By Any Other Name

Chapter 3

After a few hours, the carriage slowed to a halt. Christine and Athos had both dozed off thanks to the rhythmic swaying of the carriage, but rose easily when it ceased to move.

"We're nearly there," said Porthos as he opened the door to let Athos and Christine out to stretch. "Just about an hour further," he said.

"Good. Porthos, Aramis, when we arrive at the front door, do nothing," warned Christine.

Athos nodded. "You are there to act as the Duchess' body guards. The Duchess will need to pull her rank, and the staff of the house will need to see to her things. As her men, the staff there are beneath your notice as well."

Christine grinned. "Yes, I am very important and if I am made to wait, you can be sure that my confidences at court will hear about it!" she said haughtily. D'Artagnan, Aramis and Porthos all grinned. The others stepped away to water the horses, leaving Aramis with Christine.

"I can see you've been practicing," teased Aramis as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"How dare you, sir," she said placing her arms around his neck and giving him a suggestive smirk. "I'll have you know that my family can date its lineage back to Charlemagne and I will not suffer such outrageous behaviour."

"Then you'll be very upset if I do this," he replied and kissed her deeply.

"You'll have to be whipped for that," she said breathlessly.

"Whipped?" he said, a grin coming to his face.

"Perhaps later," she said teasingly, and she in turn kissed him passionately.

He grinned broadly at her, as the others led the horses back. "It hardly seems fair that I be the only one punished," he whispered to her, his hands still resting on her waist. She kissed him suddenly once more, surprising him and stealing his breath away. His hands instinctively found their way along her body, carried away by the passion of her kiss. She drew back suddenly and he stumbled slightly in his surprise.

She grinned tauntingly at him as she backed away from him. "I'm a Duchess, so I can get away with anything," she said seductively. His mouth fell open in his shock and she grinned at him once more before winking and turning away to return to where Athos was waiting at the carriage door.

Aramis tilted his head back and laughed.

"Whenever you've recovered," she called back to him with a mischievous grin, before ducking into the carriage. Athos too smirked at him, while D'Artagnan and Porthos both wore enormous goofy grins. After years of seeing Aramis be the debonair charmer, it was nice to see that shoe on the other foot, to see him carried away in a kiss.

Aramis took off his hat, fanned himself a few times with it before replacing it and remounting his horse, his eyes beaming and a huge smile on his face.

oOo

The carriage arrived at the destination, a sprawling, but secluded manor surrounded by thick forest on three sides. Light shone from the bright windows and two large armed guards stood by the front doors. A bearded valet began to descend the steps angrily, two more armed guards trailing in his wake. Aramis and Porthos dismounted and stood tense by the carriage door.

"You!" shouted the man, pointing at D'Artagnan, "Who goes there?!"

D'Artagnan glanced back over his shoulder to where Aramis and Porthos stood sentinel. With a subtle head shake from Aramis, D'Artagnan did not answer.

"Did you not hear me, boy? How insolent! What is your business here?!" he shouted again, signalling to his men who raised their weapons into a firing position. "Answer me or you're all dead!"

The carriage door was flung open suddenly and Christine emerged in a furious state that could only be described as magnificent. The fire surged in her eyes shining more brightly than the many opulent jewels she wore on her golden gown. With the volume and expense of her gown she looked like a wrathful goddess sent from heaven to smite these poor souls and they each took a visible half step back as her rage descended on them.

"How. Dare. You. Do you have any idea of who I am?," she said coldly as she descended the steps unaccompanied. She opened her fan with a snap and began to flutter it in an annoyed way.

"Forgive this bumpkin your Grace, he clearly has dung for brains if he did not recognize your carriage," drawled Athos, his voice dripping with condescension as he exited the coach behind Christine. D'Artagnan had to turn his head and Porthos and Aramis had to fight to keep their composure at the characters that their friends had embodied. They were good. They were detestable. They easily inhabited the most loathsome qualities of the most arrogant members of court to perfection. It was all they could do to hide their shock and keep from laughing. They grinned, partaking in their own air of arrogance through association at the discomfort of the valet.

The bearded man recovered and said obstinately, "Excuse me, sir, but this is a by invitation only affair."

"Stop talking before you further embarrass yourself," said Athos, reaching into his doublet and withdrawing the Duchess' invitation.

The man took it and his eyes bulged.

"You are…"

Christine closed the fan with a snap. "The Duchess de Bari, and if I had known the calibre of the wait-staff at this hovel, I never would have acquiesced to the invitation. Come Athos. There clearly isn't anything of my interest here. Nor that of any of my vast acquaintances in the higher echelon," she said, her words dripping with a wrathful scorn.

Athos plucked the invitation from the stunned valet, as another man emerged at the top of the stairs. "What seems to be the problem here?" he asked coolly as he descended the stairs. This man was tall and had dark golden hair, which perfectly matched the gold of his coat buttons and the signet ring on his right hand. He smiled charmingly at Christine as he reached the carriage.

"Forgive me, my Lord, I did not recognize the Duchess de Bari," muttered the valet as he and the guards stepped back and bowed before their master.

"Nor should you," replied the Lord, as he took Christine's hand and pressed his lips to it. "We have heard rumours of your beauty, but they have in no way done it justice. For that you must forgive my man for his insolence," he said as he kissed her hand again.

She darted her eyes quickly at Athos who gave the subtlest of nods to her as the man stood before her. She opened her fan once more and, coquettishly this time, fluttered it near her neck, simultaneously drawing attention to her bust-line and her face. She batted her long eyelashes at the man. "Well, they do say that forgiveness is a virtue, and since my husband's death I've been trying to be more virtuous," she said in a breathy and teasing voice that indicated that she might be anything but. Aramis was no longer smiling.

The man grinned wider at her, lost for a moment in the suggestion of her eyes and the teasing of her fan. Athos cleared his throat in a perturbed way and she closed her fan with another annoyed snap jolting their host back to reality.

"Forgive me," she said, "This is Athos. You know, like the mountain? He's been helping me manage my estate since my dear husband's death."

"Even before then," Athos said with a smirk and they shared a seemingly knowing grin.

"I've come to rely upon him entirely for practically everything," she gushed in that breathy way.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Monsieur Athos," said the blonde man with a slight bow that Athos returned in kind. "I am Victor Gardeau, Lord of this manor," he said pompously. "I am glad that you were both able to join us. The others have not arrived yet."

"That's a shame," Christine pouted.

"Only for the others," he replied smoothly, taking her hand once more and turning to guide her up the stairs. "It means that I may have the privilege of having your focus solely on me for a brief period."

They began to ascend the stairs and she shuffled her skirts around so there was a quick flash of the white of her petticoats as she placed her hand on his elbow.

Aramis and Porthos made to follow and the guards who had accompanied the valet visibly tensed.

"I hope you don't mind, but my men accompany me everywhere," she said, "It's their responsibility to protect my body," she said leaning towards him slightly. "They take their jobs very, very, seriously," she said in that false, suggestive, breathy tone that Aramis was growing to loathe, but the Lord seemed to be lapping up.

He cast a dismissive glance over his shoulder to where the musketeers stood. "Of course," he purred, "but I can assure you that you will be well taken care of by my hands."

She opened her fan again in an intentional display of false bashfulness.

"Lead the carriage to the servants entrance and have the Duchess' items brought to the Pink Room. Monsieur Athos', to the Green Room."

"I insist that my men be kept nearby…should I need them," she said as her free hand grasped his bicep.

"Whatever you may wish," he said, his eyes glowing at her.

It seemed as though this mission would be easier than they expected, thought Athos as he smirked, climbing the stairs just behind Christine and Gardeau. Christine had the Lord eating out of her hand already by impersonating the more wanton ladies of court. He chanced a quick look over his shoulder and his expression darkened slightly at the look of suppressed rage on Aramis' face. If Aramis couldn't control himself, they were all doomed.

oOo