by Joan Wolf
The circus stayed in Bordeaux for three days and during that time Gabrielle kept hoping that someone from the British army would get into contact with them. Their next stop would be Biarritz, and she was convinced that the whole French army would be waiting to pounce on her once they entered the city limits.
To add to her extreme tension about getting rid of the gold, she was dealing with the nearness of Leo’s departure. She tried to treasure in her heart all of the moments that she spent with him. She would watch him as he played chess with Mathieu, or groomed a horse, or stood in the middle of the ring keeping Coco to an even canter. At night, in his arms, she responded to his ardor with all the sweetness that was in her, giving her body to him generously even as her heart ached with the knowledge that their time together was almost over.
The night before they left Bordeaux, when they were alone in their bedroom, Leo told her that someone had finally contacted him immediately after the second show.
“He was dressed like a workingman and he watched the show like the rest of the audience,” Leo said. “He spoke to me very casually. I don’t think anyone noticed.”
“What did he say?” Gabrielle demanded. Leo was sitting on the bed and she was standing in front of him, between his legs. They were holding hands.
“It wasn’t what he said so much as what I said,” Leo returned. “I told him we had a French sergeant traveling with us and keeping a constant eye on the wagons. I told him which wagons contained the gold and that they were left on the circus grounds at night under the watchful eye of two grooms, two dogs and Sergeant Jordan.”
Gabrielle clutched his hands more tightly. “What did he say to that?”
“He said he would check with his superiors and get back to me.”
“But when?” Gabrielle said. “When will he get back to you? We are leaving for Biarritz tomorrow morning!”
“Don’t panic, sweetheart. The army will come up with a plan.”
“I’m not panicking,” she said, “but I think I have a right to be concerned. I have done my part by getting the gold across France. Now the British army must do its part and remove it from my wagons without anyone knowing that I have been carrying it.”
“I’m sure they will do that, sweetheart.”
Gabrielle was not so sanguine.
There was an urgency to their lovemaking that night that had not been there before. Both of them realized that the end of their time together was coming, and the tenderness that had been so much a part of their lovemaking in the past was almost absent. Tonight was about need.
When it was over and Leo was asleep, Gabrielle lay awake next to Mm, dry-eyed and suffering. This is terrible, she thought. This is almost as bad as when Andre died. But Leo was not going to die; he was not even going to disappear from her life altogether. He would come during the winter. He had said that he would. She clung to that thought like a drowning person to a lifeline.
I think he does love me, she thought. Perhaps when he comes…perhaps everything will turn out all right.
The circus set off for Biarritz at eight o’clock the next morning, and at eleven o’clock they met a farm wagon that had broken down by the side of the road. Leo pulled up, jumped down from his high seat and went to see if he could be of help. All of the wagons stopped behind him.
Gabrielle watched curiously as Leo stopped in front of the farmer, who was standing on the road next to his wagon. As she continued to watch, the farmer handed something to Leo, who immediately put it inside his coat.
Gabrielle’s heart began to thunder as she waited to see Sergeant Jordan appear, demanding to know what Leo had just received. But nothing happened. She was tempted to peer around the side of the wagon to see what was going on behind her, but she didn’t want to do anything that might call attention to Leo. She looked at him again, and this time she realized that he had positioned himself so that his broad back and shoulders were blocking the sergeant’s view of the so-called farmer. No one in the second wagon would have seen that package passed from one set of hands to the other.
Leo returned to the wagon and climbed up to the seat beside her. He picked up the reins and put the horses in motion. The wagons behind followed suit. They were perhaps five hundred feet from the broken-down wagon when Gabrielle said in a low voice, “What did that man give you?”
He glanced sideways at her, surprised. “You saw it?”
“Yes. But I don’t think they saw it from the second wagon. You were blocking their view.”
“God, I hope so,” he said.
“You can be sure that if Sergeant Jordan had seen it, he would have been on you immediately, demanding to know what you had received.”
He nodded. His profile looked stern. “I think you’re right.”
“But what is it?” Gabrielle asked.
He turned his eyes her way. “Drugs,” he said. “We’re to give them to Jordan, the grooms and the dogs in their dinner. The farmer who gave them to me said they were guaranteed to keep them all out for the duration of the night.”
“Mon Dieu.” she said.
“I should have figured they’d do something like this,” Leo said. “The chap whom I met at the circus yesterday asked me how the grooms and Jordan got their dinner and I said one of the boys usually brought it out to them. He told me to stop for the farmer today.”
“So the army will come while everyone is sleeping and take away the gold?”
“Yes. They have a fishing boat in the harbor that will take it to Santander, which is Wellington’s supply port on the Bay of Biscay. It’s controlled by the English.”
“Mon Dieu.” she said again. “But what will happen when Jordan and the grooms wake up and realize they have been drugged?”
“Why should they think that? It’s more likely that they will think they all had a good night’s sleep.”
“But if Jordan suspects he was drugged?”
“He may suspect but he will have no proof,” Leo said. “And the gold will be gone.”
“What about the floorboards? They will have to tear up the floorboards in our wagon? What if…”
“Calm down,” he said. He pulled her toward him until she was sitting on his knee. “I told the man by the wagon about the floorboards and I told him that they would have to be replaced before they left. He promised me he would see to it that that was done.”
She went over the scheme in her head. “We have to mix the drags into their dinners?”
“Yes. He even gave me a separate, smaller portion for the dogs.”
“I see. Well, it seems as if they have covered everything.”
“I think it’s a good plan, sweetheart.”
“When will they do it? Tomorrow?”
“Yes. We’ll have Mathieu pick up the food and he can mix in the drugs before he delivers it. It might be a good idea to request that the hotel make stew for dinner.”
“Won’t you want to take care of the drags yourself?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t brought the grooms their dinner since that first night. We want to keep everything as normal as possible. Mathieu will do a good job.”
She buried her face in his shoulder. “It’s going to be all right, sweetheart,” he said soothingly.
“I’m so frightened, Leo,” she said. “I don’t think my heart is going to slow down until that damn gold is out of my wagons!”
“Only another day and you can relax.”
He smoothed his hand over her hair and she closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of him, the strength of him. It’s going to be all right, she told herself. It’s going to be all right.
The next day, the circus members went about their usual chores following the second show. About forty-five before they all left for their hotel, Mathieu hitched up the empty tent wagon and went to collect the dinner for the grooms and Sergeant Jordan. The cook had them ready for him, a covered basket along with some meat and two bones in a pail for the dogs.
Halfway to the field, Mathieu pulled off the road, took out the
package that Leo had given to him and emptied the powder into the stew that was the meal. He used his finger to stir it into the thick gravy, and then did the same with the portion for the dogs. Mathieu’s heart was pounding but his hand was steady as he doctored the dinners. Then he picked up the reins and continued on his way.
By the time Mathieu reached the field, the others were ready to leave for town. He delivered the meals to the grooms and the sergeant, who were at their usual posts close to the corral and the horse tent. The men received them with gratitude and professed themselves ready to tuck right in.
“ Bon appetit,” Mathieu said cheerfully, and went hastily to crawl into the back of Henri’s wagon for the ride to the hotel.
Gabrielle didn’t sleep that night. She made love with Leo, then lay awake, listening to his breathing and picturing in her mind what was happening out at the circus field.
What if someone wakes up?
It was her greatest fear. What if one of the supposedly drugged men had not been hungry? What if one of them was awake? What would happen when they heard the noise of hammering in the night? Or what if the dogs didn’t eat their meal? Wouldn’t the noise of the dogs barking wake the grooms and Jordan, no matter how much they’d been drugged?
Slowly the hours slipped by and everything remained quiet. There was no Sergeant Jordan pounding on her door, demanding that she account for the gold that had been removed from her wagon. No gendarmes came to arrest her. When she finally fell asleep near dawn, she was thankfully sure that the venture had been a success and the gold was gone.
Thirty-Four
Everything was quiet when the circus arrived back at the field in the morning. Gabrielle was relieved to see the dogs come to greet the wagons, as they usually did. Apparently, the drugs had been strong enough to put them to sleep for the night, but not strong enough to keep them from waking up at a decent time in the morning.
Thank you, God, Gabrielle thought with huge relief.
Their second day in Biarritz went smoothly and Gabrielle felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from her. The gold was gone and she had not been discovered or arrested. The floorboards in the two wagons had been nailed back down and there was no visible sign that anything had ever been in those wagons except their circus equipment.
That night, as she and Leo lay in bed together, she said “You were right. The army was clever in the way they removed the gold. I didn’t have to worry so much after all.”
“I don’t want you worrying at all,” he said. He was leaning up on his elbow, his eyes on her face. “I want you to be happy.”
How can I be happy when you are leaving? she thought, but she made an effort to smile bravely.
“Once we have pushed the French out of Spain,” he continued, “I will take leave and come to see you. You gave me your itinerary for the rest of the season, so I shouldn’t have any trouble finding you. We will have a reunion.”
She produced the smile once more.
“I meant what I said about taking care of Albert, but I’d rather wait until the war is ended to collect him. Is that all right?”
“That will be fine,” she managed. “Thank you.”
“I also meant what I said about visiting during the winter for riding lessons, too. I hope the war will be over by then.”
“I hope so, too.”
He turned to gather her into his arms. “I’ll miss you,” he whispered in her ear.
Oh, Leo, she thought, pressing her face against his chest. You are breaking my heart.
“Kiss me,” he whispered fiercely.
She lifted her face and met his fiery kiss. His mouth pressed her head back into the pillow and his body followed. He kissed her throat and reached around to the neck of her nightgown to open it.
“Damn nightgown,” he muttered, fumbling.
Gabrielle sat up and smiled, stripping the full cotton gown over her head.
“You are so beautiful,” he said.
He flicked his tongue over her nipples and passion shot like a bolt of lightning down to her loins. She whimpered.
His hands were all over her, running over the gentle curve of her hips, trailing down her thighs, then up to the secret place where the heart of her desire lodged. She opened to him, urging him onward, beckoning him in so he could assuage the rising passion that was building inside of her.
He came in a rush, deep and hard, filling her, stretching her, thrusting in and out of her quivering flesh, driving her up the bed until her head was pressed against the headboard. Then the climax came, an excruciating wave of intense jolts of pleasure that caused her whole body to spasm while he himself gave a shout of triumph and completion as his seed spilled into her body.
Afterward they lay together, naked and glistening, body pressed to body. “My God, how I will miss you,” Leo said.
“Will you miss me or will you miss this?” she couldn’t help asking.
He tried to hold her closer. “I can’t have this without you. It’s not the same with anybody else.”
“Me, too,” she said.
“Listen to me, Gabrielle,” he said. “I am going to give you my address at home and in the army. If some- thing happens-if you need money, for example—I want you to contact me.”
The beat of his heart was slowing. “That’s nice of you, Leo, but we will be all right.” She did not want his charity, she thought.
“Listen, Gabrielle. I need to tell you who I am.” Leo sat up and looked at her with a troubled expression. “You know that I am an aristocrat, as you say, but I am not a younger son as you believe. I am the Earl of Branford, and the estate I have talked about belongs to me. I have a great deal of money, and if I can help you at all, I want to do it.”
A great quietness descended upon her heart. “An earl?” she said. “We do not have earls in France.”
“It is like a count,” he said. “In England we don’t have counts, we have earls.”
It seemed as if her heart stopped. This was worse than she could ever imagine. An English earl! She had thought he was above her reach before, although at this moment she realized that deep in her heart she had always believed in the possibility that he might love her enough… But now, now all hope was dead. There was no way that an earl could marry a circus girl.
“Gabrielle?” he said. “Are you listening?”
“I don’t want your money, Leo,” she said. “If you will help Albert, I will be grateful. But I don’t want your money.”
“I want to help you,” he said.
“It will make me feel like a kept woman to accept money from you,” she said shortly. “Please don’t speak of this anymore.”
His arms tightened so much that they hurt. “Don’t say that about yourself!”
“What else would I be?” she asked.
“You are someone I care about.”
“No, Leo,” she said firmly. She shut her eyes and called on all of her resources. “In fact, I think that when you leave us in Pau we should say goodbye. I need to get on with my life. It isn’t fair to me to have you hanging around. Come for Albert, but don’t plan on staying. If you want lessons in riding, go to Lisbon. Or to Vienna. You can learn there everything you want to know.”
He started to protest, but she shook her head.
“No,” she said. The pain in her heart was terrible. “These few weeks have been magical. I will never forget them. But it is over, Leo. You are a great lord and I am a circus girl. There can be nothing permanent between us, and I cannot bear to keep up a relationship that is only temporary. It isn’t good for me, Leo. Please respect my wishes in this matter and don’t make it harder for me than it already is.”
He loosened his arms so he could look into her face.
“I can’t believe that you are doing this to us,” he said disbelievingly.
“Leo,” she said. Her heart was aching. “Please!”
He heard the pain. “All right.” His own voice was rough. His eyes bored into hers. “If you’re sure this is wha
t you want.”
She sustained his gaze steadily. “It’s not what I want, it’s what has to be.”
“But it’s not goodbye, Gabrielle. I will come for Albert.”
“Come for Albert. But you can’t stay, Leo. I can’t go through this again.”
He flung himself back on his pillow. “I never should have told you the truth,” he said grimly.
Tears flowed down into her loose hair. “I’m glad you did,” she said calmly. “It made our situation clearer to me. We come from different worlds, Leo. For this little time our worlds have meshed, but it won’t happen again. You must go back to your world and I must learn to live without you in mine.”
“Very well.” His voice was suddenly cold. “If you are determined to kick me out of your life, I suppose there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“That’s right,” she said. “There isn’t.”
He got out of bed to untie Colette and to pick up his nightshirt. Gabrielle lay and watched him, watched the golden body that was so powerful yet so lithe, watched the hard set of his mouth and the hurt look he was trying in conceal in his eyes. And her heart bled and bled and bled.
The following morning the circus left Biarritz to go east to Pau. Sergeant Jordan rode with them, but when they reached Pau he announced to Gabrielle that he was leaving the circus and returning to Paris. Apparently he was finally convinced they were not carrying the gold.
“Finally, we’re rid of him,” Gabrielle said to Leo. “Now we can pretend to get a letter from England for you.”
“We’d better wait until tomorrow,” he said. “Give Jordan a chance to get away.”
It was clear to Leo that she wanted him gone as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to betray how deeply her change in attitude had hurt him, so he tried for a tone that was matter-of-fact. “We can pretend to get the message in the morning and I will hire a horse and be gone before evening. You won’t have to put up with me for much longer, Gabrielle.”
She didn’t answer. She just nodded her agreement.
That night Leo wanted to stay home and make love to Gabrielle, but she insisted on going to the cafe with the others. When they got home she stayed up talking to Mathieu and Isabel until almost midnight.