CHAPTER 39

Philippe and Alphonse had an early start and made it to La Rochelle as expected, by nightfall. Philippe gathered that the Aiton brothers were behind them by several hours, which would give him plenty of time to converse with Madame Brigitte privately.

As the carriage pulled to the front of the Chateau de la Fontenelle, they were greeted by a giant of a man, every aspect of him intimidating.

"Comte Philippe?" The large man boomed.

"Oui. I take it Madame Brigitte has been waiting on my arrival?" Philippe grinned.

"Come with me," the burly man ordered.

Philippe turned to his driver and told him to head back to Paris. He had had enough of carriages and assured him he would be taking the train back to Paris once his business was completed.

"Comte, the horses need rest and…" Alphonse paused as Philippe held out a sack of coins.

"Go into town then and leave first thing in the morning. I don't care what you choose to do, just get out of my sight!" Philippe said with annoyance.

Alphonse nodded then drove the carriage down the driveway, while Philippe disappeared into the chateau.

Luc watched over Christine making sure she was kept cool, as he wiped her face with a wet rag and then settled it upon her forehead.

Meg watched him, making sure that he did not harm her. She murmured between her gag, eyeing him desperately.

"Will you promise to keep your voice down? My brothers will not be happy with me, if they learn I've disobeyed them," Luc toned.

Meg nodded and he leaned over and removed her gag from her mouth.

"She needs a doctor! Has her fever increased?" Meg asked concerned.

"To my knowledge, her fever has been steady. I gave her some water throughout the night and she has mentioned an Angel a few times," Luc answered.

"S'il vous plaît, can you not help us? Perhaps you can convince your brothers to free us. If it's a question of money, we can pay you whatever it is that le Comte is offering," Meg bargained.

"I wish it were that simple, Mademoiselle, but it's not money that has us bound to le Comte," Luc said apologetically. He didn't wish to be any part of this type of service. His brothers always got into matters that seemed to end unfavorably.

Meg frowned, knowing there was nothing more she could do, but pray. Wherever they were going to end up, she hoped that Christine would finally get the medical attention Philippe had promised.

Nadir had the horses hitched and prepared out front. He made his way into the study and saw Erik sprawled out on the settee, one leg hanging off the side of it. "No sleep indeed," Nadir scoffed. He walked over to Erik and tapped him on the leg.

"It is almost daylight. We should head out now if we are to make it to La Rochelle by nightfall."

Erik opened his left eye, looking at Nadir. "Daroga, you are a hideous sight to wake up to." He yawned and sat up, stretching his arms out, above his head.

Nadir rolled his eyes at Erik, cursing under his breath in a foreign tongue.

"If I am a son of a camel, then you, my old friend, are the hump on my back…" Erik said as he stood up and gave Nadir a firm pat on the back, "Always riding me… always there!"

Nadir looked at his friend with surprise. "How in the world did he know the rarest form of Farsi? There's no way he could have comprehended that!"

Erik chuckled at Nadir's astonished look, "Daroga, have you forgotten that I am well versed in a multitude of languages? You of all people should know that even those that are not common amongst the average person do not elude me," he winked. "Now, come. We should delay no longer." He finished, as he walked out of the study.

"And now he's apparently a mind reader?" Nadir shook his head and followed after Erik.

Philippe was led into a dimly lit room and was told to make himself comfortable, as the large fellow took his leave to alert the Madame of his arrival.

Philippe removed his hat and loosened his cravat as he sat patiently.

"Bonsoir, Comte," Brigitte announced.

Philippe stood and kissed the Madame's hand. "Bonsoir, Madame Brigitte. I thank you for seeing me on such short notice, but you will find what I have to offer is worth your time."

"It has been a long time since you have graced us with your presence, Comte. You were one of my best customers and my chateau has suffered with the loss of your patronage. I hope you plan on rectifying the situation from your years of absence," Brigitte said in a sultry manner, running her hands along Philippe's back, and removing his jacket.

"I'm here to talk business, Brigitte, not for personal gratification," Philippe said as he held on to her wrist and motioned to the chair before him.

Brigitte frowned and made herself comfortable before the Comte. "What is it that you have for me?"

Philippe leaned against his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "In a few hours, a carriage will arrive with two young and beautiful girls that I will leave in your care to do with as you see fit," he winked then continued, "I shall leave you with a sizeable amount of funds to make sure they remain in your care. They are never to leave here, Brigitte, do I make myself clear?" He leaned in and glared at the Madame.

"Who are these 'girls' you wish to leave in my service?" Brigitte glared back with equal menace.

"Two brats from the Opera Populaire that have caused me and my family much grief over the past several months. They are of no importance beyond that. So, do we have a deal?" Philippe said firmly.

Brigitte brushed her hair back with her hands and smiled. The thought of two new girls, younger girls, plus the money, would make her bordello thrive once more to the glory it once was. "How much money are we speaking of, Comte? My chateau is in need of renovations and I would like to have…" Brigitte's eyes grew wide as she was interrupted by Philippe's figure amount.

"Half a million francs," Philippe said unblinking.

Brigitte stood up and walked behind Philippe, caressing his shoulders. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "We have a deal."

The Aiton brothers pulled up to the Chateau de la Fontenelle just as Philippe and Madame Brigitte made their way out front. Luc scrambled to replace Meg's gag to her mouth as the carriage came to a stop. Marcel and Arnaud hopped down as Philippe addressed them.

"Perfect timing, Marcel. Bring our guests to the room that Madame Brigitte has prepared."

Brigitte pulled on Philippe's arm as the brothers brought the two girls past them and into the chateau. "What's the meaning of this? The blonde one has a large bruise to half the side of her face and the other…," Brigitte paused shaking her head, "…she is not even lucid!"

Philippe held Brigitte firmly by her shoulders and answered her with force. "The bruise will be gone in time and as for that brunette, I suggest you fetch the doctor as she has acquired a fever due to her unfortunate accident to the head."

Brigitte looked at Philippe with disgust as she made her way through the front doors and swiftly up the stairs.

Philippe yelled after her as she fled. "The deal has been made, Madame! I expect you to keep your end of the bargain!"

Madame Brigitte burst into the room and told the brothers to get out, but not before grabbing hold of Luc's arm. "Speak to my bodyguard, Bruno. There is no mistaking him. Have him send for a doctor immediately."

Luc nodded as he quickly exited the room.

Brigitte settled herself on the bed, beside Christine and placed her hand against her cheek. "This is not good," she whispered.

Meg sat in the corner, murmuring through her gag.

Brigitte walked over to her and removed the gag from her mouth.

"Has her fever worsened?" Meg breathed in worry.

"Why did this girl not have medical attention sooner? She has a very high fever," Brigitte confirmed.

"Le Comte would not allow it until we arrived. She has been with fever for two days now," Meg answered frantically.

Brigitte shook her head and looked at Meg. "I will see to it that you have your own quarters. The doctor will do his best with this one, but there is no way of knowing if she will survive or not." She turned and walked toward the door.

Meg spoke out before she could exit. "Can you not help us? The Comte is insane! We should not be here!" Meg pleaded.

"Sorry, chéri. I have made a deal with le Comte and it will give stability to my chateau and the rest of the girls I house here. You two are a small sacrifice, a means to an end."

Brigitte walked out of the room and locked it.

She made her way to the entertaining salon and spotted Philippe and the two older brothers making themselves comfortable with her girls. The younger one sat at the table, uninterested.

"Ah Madame, how are our guests?" Philippe asked disingenuously.

"The doctor is with the brunette now and Céline has taken the blonde one to her own quarters." Brigitte answered.

"They have names, Madame. Christine is the brunette and Meg is the blonde," Philippe said smugly.

"Well, Christine is not doing so well. She may not survive and if that's the case, I wish to be no party to murder," Brigitte said nervously.

"Excuse me, I must get some air," Luc said quickly as he took his leave.

"He is not much of a man, this brother of yours," Philippe said, slapping his hand against Marcel's arm.

"Luc has always been sensitive, our mother's doing. I bring him along merely for his brawn, otherwise he's useless," Marcel laughed.

"He sounds a lot like my brother, Raoul. I sympathize with you, Marcel," Philippe laughed uncontrollably as Marcel and Arnaud joined him.

Brigitte cleared her throat and looked at Philippe with seriousness. "I do not bury corpses, Comte."

"If she dies, I'll bury her myself. At least I will not have to worry about her coming back from the grave, right boys?" Philippe looked at the two brothers and laughed hysterically again.

Brigitte furrowed her brow at the display before her. "You all have had too much to drink!"

Smacking Brigitte's backside, Philippe said, "Don't be so depressing, Madame. Tonight we're celebrating!"

Brigitte brushed Philippe's hand away firmly and walked off.

"Heartless bitch!" Philippe yelled out to Brigitte. "Let me get my money's worth! Ladies, my colleagues and I are in need of servicing!" Philippe said loudly as several of the working girls made their way back to the Comte's table.

Nadir stopped the carriage down the road from the Chateau de la Fontenelle. He knew that they couldn't just drive up to the chateau and expect them to hand over the girls. Looking to Erik he asked, "Well, my boy, we're here. What is the plan?"

"First, we must get this carriage off of the road and keep it hidden. Then we venture on foot. We will need to surveil the house. I need to know how many men we are up against. Most importantly, we need to know where the girls are being kept. My guess is in one of the rooms upstairs," Erik detailed.

Raoul stepped out from the inside of the carriage and walked over to Nadir's side. "Are we to journey on foot now?" Raoul asked as he secured his pistol.

"You will stay with the carriage, while Nadir and I handle this," Erik ordered.

"I am in this with you both. I will not stand idly by while the two of you go up against... God knows how many," Raoul said, standing his ground.

"I don't think you can convince him to stay, Erik, let him be," Nadir suggested.

"If I feel at any time…" Erik did not get to finish his words, as Raoul cut in.

"Oui, I know, you will kill me… so be it!" Raoul said impassively, as he made his way toward the chateau.

Erik growled as Nadir steered the carriage off the road and into a wooded thicket. They hopped down from the carriage and met up with Raoul, as they made their way up to the chateau.

Author's Note
To Lindaleriel: Thanks so much for your support. It means a lot coming from an avid Raoul supporter.

As I've said before, I am a diehard E/C supporter, but that doesn't mean Raoul can't get a little love too. He's an awesome supporting character if kept true. I'm pretty proud of how he's turning out in my fic. I never thought I could write him. Thanks Patrick Wilson for your inspiration... but lose the wig buddy, it has a life of its own! -giggles- And to everyone still reading, thanks for your endless support! I couldn't have gotten this far without you! -big hugs-

Disclaimer
And again, no affiliation, rights, etc., to the Chateau de la Fontenelle.