I only own Amorette.
Amorette let herself step backwards until she was leaning against the battlements, a shaky hand covering her mouth as she let out a sob. Observing the scene before her that she had helped create, Amorette wanted nothing more than to drop the pistol from her hand. Amorette did not think that Porthos would mind too much, but the pistol was not hers to discard and so she made a point of getting a better grip of it. The banging of a door from what sounded like very far away told her the musketeers were in the house again. Amorette's movements seemed alien to her. There she was, walking slowly across the roof towards the doorway and she did not know how her legs were moving. They should have been shaking, falling from under her. But there was drive in her still. Ann was in this somewhere and Amorette needed to prove it not just to Athos but to herself as well.
Amorette took the stairs carefully and slowly. She planted her hand upon the thick stone wall of the spiral staircase and the shrill scrapping sound of the dagger dragging along the stone kept her grounded; kept her putting one foot in front of the other. Round and round she went, counting on her feet to guide her as her eyes filled with tears. Amorette wiped her tears away with her sleeve when she knew she was almost reaching the bottom of the staircase. When she turned what she knew to be the last bend towards what should have been an empty doorway Amorette was not ready for what met her there.
Stood at the very bottom of the staircase; corset pulled so tight that her breasts were almost escaping it and hat at a jaunty angle upon her head stood Milady De Winter. Amorette knew that her sister was involved, and it was not altogether an unexpected sight but she did not know how to handle it at all. Her sister held no weapon though and Amorette held two. That gave her some courage. "I knew that this had your name written all over it!"
"And why would you think any different. You will always blame me for your faults." Ann simpered. "We were never destined to be close. It is inevitable that you should hate me."
"I think it's the other way around. You hate me! This is proof!" Amorette stared into the still smiling face of the woman who she once thought so very highly of.
Ann tilted her head to the side, looking even more devious. "I must confess the thoughts of seeing your pretty little neck snapping in two as you fall from that tower is most appealing. It's something I've desired since I was fourteen years old!"
The outburst didn't shock Amorette. The idea had been forming in her mind all morning and the only acknowledgement she made was to avert her eyes and look over Ann's shoulder. "I told you so." Amorette was surprised that he heard her. In the seconds after her sister's outburst, Amorette's fight and drive had drained from her.
Ann turned swiftly on her heel to stare at Athos, shocked that she had not heard him approaching. The blank expression he held as he stared down at Ann might have confused Amorette's sister, but Amorette herself knew just how much turmoil it really hid. The man was ready to explode and Amorette found that she didn't want to be witness to such a private display of emotion. Her work here was done. Athos knew the truth now and it was all over.
Then he spoke, and the supressed anger and disdain was evident. "Step away from her." Amorette almost thought she saw Ann flinch, but she recovered it well. Athos cocked his pistol and Ann side stepped. Amorette stood watching them for a moment, waiting for one of them to make an unexpected move. When they didn't, she gingerly crossed the doorway and once she was out of her sister's reach she dashed across the hallway. The other musketeers walked around a corner and to Amorette's delight she saw that Aramis was not surprised. He seemed to have put a little more faith in her theory than he had given away. Porthos and D'artagnan shared a look and made their way towards the tower staircase and Amorette knew it was to check the dead.
There was silence as they all stood in the hallway, not looking at each other. Ann seemed to have recovered a little from her shock of coming face to face with Athos and was now attempting to simper sweetly as if she was a young debutante trying to win over a suitor. The hand that held Athos' pistol shook almost violently and Aramis placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Well we all know where this is leading don't we. Shall we convene in the library messieurs?" Ann spoke as if they'd all met here as acquaintances for tea, cake and small talk. She turned and walked the length of the corridor and waited patiently at the corner for them to follow her.
Amorette slowly felt her resolve crumbling. "Can someone please take these from me before I throw them?" She held out the pistol and the dagger, her face twisting as if the weapons that she held disgusted her.
Athos slipped the dagger from her fingers with a look that she could not define and turned to follow his estranged wife. Aramis took Porthos' pistol from her, but before Amorette could drop her hand to her side Aramis took it in his own hand and squeezed. Amorette smiled at him even though tears pricked her eyes. They walked the length of the hallway hand in hand. They followed Ann and Athos out onto the grand staircase and down to the library. Amorette grimly thought that she had experienced enough turmoil that morning without having to suffer the sight of that room again so soon. To her relief, whilst Athos paced the room in an agitated manner Aramis stayed right by her side holding her hand. Amorette couldn't help giving his hand a small squeeze in gratitude and when he gave another squeeze in return she almost turned to smile at him again. His thumb rubbed soothing circles into the back of her hand for a few silent minutes and Amorette realised that she had stopped shaking.
After a short while, there came an odd grunting noise from outside the room and Porthos and D'artagnan returned to the group. They carried between them a barely alive Cosimo Scarera. Amorette let out a little gasp. She had not realised that he was still alive. He was dumped unceremoniously into a chair on the far side of the room from her, and Amorette turned away. Unable to look at the man who she had shot only moments ago she turned her attention on her sister who watched the whole scene with sheer relish on her face.
"Well look here, the party's all together!" Ann exclaimed, clapping her hands in apparent glee.
"Don't say another word!" Athos roared. He moved swiftly towards Cosimo then, glaring at Ann as he went.
He knelt at the side of the chair Cosimo was draped across. For a moment Athos assessed him with his shrewd cold eyes before glancing at Amorette. "Monsieur you will explain your presence in this house and your intention whilst here!"
Cosimo rasped and spluttered for a moment and Amorette thought that they would not get any sense from him. But then he spoke in a pained and distant voice, spitting blood as he formed the words with his mouth. "Killed…killed my boy in this house. You…bitch…killed him and your family have paid the price."
"I DIDN'T TOUCH YOUR BOY!" Amorette screamed and Aramis squeezed her hand again in reassurance.
"It's true Monsieur. Your boy almost killed this good Mademoiselle. I was there that day, and I saw your son jump of his own accord. You have wrongfully laid blame and killed a family who had no part in your son's death." Athos voice was quiet and reserved, but there was finality in it that Amorette appreciated. He was trying to make this as short as possible.
"Your family…all at fault…cousin…uncle…" Cosimo pointed at Ann, and Amorette knew the meaning. She had told him a complete fabrication.
"My uncle didn't touch your boy either. My sister is a compulsive liar and murderess herself. You have listened to nonsense and acted upon it foolishly."
"All to blame…uncle …I know the stories. Stories…of perversion and deceit…this house!"
"How many times," Amorette exclaimed exasperatedly. "How many? My uncle never touched Gio! His taste was in little girls, not boys. I should know!" Amorette slapped her hand across her open mouth as she realised what she had just said. She grimaced as everyone turned to look at her. Cosimo never gave an answer though. He released a small sigh, and died in the chair as they all stood around him.
Ann laughed sickeningly. "Oh what a shame he won't live to tell his riveting tale!"
"You were asked not to speak!" D'artagnan cried as Ann began to pace leisurely about the room.
Amorette slipped her hand out of Aramis' grasp and took a few steps forward, so that she came into her sister's path. "What did you say to him? What did you tell him about that boy?" As Ann came to a halt in front of her, Amorette stared into the eyes of a lady who clearly held no remorse. Ann simply stared back at her, bemused. "What on earth did you do to that boy? You were here that day weren't you? WEREN'T YOU?" Amorette balled her hands into fists as she got no response from her sister. "What did you whisper into that poor boy's ear to make him do such things? Did you tell him to jump too-"
"Of course she did," interrupted Athos. "What better way to preserve her anonymity. Even if the boy failed in his assignment I'm sure he was persuaded to jump so that he could never incriminate her."
Amorette shook her head in disgust. She came to the conclusion there and then that she didn't want to know any more, but her sister didn't give her the option of remaining ignorant.
"It was a real shame that it didn't work." Ann swerved around Amorette and resumed her pacing of the room as she spoke. "You know I honestly thought it would. My father told me of your existence not long before that day, and I knew then that I had to do something for myself. I was never going to see my mother's money or title if I did not act. For years I had resigned myself to the fact that I could never better myself, and suddenly there was a chance. I only had to dispose of you and I would open so many doors for myself. Your own father had knowledge of my being in the area you know. He did nothing about it. I don't think he really gave much of a damn whether I introduced myself to you and made efforts to be reconciled; or whether I killed you stone dead. I was convinced then that perhaps you were a horrible, mean child. After all, what on earth could make a father hate his own daughter so? The boy was easy pickings. This world we live in is so God fearing and sorcery obsessed that when I told the boy I was a witch he believed me!" Ann cackled with mirth and Amorette had to swallow down the bile that rose in her throat. Ann had reached the large ornate desk that took up one corner of the room and she leant against it. "The boy was easily influenced. You were both to fall from that roof, and it would have looked like the horrific accident of two foolish children playing where they should not have been. When he failed…"
A flicker of weakness was suddenly visible to Amorette then and she didn't have to look very far before she figured out what it was.
"I hadn't counted on you Athos," Ann said in a small voice. "The dashing friend who came to the rescue; I watched you together that day, and I heard the story that you spun to protect her. That was something I had never had; that pure kind of friendship and affection that knows no boundaries."
"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU RUIN EVERYHTING YOU TOUCH!" Amorette bellowed across the room. She was right. Ann couldn't keep anything pure.
"And you dear sister were so grateful and drippy, trailing after him like a lost puppy! I wanted what you had." Ann twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, and then flicked the rest of her hair back over her shoulder. Amorette caught the faintest scent of Jasmine perfume.
"I can't listen to any more of this!" announced Amorette suddenly. "I can't listen to your lies, games, schemes and secrets anymore!"
Amorette turned to walk away from them all, but she had barely taken a few steps when her sister spoke again, and this time everyone in the room could hear the malice. "You're one to talk about secrets, especially as you stand in this room! Why don't we share your biggest one of all with the group?"
Amorette turned on her heel to find her sister stalking the room towards her, intent on ruining the very dignity that Amorette had managed to uphold all those years. "This isn't about me," Amorette whispered. Racing towards the door, Amorette rattled the door handle but it was firmly locked. She had been foolish to think that musketeers would leave a room that held two assailants unlocked. She rattled the handle a second time all the same.
"Yes little sister, let's talk about secrets!" Ann laughed again. It was a cold laugh that penetrated even the warmest of hearts.
Ann turned to the room at large, "You won't know about any of this Athos but many years ago I expressed to many people that I had been ravished by my uncle. Of how he had cornered me one evening after a ball, and tried to force himself upon me and I was powerless to stop him. Everyone thought I had been rescued by some dashing young messieurs. Everyone was enthralled with my tale. It was wonderful, and just for once I had the attention I'd always craved in the shadow of my younger sister. But in all honesty, none of it was true."
Amorette lost all pretence and dashed towards her sister, determined to cause her harm. Aramis threw his arms out to catch her before she could do so, and Amorette was left the only one in the room hurting. "You vile bitch!" she screamed at her sister, who's stoic expression lifted into that of a woman pleased with her work. "Please Ann…please stop," begged Amorette as she gave up fighting against Aramis' hold.
"No. No I won't stop. This vile bitch has quite a bit more of her story to tell."
Amorette wrestled out of Aramis' hold and made for the door again. Rattling the handle again she cried "Will someone open this door!" For a few more seconds she rattled the handle, but no one moved to open it again. Sensing defeat, Amorette leant her forehead against the cool wood of the door as she tried not to cry.
She heard the swishing of fabric as Ann moved around the room again in her extravagant dress. "Don't you want me to tell them where I got the idea from dear sister?" Amorette remained silent. "If you don't tell them I will." Amorette kept her eyes closed, trying to convince herself that if she couldn't see it, then it wasn't real. "Very well. I hope you are all sitting comfortably." Amorette almost chocked on the sickly sweet tone of voice her sister persisted in using, as if all four of the musketeers were about to fall at her feet in raptures of undying love.
"You don't remember Amorette's sixteenth birthday do you Athos? You remember saying you would attend though?"
"Where are you going with this?" snarled Athos and Amorette was surprised by how close his voice sounded. She didn't dare open her eyes to see, but she thought she could sense him hovering behind her.
"All in good time dear Athos. Back to the party; you had said you'd be there, but you weren't. It really was quite the party, and it almost went unnoticed that you weren't in attendance, if not for a little note. Amorette was handed a note by a servant. Now that note appeared to her to be from someone that she knew and trusted implicitly. The note asked Amorette to go to the library, where her friend was waiting for her. Now, the library wasn't somewhere that Amorette regularly frequented for one particular reason, so this was quite the dilemma for my little sister. She didn't wish to enter that library for any reason, but she thought perhaps if that friend was there waiting for her; then she could just about stomach going there to meet him. So off she skipped, excited at the prospect of seeing her hear friend who had not yet been seen at the party.
"When she got here though, she found that her friend was nowhere to be seen. In fact, in his place was our uncle Phillipe, the very reason that she gave the room an extremely wide birth. That situation had in fact occurred before. Alone in the library with our uncle, but this time there was a difference. She had not been invited. She had not unwillingly come to this room. She had skipped in, all excitement and laughter because she thought that she came to see the man that she loved. Our uncle wasn't able to control his urges."
There was silence in the room, as the four musketeers waited with bated breath for what was about to happen next. There was a carefully controlled rage ebbing under the surface though, waiting to explode and they could all sense it.
When Ann next spoke, Amorette knew she was not addressing the room any more, but speaking directly to her. "I cannot begin to imagine what that was like; his hands roving all over you; a hunter, finally capturing its prey. And you had to fight him off all on your own, didn't you? No gallant young Comte to rescue you. That was something I had not anticipated. You, fighting back? I think there must have been a point when you realised that no one was going to help you, that he wasn't going to enter that room. I pitied you a little, I admit. Because throughout your ordeal you thought that perhaps it would end abruptly; that your friend would arrive, a little late and dishevelled and come to your rescue. But the moment you realised that was a turning point for you. I thought it would be your ruin but in fact you took strength from it. Perhaps it's time for me to come clean. Athos never wrote that note. By that point, Athos and I had gotten to know each other well enough for me to be able to confidently forge his signature. He didn't write that note. I did."
Amorette let out a guttural sob, turning swiftly to face her sister. For a few seconds air couldn't reach her lungs. She shook her head in disbelief, tears freely flowing down her face now. In Ann's face though, she could only see bemusement. She was telling the truth for once. A swift crack broke the silence as Amorette slapped her sister across the face, hard. It was a mark of just how repugnant Ann's honesty was that no one moved to stop Amorette. She slapped her again as she began to sob in earnest.
"I had no choice Amorette. You see, I'd already tried to kill you once and it backfired. So I thought that the next best thing was to ruin you entirely. You've always been right about me wanting what you have. When I tried to kill you, Athos was your resolute protector. I thought I'd try to ruin that as well. I thought that if he hadn't come to your aid you'd blame him for writing that letter and then standing you up. But you didn't." Ann adopted a mocking, childlike voice then, hate evident in her tone, "Because you are all that is pure and true. All that everyone ever did was speak about your wholesome goodness and it made me want to be violently ill. Well I have news for you little sister. No matter how kind-hearted you are! He still chose me and he will always choose me! He never loved you! You know I never did understand what our uncle really saw in you, the fat one, who spent all of her time mopping and mooning after someone who would never want her! You're nothing! No better than the common whores our uncle bedded on this library floor-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH! NOT ANOTHER WORD!" Athos roared. He dived in between Ann and Amorette so that he and his wife were barely a hair's breadth apart. Athos' face was puce and the grip on his pistol tightened. Amorette watched as her sister took a step back, her face impassive. Ann opened her mouth to speak again but Athos got there first. "I don't want to hear any more from you. I want to hear from your sister." Athos turned away from his wife and Amorette saw in his eyes a determination. Ann was not going to be able to say another word. Athos wouldn't allow it. His anger seemed to have quelled Ann's tirade. She stepped backwards until she was leaning against the desk.
After a few seconds of Ann's silence, everyone's attention returned to Amorette and she quivered under the intense gaze of the four men. She began to shrink back into the corner she had stepped out from as she sensed questions on all of their lips. Her back eventually pressed into hard bookcases and she stared down at the patterned rug at her feet. Amorette jumped when a hand gently slipped into her own. Looking up she found Aramis beside her again.
Looking up through her eyelashes, she tried to gauge the mood of Athos. When Ann had spoken it was almost as if it was all still rumour and lies. Amorette knew though that her own reaction had confirmed it all. Now, behind his eyes she could see a wave of anger just bubbling to the surface as he stared back at her. He seemed to sense her apprehension for he tried to dissolve the tension in his body. For a few seconds she watched as his shoulders relaxed, and remarkably his facial features did too. Still not sure that she wanted to talk about what had happened in that very room all those years ago, Amorette shook her head at Athos. The blue orbs changed slightly in that moment. Somehow, despite their cool demeanour they took on the warmth of a summer sky.
There was a pain there too. "Why didn't you come to me with this?" His voice was just a murmur and Amorette had to strain her ears to hear him. "I would have dealt with it."
Amorette shook her head again. She was doing a lot of that today, she vaguely thought. "There was nothing to be done. It happened. It's over. There was nothing that you could have done to help, Athos. I dealt with it myself. Besides; you were with her." Amorette threw a disgusted look towards Ann who was still perched on the edge of the desk.
It was Athos' turn to shake his head this time. "One word was all I'd have needed and I'd have come to you. By not doing so you've let her hold it over you for all this time. That's why she's here, now. That's why you can barely bring yourself to look at me when you were not at fault at all."
"What she says is true. All of it," muttered Amorette with a shrug of her shoulders. "It doesn't matter now. Like I said, I dealt with it."
"Dealt with it?" Athos cried.
"YES!" Amorette brought her hand up to cover her mouth again. The part of the story that Ann had conveniently left out was the one part that she was perhaps most ashamed of. Amorette did not regret it, but it still made her feel like her skin crawled. "I made sure he'd never touch another girl again that way."
Athos looked at her curiously then. "What does that…His hands?"
Amorette nodded stiffly. She watched his Adam's apple bobble a little as he swallowed, a shocked look flashing across his face for just a second.
She felt a slight tug on the hand that Aramis held. "What happened?" questioned Aramis.
"Nothing. That is; he did not get what he intended. What she said is true. Please don't make me say it. I don't want to relieve it. He pressed me against the table, right were Ann's sitting. His hands were everywhere. I think I fell to the floor at one point when I tried to get away. Then when I was standing, I swear I didn't mean to push him that hard. But I guess I didn't know my own strength in that moment. I pushed him as hard as I could, and he fell backwards. He put his hands out to steady himself but that was the most foolish thing he could have done. His hands landed in the fire." Amorette grimaced a little as despite her reluctance to remember anything of that night; it came back in crashing waves. "I can still hear the screams. His hands were so terribly burnt that he never had full use of them again. I'm not proud that I was the cause of such injuries but I don't regret what happened. There were others before me you know. Many others and I'm just glad that there were none after me. I had made sure of it. He never told anyone how he sustained his injuries, because he knew I could spill his secrets too."
Amorette stared down at the toes of her boots that were just visible below her skirts. Now that it was all out in the open she felt exhausted again. Her mind couldn't focus on one thought alone. She was still pushing the memories of that night from her mind, and trying not to think about how much less Athos would probably think of her now that he knew the truth. "Could someone open the door now please?" Amorette watched as Porthos threw a key across the room into Aramis' free hand. Within seconds he had led her to the door and opened it. Without a second thought Amorette slipped her hand out of his and fled.
The early afternoon sunlight made gave the ruined hunting lodge and fort a pretty sort of romantic feeling. But Amorette had seen it in the cold heart of winter too, when deep snow and slippery ice made it a precarious place to explore. This day was not for exploring though. It offered a solace from the goings on of the house. The old floor was mostly a plain of grass now, with a few old flag stones littered about. Every so often, a weed or flower would break through to provide a bit of colour. When summer came, this garden would be a beautiful spectacle to behold when all of the flowers were in full bloom. Amorette remembered long hazy summer days spent here only a few years ago, basking in the hot sun. Those days had consisted of splashing about in the lake and tearing though the glades and woodland of the grounds during the morning and dozing the afternoons away in the little sun trap that was the ruins.
Amorette had always wondered why her uncle had never tried to build it up a bit more. He could have added seating areas and brought parties out for picnics. He never did though and even in the spring and summer months this area of the grounds was left to be devoured by Amorette and the younger guests of the house. Amorette had spent many a sunny afternoon bathing in the sun with other young women as they swapped intrigues about the young men they could hear frolicking in the nearby lake. Just as they would begin to discuss retiring back to the house in the late afternoon, George Villiers would crash though the ruins with the other boys swinging drenched wet cloths about . There was one day in particular that Amorette remembered very well. Had she been of a more vivacious mood she might have blushed at the memory of the young men secretly coming upon them in only their breaches, rivulets of water still rolling down their bare chests. All of the young women had feigned modesty and outrage at such actions, but secretly they were incandescent and delighted. Amorette still remembered the mock cries of shock and little titters and giggles hidden behind small hands.
Those times were long gone now though and they would never come about again. The old clique was dispersed across the world now, and had not been together in many years. They would never reconvene to spend another day frolicking and flirting here at her cousin's home. Amorette supposed another group of young people may enjoy the landscape just as much as she had at some point if she sold the house. She didn't really have any other option now. The property was not an appealing asset to her, but another family could perhaps return it to its former glory.
The sound of horses had Amorette standing to attention. In the distance she watched D'artagnan gallop along the carriageway towards the fork in the road. He halted for a few seconds to look back, and then he disappeared into the trees. She guessed he was riding to fetch the magistrate. He had not been alone though. Athos slipped from his horse and approached her, and for a moment Amorette considered walking away from him, but she supposed he could easily outrun her astride his horse. Instead she turned her back to the approaching musketeer to show her reluctance to talk.
With a swift but gentle movement Athos gripped her wrist and turned her to face him. "Why did you not ever tell me about all of that? Why didn't you come to me? You've always known you could tell me anything!"
Amorette shook her head as she tried to form an answer. She wasn't ready to have this conversation with him and she didn't know that she ever would be. "You were with her, weren't you," she said nonchalantly. "You were with the woman who let my cousin and his family die for nothing. She happily sent those two innocent children to their deaths to try to get to me! That's the woman you chose Athos!" Amorette's old friend looked at her blankly and she knew he was going to disregard her last statement. She sighed exasperatedly. Athos was not to blame and she knew it, and resolved to try not to insult him. "It's no wonder I didn't tell you is it? Ann was always so confident and open. She was already practiced in the ways of men when she came to you wasn't she? I thought that was the type of woman that you wanted. I was embarrassed and ashamed and thought you could hardly be expected to look upon me in the same manor that you had done before."
Athos seemed to understand what she meant even though Amorette was not quite sure what she had said herself. "What about your other friends though? You had so many friends back then. Why didn't you go to one of them? The duke of Buckingham would have had the power to act against your uncle, you should have asked for his help. Come to think of it where are all of your friends now? Last time we met you were living alone out in the country with only a maid for company and now you are running errantly around France with no protection."
Amorette covered her eyes with her hand. Perhaps he didn't understand what she had said after all. "Athos I let that happen to me! I let my uncle treat me that way! I could have stopped him sooner; made my protestations clearer from the beginning. I let things get to the point where he thought he could have his way with me and that is my fault. I was frightened to refuse him in case he flew into a rage like I'd seen my father do so many times. I didn't know how my uncle would have reacted. But that is my entire fault. If id told someone I'd have been ruined. My reputation would have been tarnished forever. Not even Buckingham could have saved me from that fate." Athos shook his head in apparent disbelief and turned away from her then. "Athos I know I may have seemed very put together to you but I was still a child back then. You were paying particular attentions to my sister and everyone knew that you would marry her eventually. I was angry and upset and trying hopelessly to make you jealous. Buckingham brought new suitors with him every time he came from England and he practically threw them my way. If he'd known what had happened he wouldn't have done that any more. Granted it may only have been because he didn't want me to feel pressured or uncomfortable but I wouldn't have made a very good marriage prospect. What man would want me? All they would have seen in their minds was my uncle on top of me with one hand around my throat and the other trying to lift up my skirts!" Amorette slapped her hand over her mouth for the second time that day as she realised just what she'd said. Head down, she looked up at Athos through her eye-lashes expecting to find him embarrassed or ashamed of what she had said. Instead he just seemed sorry for her.
"A real friend wouldn't have told anyone. I do not have a high opinion of the duke of Buckingham but I know very little of your friendship with him. If George Villiers was really your friend he would have dealt with the matter discretely as I would also have done. How could you think that it was your fault in any way? You forget that I knew you as a child Mademoiselle and I know your character perhaps better than anyone. You mentioned that it happened to others as well so clearly your uncle needed no encouragement. He was a repeat offender who saw a pretty young woman and chose to take advantage of her. The fact that you were his niece just makes it all the more sinister. He had no right to treat you as such. And to think; the many times I met the man and I never would have suspected that he had such a depraved taste."
"He hid it very well," muttered Amorette.
"What about your father? He never knew?" Amorette shook her head. "Then some of the men in your life must accept some of the blame for what happened to you. It is our duty after all to protect the women that we care about. All those young friends you had and they never stepped in? Shame on them and shame on me! I'm sorry."
"It's done now, Athos. My uncle died four years ago and all of the horrid scandal died with it in my eyes. I don't ever spare it much thought. You shouldn't either." Amorette stared down at her shuffling feet. "Although I suppose that point is moot now, you'll not see me as you once did now that you know the truth-"
"If it is true that you did fight him off? And about his hands?" Amorette nodded as Athos' blue orbs scrutinised her expression, "Then my opinion has only changed in that I am even more proud to call you my friend. To know that you defended yourself and quite rightly had a sense of decorum about the matter only increases my esteem of you." Athos stepped closer to her and placed a hand on Amorette's shoulder. The palm of his hand rested upon the finely embroidered cotton of her dress but his thumb brushed against the exposed skin of her neck. Amorette forced herself not to dwell upon the way her heart fluttered at his touch. Looking down on her, he gave her shoulder a small squeeze. "The only disappointment I have is that you did not tell me. I understand why, but I do not understand how you came to feel that way. I suppose I should tell you that too is no fault of yours. Perhaps I was not as good a friend as I should have been at that time."
Amorette didn't trust herself to speak when she was stood so close to him. Instead she merely stared at his broad chest covered by his leather doublet. She could feel his eyes on the top of her head as she took a few steps back from him. Her shoulder was released from his grip and the moment was gone. He cleared his throat awkwardly as he motioned for her to follow him back to the house.
"There is still the business of Milady De Winter to conclude." Amorette noticed that Athos did not use the term sister, and thanked him for it.
"D'artagnan has gone to fetch the magistrate I presume?"
"Yes." Athos opened his mouth to speak again but seemed to think better of it. For a few moments there was silence as they both made their way back towards the house, Athos leading his horse behind him. "Mademoiselle I'm sure that you aren't aware of her connections. The magistrate will come and fetch her, and they may hold her for a few days but I must tell you that there is every chance that she will face no charges. Someone somewhere will have the power to pull some strings and then she will disappear to some obscure part of the world."
"I know," said Amorette. She turned to smile at him softly then, squinting a little as the sun shrouded her vision. "To put a few days distance between she and I is good enough. That and a carefully worded note to Buckingham and she will have to travel farther afield to be accepted. Buckingham will circulate her misdemeanours so well throughout France and England that she will have no choice but to leave. That trick she played on Baron Sheffield already has his brother; Lord De Winter baying for her blood. He and the Duke of Buckingham together will be a formidable force. She won't be received in England or most of France. That will have to be enough for me."
Amorette felt Athos' gaze upon her as they made the rest of the walk in silence. Deep down, there was an overwhelming urge within her to grab one of his pistols and shoot her sister with it. It was not a feeling that she would act upon though. That was the thing about people. It was perfectly reasonable to have those negative feelings towards someone, and to feel that life was better without them but to actually spur those thoughts into some sort of action was were a line was crossed. Everyone had bad thoughts because they were only human. Humanity was what stopped most people from letting those feelings consume them though. That was what had happened to Ann and Amorette was damned if she was going to let herself go the same way. She was better than that and would prove it.
So I guess in my opinion this is as bad as Milady could get. She only cares for herself, so it's logical that she wouldn't go all girl-power when her sister was attacked and rally around her. Instead she used it to gain herself some attention. The next chapter is in new setting, and things are going in a much different direction for Amorette. I think it's time for Athos and Amorette to dislike each other a little.