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As she allowed herself to be pulled once more on to the horse Cassie was relieved that she was not obliged to make the long walk alone. Her escort explained that they must not overtax their mount and they made slow progress. The road was deserted and they saw no one except a swineherd who was happy to sell Cassie his food sack in exchange for a handful of coins. The bag contained only wine and bread, but it was enough for two and at noon they rested in the shade of a tree to eat.
Cassie was hot and thirsty and when he handed her the flask she took a long draught. The wine was very rough and she felt its effects immediately.
Her companion broke off a piece of bread and held it out to her.
‘So you left your husband in Verdun?’
‘Yes.’ Cassie was tempted to tell him her husband was dead, but she remembered Merimon’s taunt and decided it was safer to infer she had a husband to protect her honour, even if he was many miles away. ‘Yes, he is at Verdun.’
She took the bread and nibbled at it as he surveyed her with his dark eyes.
‘I am surprised he allowed you to travel alone. You are very young to be married.’
Cassie straightened.
‘I am old enough!’
One dark brow went up.
‘How old?’ he asked her. ‘You do not look more than eighteen.’
‘I am nearly one-and-twenty and have been married a full year.’
‘Vraiment? Tsk, what were your parents about to allow such a thing?’
‘My parents died when I was a child.’
‘Even worse, then, for your guardian to approve it.’
Cassie thought of Grandmama.
‘She did not approve. We eloped.’
Cassie wondered why she had told him that. She was not proud of how she had behaved and the fact that it had all gone wrong just showed how foolish she had been. Falling in love had been a disaster and it was not a mistake she intended to make again. Glancing up at that moment, she thought she detected disapproval in those dark eyes. Well, let him disapprove. She cared not for his opinion, or for any man’s. She scrambled to her feet and shook the crumbs from her skirts.
‘Shall we continue?’
With a shrug he packed away the rest of the wine and bread and soon they were on their way again. Cassie maintained what she hoped was a dignified silence, but she was very much afraid Raoul Doulevant would think it more of a childish sulk. However, it could not be helped. She could not justify herself to him without explaining everything and that she would not do to a total stranger.
The sun was sinking when they met a farmer and his wife approaching them in a cumbersome wagon. Cassie listened while her escort conducted a brief conversation. The farmer confirmed that they were indeed on the road to Reims, but it was at least another full day’s ride.
‘You are welcome to come back with us,’ offered the farmer’s wife. ‘It is an hour or so back the way you have come, but we can give you and your lady a meal and a bed for the night.’
Cassie froze. The idea of food was enticing, but these people clearly thought that she and this unkempt stranger were, were...
‘Thank you, but, no, we had best press on.’
Raoul Doulevant answered for them both and exchanged a few more friendly words with the farmer before they parted. Cassie felt the hot flush of embarrassment on her cheek and it was all she could do to respond to their cheerful farewell with a nod of acknowledgement.
‘It is fortunate I refused their hospitality,’ he remarked, misinterpreting her silence. ‘A farmer’s hovel would not suit your ladyship.’
‘You are mistaken,’ she retorted. ‘A bed and a good meal would be very welcome, since I suspect the alternative will be a night spent out of doors. But you were very right to refuse. I would like to get to Reims with all haste.’
‘Certainly. We cannot get there too soon for my liking!’
‘Good. Let us ride through the night, then,’ Cassie suggested, rattled.
They rode and walked by turns until the last of the daylight faded away. Cassie was fighting to stay awake, but nothing would make her admit it. She was the daughter of a marquess, granddaughter of an Arrandale and it was beneath her to show weakness of any sort.
Thick clouds rolled in from the west, obscuring the sky and plunging the world into almost complete darkness. When the bay stumbled for the third time she heard Raoul Doulevant curse softly under his breath.
‘This is sheer foolishness, monsieur,’ she told him. ‘We should stop until the cloud lifts.’
‘That would delay our journey; I was hoping to make a few more miles yet.’
‘If the horse breaks a leg that will delay us even more,’ Cassie pointed out.
When he did not reply she admitted, albeit reluctantly, that she would like to rest. Immediately he drew the horse to a halt and helped Cassie to dismount. Without ceremony he took her arm and guided her and the horse from the near darkness of the road into the blackness of the trees.
‘Stay here, madame, while I see to the horse.’
Cassie slumped down against the base of a tree. Stay here, he had said. Did he think she would run away? She had no idea where she was, or which way she should go. She recalled how she had complained that she could not sleep in the carriage. What luxury that seemed now, compared to her present predicament. Not only must she sleep out of doors, but in the company of a stranger. The fact that they had introduced themselves made no difference; she knew nothing of this man.
She listened to the rustle of leaves as Raoul Doulevant secured the horse before coming to sit down beside her. She felt his presence rather than saw him and his silence unnerved her. She tried to recall what he had told her of himself.
‘So you are a sailor, monsieur?’
‘I was ship’s surgeon on the Prométhée for six years.’
‘Really?’
She could not keep the surprise from her voice and he gave a short laugh.
‘My clothes tell the different story, no? I was obliged to...er...acquire these to escape detection.’
‘If you were being pursued, then clearly that did not work.’
‘No. There is one, Valerin, who is very determined to catch me.’
‘He holds a grudge against you, perhaps?’
‘I
