In the Commodore's Hands. Mary Nichols
Читать онлайн книгу.
basket. The maid deplored the necessity, but if it was the only way to keep her darling safe, then it had to be. They met a few people on the road, but no one exchanged a greeting, nor even a smile.
At the bank, Hortense waited in the vestibule while Lisette went into the bank manager’s inner sanctum to make her request.
‘My dear mademoiselle,’ he said. ‘I cannot release your father’s money to you. It is in his name and only he can withdraw it.’
‘But he is in prison.’
‘Yes, I had heard.’
‘I need it for his defence and that could be costly. Lawyers seem to be able to charge whatever they like these days.’
‘If you could visit the Comte and obtain written authorisation from him, then I would be happy to oblige you.’
‘They will not let me see him.’
‘Then I am sorry.’
‘I thought you were my friend,’ she said, disappointed and angry. ‘You are as bad as all the others. You have done well out of Papa over the years, is that not worth something?’
He looked distressed, but could only repeat, ‘I am sorry. I dare not.’ He paused, then went on. ‘You have a little money of your own your mother left you. You can certainly have that.’
‘Then please let me have it in gold coin, louis d’or or ecus, not assignat.’
‘I don’t know…’ He hesitated.
‘Please, at least do this for me.’
‘Very well.’ He went to a safe and unlocked it, then counted out the equivalent of a thousand livres which he put into a pouch and handed to her. ‘Let us hope you are not robbed of it before you can use it.’
She put it in the pocket of her skirt and tied the red scarf round her waist like a belt with its ends hanging down to disguise the bulk of the pouch, then she bade him good day and left.
‘What now?’ Hortense asked after she had told her what had happened. ‘Home again?’
She did not answer because they had emerged on to the street just as a black carriage bowled past. ‘That’s Henri Canard back from Paris,’ she said, catching a glimpse of the man sitting in it. ‘Come on.’ She started to hurry after it.
‘Where are you going?’ Hortense, being plumper and not so nimble as Lisette, was breathlessly trying to keep up with her.
‘To speak to him. He might free Papa for a price.’
‘You know he won’t. He will have you in custody as soon as you blink and then what good will you be to your papa? Leave it to the Englishman.’
‘No. I want to avoid bloodshed if I can and what Monsieur Drymore is planning could very well be violent.’
The carriage had gone out of sight, but Lisette knew where the lawyer lived and set off in that direction.
Canard’s house was a substantial one in the middle of the town. The carriage had gone by the time they reached it, but Lisette did not doubt her quarry was inside. Pausing only to catch her breath, she strode up to the door and knocked.
Canard himself answered it. He had a sheaf of papers in his hand, as if he had been studying them. ‘Well, well, well, Citoyenne Giradet. And what do you want?’
Lisette prepared to humble herself. ‘Please, Monsieur Canard, will you not relent and set my father free? He has not harmed you or the Revolution. He is an old man content to live quietly on his estate, no trouble to anyone. Please let me have him back.’
She had said all this before and it moved him no more than it had the first time. His lip curled in a sneer. ‘He is an enemy of the Revolution, plotting counter-revolution. His estate will be forfeit when he is sentenced.’
‘But he is innocent.’
‘That is for others to decide and you may be sure the verdict will be guilty.’
‘Then what will happen to me? I have no other home and cannot manage without him. I will give you money…’
He laughed. ‘Oh, dear me, bribing an official is most certainly against the law.’
‘I didn’t mean it as a bribe.’ She backtracked quickly. ‘I meant to pay for his defence.’
‘He has no defence. I suggest you find a husband among the good citizens of this town and settle down in humble domesticity. Your father is going to be taken to Paris for trial.’
‘Paris?’ She feigned surprise. ‘Why?’
‘His crimes are so great he is to have a public trial in the Palais de Justice.’
‘When?’ she asked.
‘Soon.’
‘But I must know when. I must be there to support him. I must find someone to defend him.’
‘He will leave here tomorrow morning at dawn. And do not think about trying to set him free because he will be under armed escort.’
‘I cannot do that, as you must know, Monsieur Canard, there is no one to help me. My servants have all deserted me.’
He laughed and shut the door in her face. She turned back to Hortense, who had been standing behind her quaking with fear all through the exchange, but far from being subdued there was a light of triumph in Lisette’s eyes. ‘Good, now we call on Sir John.’
Sir John, Jay and Sam were in conference, sitting over glasses of exceptionally good wine in Sir John’s withdrawing room. Jay and his grandfather were dressed as the gentlemen they were, but Sam’s appearance was repellent. He was wearing the short trousers of the proletariat, worn-down shoes, a cotton shirt and a bright red waistcoat, all filthy. His hair was a tangle and he was unshaven. He was also a little under the weather, having spent most of the night carousing.
‘The guards confirmed that the Comte was to be moved,’ he told them, leaving his wine untouched. ‘But they did not know exactly when. They are waiting for the summons from Paris. Apparently Henri Canard was too impatient for it to come by the mail and went off to Paris to fetch it in person. He has not returned, at least he had not returned by the time I left about dawn.’
‘Then we must watch out for him,’ Jay said. ‘Well done, Sam.’
‘I will have hot water taken upstairs for you to wash and change out of that disgusting garb,’ Sir John said. He rang a bell at his side and when a servant appeared, gave the necessary order.
‘Oh, and another thing I learned,’ Sam went on. ‘Henri Canard has a grudge against the Comte. Bullard was unclear about the details, but it goes back generations. It has something to do with the Comte’s grandfather and his own grandfather and he is bent on revenge.’
‘Then the arrest of the Comte is not political,’ Jay said thoughtfully. ‘It is a vendetta. Have you any idea how it started, Grandfather?’
‘No. I knew Gervais’s father, but not his grandfather. He had died before I came to France. I do know that his grandfather had purchased the estate and the title. You can—or could—do that sort of thing in France. Perhaps the people resented that, though why Canard would be bothered about it, I do not know.’
The servant returned to say that Sam’s bath was ready and that Mademoiselle Giradet had arrived.
All three rose as Lisette entered the room followed by Hortense. They bowed. Sam muttered, ‘Excusez-moi, mademoiselle,’ and hurried from the room.
‘Lisette, please sit down,’ Sir John said, indicating a sofa. ‘Would you like some wine? Or coffee, perhaps?’
‘You have coffee?’ she asked in surprise, knowing the import of coffee and other luxuries from abroad had been banned.
‘Jay