No Longer a Gentleman (LL 4) by Putney Mary Jo

Author:Putney, Mary Jo [Putney, Mary Jo]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance, Women Spies, Fiction, Historical, General
ISBN: 9781420117233
Publisher: Zebra
Published: 2012-03-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

When Grey handed Cassie the glass of wine, she asked, “Where should I start?”

“At the beginning, of course.” He knelt to start the fire laid on the hearth, then settled in the chair opposite her, close enough to touch. The firelight burnished his bright hair and sculpted the strong planes of his grave, patient face.

Cassie stared down into her wine, turning the glass around and around. “My father was English, my mother French. We made long visits to France to stay with her family. My nurse was a Frenchwoman because my mother wanted her children to speak French as well as we spoke English.”

When the silence became too long, he asked, “Children?”

“An older brother and sister. I was the pampered youngest.” She closed her eyes, remembering her father’s warm hug, her mother’s firm but gentle discipline. Her teasing big brother, her beautiful older sister, who had been excitedly planning for her debut.

“We were visiting France when the Reign of Terror began. The adults were concerned and the French relatives were debating whether they should leave the country. But most of the turmoil was in Paris and the Montclair estate was outside Reims, a safe distance away. There was time to decide the best course.”

“But you knew better, young prophetess,” he said when she fell silent again.

“I felt a terrible sense of approaching doom.” Cassie sipped numbly at her port, needing the sweetness and the fire. “I played with local children and overheard their parents’ talk. In the village, I saw radical speakers from Paris who ranted against the rich. I heard my mother’s family accused of vague ‘crimes against liberty.’ I tried to explain all of this to my parents, but because I was only ten, they wouldn’t listen. They wouldn’t listen!” Even after so many years, fury and anguish pierced her heart.

“It’s a tragedy that they didn’t listen to you,” Grey said quietly. “But not a tragedy of your making.”

Perhaps not, but she’d never stopped wondering if she’d spoken differently, given her warnings better, she would have been heard. “My father laughed and said soothing words and told me that in a month we’d be home again. By then, it was too late. The Terror had already reached out to destroy us.”

Once more he coaxed her when she fell silent, asking, “How?”

“I didn’t learn this till later, but a band of Parisian sans-culottes was traveling through the village on their way to join the army. They had a barrel of cheap spirits and shared their drink freely. The result was a great drunken riot with the sans-culottes whipping everyone into a frenzy. When their rage became murderous, they marched out to my mother’s family home.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “And … and they surrounded the house and set it afire.”

He caught his breath. “Were you inside?”

Cassie shook her head. “Josette Maupin, a young nursery maid from the Montclair house, often took me to visit her niece, who was my age and a great friend of mine. While I played with my friend, Josette would flirt with her young man.

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