, Mollien made his way to the office of Napoleon’s ministre de la guerre, Alexandre Millerand. The war minister’s reaction was the same as Mollien’s. “That gold is for Wellington.”
Mollien nodded. “That much gold is as good as another army. It must be stopped. Can you set up search points on the main north-south roads to try to intercept it?”
“Yes,” Millerand said. He slammed his hand on his desk. “Damn the English. If they weren’t tying up so many men in the Peninsula we would have a seasoned army to throw against the Prussians.”
“Yes,” Mollien agreed. “We need to defeat the English and drive them out of the Peninsula altogether. We do not need them reinforced by several million gold pieces.”
“I wonder what Wellington is planning for his spring campaign,” the war minister muttered.
The rain beat heavily against the window, and for a moment both men were silent. Then Mollien said, “It’s a shame Napoleon himself can’t take charge in Spain. He would have Wellington on the ran in no time.”
“Napoleon is getting ready to take on the Prussians and Russians. We will have to leave the command of the army in Spain in the hands of his brother, King Joseph.”
“Joseph is no Napoleon,” Mollien said gloomily.
“No one is the equal of Napoleon,” Millerand declared. “Certainly not Wellington. But I will make certain that this gold does not reach the English. It was well done of you to have found out about this purchase.”
“Thank you, Monsieur le Ministre,” Mollien said.
As soon as the treasury minister had departed, the war minister sent for one of his aides. Within a day the arrangements for checkpoints on the main roads into southwest France were finished. Within two days, the roadblocks would be in place.
Thirteen
A cold front blew in over the course of the night and Gabrielle, still asleep, gravitated naturally toward the warmth of the large body on the other side of her bed. Leo radiated heat and she settled in against him comfortably and drifted more deeply into sleep.
Leo awoke to feel a small round rump tucked up against his side. And he had an erection.
Dammit! he thought. What the hell does she think she’s doing?
He had left the window partially open and a stream of cold air was blowing into die room. Cautiously he raised himself on his elbow. Colette, sleeping at the bottom of the bed, must have felt him move for she lifted her head.
He had to get Gabrielle to move away from him. If he didn’t, then he would end up grabbing her and pulling up her nightdress. Gritting his teeth, he put his hand between her shoulder blades and pushed lightly. Nothing.
He pushed again. She stirred a little. He pushed a third time and she said foggily, “Andre?”
“No,” he replied. “It’s Leo. You’re on my half of the bed.”
“Oh,” she said. “Oh!” She scrambled away from him as if he was on fire. “I’m sorry,” she said in a mortified voice.
Colette stood up on the end of the bed, stretched and changed the side she was lying on.
“The room is cold and you were looking to get warm.” He pushed back his covers and got out of bed. “I’ll shut the window.”
She didn’t say anything.
He got back into the bed and turned on his side to hide his arousal with his back to her. “Good night,” he said. He had to keep his knees drawn up because the damn dog took up the bottom half of the bed.
He had been far more comfortable bivouacking on the ground than he was in this bed. He was acutely conscious of her lying less than a foot away. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself in her and he was furious with himself for feeling that way.
“Good night,” she answered in a small voice.
Colette sighed.
Shit, he thought. I’m never going to get any sleep.
He was right. It was almost dawn before he finally drifted off again.
Gabrielle awoke before Leo, dressed quickly and went downstairs to breakfast. She was embarrassed to meet him.
I was curled up next to him, just as if he were Andre. How could I have done that?
His explanation about the cold room made sense, but it didn’t make her feel any better. I should have made him sleep on the floor. Now I’ll be afraid to sleep because it might happen again.
Albert was at the table when she came down and she sent him upstairs to make sure that Leo was awake. The circus was leaving early, aiming for the outskirts of Rouen before nightfall. They would be giving two shows in Rouen tomorrow.
“It’s cold this morning,” Paul groused as he drank his coffee.
“At least it’s not raining,” Sully said.
“Perhaps we should have waited another two weeks before starting out,” Henri said. “It feels as if the winter is still hanging on.”
“If we extend the season we extend our income,” Gabrielle said practically. “And we’re going south. The weather should get better.”
By eight o’clock the circus was ready to leave. Gabrielle sent Albert to ride with Leo while she drove the hay wagon. She was still too embarrassed about last night.
The day was cold, but the sun was out and the rolling farmland they passed through had just been put under the plough. Gabrielle wore her divided skirt and high boots with a wool coat over them and periodically leaned around the wagon to check that the horses that were following behind were all right.
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Her mind was preoccupied by Leo.
She had been so warm and cozy last night when she had been so abruptly awakened. How had she felt comfortable enough with him to allow herself to let down her guard like that?
I was asleep, she told herself. I couldn’t help it.
Am I going to cuddle up to him like that every night?
He hadn’t liked it. He had tried to push her away.
Perversely, Gabrielle was insulted. She was not a great femme fatale, but she certainly was not accustomed to men pushing her away. Andre had definitely liked it when she cuddled up to him.
I am just a circus girl and he is an aristocrat. He does not want me to get too close.
Well, that was fine with her. She had no intention of getting too close to Monsieur le Colonel.
Maybe I should put Colette between us.
She smiled at the thought of the big dog trying to share the bed with, Leo. I’ll bet he’s never slept with a dog before.
Another thought popped into her head. At least he didn’t try to take advantage of me.
She hadn’t thought of it that way before. Another man might have taken her action as an invitation. Leo had recognized the )
inadvertence of her gesture and taken steps to preserve her chastity.
Maybe he isn’t that bad, she thought. Maybe he was just being a gentleman.
By the time they stopped for lunch, she was feeling much more charitable to Leo than she had when they set out.
They were five miles outside of Rouen when they were stopped. A cordon of French soldiers, dressed in blue uniforms, stepped into the road to halt the wagons. Gabrielle, who was still driving the hay wagon, felt her heart leap into her throat.
Leo was with Albert in the first wagon!
Should she go to the front immediately, or would that look suspicious? Her heart was slamming in her chest as she watched one of the soldiers walk up to the lead wagon. He stood there, talking to Leo for a few minutes.
Why are they stopping us? Can they be looking for the gold?
She sat frozen, not knowing what to do.
Then Leo swung down from the wagon and accompanied the soldier past the first few wagons, coming to a halt next to her.
“Darling,” Leo said, “this is Lieutenant Amboise. His orders are to search all traffic on this road.” He turned toward the lieutenant. “The circus belongs to my wife’s family. It has been in existence for more than twenty years.”
The lieutenant was a middle-aged man with a great hook for a nose and a pair of cynical brown eyes. Gabrielle gave him a brilliant smile. He didn’t move a muscle. She said, “What are you looking for, Lieutenant?”
“Gold,” the lieutenant replied. “English gold.” He stared pointedly at Leo.
“Goodness,” Gabrielle said a little breathlessly. “I can assure you, Lieutenant, that we are not carrying any gold.”
“We’ll see about that for ourselves, madame,” the lieutenant said. “Will you pull the wagons off the road into that field, please?”
“Is this really necessary?” Gabrielle asked.
“Yes,” the lieutenant replied.
Gabrielle watched as Leo walked back to the first wagon and put his horses into motion. The whole circus train followed him into the unplowed field at the side of the road.
The cadre of six soldiers spread out among the wagons and the lieutenant stayed with Leo. Gabrielle jumped down from the hay wagon and went to the first wagon, where half of the gold was hidden. Leo had just opened the rear door when she got there. They all looked at Colette, who was lying on the sofa.
“My dog rides in this wagon,” Gabrielle said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. “Here, Colette,” she called, and Colette got up, stretched and came to Gabrielle, jumping down from the wagon with graceful ease.
“What’s in all of those trunks?” the lieutenant asked.
“Costumes mostly,” Gabrielle said.
“Open them up.”
Gabrielle glanced at Leo.
“Do as he asks, darling,” Leo said calmly. “I’ll help you.” They climbed into the wagon, followed by Colette and Albert. Then, under the watchful eye of the lieutenant, they opened all of the trunks and showed him the contents. It took a while. Finally the lieutenant was satisfied.
“Move the sofa,” he said next.
Gabrielle’s heart leaped. The loose floorboards were not directly under the sofa, they were just in front of it. “Help me,” Leo said to Albert, and the two of them moved the sofa so that it was standing over the secret compartment. The lieutenant looked at the floor that had been exposed, squatted and tried to pry up a board or two. Gabrielle felt as if she might faint. At last the lieutenant looked up.
“All right,” he said. “Let’s look at the next wagon.”
Mathieu was standing next to the second wagon. “What is going on?” he asked.
The lieutenant ignored him. Gabrielle said, “They are looking for English gold. I don’t know why they think we might have it, but they are welcome to look.” She looked at the lieutenant. “Although, I hope that you will go as fast as you can, Lieutenant. We are overdue to meet our advance man.”
“We’ll take as long as necessary,” the lieutenant said gruffly. “Now, open the back of this wagon, madame.”
The search of the second wagon was much the same as the first. This wagon held the tack used in the show— saddle and bridle racks were lined up along the walls and horse blankets were packed into several trunks. Gabrielle and her brothers also kept their everyday clothes and their personal effects in this wagon. Albert’s paintings were stacked against one of the blanket trunks.
One of Gabrielle’s fears was that the boys would do something to give them away. Both Mathieu and Albert looked pale and she smiled at them reassuringly.
It was somehow degrading to see the lieutenant go through their personal belongings, and if Gabrielle had not been so scared she would have been furious.
The lieutenant checked the floorboards in this wagon as well, missing the loose boards by inches. All of the blood drained from Gabrielle’s head when she saw how close he was.
“Steady,” Leo said in a low, warning voice, placing a hand on the small of her back. She gulped for air.
The lieutenant finally stood, “Ca va. The next wagon now.”
It took the soldiers almost an hour to go through all of the wagons. Gabrielle could see how angry the circus folk were at having to open up their trunks and boxes for the inspection of the army. The soldiers didn’t give them time to put things back in order and the wagons ended up looking as if a hurricane had hit them.
Finally they were done. The lieutenant said to Gabrielle, “Isn’t it a little early to be starting your season, madame?”
They were standing next to the first wagon, with Leo and Mathieu and Albert looking on. The rest of the soldiers had gone back to their posts on the road.
“The longer the season, the more the money, Lieutenant,” Gabrielle said lightly.
“When did you say you married this Englishman?”
“Over the winter,” Gabrielle said.
“In January?”
“It was February,” Leo interjected pleasantly. “I had brought some sale horses to Brussels for a client. My wife was visiting the city and we met and fell in love.”
“How charming,” the lieutenant said sourly. “And you gave up your horse business to join the circus?”
“My wife owns the circus,” Leo repeated. “Her livelihood was more lucrative than mine.”
“And do you do anything for this circus?” the lieutenant asked.
Gabrielle said hastily, “He collects the ticket money and helps out with the horses.”
The lieutenant eyed Leo. “You don’t look like a groom, monsieur.”
“I do whatever Gabrielle needs me to do,” Leo said. “And I fail to see why I am being subjected to this interrogation.”
A trace of aristocratic hauteur colored Leo’s words and Gabriell
e sent him an urgent mental message. Don’t make this man any more suspicious than he already is, Leo! Keep your temper. Please, please keep your temper.
The lieutenant said, “I just find it a rather too convenient a coincidence that an Englishman should be traveling with a French circus that is going in the direction of Spain.”
“What is suspicious about traveling toward Spain? This is a route we have taken many times in years past, Lieutenant,” she said indignantly. “You can ask anybody. Besides, you searched my wagons and didn’t find anything. Surely you should be satisfied that we do not have what you are looking for.”
The lieutenant looked at her. “I’ve done what I could do,” he said. “But I shall be making my report, madame. Good day to you both.” And then he left the field, rejoining his men on the road.
When he was well out of earshot, Gabrielle said, “What did he mean by that, that he would be making his report?”
“I think it means we are not out of the woods yet,” Leo said soberly. “And the first thing I am going to do is to nail down those loose boards in the wagons. If we have to use a crowbar to pry them up when we get to Biarritz, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“He just missed the loose board in the second wagon,” Gabrielle said faintly.
“I know.” Leo gestured for silence as several of the circus folk were walking toward them.
“That was outrageous,” Gianni said. “My wagon is a mess.”
“Mine, too,” said Antonio. “Doesn’t the army have better things to do than to harass innocent citizens?”
“The fellow who searched my wagon said that the government found out that the English were trying to smuggle gold to Wellington in Portugal. I suppose they thought a circus was a clever way to transport it,” Luc said.
“That’s just stupid,” Antonio said. “The Cirque Equestre has been around for years. We are a respectable institution, not a den of smugglers!”