Chapter 5:
The night was dark, darker than any Marie had seen in years. No stars were visible all across the sky; dark clouds replaced them, stretching across from east to west, north to south. Marie sat silently in the carriage as it jostled her and her luggage down the stone paved road. She sighed, knowing that she still had a long journey ahead of her. Her sister lived far out into the country, miles and miles from anything, a perfect place for someone who wanted to hide away. Marie thought of Christian and Satine. She may never know if they had made it to their destination.
Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt. Marie fell forward in her seat and grabbed onto her bag before it flew out of the carriage. After the commotion had ceased, she sat clutching her things, waiting for some explanation of what had just happened. She could faintly hear voices in front of the carriage over the sound of the now howling wind. She could no longer take the suspense of not knowing what had happened and so she slowly climbed down out of the carriage to see the Duke, drunkenly staggering out of his carriage which it appeared had swerved in front of Marie's.
"Damn you! You almost killed us all!" shouted Marie's driver. Marie quickly ducked back into the carriage, not wanting to be seen by the Duke in fear that he might question her. She had been feeling like something wasn't right and she was worried that the Duke had somehow found out something that he shouldn't have.
"Maybe you should slow down your horses, Sir," the Duke slurred.
"You're drunk! You shouldn't be on the road this time of the night in this condition. I have half a mind to send someone out here when I reach the next town. If you know what's good for you, you'll stop up ahead for the night." Marie's driver shouted in the Duke's face and turned to climb back up to his seat. But the Duke would not hear of it.
"I'm going to Paris and I'm going there tonight!" the Duke roared. Marie sank into her seat a little further, pulling her coat up around her neck.
"Do what you like, but don't expect the police to be as forgiving…" the driver said as he pulled on the reins and started forward again.
"Don't threaten me, sir. I am a powerful man and I can have you hanged for making a threat like that!" The Duke stumbled back into his carriage, shouting on into the night as the carriage continued by and the wind consumed his voice.
Something was not right, thought Marie. Something just was not right…