In this penultimate chapter, we see that the Cardinal, although ruthless, does have a softer side, but he cannot afford to be seen to show weakness to his enemies, but he can show his feelings to her...
Sickness and disease in the 17th century was an ever present threat. Plague and smallpox were potent killers, as were tuberculosis, or, consumption, sweating sickness and water borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera. Many children, of both rich and poor alike died before their fifth birthday.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
CERTAINTIES.
If The Cardinal, thought any more about Minette's relationship with Aramis, he didn't refer it. He had other things on his mind. Affairs of state took up a great deal of his time.
His health too, since the attempt on his life, although improved considerably over many months, still had not regained its former robust state. He suffered from digestive ailments frequently, and the headaches, to which he was prone, did not cease, making him tetchy and irritable.
Minette urged him to eat plain food, avoid the rich heavy banquets and eat small amounts often rather than large helpings. He found her advice to be efficacious, and thereafter followed it, and subsequently felt better.
He would send for her frequently to ease his pounding head. She was always patient with his moods, kind and devoted to him, which never ceased to surprise him. He only knew he was glad of her company.
His desire for her, remained undiminished, taking her into his bed whenever she visited him, she satisfied his lust, and if he could deny her release from time to time and leave her begging him for more, all the better. She was a needy little thing, putty in his hands, and leaving her aching for him ensured she remained submissive, which was, ultimately, how he liked her. Some things could not be compromised. Control fuelled his passion.
He ruthlessly hunted down and punished members of the anti-monarchist revolutionary factions and the nobility who tried to flex their political muscles. He ruled with an iron fist, no leniency, no quarter given. Minette saw and recognised all this, but she saw the other side of him too.
During that Autumn the Queen gave birth to a stillborn child, and was unwell. Sickness haunted the court all that season, beginning in the summer and continuing unabated. Young and old, weak and strong, rich and poor, none were immune.
The coach had called for her in the late afternoon, and the driver carried a message from Richelieu's housekeeper, under who's care her sister Sophie had been placed.
The Cardinal was not present on her arrival, having been called to meet with the Bishop of Lorraine.
She read and reread the message, as she waited for him to return.
It was a weeping and drawn face that met his gaze when he finally came in to her.
His concern was instantaneous. His own cares laid aside, he crossed the room to her and immediately held her close.
"My little one, what is it? What has happened? Have you seen Aramis again?"
She shook her head, unable to speak, through her tears, and handed him the letter.
Dear Mademoiselle,
I regret to inform you that your sister and the child are gravely ill. She has been asking for you. I would be grateful if you could obtain leave from His Eminence to visit her.
Yours in Christ.
Madame Sauvage.
"My dearest one, of course you must go, and straight away. I'll call my Man to accompany you."
The week that followed showed her that her cruel Cardinal was not the person everyone seemed to think him. If this was her reward for her kindness to him, then it was richly deserved.
His thought and care for Minette during those days were akin to devotion. Nothing was too much trouble. She was allowed to visit her sister whenever she wished. A room was found for her so that she did not have to travel from The Residence each time. When Sophie's child passed away, he alone directed the undertaker and found a suitable priest to carry out the rites. And when, a few days later, the child's mother followed, he arranged for mother and child to be interred together and undertook to pay the funeral costs and the expenses for masses to be said for the souls of the dead, easing their passage through purgatory. He comforted and cared for his distraught mistress as if she were his own flesh and blood. Doing everything in his power to offer her succour.
Minette clung to him in those days, she had no one else, and he knew that. There were no lingering doubts in her heart about her Master now. Others may think him cruel, as they wished, but he had a job to fulfil. Outside of that there was no cruelty in him that she could attest to.
She knew with all certainty, that while he may never love her, he was capable of showing great kindness. That mattered a great deal. She cleaved to him more strongly than she had ever done. She was also certain, that even if she did not love him, she would do anything for him, and show her gratitude any way she could.
With her sister gone, Minette now had only her brother, whom she seldom saw now, as he lived so far away.
So, it was a great surprise when he arrived at court, to visit his youngest sister, and she discovered that her Master had orchestrated the meeting, and financed it.
That night she lay with him, tired but happy. To see her beloved sibling after so long, was a delight and her gratitude could not be adequately expressed.
"How can I ever thank you, or repay you, for all your many kindnesses to me." She asked him.
"You repay me each time you come here, each time you ease my head, each time I take you into my bed, and each time you show me your loyalty and devotion. I have the power to easily take all those things from you, if I wished, but you give them freely." He replied.
"I do not tire of you, Minette, as I have of my mistresses in the past, because you never ask anything of me, instead you wait for it to be given, you do not complain, you are constant and true, and I admire that."
"I do not need to ask you for things, Master, because you offer them up, without compunction. You know what I need and what is good for me. Long ago, the first day I came to you, I agreed to your terms, I have never regretted that choice. As God is my witness."
Her words aroused fire in him, burning desire, he kissed and caressed her. She moaned, as his mouth worked on and over her own. Opening her up. He took her; complete ownership, filling her, body and soul. He possessed her; totally, wholly, each time he entered her, making her gasp with want, urging him harder, needing to deepen the contact, arching her hips as he came, feeling the surge and pulse of him, completing her, whispering...'Master, my Lord and Master', as she came herself. Slowly returning to an even heartbeat afterwards, holding him and feeling the touch of his skin against hers, damp with sweat, warmth gently ebbing away.
No Musketeer could give her all this, of that she was completely certain.
Dark clouds loomed over Richelieu's beloved France, his grip on power remained, but outside his borders events were taking place that even he struggled to control. The mighty Hapsburg Empire, the Spanish hold over The Netherlands, The Holy Roman Empire, threatened and surrounded France, from without, whilst the powerful Dukes of the nobility threatened from within. The weakness of the king was plain for all to see, ruled as he was by his mother and his wife. Everyone knew that it was Richelieu who wielded the power, and propped up the Throne. He had many enemies, many who would be glad if he were no more and the king could be ousted or used as a puppet. Should anything happen to Louis, his only surviving son was still a small child, easy to manipulate and control. Such was the state of affairs that The Cardinal dealt with on a daily basis. He was forced to travel more and more, both around the country and beyond the borders. Arduous journeys of diplomacy and negotiation, which took him away from home and into danger. It was a certainty that the only person capable of holding France together at that time was The Cardinal himself.
Minette feared for him. She prayed on her knees until she was stiff and sore. Beseeching God to protect him, to keep him well, to keep him safe.
When he returned home and sent for her almost immediately. She ran in to him, flinging her arms around his neck and smothering his face with kisses.
He was taken aback by her show of affection.
"Goodness, little one, you almost knocked me over." He smiled, and returned her kisses, with a kiss of his own.
"Oh, Master, I have missed you so much. Thank God, you are safe."
She embraced him again, his head bowed down, resting against her in his weariness.
"Armand, come and rest, you look so very tired. You have had such a long journey."
His hand rubbed over his forehead and eyes, and he sighed.
"My dearest one, you don't know how good it is to see your little face. To hear words of comfort after so many days of rhetoric and falsehood. I am glad to be home. Truly glad."
Her fingers massaged his temples, and he rested his head back and closed his eyes.
"You must eat something, then rest. I will leave you to sleep."
"I will do as you suggest, but you must not leave me, I am exhausted, but I need your warmth and your caress. I need to feel you next to me. I have missed it more than I can say."
When he had been served food and wine, and had eaten his fill, Minette took him to the garderobe, she gently and soothingly removed his clothes; undoing the fastenings of his tunic, sliding him out of his undershirt, pressing her fingers into his tense shoulders and circling down his spine to the small of his back, as he flexed his arms and groaned, his aches and stiffness eased away. She noticed the oval she bought him, still hung around his neck, on its black ribbon.
She helped him to wash, ridding himself of the sweat and mud and grime of his journey. She dressed him tenderly, kissing his forehead, his hands, his lips, then led him to his bed, crawling in beside him and holding him close to her, as he relaxed, the metre of his breathing slowing, as he began to drift into sleep.
"I have dreamed of this, so many lonely nights." He whispered, as his eyes closed.
"So have I, Master. " she replied.
She lay beside him, in the dark, the single candle giving only a faint glow of light. He was with her again, they were together. He was her master, she was his mistress, he was a Man of the Cloth, she a poor noblewoman...how she wished they could be more.
He dreamed, and in his dream they walked side by side, openly. No hiding, nothing behind closed doors, proud to show her off, to have her on his arm.
They both knew that could never be, it was certain, their relationship would always be owner and owned, master and servant. Tears leaked out from under his closed eyes, and he stirred, reaching for her hand as he slept, she pressed her face against his, as she wept herself, their tears mingling, a ceaseless ache in her chest.