He led her up a curving marble stairway with a gilt railing and then along a wide hall with crimson carpeting to one of several tall white doors. He opened one of the doors and ushered her inside. It was a large bedchamber also decorated in crimson and gold, with the coverlet of the bed gold and the canopy crimson with a gold fringe.
“This will be your room,” he said. “It is somewhat more comfortable than what I’ve been able to offer you.”
She was awed by the grandeur of it all. “It is truly magnificent!”
“I have a room much like it,” he said. “And of course the emperor has his own special apartment below. And Valmy has his quarters on this level. You will be meeting him shortly.”
“When will I see you again?” she asked.
“Soon, I hope,” he said. “In the meanwhile wash and rest yourself in preparation for your meeting with Valmy.”
He left her, and a tiny Italian maid arrived soon with a jug of hot water for her bath. It was hard to communicate with the girl though she seemed bright enough. Betsy enjoyed the luxury of a warm bath and was surprised when the girl brought her a choice of clothing which fitted her very well. It was almost as if her coming had been announced, and they had been able to prepare for her.
She chose a green satin dress with a plunging front. And she was able with the maid’s help to put her hair in an interesting updo. Gazing at herself in the mirror, she used the cosmetics offered on the dresser to complete her appearance.
Once dressed, she became uneasy in the room. She wished that Valmy would see her and get it over with. She went to the windows to look out and found them shuttered. She could not open the shutters, so she had to do with lamplight, even though it was not dark. The maid brought her a tray of food which was welcome. And then she waited some more.
It was late in the afternoon when there was a knock on the door, and it was the elderly Lacoste back again. He had changed into a brown coat and fawn trousers and looked rested.
He greeted her warmly and told her, “You are to have dinner with Valmy. I think it an excellent opportunity for you to make a good impression on him.”
“I’m growing impatient even though I am a prisoner,” she said. “What did he have to say to you?”
“A good deal,” the old army surgeon said. “Things are moving slowly to a climax. He plans to move the emperor to Paris shortly to present him in a surprise move.”
“Will that not be dangerous? Napoleon still has many enemies.”
“But an army of supporters,” the old man said. “Valmy has the organizing almost complete. He feels that victory is certain.”
“I see.”
“Valmy was upset about Von Ryn’s death, but he agreed it was perhaps a blessing when I listed the behavior of the White Executioner. So I have overcome that hurdle.”
“What is his attitude toward me?” she asked.”
“He hopes you will join him in helping to inspire the emperor,” he said.
“I cannot promise anything like that.”
“He may be able to convince you.”
“I doubt it,” she replied. “What about my companions. Has he word of them?”
“I’m sure he will go into that when you two meet,” Major Lacoste said. “I wish you well.”
“I fear I face another ordeal,” she worried.
The major made no comment. He left and she remained alone again until another knock on the door came sometime later. It was a footman in livery and a powdered wig.
He bowed and said, “I am to show you to the apartment of General Valmy.”
She followed the dignified servant down the hallway and across to another wing of the huge building. They came to a door guarded by two other male servants in livery. The man accompanying her knocked on the door, and they were led inside. She found herself in a high-ceilinged room as ornately finished as all the others. There was a table set for dinner in one corner of it and a desk in another.
At the desk there sat a handsome dark-haired man with a thin, ascetic face. He wore the colorful red jacket of a military man with gold epaulets and other trim. His trousers were blue, and when he stood up to greet her, she saw that he must be over six feet tall.
He came toward her with a smile on his thin, even-featured face. He took her hand and kissed it. He said, “Mademoiselle Chapman. How kind of you to pay me this visit.”
“I had little choice,” she reminded him.
Amusement flickered in his eyes. “That is true,” he admitted.
She asked, “What do you presume to gain by keeping me a prisoner?”
He smiled. “I gain the presence of a lovely lady to grace my rather dull days and nights.”
“You know I’m the enemy,” she said. “So you cannot much anticipate my company, nor I, yours.”
“On the contrary,” he objected. “There is such a thing as friendly enemies, you know.”
“I doubt we will achieve that status.”
He took her lightly by the arm and led her over to the table. “You look exquisite in that gown. I felt it might suit you.”
“Where did it come from?” she asked.
“I keep a certain stock here for ladies who may be visiting me,” he informed her in the most casual fashion.
She blushed. It seemed she was now in that large group of females. He pulled her chair out, and she sat down. Then he took his own seat opposite her.
He said, “What a remarkable thing that you should have known the emperor.”
“I was on Saint Helena.”
“Not everyone on Saint Helena knew him, I’m sure.”
“They didn’t,” she admitted. “I happened to be living close by his quarters.”
“How fortunate for you,” the tall handsome man said. And she could not help but acknowledge that he had a charming, smooth manner — almost too easy.
She said, “Why did you kidnap me?”
He smiled. A servant came and poured them wine. He told her, “Enjoy some wine. You will find it an excellent vintage.”
She took the wine and sipped it. Then she told him, “You have not yet answered my question.”
“I will counter it with a question of my own. Why did you become an operative of that wily old spider, Felix Black?”
“I needed work.”
“And you are opposed to the emperor being returned to his throne?”
“I’m not at all sure the emperor is still alive,” she said. “He is supposed to be buried on Saint Helena.”
“I will rid you of that notion in due time,” was his promise. He was studying her closely. “Have you any idea what a beauty you are?”
“Please!” she protested.
“So you have become a spy,” he said, still genial in tone. “You know what happens to spies when they are captured?”
“I would like to know what has happened to Major Eric Walters and George Frederick Kingston,” she said.
He looked amused. “Are you so worried about them? But of course, Major Walters is your lover.”
She reacted angrily, “I do not think our relationship is any business of yours!”
“You are quite right,” he agreed. “I will put your mind at rest. Both the gentlemen you mention are my prisoners.”
“They are still alive?”
He nodded. “Being held prisoner in Naples.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
He gave her a strange look. “I haven’t decided. Perhaps we can work that out later. Black has other agents in Europe trying to block my work. Do you know their names?”
“Only that of Raj Singh.”
“He is dead,” Valmy said in a bored tone. “And Dr. O’Meara is in Paris being carefully watched by my people. He will be taken into custody soon.”
“Why are you so afraid of those of us who knew and admired Napoleon?” she asked.
“Your admiration is for a defeated emperor, not a Napoleon resurgent,” he said. Then the waiter came with their first course, and he sugge
sted, “Let us enjoy our dinner. It was prepared especially for you.”
She could not resist the food, for by now she was hungry. The wine had also made her pleasantly tipsy. She found it a weird but not entirely unpleasant situation. At least she knew that Eric was still alive and safe.
Over the excellent dinner she said, “Why are you not willing to let the emperor go to the United States and enjoy a quiet life of freedom?”
The handsome dark man said, “Because he is the emperor. It is not right that witless Louis should reign in his place. He wants his power again, not a life of retirement.”
“I wonder,” she said. “Perhaps you are the one so anxious for power.”
Valmy gave her a look of reproach. “One does not cut an eagle’s wings and expect him to be happy though unable to fly.”
“I fear the eagle in this case is as much a prisoner as I,” she said.
“You will meet the emperor in due time,” Valmy said. “He has an apartment in this very palace. But I must be sure about you before I allow such a visit.”
“I’m not sure he’ll recall me,” she said.
“I’ve already spoken to him about you,” Valmy said, “and he remembers you very well. It seems some of his officers acted as your fencing teachers, and you proved an apt pupil.”
She said, “Did you hear that from Major Lacoste or from Napoleon?”
“From both,” he said. “From Napoleon first. He speaks of you with warmth.”
“Does he?” she said, not certain that Valmy was telling her the truth. He could very well have made it up, based on what he’d heard from the old major. On the other hand it was possible the emperor had remembered. And if he had, it proved this was truly Napoleon and not an impostor.
Valmy went on, “You proved you have lost none of your skill by your performance aboard the ship which brought you here. You cost me a valuable man in General Von Ryn.”
“He was a monster!” she said bitterly.
The dark handsome man laughed. “I agree. But a useful monster. I could assign him tasks which repelled others.”
“I do not doubt it!”
He went on smoothly. “At any rate Major Lacoste has pleaded in your behalf. He is one of the true old guard and has the ear of the emperor as well as my own. So you can count yourself lucky.”
“Major Lacoste is a fine man,” she said.
“Yes, a little old-fashioned in his views perhaps but all in all truly loyal.”
She gave the dark man a sharp scrutiny. “I fear you may be leading him astray as you are the emperor.”
“Your mind has been poisoned against me by that old spy master, Felix Black. Did you know he has hypnotic powers?”
“I had heard it.”
“He has,” Valmy told her. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he had used his powers of hypnosis on you. That would account for your confusion of mind.”
Her cheeks burned. “I’m not at all confused.”
“Of course you would not think so,” he agreed. “But it might pay you to give the thought some consideration. You could perhaps throw off some of your twisted opinions.”
She touched her napkin to her lips and placed it on the table. “I consider Felix Black a man of honor. I think he means the emperor only good.”
The man across from her frowned. “Your instructions may not have included shooting him at point-blank if the opportunity arrived. But I can tell you some of your fellow agents have been so instructed.”
“I can’t accept that,” she said.
“I will not impose my opnions on you,” he said.
She asked, “Have I your permission to retire? I’m weary.”
He smiled again, his good humor seeming to return. “Of course. But first let me show you the rest of my apartment.” He helped her up from the table and then led her on a tour of the rooms.
The tour came to a halt in a bedchamber which was done with much gold trim like the other rooms. Everything was white and gold with some red lacquer for contrast. The ceiling had an ornate mural in full color of lovers strolling in a garden. The walls were lined with a number of huge mirrors. On every side she saw their reflection at various angles in the mirrors. There was a rich Venetian bed with crimson brocade. This bed was raised up on three steps like a throne and flanked by a pair of torches in the shape of nude maidens bearing baskets filled with tall candles on their shoulders.
“It is a strange room,” she said.
He nodded. “It belonged to a prince famous for his amorous conquests.”
She arched an eyebrow. “This room has so many mirrors!”
“Yes, it does,” he agreed. “The prince has been dead a century. I am the prince here now.”
“I understand,” she said.
“I doubt it,” he told her with a new firmness in his voice. “For I have not yet made my proposal.”
“Your proposal?” she echoed, not following his thinking.
“Yes,” he said. “You asked me about my plans for you and your two associates, what was in my mind.”
“Yes,” she said in a small voice.
“I will tell you, Mademoiselle Chapman,” he said, his eyes fixing on hers. “I promise Major Walters, Kingston, and yourself freedom and passage back to England if you agree to my condition.”
“What is your condition?”
“You remain here this night and for as many nights as I see fit, prior to your meeting the emperor. That you live here with me in this apartment.”
She stared at him. “You are asking me to be your mistress?”
“Yes,” the handsome dark man said. “I am. I do not think that such a great sacrifice on your part. You have had men before, including Von Ryn. I think you might find me a gentle lover.”
“I had not expected this,” she said.
“You might have. The arrangement will only be of short duration. We leave soon for Paris. And at that time I will see you and the two others on a Channel boat to Dover.”
She gazed directly at him. “Will you give me your solemn promise?”
“I will,” he said. “What is your answer?”
“Do I have any choice?” she asked bitterly.
“I will have the maid assigned you sent here and also the items which were provided for you in your room. You can take your ease for a while. I have some matters to attend to. Prepare yourself. I will return shortly.”
She stood there stunned after he kissed her gently on the lips and left. She might have known what he planned from the start. He had gradually led her to a point where she could not turn back. So now she was to become the mistress of this handsome dark-haired adventurer! Only because it would mean saving the life of Eric and Kingston.
Could she trust Valmy’s promise? She somehow felt that she could. He was not the same sort of rogue as Von Ryn. He had some sense of honor remaining. Yet he demanded that she degrade herself. And if she complained, he would reply that she had let herself in for this kind of experience when she had enlisted with Felix Black.
Her maid came bearing some of the things from the other room. The girl wore a pleased smile as if she felt Betsy had been offered some signal honor. And she supposed in the girl’s view she had. For her own part she felt that she was selling herself. But she must do it. There was no other way to save herself and the man she loved.
She bathed again and donned a silken robe brought her by the maid. She suspected the girl had assisted in such preparations before. Then she stretched out on the bed and waited.
When Valmy strode in a little later, he was also wearing a robe. His was of crimson, and she could tell that beneath it he was naked. He came to the bed, sat on it, and leaned down and kissed her again with great tenderness.
“You are so very lovely,” he said in a voice husky with emotion.
Then he raised her up from the bed and slowly took the robe off her so that she stood before him naked. He then removed his own robe, and she saw the manly body, well muscled, in the full vigor of late y
oung manhood. He took her in his arms, and she had a glance at their two nude bodies joining in the many mirrors. It was as if the room were suddenly filled with attractive nude couples!
She felt him press against her, her breath came in gasps, his tenderness and his rigidity evoked a mood of passion in herself. She had hoped to keep this restrained as she had when Von Ryn had forced her into his bed. But this gentle approach was entirely different, and she succumbed to his desire!
Soon they were on the bed joined in an ecstatic intimacy! Her soft cries mingled with his murmured words of approval. She had never experienced such a long interlude of passion nor such a stunning climax. At the end they lay side by side, sated and relaxed.
It was then he turned to her and said, “I will ask you something which I have asked no woman before. Will you be my wife?”
“Never,” she whispered with tautness.
He turned his head on the pillow to study her as she stared up at the crimson canopy. “I could learn to love you as a wife. I think I love you now.”
“I could never love you!”
“Major Walters?”
“Yes.”
“Too bad,” he sighed. “So I shall only have you for this little while.” He reached out and touched her breasts tenderly. “We do so well together! It is a shame!”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she brushed his hand aside and turned her back on him. “I did not mean to behave as I did. I betrayed myself!”
“Never mind, my little mademoiselle,” he said softly. “It was good. I am satisfied. I will not give up my hopes. But at the least you will perhaps remember us together one day and think of it with some feeling.”
She slept soundly, and when she awakened, he had gone. She got up and the maid came and she bathed and had a breakfast served with silver elegance in the other room. She could not make herself properly accept the events of the night before. She loved one man, and yet she had shared a bed of satisfying passion with another. She had discovered something she had not known about herself, and it frightened her.
She tried to console herself that she was here because it was the only way she could help Eric. But she sincerely hoped that the arrangement would not go on too long and she would not succumb to the desire the handsome Valmy instilled in her.
Vintage Love Page 24