Frollo entered his room with a candle and clicked the door shut behind him, locking it and pocketing the key. The silent bedroom greeted him, the dark silhouette of his bed standing out against the outline of the window. He waited for a moment, then lit the candles around the room, their flames giving the room an amber glow. Uncertain, he perched on the end of his bed and scanned the room carefully for movement. Perhaps he had been a little too trusting – he had released the gypsies as a goodwill gesture to Esmeralda, removing one of the reasons she had promised to stay with him. His face contorting into an irritated frown, he snarled at the room and stood, unfastening his sword belt and throwing the belt, sword and sheath into a corner in frustration. He tore off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, feeling a fool for trusting the gypsy. Frollo whipped around to face the door, ready to give instructions to the guards to recapture the gypsies released earlier that day and execute them. He stopped. Esmeralda was standing between him and the door, calmly watching his fit of pique. Confused, knowing there was no way she could have slipped past him, he stood open-mouthed as she walked towards him.
"How?" he asked, further conversation failing him.
"Perhaps one day I will teach you. It was – kind – of you to free my friends. And to order your guards to help the peasants rebuild. What do you expect in terms of payment?" She threw back her cloak, revealing a scant dress from one of her dancing shows that barely concealed her modesty. Esmeralda shimmied over to Frollo and wrapped her arms slowly around him, her face unintentionally devoid of emotion. She was trying hard to play this part in order her friends remained safe, but could feel nothing but repulsion for the man now in her arms. Frollo returned the embrace, then lifted Esmeralda's chin with one hand.
"You are truly beautiful," he whispered, leaning over to kiss her lips gently. He stroked Esmeralda's hair gently, content for now to simply gaze at his prize. "Tomorrow I will instruct my soldiers to stop arresting the gypsies – provided of course that they are not breaking the law. Vagrancy is a crime you know Esmeralda – perhaps I could trust you to remind your people? Visit them tomorrow at the Court of Miracles and give them this – I assume one of them will be able to read." He handed her a scroll from his robes with the Laws and Statutes of the City of Paris regarding street entertainers and traders. Frollo had spent the day searching the volumes in the Palace of Justice for a loophole that would give him a reason to allow the gypsies to remain in the city unchallenged. The scroll was to explain the limits of the gypsies freedom within Paris – restricting their activities to entertaining and selling their wares and spelling out in gruesome detail (as only Frollo could) the consequences for any illegal activity in the city. Esmeralda looked down at the scroll, unable to read the Latin scrawl at the top, but recognising the French and hardly daring to believe that Frollo had gone to this much trouble. She looked up at Frollo.
"You would allow me to leave the Palace?" She was surprised to see Frollo smile warmly at her in reply. He nodded slowly and kissed her forehead, still amazed to have her in his arms again.
"Only for a few hours at most. And wherever you have hidden Captain Phoebus, I suggest you visit him tomorrow to give him the good news."
"Good news?"
"Oh, hadn't you heard? The good captain is to serve down in Burgundy, as an instructor in the regiment there. The post brings a promotion, greater responsibility and most importantly of all," he added, "it keeps him away from you."
"Then you don't trust me."
"Not entirely, but more to the point I don't trust him my dear girl. Will you tell him to report to his barracks tomorrow? You can of course make your goodbyes then as well."
"I will tell him." She looked down and felt Frollo pulling away from her, leaving to sit again on the end of his bed. He patted the bed next to him and Esmeralda sat down, pulling her skirts around her. She looked up to Frollo, expecting the inevitable. But Frollo simply carried on gazing at her, occasionally stroking her hair or hands. Esmeralda wondered if this was a game to him and if things were about to get a lot more unpleasant. Instead, Frollo leaned over and kissed her lightly. Esmeralda felt the uncertainty in the kiss and pulled him closer to deepen it, thinking to hasten the end of the evening that she might sleep and allow the oblivion of sleep to take her away from this. She felt Frollo shiver and smiled inwardly. He was as naïve as a schoolboy as far as kissing was concerned – Esmeralda was sure he'd never held a woman before. She broke the kiss and sat back, forcing a smile. Frollo sat frozen for a moment, then opened his eyes and gasped for breath.
"Dinner?" Esmeralda nodded furiously, barely remembering the last time she'd eaten. "Wait here." Frollo swept out of his rooms, almost dancing as he left to fetch the food.
In the bell-tower, Phoebus had fallen asleep on the windowsill facing the Palace of Justice. He awakened to the sound of sobbing. As his eyes fluttered open, he saw Quasimodo crouched on the floor to his right and sobbing quietly into his hands. The boy was holding a crude telescope, one of the old artifacts the cathedral vault held from an invasion of the east by France.
"What is it?" asked Phoebus.
"She's there!" sobbed Quasimodo, pointing to the Palace of Justice. "Look!" He held up the telescope, squinting through the grainy glass to the windows in the building across the way. There was only one lit window. Phoebus focused the spy-glass on the balcony and saw Esmeralda leaning casually against the wall. She was eating something. Phoebus smiled in spite of himself when he saw the way she draped herself on the balcony to watch the street below. Then his smile faded as Frollo joined Esmeralda on the balcony and put a hand on her back, using his free hand to point out something across the city. Phoebus could just make out Frollo's face and saw that he was speaking. Esmeralda laughed. Crushed, Phoebus put down the telescope and sat next to Quasimodo.
"She was kissing him earlier."
"She's only doing this for her friends Quasimodo – she cannot love him."
"It doesn't matter. I had hoped…" sobbed the hunchback, unable to continue. What had he hoped? That a pretty angel would take pity on him and love him?
"So had I Quasi, so had I. Great plan Esmeralda." Phoebus stood and strapped on his sword.
"She said to wait here."
"I know – but I will not remain here while she…"
"What if you get killed? Then her sacrifice will be for nothing." Quasimodo stared blankly ahead and his lips twisted as he thought about Esmeralda. Unwilling to believe he was going to allow Frollo to rape Esmeralda, Phoebus sank to the floor and took a long drink from a wine bottle. Perhaps, if drunk, he could try to forget what was happening across the square.
Esmeralda laughed politely as Frollo recited another 'amusing' anecdote from his day. She was aware that if she had not known about his excesses in terms of genocide and pyromania, tonight would have been a pleasant evening. She took another long swig of wine, hoping that the alcohol would dull her senses for the night ahead. Finally, Frollo took her hands in his and led her to the bed. Esmeralda unfolded herself across the mattress, lying back in what she vaguely remembered through the alcoholic haze was a seductive pose. At least he wouldn't be her first, she thought idly as he lay next to her, embracing her body with his arms and kissing her forehead. She turned to face Frollo and saw him smiling at her, amused by something.
"What?" she asked. When Frollo continued grinning, she lifted herself on her elbows and started pouting. "What?"
"Come here." Frollo reached for Esmeralda and kissed her, Esmeralda hungrily returning the kiss before realising quite what she was doing. She moaned as Frollo held her tighter and ruffled his hair with one hand, clinging to him with the other. Frollo pulled her on top of him, running his hands up her back. Her mind wandered – she puzzled over whether Frollo really was a fast learner or if he had done this before, and wondered if perhaps she was just a very, very good teacher. Deciding she didn't care either way for either question, Esmeralda clung to Frollo and hoped he would get this over with quickly.
Trembling, Frollo broke the kiss and looked at the panting, drunk gypsy in his arms. He lay her back on the bed, pulled the covers over her and stood up. He circled the room, extinguishing the candles, then sat in a chair near the window and poured himself a brandy. He looked back to the bed where Esmeralda was already snoring. Frollo grinned to himself and sipped at the brandy, amused by the idea she had given in so easily to him. Esmeralda had been quite right – he had never kissed a woman before, the thought of his father's reaction (then God's) keeping him well away from the opposite sex. She had been willing to give herself to him tonight and for now that was enough – he would not degrade himself by sleeping with her outside marriage. After all, thought Frollo, I am a good Catholic. The least I can do is ensure she converts to the faith and then marry her before I… He realised he hadn't quite thought this through before chasing the gypsy across Paris. It would take some time to convince Esmeralda to take his faith, and perhaps longer to convince a priest to marry them. Did he even want to get married? Frollo sipped his brandy and slowly nodded off to sleep in his chair, his last conscious thoughts on Esmeralda's dancing at the Festival.