"Now, I have to return to France to attend the business. I'll be back in two weeks time." I continued to cry but thoughts of escape were quickly coming alive in my head. "But, to make sure you don't run away from me. I will need some kind of a promise from you. Or." He looked at Clare. I quickly saw what he was insinuating.

"No!" I held her tighter in my arms.

"Yes, I think I'll take Clare with me to France. I would take you also, love but everybody thinks your dead. Some problems might arise. You have 15 minutes to get her packed. I'm leaving in 20. Somebody make sure Warner is on his way and prepare a buggy for me."

"You can't take her." I said silently.

"Satine, she's with me whether you like it or not. I'll take her either by force or you can hand her over silently and calmly. Things don't have to be this way, darling, if I could just trust you." I ignored this statement and picked Clare up.

"She'll be ready in 10 minutes. And if you hurt her, I swear to god I will kill you in the worst way I can conjure up in my head." With that I turned and left.

"Mummy. I don't want to go with the Duke." She said as we walked downstairs. Her hand grabbed my skirt tightly, her lip was already sticking out.

"Go on darling. I'll see you in two weeks, I'm sure the Duke will treat you wonderfully." I said looking straight at him, though he didn't seem to take notice. She shook her head violently.

"No." Her pleas made my heart ache. She was terrified of the Duke and you could see it in her eyes.

"Were wasting time!" Before I could stop him he grabbed Clare's hand causing her to trip the rest of the three stairs down.

"Mummy!" She screamed and kicked and smack furiously. It took three men to finally get the squirming child out the door.

"Good bye Satine! See you in two weeks!" The door shut with a loud bang. I could still hear Clare's screams outside the house. I saw her press her face up against the window of the buggy. Her face red with tears, and those big eyes wide with fright. I had made a promise to her. I had promised the Duke would never take her away or hurt her. Already that promise was broken. I new when she came back, if she came back. She would not be the same Clare as before. I new she would be mad at me, I new there was no way I could make it up to her. I sunk down on the stairs to wallow in grief. Christian was dead, my daughter would hate me, and I was the life long sex slave of the Duke. I wasn't sure how my life could really get any worse.

"Satine..." I heard Harold's voice and felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Leave me!" I whispered angrily. He waited for a second and finally walked off.

I was startled to hear a frantic knock on my door. I looked up and about passed out. Was I dead, or dreaming? Oh, his face so familiar looked so distorted. A terrible look in his eye that made my heart feel pity, even though of my own circumstances. I got up and walked to the door. I opened it, and stretched out my hand to touch his chest. No phantom was he or ghost, for I met a solid body.

"Christian!" I flung my arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. "Are you real? I thought you were dead. I heard the gun and..." He looked down at me and I quieted.

"That was not me."

"What? What are you saying?"

"My life was not taken... for I took another's."

"Christian, your speaking in riddles... What happened?" At this tears fell down his face.

"I didn't mean to! It was for self defense! We fought and I shot him, but I really didn't want to kill him..."

"You mean... you killed Warner? That the shot I heard was not taken by him but by you?"

"Yes..."

"Come on lets get you inside. Its freezing out here." I took him by the hand and we walked inside. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~ We sat on the couch together drinking hot tea. I dismissed the staff. For a long while Christian said nothing. He just stared dazed off into the distance. I put my arms around him, holding him close to me. Feeling his body move with breath and life.

"I'm a murderer Satine..." He said it softly, but it surprised me. His gray eyes fell on me.

"That doesn't matter! Your alive and I love you. That's all that matters." He was silent again for a long time. I then noticed him look around.

"Where's our daughter?" I averted my eyes from his and silently said,

"The Duke has taken her back to France for the next two weeks. To make sure I don't run away. And Christian... The night before we were going to run away, the Duke came back early from France. He got a priest to get us married, and we eloped. There was nothing I could do! He was going to kill you and or Clare. I'm sorry."

"Your married?" I nodded.

"I didn't want to be! I couldn't let him hurt her anymore..."

"Anymore? What do you mean?"

"That night he... he slapped her and knocked her down. He wouldn't let me go to her." He was quiet for the longest time. But you could see it in his face.... He was thinking rapidly and he was pissed.

"What name did you give to get married? On your papers what did you put?!" He looked at me franticly his eyes were ablaze.

"I.. uh... Gwen Nicole Meire. Why?"

"Is that your real name?"

"Well... no."

"So the Duke is married to a Gwen Meire. And since that's not your real name, the marriage isn't legal. Your still not married, love.... Now about Clare..." I didn't say anything. I let him think. He stood and paced around the room, thinking. "Darling I've got an idea." He sat me down holding my hands in his.

"Will you marry me?" I looked at him, my eyes wide. A smile creeped on my lips.

"Yes." I breathed. A broad grin spread across his face.

"Then we'll get married tonight. A legal marriage. When the Duke gets home, act as if everything were normal. Pack two bags. One for you and one for Clare. I need you to hide them somewhere. And pack for India." He smiled at me and then continued. "Buy sleeping pills and make sure they get into his wine glass the night we leave. You won't have any contact with me until we meet at the train station in two weeks. If you need to talk to me, send someone you trust with your life. You won't be able to leave I'm sure and undoubtedly the Duke has gotten word that his manservant is dead. The police will be looking for me, the Duke will make sure of that. Act as if I am still dead. I'll be under an Alias, so I'll find you. Meet me at gate 3. Does that sound good?" I nodded and smiled. He leaned over and kissed me. "Lets hurry, darling. Before the police start searching for me. Do you know any clergy that would keep silence by any chance?" I thought for a moment.

"Yes. One of the dancers brothers is a priest at a small church just a mile from here. We met once, I'm sure he would marry us."

"Good, go get your coat on and we'll be off." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Brother James was more than happy to marry Christian and I after we explained to him. He promised that he would forget this night and speak of it no one.

"Darling! I don't have a ring..." Christian said right before the ceremony.

"I don't need a ring. I don't." I thought for a moment, then took the hem of my skirt and pulled at a thread until it came loose. I broke it off and tied it around my ring finger. I did the same for Christian. "This will be my ring. And you will never see it off my finger." I said looking into his eyes. He smiled and kissed me.

"I love you."

"I love you too, darling." Brother James smiled at us both and motioned for us to go into his small office. We were both all smiles during the whole thing. I couldn't imagine not spending the rest of my life with this man.

"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may now kiss your bride." We kissed passionately. I didn't want to let him go. The thought of not seeing him for two weeks scared me. Especially since he was being sought after by the Police.

"I have to go now, love. I should hurry. I'll send you a telegram that will tell about my whereabouts. Don't read it, give it to your trusted one, so that you can swear on your grave you don't know where I am." He kissed me held me for a moment. "I love you." He said to me. And then leaned into my ear "Come what may." He sang. I clung to those notes, to those words. He let go of me and kissed me one more time and ran off. I turned to Brother James. "Thank you a million."

"You needn't worry, I won't tell a soul about this meeting. I promise."

"I know. And I thank you again." I leaned over and kissed his cheek. He blushed slightly. I left his side and walked out in the chill air. I didn't mind walking in the cold back home. I was in a state of bliss. Everything would be okay. We would live in India and raise a family there. I smiled about thoughts of the future for the first time, in a long, long time. ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~* ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

I didn't get any kind of telegram from Christian for two days. I was constantly checking the mail. And checking outside to see if I could get even a glimpse of him. He must have had someone deliver it, for I never saw him. One time checking the mail I saw a small white envelope. On it, it said "To my sparkling Diamond, from Your Penniless Poet." I smiled and as promised did not open the envelope.

"Mary! Mary I need you." I heard her run downstairs.

"Has it come miss?" I nodded. I handed her the envelope. She took it and walked quickly upstairs to her quarters. In five minutes she came back down.

"He said all is well, and where he is hiding at, as promised. Then he said to burn it." I nodded. I was feeling distressed though, for my baby girl. The two weeks passed slower than any two weeks had. I was always nervous, always scared for my husbands life and for Clare's. I found no comfort in sleep. For even my nights were long. If I fell asleep I had dreams of Christian being shot, of Clare being hurt and I was always in the middle trying to save them both but I could only save one. And then finally the Duke arrived early one morning as he promised. Clare was fast asleep in the carriage and he had someone bring her in. I held her sleeping form in my arms. I looked at her face to see if there were any bruises or scrapes. She seemed unharmed.

"Darling, go put the child upstairs and then come down to me. I've missed you." I did as told and walked slowly upstairs and into my room. There, I laid Clare down. I took off her shoes, her gloves, her coat, and her hat. I then tucked her under the covers and kissed her forehead.

"Miss?" I heard Mary's voice call my name. I turned around to see that she had a little white envelope.

"Yes?"

"I found this out in the front. Christian says everything is in order, and that the train leaves at 12:00 tonight."

"Thank you Mary. Make sure you burn that one too."

"I will, Miss." She walked over to the fireplace and dropped it in. I sighed and left my child's side to go back down to the Duke.

"Now, Darling, tell me you missed me." He smiled at me, and I used on my will power not to bitch slap him. I new if I warmed up to him he would know something was up. So I decided to be my normal self.

"I missed my little girl. But sadly Duke I did not miss your presents." I said coldly.

"Well I'm sure this behavior of yours will pass. Now how about we all go on a family picnic?"

"It's to cold outside, and my daughter is sleeping. I will not leave this house until she wakes up and if you do wake her up, I will not attend supper with you tonight. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go rest." I turned and walked away quickly before he could really say anything.

The rest of the day I hid in the study. It was one of the largest rooms in the house, and there were shelves of books to hide behind, and corners everywhere. I brought Clare down there and we read books of all sorts and I told her how our new life in India would be. But I could tell she was not the same. She seemed distant, though glad to see me. In the course of those two weeks she became very introverted and I new from then on my outgoing Clare, had turned shy and wished to hide from the world. She would tell me nothing about the trip to France and stared off into the distance if I asked. I was desperate to know what happened, but I new I would not know for a very, very long time

The Duke, still tired and weary from the long journey to England, slept most of the day. For which I was very thankful. I finally went up to eat at 7:00. Mary was in charge of slipping the pills into his wine, they were supposed to dissolve instantly.

Dinner was quiet and when the wine was served I could hardly keep still. The Duke sipped his wine, and I was sure he new nothing of the plan. The thought that Christian, Clare, and I were going to be together as a family in five hours thrilled me to the bone. Everything should work out, everything has to work out.

The sleeping pills took affect on the Duke almost exactly a half hour later, the Duke said he was tired, and retired to "our" bedroom. I found it funny how he stumbled upstairs in a daze, and almost passed out on the bed. I smiled to myself and felt my luck was changing. .