by Joan Wolf
He pulled his first boot on and looked at her. She was so brave, and sweet and beautiful. She shouldn’t have to be dealing with drunken louts and employees who smashed up whorehouses.
“While I’m here, you might as well make use of me.”
She shook her head. “It isn’t good for me. And it isn’t good that all the others are looking to you for leadership. I am the one who must hold this circus together. Papa left the responsibility to me.”
“As Mathieu said last night, the circus belongs to him, too.”
“Yes, it does. And it will be good if Mathieu can help me. But I don’t think that you should help me anymore, Leo. I think I have to manage on my own.”
“Damn it,” he said angrily. “I can’t stand by and watch you cope with things I’m much better equipped to deal with.”
“I have to learn to cope,” she argued. “I should have thought about asking the doctor to keep Franz until he is well. If something like that happens again, though, at least I will know what to do. I must thank you for that.”
Leo thought of all the extra money it had cost to make that arrangement. But he couldn’t tell Gabrielle about that.
‘“The others all think we are married,” he reasoned. “It is natural for them to look to the man for leadership, Gabrielle. Why don’t we just leave things as they are, and when I am gone they will go back to looking to you?”
Her big troubled brown eyes clung to his face.
He wanted to catch her in his arms and tell her that everything would be all right, that he would make everything would be all right for her. But he couldn’t do that. She was right; he would be rejoining his regiment once the gold was delivered.
“We can both go and negotiate Pierre’s release,” he suggested. “How about that?”
“I thought I might go with Mathieu,” she said.
He shook his head decisively. “It will look strange to the others if you do that. You don’t want to start gossip, do you?”
Slowly she shook her own head. “No, I don’t want to do that.”
“Fine, then the two of us will go to the jail together and collect Pierre. That way it won’t just be me. You will be part of it, too.”
She sighed. “Oh, all right, Leo. I suppose that will do.”
“Good. Now finish dressing and we’ll get some breakfast before we bring Pierre his money.”
Pierre was silent and grim when he was released from the jail. He didn’t say a word as he, Gabrielle and Leo got into the front seat of the wagon to drive back to the circus grounds.
They were on the outskirts of town when Gabrielle finally asked, “Are you all right, Pierre?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m all right.”
“Gabrielle was the one who insisted on rescuing you, you know,” Leo told him. “I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea.”
Pierre turned his head to stare at Leo, who was driving. “What do you mean?” he said.
“I mean we don’t want trouble in this circus, Pierre. If you and Jeanne have marital problems, then take care of them between the two of you. I don’t want any harm coming to the circus because Gabrielle was kind enough to advance you money you have not yet earned.”
Pierre scowled. “I’m not bringing any harm to the circus.”
Leo turned his head and met his eyes. “I hope not. But if we have any more injuries, Pierre, I will know where to look.”
Pierre turned to stare straight ahead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do. And I mean what I say. I am not a good man to cross, Pierre. I think you should know that.”
Gabrielle, who was sitting between the two men, looked anxiously at Leo. She didn’t say anything.
Leo said, “Gabrielle feels loyalty to you because you have been with the circus for a long time. I hope you feel the same loyalty to her.”
Pierre mumbled something indistinguishable.
“Do I make myself clear?” Leo said.
“Yes,” Pierre said harshly.
“Good.”
The rest of the ride passed in silence. After they had reached the circus grounds and Pierre had departed to go to his own wagon, Gabrielle turned to Leo, who was shading beside her watching Pierre go.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
He kept his eyes on Pierre. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. You were warning Pierre. Do you suspect him of something, Leo?”
He turned to her and hesitated. He didn’t want to burden her with his suspicions about Pierre, but on the other hand she should be warned. He would not always be here to help her.
“I am not entirely sure that Pierre wasn’t responsible for Franz’s accident,” he said carefully.
Her brown eyes widened. “But the rope was frayed from wear!”
“It was frayed pretty evenly, Gabrielle. I’m not saying that it wasn’t an accident, but I definitely plan to keep an eye on Pierre.”
“Mon Dieu.” she breathed.
It was a sunny morning and her complexion as she turned to face him was flawless. Her brown eyes were huge. “Why didn’t you tell me your suspicions before this?”
“I didn’t want to worry you. But what you said to me this morning makes some sense. You should be warned to watch out for Pierre.”
“ But you have no proof?” she said anxiously.
“No. The rope was definitely frayed. It could have been an accident. I am just not completely comfortable about it.”
“This is why you wanted me to get rid of him?”
“Yes. And it’s still not too late to do that.”
“I need some time to hire new musicians. Plus, Pierre may be innocent. I would feel terrible dismissing him on a false suspicion.”
He put a finger under her chin and leaned down to lightly kiss her lips. “If everyone had a heart like yours, the world would be a wonderful place to live. I’ve warned him—he knows I’m suspicious. That may be enough to quell any desire he has to do anything else.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” she said soberly.
He hated to see her look this way. “I shouldn’t have told you. I’ve knocked the smile right off your face.”
She shook her head. “You were right to tell me, Leo. I know you don’t like me to keep saying this, but it is my circus. I have to be aware of any potential danger.”
He sighed. “That’s why I told you.”
Paul approached them. “I think one of my wheels is about to break, Leo. Would you take a look at it?”
“Certainly,” Leo replied, and the two men walked across the winter-brown grass to Paul and Sully’s wagon.
From their place by the horse corral, Mathieu and Albert watched Gabrielle and Leo pull up with Pierre. They watched as Pierre walked away and Gabrielle and Leo talked. They watched as Leo leaned down to kiss Gabrielle on the mouth. They looked at each other.
Albert said, “I think something is going on between Gabrielle and Leo.”
Mathieu said, “It looks like it, doesn’t it?”
“It would be perfect if they married for real,” Albert said. “Leo would take care of Gabrielle—and he would take care of us, too.”
“He has promised to take care of you, no matter what,” Mathieu said.
Albert pushed his light brown hair away from his eyes. “I have been thinking—I don’t know if I should go away and leave you and Gabrielle to run the circus alone.”
Mathieu raised his brows. “Don’t be stupid. Leo is offering you a great opportunity, Albert. You would be a fool not to take it.”
“I don’t know,” Albert repeated. “I would feel as if I was deserting you and Gabrielle.”
“Gabrielle wants this for you. The reason she agreed to take the gold was so that she would have the money to send you to art school.” When Albert looked surprised, Mathieu smiled faintly. “You didn’t know that, did you?”
Albert shook his head and Mathieu went on. “Well, now that you have an even b
etter opportunity—and it won’t cost Gabrielle anything—you can’t refuse it.”
Albert regarded his brother solemnly. “And what about you, Mathieu? You have gobbled up these mathematics sessions with Leo. Wouldn’t you like a chance to go to university and study mathematics?”
Mathieu laughed harshly. “That’s impossible. Even if I could find the money to go to university, what would I do with myself after I got out?”
“Perhaps you could teach.”
“I don’t think so, Albert. I’m sure I make far more money in the circus than I would teaching farmers’ sons in some dreary provincial school.”
Albert looked at him out of troubled golden-brown eyes.
Mathieu patted him on the shoulder. “One day, if you become a great painter and make a lot of money, you can pay for me to go to university and become a mathematician.”
“Maybe Leo would pay for you,” Albert said. “He likes you a lot.”
“Leo is going to take on your education. We can hardly ask him to take on mine as well. Besides, I couldn’t leave Gabrielle all by herself with the circus.”
Albert sighed. “Everything would be so perfect if Leo would marry Gabrielle. She is so beautiful, and so good. How could he not fall in love with her?”
Mathieu said soberly, “He may fall in love with her, but that doesn’t mean he’ll marry her. Remember, he is an aristocrat in his own country, and the English are very conscious of the differences between the classes. They did not have a revolution like we did.”
“But he kissed her,” Albert said.
“Do you know what I am afraid of?” Mathieu said. “I am afraid that Gabrielle will fall in love with Leo, and when he leaves, her heart will be broken. I would hate to see her the way she was after Andre died.”
“Do you think they are sleeping together?”
“I don’t know, and if they are, it’s Gabrielle’s business, not ours.”
Albert was silent for a long minute. Then he said, “I am going to pray that Leo falls in love with Gabrielle and marries her.”
Mathieu gave his brother’s shoulders a brief hug. “You do that, Albert. You do that.”
Twenty-Seven
I here was a definite crack in Paul and Sully’s wheel and they had to drive into town to get a new one. Gabrielle told them to follow the circus to Le Mans and the rest of them were on the road by nine o’clock.
The day was warm and sunny, a portent of spring. Gabrielle sat beside Leo in the wagon, her face turned up to the sun, her eyes closed. He smiled at her. “You look like a flower soaking in sunshine,” he said. “Ladies in England hide from the sun under bonnets and parasols.”
‘ “Ladies in England are so fair they have to watch their skin,” she returned. Her eyes were still closed and her head uplifted. Her peaches-and-cream complexion had turned a very faint golden tan.
My golden girl, Leo thought. They drove for a long while in comfortable silence, Leo occasionally thinking how pleasant it was to find a woman who didn’t feel it necessary to talk all the time.
They had lunch at Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, in a small resonant on the river, where Colette had fun scattering the geese. Then they resumed their journey, going through the town of Le Mans and stopping just to the south of it, where they were to meet Vincent to find out about their arrangements.
When they reached the meeting site they found that Vincent was not alone. A soldier dressed in the uniform of an army sergeant was standing with him. Gabrielle’s heart began to pound.
“Shit,” Leo said as they approached the wagon.
The sergeant was a man of medium height and medium age. His eyes were so dark they were almost black, and his features were sharp.
“Good afternoon, Vincent,” Gabrielle said as calmly as she could.
“Good afternoon, Leo, Gabrielle,” Vincent returned. “This sergeant has been waiting to see you.”
Leo remained prudently silent. Gabrielle lifted an inquisitive eyebrow. “To what do we owe the honor of this attention, Sergeant?”
“I am Sergeant Gaston Jordan, madame, and I have been assigned to travel with your circus,” the man announced in a crisp voice. “The War Ministry is desirous of keeping close watch on all convoys traveling from the north of France toward Spain.”
Gabrielle could feel the color drain from her face. “This is ridiculous,” she snapped. “We are a perfectly innocent circus. We don’t deserve to have a spy foisted on us!”
“As I said, madame, the War Ministry is keeping close watch on all vehicles that might possibly be transporting gold.” He paused and looked meaningfully at Leo. “Your circus is of particular interest because you are carrying an Englishman.”
Leo said to Gabrielle. “I am sorry, cherie, that I have brought this nuisance upon you. When you agreed to marry me I had no idea that something like this would happen.”
She smiled at him. “You’ re right. It is a nuisance, that is all.” She returned her gaze to the sergeant. “You are going to ride with us until we reach Biarritz?”
“Yes, madame, those are my orders.”
“I suppose you will want to ride in one of our wagons.”
“Yes, madame.”
“Very well,” Gabrielle said tightly. “My brother is driving the wagon just behind us. You can ride with him to the field that Vincent has found for us.”
“Thank you, madame.”
The sergeant moved off. When he was out of earshot, Vincent said, “I couldn’t get rid of him, Gabrielle. He was at the hotel I booked for you and he’s stuck to me like glue ever since.”
“Don’t worry about it, Vincent,” Leo said. “It’s an annoyance, but we’ll deal with it.”
“Go back to your carriage,” Gabrielle said. “We’ll follow you to the field.”
The field was closer to the city than last year’s field had been, and Gabrielle expressed her approval. Once they arrived, the circus folk set about raising the tents and tending to the horses while the sergeant stood around and watched.
Everybody wanted to know why there was an army sergeant watching them, and a representative from each act approached Gabrielle with the question. She told each one that the War Ministry was keeping close watch on all wagons traveling from the north of France toward Spain.
“It’s that gold they’re looking for, isn’t it?” Henri asked.
“It seems so,” said Gabrielle. She fixed a feed bag over Shaitan’s face and the horse began to gobble his grain.
“Still,” Henri said, “we’re an established circus. I’m surprised we would fall under suspicion.”
Luc had just joined them and now he said, “It’s Leo. Not only are we traveling from the north, but we have an Englishman with us—an Englishman who joined us only a short while ago.”
Henri frowned. “We told them that Leo is married to Gabrielle. Surely that is explanation enough.”
“You would think so,” Gabrielle replied, hoping she sounded calmer than she felt. She affixed another feed bag on the eager Fantan. “The War Ministry is being overly zealous, that’s all.”
“I hope this man isn’t going to search our wagons again,” Henri said indignantly.
Gabrielle said, “I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I think we should try to cooperate with him. We don’t want to add any fuel to his suspicion.”
There was a little silence in which the only sound was that of the horses chewing their grain. Then Henri said, “You’re right, Gabrielle. I will tell Carlotta what you’ve said.”
“Thanks, Henri,” Gabrielle said.
Henri walked away but Luc remained, waiting for Henri to be out of earshot. “If you’re carrying that gold you’re putting everyone in this circus in jeopardy,” Luc said.
“I am not carrying any gold,” Gabrielle said evenly.
“Then explain Leo.”
“I have already explained Leo,” she said fiercely. “We fell in love and got married. Our relationship has nothing to do with any gold.”
L
uc looked into her eyes for a long minute. “I don’t think I believe you, Gabrielle.”
“I don’t care what you believe,” she said. “I have told you the truth.”
At this point, Paul came up to them. “What is that sargeant doing here?” he asked Gabrielle.
Grateful for the interruption, she began her explanation again as Luc walked away.
Leo didn’t have a chance to talk to Gabrielle until they were alone in their bedroom before dinner. Leo closed the door behind them and Gabrielle turned to him, her eyes filled with worry.
“Mon Dieu, Leo,” she said. “What are we going to do about the soldier?”
“Work around him,” Leo said. “We don’t have much choice.”
“But how? How are we going to transfer the gold from my wagons to the custody of the English without that man knowing? I asked him if he wanted us to book him a room in the hotel and he said no, that he was going to be staying with the wagons! He will eat and sleep with the grooms. That’s what he told me, Leo! What are we going to do?”
“Sweetheart, calm yourself. We’ll find a way.”
“What way?”
He took her cold hands into his big, warm grasp. “For one thing, the two wagons that matter come to the hotel with us.”
She was silent, but her hands returned his clasp. “That’s true,” she said at last.
“Your job is not to worry about transferring the gold. Your job is to get it to Biarritz. It’s the job of the British army to get it from your wagons to Wellington. And the British army is very good at its job, Gabrielle. So stop worrying. I hate to see you with that anxious look in your eyes.”
She said tensely, “Luc thinks we have the gold. He told me that today.”
“He can think what he likes, but he can’t do anything. Don’t worry about Luc.”
“There’s more about Luc,” she said. She withdrew her hands from his and went to sit on the side of the bed. “Emma told me today. You know how you said Jeanne never showed up at the jail last night?”