“May all aristos burn in hell!” one of the soldiers said harshly. “Like the one who lived here is probably doing!”
Amid laughter, Captain Weiss said, “We must be off now after that damned spy. There was a lane that split off the road to the château. He must have gone that way. He can’t last much longer.” After a moment’s pause, he asked, “Will you be fit enough to rejoin the army, Duval? We need experienced officers like you if we’re going to take down Wellington.”
Philippe sighed wearily. “It depends on how soon the next battle is. I fear I may always need this devil’s crutch.” He thumped the floor a couple of times with his cane. “But good luck,mes amis! Fight well and know when to duck.”
Laughter and farewells were heard and the soldiers’ horses rode off. Simon gave an exhausted sigh. It looked as if he would live to run another day.
Chapter 37
Simon had managed to struggle to his feet by the time Philippe returned. “I wish I knew more words beyond ‘thank you’! May I stay in the ruins tonight? I’ll be off early in the morning.”
“Nonsense, you’re coming back to the Cordiers’,” Philippe said briskly. “You need a proper meal and a bed and a good night’s sleep.”
“And maybe a bath?” Simon asked hopefully. “A basin of warm water and a towel would be wonderful. A basin ofcoldwater!”
Philippe laughed and lifted the saddlebags. “We can do better than that. Come along now and hold tight to that railing. I don’t want you to waste my lies by breaking your neck. I’ll collect your horse.”
“He deserves pampering far more than I do,” Simon said as he started carefully down the stairs. “I’ve never met a horse with a more gallant heart. I don’t think I can ask him to go on again tomorrow, though. He needs rest.”
“So do you, but I’m sure you’re more careful of your horse than yourself,” Philippe said dryly. He left the saddlebags at the bottom of the staircase and disappeared into the back of the house, returning with Achille about the same time Simon reached the bottom of the steps. “If you want to leave him here to rest, I can lend you a decent hack that will be fresh and ready to go.”
Simon patted Achille’s neck. The horse managed a friendly whuffle, but he looked close to breaking down, which would be a terrible thing to do to such a good mount. “Thank you. I’ll take you up on that.”
Philippe tossed the saddlebags over the horse and fastened them, then led the way outdoors. Achille picked his way down the steps very carefully. “It’s about a mile to the Cordiers’ house along a path through the woods. Do you want to ride or walk?”
Neither, actually, but the lure of food and a bed were too powerful to resist. “I’ll walk,” Simon said. “That will spare Achille and give me a chance to stretch my legs out.”
Philippe nodded and led the way around the ruined château to the path through the woods. Simon said, “Aren’t you going to ask if the soldiers pursuing me were justified in their belief that I am a spy?”
Philippe glanced over Achille’s back. “I think it’s better I don’t know. That way I can’t tell any lies if they come back.”
Wise man. As they made their way through the growing darkness, Simon said quietly, “I love France and mean it no harm. It is my father’s country. But I hate war and want to see an end to it.”
“I was so proud and excited when I joined the army,” Philippe reminisced. “Willing, even eager, to lay down my life for France. I was very young, only seventeen. Seven years ago. Long enough for me to have now seen too much of war.” After a dozen more steps, he said, “Now I want to live for Marie, for my family. My true family, the Cordiers, not the father I worshipped but who barely remembered my existence.”
Glad that Philippe had become more clear-sighted about Jean-Louis, Simon said carefully, “He could have done better by you. But he chose wisely when he gave you to the Cordiers to raise and in the end, he left you all he owned.”
“He did, but . . . he was an aristo,” Philippe said in a matter-of-fact voice. “The Cordiers gave me things beyond price. I can’t wait to bring Marie to them. They will love her and she will love them.”
“Who could not?” Simon said. His tight muscles were beginning to loosen, which made him even more aware of his exhaustion.
After another few minutes of walking in silence, Philippe said, “In these last weeks, I have come to realize I would lay down my life for France if necessary. But I will not do it for the emperor.”
“He is a great and terrible man,” Simon said. “He has done some fine things for France, but he seems unable to exist without war. Even if he manages to pull off a victory over Wellington and the Prussians, in the long run he cannot defeat all his enemies. Trying to do so will just cause the deaths of too many men. Too many of them our French brothers.”
Philippe sighed. “I want anendto this. I hope whatever information you are carrying will bring that end closer.”
“So do I!” Simon said fervently. “Is that why you were willing to help me?”
“Not really.” Philippe laughed. “I did it because family is family!”
The Cordier Home
I owe Philippe eternal gratitude for helping me elude my pursuers, and even more for bringing me to the home of his grandparents, the Cordiers. They have clucked over me, fed me, given me a hot bath, and now a bed, sadly empty without you. I slept for hours and so missed my midnight moments with you, mon ange, but I have a candle so I’ll finish my account by thinking of you. I shall tell you the whole story when I am home again.
Imagine kisses and much, much more. MUCH, much more . . . !
Simon
