Lily was pulling the bows on her stockings tighter in the bustle of the Moulin Rouge dressing room when another of the old hands ,as it were, bent down to whisper in her ear. The red curls of Elizabet were easily recognizable in the lamp lit mirror "Lily, tell that Inspector of yours that there's another girl involved some how. Giselle Martin. Least I heard her name not a half hour ago when I passed the Comte and his party on the stairs; they believe we are deaf as well as eternally grateful for one of their favours!"
Lily giggled and shook her head "Fools…mais merci chérie, you heard nothing else?"
"Non" Elizabet shrugged and grinned into the mirror "not apart from the scandal that Lily Dubois is consorting with bluecoats…all the papers say we are living in new times, maybe is true non?" Lily blushed, a little, and turned to kiss her friends cheeks "peut-être". Always maybe. Monsieur Mauriac however knew exactly how to spoil a moment of happiness and he screamed for Lily from out in the hall
"Mademoiselle DuBois! For some reason you have been requested in the Comte's box. Champagne…Maintenant!" Lily screwed up her face and sighed, nodding at the resigned 'bon chance' as Elizabet departed down the hallways. A few minutes later Lily stood, her head held high at the velvet padded door of the box that had been reserved for the Comte, a tray full of glasses and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, perfectly chilled and one of the finest served in the Moulin Rouge. Madame Clicquot herself no doubt would have smiled.
"Entrez!" A smart young man held the door for her and Lily crossed the thick carpeted floor to the table, her skin bristling and her senses all open. Strong fingers unwound wire and pressed the edge of cork to release a swirl of dry ice smoke, 4 glasses, she just had to pour. "Et voila Monsieur le Comte…" with a smile she let her fingers slip over the smooth glass, "Monsieur le Commissioner, welcome back to the Moulin Rouge, a votre sante…Et vous Monsieur…" her eyes looked directly at those dark black gems "what shall I call you?" every teasing implication that she could muster all in her voice, and the man could do nothing but respond, she was just a wh0re what did it matter? He thought how it might sound to hear her French mouth say his name
"Svyatoslav, you can call Svyatoslav"
Lily smiled and moved closer letting the champagne bounce off the bottom of the glass that she held in front of his mouth. A heavy hand on her shoulder though pulled her back, evidently she was not to call him anything and the fourth man stood quickly to guide her through the door. Lily knew a copper when she felt one, dressed too precisely in regulation civilian clothes and with those cool hard eyes that missed nothing, in truth she was glad to be out of there.
She was still shivering as she descended the stairs into the Hall, on stage the dancers were spinning and whooping and a great crowd clapping and cheering, another night promising to fulfill the best and the worst dreams of those who entered. Abberline...where was he..? Her eyes closed for a second, even the thought of him and her stomach had flipped over enough times that it could have been up on the stage too, she needed to find him and pass on what small information they had found. Oui, of course that was why she was searching the sea of faces.
Grabbing a tray full of drinks Lily wove through the crowded tables, bending to laugh at poor jokes, running her hand over rough chins, she was good at it- an instinct which tables had the biggest spenders and the most wandering hands. She even stopped at a table for a beautiful man whose fingers were cradling a pencil...a little too tightly perhaps for outlines and shading and his usual free strokes, as yet the page still snow white- but then Gabrielle was on stage and he didn't want to miss a second. "Bonsoir Michel" whispered and a free glass of wine in front of him, she would take the money from her tips.
At last she saw him in the shadows under the circle, sitting alone at a table with a cigarette between those long fingers and his eyes evidently following her, she could feel him from here, feet away yet but already her skin flushing. A deep breath and Lily made her way towards him, a smile here and there, but pulled right across the crowds "Inspector Frederick Abberline... what is it that you would like?" with a step she was in his lap, her hand on his cheek, a small whimper at the feel of his skin that only he could hear escaping her lips.
Fred Abberline's lips just parted a little as his eyes sunk down to where her breasts were not inches from his face, he cleared his throat "Do you think this is wise Lily?" just quiet but with some difficulty all the same
"No, but then I am a chorus girl, Inspector, we are not known for our careful consideration of the pros and cons, unlike a clever policeman like yourself" She was cheeky and she knew it "Any how almost every other man in the place has a woman on his lap...we wouldn't want to raise suspicions now would we?" her lips were almost touching in his ear and she licked the tip of it with her tongue "So you had best look interested"
Fred Abberline closed his eyes and sat back in his chair, leaving Lily to feel the movement of his hand up her thigh "I don't think that will be a problem Lily. Now if you were exhorting me to look disinterested then that might be more difficult- especially should anyone take a good look when you get up from this table..." Lily nearly moaned out loud, which definitely wasn't the usual sounds expected of the women serving these tables.
Her eyes, a little out of focus, but always on the look out, spotted Claude peering her way, she would have to talk fast and she pulled his face to hers "I went to see the Comte...Abberline...he asked for me" well she might have smacked him for the sudden change
"You did what?! Lily what would possess to do that?"
Her fingers were on his lips, Christ, that felt good, but she pulled herself back-
"I had to, and in any case I have information for you" She spoke quicker French than he had ever heard and he was concentrating hard, the only issue was the focus, nevertheless undercover police and Giselle Martin were clear enough. Abberline stared back at her, a nod before his hand was behind her neck and his heavenly lips held the sweetest kiss against hers "hold that for now Lily. And this is for Claude, you understand?" as he slid a pile of francs onto the table and watched her disappear.
Fred Abberline smiled, this day really was turning out better than expected, but he was no fool. All the evidence in the world could be buried without trace and he could be facing the bleak prospect of finding alternative employment with only 'disgraced policeman' as a reference. What he needed was the tie in with the undercover DGSE, the shady names he could put pressure on, and if necessary threaten to expose if they didn't give up the Comte. Ah now that wasn't a great career move either, but since 'hanging on by the skin of his teeth' about summed up his position anyhow, what was there to lose? Apart from ending up in the Seine of course...there was that. A slight wince, well looking on the bright side it would unlikely to be before the end of the night, a thought that caused another wince but for a different reason entirely.
And there she was- kicking impossibly high, so that the cream of her skin was flashing before his eyes and Abberline groaned at the pulse of a thought about those legs around his hips. He needed some air and some straight thinking. Passing Gabrielle, Abberline smiled- "Tell her I will be back if you would" And Inspector Abberline stepped out into the cold, setting a pace towards the DGSE building over the river.