Good morning! So many of you have been so kind to read and review. Your time is precious and I hope to make it worth your while to spend a little of it here. Have a great weekend!-Elaine
Chapter Three
"Four more people escaped from the prison this morning, Jane!"
It was a week after the astonishing events at the western gate, and Elizabeth and Jane were preparing for a small assembly that evening. Their maids were bustling about them as they sat, arranging their hair into the fashionable coifs of the day. Later the maids would carefully lower their gowns over their heads and then, finally, assist them with the long white gloves that all women used to cover their arms. "The Fleur De Lys has struck again!"
Jane, seated in front of her own looking glass, winced as a pin was inserted into her golden curls. "How do they know it was him?"
"He scratched that symbol into the prison wall, the same symbol he has used before."
"And he has not been captured?" Elizabeth shook her head.
Jane's eyes were wide with wonder. "Whom did he rescue this time?"
"The count and countess of Duchenne, along with their two children."
At that moment there was a loud clatter of something falling on the floor. Hortense, the maid arranging Elizabeth's hair, had dropped the brush she held in her hand. She bent down swiftly to retrieve it. "My apologies, mademoiselle. I do not know why I am so clumsy!"
"There is no need to apologize. We are all a bit on edge these days!"
"Merci, mademoiselle. You are too kind!" Hortense's face was red with embarrassment as she stood again and resumed arranging Elizabeth's hair.
"The count and countess of Duchenne?" Jane exclaimed, horrified. "I met them just last year! The countess was most attentive to me, and her husband was very kind. I found them a most agreeable couple. Why would anyone want to put them in prison?"
"Why is anyone put in prison these days? They were declared enemies of the republic! And anyone who is an enemy of the republic must pay the ultimate price."
"But their children!" Jane clapped her hand over her mouth, unable to speak. Tears welled up in her eyes.
Elizabeth's chair was a few feet away from her sister's, but she still managed to reach over and pat her arm comfortingly. "Not to worry, Jane. As I said, the Fleur de Lys rescued them all! Today was set for their execution but somehow they were spirited away in the very tumbrel that was supposed to take them to the guillotine! Nobody knows how they got through the gate, but they were seen outside the city and pursued as far as the coast. They are certainly on a yacht to England by now. They are safe!"
Jane gave an audible sigh of relief. Behind her, Elizabeth thought she heard Hortense do the same. "Hortense, do you by some chance know the count and countess of Duchenne?" she asked curiously.
"No, madam." Hortense shook her head vigorously, concentrating on brushing Elizabeth's dark curls. "I have known people who claimed an acquaintance with them, that is all." She closed her mouth firmly and gave all her attention to the task at hand.
Elizabeth watched Hortense in the looking glass. The maid's strong reaction to the mention of the count and countess was out of character, and she wondered if Hortense had a closer acquaintance with the aristocratic couple than she was willing to admit. Perhaps she had worked in their household in the past. Even a casual acquaintance with a condemned person could be dangerous these days. She had no chance to pursue this thought, however, before Jane commanded her attention again.
"Does anyone in Paris know who the Fleur de Lys really is? One would think, after so many weeks, that the authorities must have some clue!"
Elizabeth shook her head. "The only hint of his identity is that symbol he leaves behind everywhere he goes: a stem of a lily, with a leaf on each side."
"But what does it mean?"
"Nobody knows." Elizabeth shrugged. "'Tis a common enough symbol. Half the buildings in France sport the same decoration. And it is often seen in England as well. But he has chosen it as his emblem so it must have some particular significance to him. In his case, it is always gold."
"How peculiar."
"Nobody even knows what he looks like, his disguises have been so varied. Sometimes he dresses as an old man, and sometimes as an old woman. He can appear as a merchant or pass himself as a soldier. I have even heard some say he that is English."
"English?" Jane echoed. "What a strange idea! Why would an Englishman risk his life to save French aristocrats?"
"I do not know. Anyway it is only a rumor. I myself believe he must be French, given how well he speaks the language and melts in with the crowds. And I am sure he is strong and swift, or how would he evade capture so many times? He must be young, and of course terribly clever."
Jane looked at her sister in wonder. "Lizzy, you sound as though you are half in love with him!"
"Who would not be? He seems to me to be the very image of an ideal man!"
"You cannot be in earnest! How can a person be in love with someone they have never even met?"
"My dear sister, women fall in love with men they have not met every day! Especially when the man is very rich."
"Oh, Lizzy, I know you are not serious!" Jane said, shaking her head at her sister. But her voice was affectionate, not chiding. "Fortune means nothing to you. Mama wants us to marry well, but she does not understand you. You will never marry unless your heart is truly engaged."
"Then I shall take care that my heart is engaged only by a rich man!" Even Jane could not help laughing at that remark, and Elizabeth joined in.
"But seriously," Elizabeth continued, when their laughter had died down, "I hope they never discover the Fleur de Lys's true identity. It would be a tragedy if he were caught and suffered the same fate as the people he is trying to help. I wish more people would try to stop this madness. The revolution began well, but it has become a monstrous thing!"
"Lizzy," Jane spoke warningly. She glanced uneasily at Hortense, then at her own maid. Most of the servants in the Gardiner household spoke English in addition to French, and they joined and left service with surprising frequency. There was no telling where their loyalties truly lay. "You need to be careful. It is not safe to speak of such things in Paris, not even here in our uncle's house."
Elizabeth shrugged. "Why would anyone care about our opinion of the revolution? We are English, not French, and we English will never have our opinions dictated to us!"
"But we are not just English, Lizzy," Jane reminded her. "Papa's name was Benet before it became Bennet."
"Yes, yes, like half the rest of England we were French before we were English." Elizabeth scoffed. "But that was so long ago! Our ancestors may have been French, but we are as English as the king himself. The English king, that is."
"Perhaps. But when emotions run high, reason can be overwhelmed. You must not speak against the revolution in public!"
Elizabeth caught the deep concern in her sister's voice and repented her lighthearted tone. "Very well, Jane. For your sake I will guard my words even here in our uncle's house. But still I must observe one thing: that this man, whoever he is, is brave beyond imagination!"
"I think we may safely agree on that, Lizzy." Jane smiled in relief, and the two sat in companionable silence for a minute, watching in their mirrors as their maids continued to arrange their hair.
It was a great luxury to have separate maids available for both her and Jane, Elizabeth reflected as she felt Hortense insert another pin into her pile of dark curls. The Bennet home in Hertfordshire was not as well supplied with domestic help. Mr. Bennet kept just one upstairs maid to share between his wife and their five daughters, so the sisters frequently to had help each other dress and carry out necessary daily tasks. But in the Gardiner home both male and female servants filled every corner. No doubt the rampant poverty in Paris made it easier to find and engage servants. For her part, Elizabeth pitied the people of France, who had been ravaged by hunger, poverty, and now political turmoil.
She wished she could ask Hortense or one of the other servants their honest opinion of the revolution. It would have been interesting to have a frank discussion with people who were directly affected by the events all around them. But she knew Jane was right. It was too dangerous. Innocent people had been denounced for even the mildest criticisms of the revolution or its leaders. Resolutely she pushed the idea from her mind and changed the conversation to something more pleasant.
"Do you think Mr. Wickham will be at the ball tonight?" she asked, wincing as Hortense accidentally pulled the wrong way on the pin she had just inserted. Having many servants at one's disposal did not mean that they were all equally competent at their work.
Jane brightened at once. "I hope so. He is such an agreeable young man, and I know that you like him very much."
"I do indeed. But since I am obliged to fall in love with a man of fortune, I am bound for disappointment, for he has nothing to offer. If he had even the slightest bit of wealth, I might find myself falling in love with him!" Elizabeth smiled mischievously.
Jane leaned forward in her chair, her face alight with interest. "Do you really mean it?"
"Perhaps. He has charming manners and makes friends wherever he goes. And he is remarkably handsome!"
"If he had a fortune suitable for a gentleman's daughter, would you consider him an eligible partner?"
"If he had enough to keep a comfortable home, I do not think I would desire much more."
"But our uncle does not seem to approve of him."
"True enough. And yet he never tells us why." Elizabeth shrugged. Her uncle, usually an affable man, was unusually silent around Wickham whenever they met. "I am not of a mind to fall in love and marry just yet. But with our father's estate entailed away at least one of us will have to marry very well. You are far and away the most beautiful of any of us, so the duty falls on you. If you are quite fortunate, perhaps you will meet a rich and handsome man tonight!"
"You must be sensible, Lizzy." Jane's voice was wistful. "One never knows where one will find love, or if it will ever happen at all."
"On the contrary. As our mother says, you cannot be so beautiful for nothing. I predict that before the year is out you will meet a highly eligible bachelor. He will fall madly in love with you and before you can comprehend what has taken place, you will be married and the mother of at least six handsome children!"
Jane shook her head, but she could not help smiling at her sister's good humor. "What about you, Lizzy? Do you not wish to fall in love with an eligible and handsome man?"
Elizabeth smiled triumphantly. "My heart is already spoken for. It belongs to the most remarkable man in the world - the Fleur de Lys!"
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