In the months that followed she had seen him exercise
that same anomalous power over politicians and generals,
and she began to realize that Francois was playing some sort
of political game. By observing him closely, she soon
understood, too, the nature of that game. It was dangerous,
more than dangerous, at times it was lethal, but then she had
suspected from the beginning that any association with
Francois de Lorvoire would be exceptional…
After a time, in quiet ways, she had let him know that she
understood what he was doing and that he could trust her.
To her surprise he seemed to accept it - though he was
always scrupulously careful to conceal from her the precise
details of the information he auctioned while they entertained
ambassadors, generals and even prime ministers at
her apartment; and though she had tried on many occasions,
she had never been able to discover the source of his
information. What she did know was that he had connections
in the corridors of power that went right to the very
top, not only in Paris, but in London, Rome and Berlin. In
these critical times, such connections could be extremely
profitable. She also knew - as their dinner guests did not that
Francois’ patriotism was, to say the least, questionable:
his dealings were often complicated, even tortuous, but
ultimately the information he had for sale went to the
highest bidder. And always before the information was
handed over, Francois would graciously accept a munificent
order for the unexceptional though perfectly palatable,
Lorvoire wine. For a proprietor of vineyards, selling wine
was the most natural cover in the world, and it enabled
Francois to move about Europe without exciting suspicion
…
Elise looked up. Francois, emerging from his thoughts,
was getting up and walking over to the telephone. She had
missed him these past ten days, and now his vast shoulders,
arrogant, almost sinister face and powerful hands were
arousing her in a way she couldn’t ignore. She took a deep
breath and swallowed hard, trying to prove to herself that
she could - if only this once - conquer her need for him, but
as he turned and casually crossed one long leg over the
other, resting against the back of a chair, she found herself
moving towards him.
A flicker of surprise sparked in his eyes as he saw her
standing there, then he smiled as he read what was on her
mind. Her heart turned over at the rare expression of
tenderness on his face, and already her breath was quickening
as he lifted a hand and cupped it around her delicate jaw,
drawing her to him. But as his mouth closed over hers, the
telephone operator chose that moment to ring back, and he
pushed her away.
‘Get me Lorvoire four-five-nine,’ he said into the
receiver.
Elise’s carefully schooled features betrayed nothing of
what she was feeling, but the fact that he was calling his
home angered her. ‘I will give you all that I am able to give,’
he had said, ‘and it will be to you, and you alone, that I shall
turn for fulfilment…”
There had never been any doubt in her mind that he
meant what he had said, and he had never done anything
since to suggest that his intentions had changed. In fact he
had gone out of his way to tell her of his marriage plans
before she could hear them from anyone else, and had even
gone on to explain that the Rafferty girl was his father’s
choice, not his - it was a marriage of convenience. She had
been moved by his unprecedented consideration for her
feelings, and so convinced of his aversion to the match that
she had almost pitied L’Anglaise.
That was until she had laid eyes on the bitch.
She had never asked Francois for a description of his
intended. English women all looked the same as far as she was concerned - buck teeth, rosy cheeks and sturdy thighs.
But when La Rafferty had turned out to be at least six years
her junior, and so breathtakingly beautiful that all Paris was
talking about her, Elise had turned sick with fear and
jealousy: Louis de Lorvoire always had known what he was
doing, and in the choice of bride for his son he had
remained consistent.
By way of comfort, Elise would remind herself of what
Francois had said after his first encounter with The Bitch.
‘If it wasn’t that Beavis would consider it a great insult, I
should ask him to remove his daughter from Lorvoire within
the week. As it is, she gives me the distinct impression she
has made up her mind to marry me, and seems quite
undaunted by the fact that I find her not only superficial but
lamentably immature.’
Despite her jealousy, Elise had found his predicament
amusing, and had laughed aloud when he’d told her how
Claudine had kicked his foot into the fountain. Obviously,
Claudine didn’t have what it took to handle a man like
Francois: a subtlety and cunning to match his own, and the
ability to recognize his changing moods without registering
any kind of emotional reaction. Claudine Rafferty was too
gauche and too flighty even to begin to understand what was
necessary to negotiate the darker side of Francois’ nature.
But reality would hit her soon enough, and providing The
Bitch wasn’t some kind of masochist, it wouldn’t be too
long, Elise had told herself then, before she went scuttling
back to England where she belonged.
But, to Elise’s horror, within eight days of meeting the girl
Francois had come to her and demanded that she, Elise, pay
a visit to Van Cleef and Arpels to select a ring of betrothal.
She had chosen the ring, as she did everything Francois
asked of her, with taste and care, but she had resolved there
and then that, if ever it was necessary, she would not hesitate
to betray him and let The Bitch know her precious ring had
been the choice of her husband’s mistress.
When Monique had come to see her, two weeks before
the wedding, to suggest that together they might somehow
arrange to be rid of Claudine, Elise’s initial response had
been one of enthusiasm. But then she had remembered
Francois’ uncanny knack of finding out the very thing you
least wanted him to know - and though he might not want
the marriage with Claudine himself, he could not be
guaranteed to find interference from other parties - in
particular his ‘whore from Toulouse’ - acceptable.
But as the day of the wedding drew closer, Elise had
begun to wonder if she had done the right thing in sending
Monique away; their interference might have been welcome
after all - for Francois was now almost beside himself with
rage that the girl refused to pull out. ‘She behaves as though
I am in love with her and refusing to believe it!’ he stormed.
‘What must I do to prove that I find her the most tedious
woman it has ever been my misfortune to meet? God knows,
I don’t want to be married at all - I don’t want a woman
meddling in my affairs or wheedling for my attention - but if
I must marry, why in hell did my father have to pick
someone who is nothing more than a wilful, overindulged
child? I can’t understand why my parents are so ridiculously
smitten with her. She’s a fool. She’s even fooled herself into
thinking she’s in love with me.’
Elise was surprised. ‘You’ve mentioned nothing about
this before. Do you really think she’s falling in love with
you?’
‘It isn’t what I think, it’s what she thinks. Well, there’s only
one way to make her see how ridiculous she is…’
That had been two days before the wedding. Then had
come Claudine’s flight from the honeymoon suite Francois
had no idea Elise knew about that - followed by an
early return from Biarritz. Clearly, Francois had achieved
what he had set out to do and knowing him as she did, Elise
shuddered at the thought of the methods he would have
employed.
And yet, no matter what had passed between Claudine
and Francois over the past ten days, Elise was still wary. It
was a perverse truth that Francois’ unsightliness and his
disdain only added to the power of his attraction. Claudine
had certainly been strongly attracted before the wedding,
even if she wasn’t now; who was to say that marriage might
not revive the attraction - or even that Francois might not
come to be attracted to Claudine? That was what frightened
Elise more than anything else, for if she lost Francois she
lost everything. As his mistress, she, the daughter of a
Toulouse forgeron, was a member of polite society; she
received invitations to the opera and the theatre, she was
included on the guest lists for charity balls and excursions to
the races at Longchamp. She would never, of course, be
invited into the homes of the people she mixed with, but for
now at least, it was enough that the men came to her
apartment to meet Francois, and that her skills as a hostess
were properly recognized. Often the men came when Francois was away, but there was never anything furtive or unseemly in their visits, they came simply because they
enjoyed her company; the bachelors among them might
walk with her in the Tuileries Gardens or take her for coffee
to a pavement cafe in Montmartre. Elise took great pleasure
in her popularity, for she had no close friends of her own.
Since knowing Francois she had had no need of them - he
gave her everything.
But what really mattered to Elise more than anything else
- more than the friends Francois brought her, the clothes,
the jewels, the success - were the hours they spent alone
together, when the mere touch of his fingers could inflame
her with such desire that she felt without him she might die.
No man had ever done to her the things that Francois de
Lorvoire did, and no man had made such demands of her.
She had thought she knew all there was to know about the
art of making love, but he had shown her ecstasy and she
dreaded above all else to lose it. To lose it to Claudine …
For if Francois were ever to make love to Claudine the way
he did to her, it would mean only one thing, that he had
fallen in love with his wife …
Elise, turning these uncomfortable thoughts over in her
mind, had wandered from the drawing-room into the
bedroom and now stood staring absently down at the bed.
She was so deep in thought that she didn’t realize Francois
had followed her until she heard the door close behind him.
She turned, and when she saw him standing there, his
dark, unshaven face looking meaner than ever, her eyes
began to shine with hunger. ‘What happened to the
telephone call?’ she murmured.
‘It can wait,’ he answered, starting towards her.
‘You mean, you aren’t eager to speak to your wife?’
He laughed, and reached behind her to pull the clip from
her hair. ‘As a matter of fact, I was calling my mother.
Lucien is leaving Spain and returning to his regiment.’
‘Oh?’ She turned her head to kiss his hand as his fingers
raked gently through her hair. Now wasn’t the time to
pursue the implications of Lucien’s decision, so she only
said, ‘You’ve seen Lucien since the wedding?’
‘I have,’ he confirmed, using his free hand to unfasten his
collar. He smiled. ‘So you see, there was no need for you to
be jealous that I was calling Lorvoire.’
She laughed softly. ‘You know me too well.’ And putting
her arms around his neck, she tilted her face to his.
The touch of his lips was light, but it was enough to send
an electrifying thrill through her body. She pressed herself
against the hardness of his thighs, but he removed her arms
from his neck and went to lie on the bed. It was her cue to
undress.
For a while, as she peeled the clothes from the rounded
curves of her body, Elise kept her eyes lowered, not wanting
him to see her expression … If Francois had seen Lucien in
the past ten days, it could only mean that he had left
Claudine in Biarritz with the maid. And if he was telephoning
his mother, it must mean that he had come straight to
Paris - to her - leaving Claudine to return to Lorvoire alone.
Elise’s sense of triumph was intoxicating. It was highly
probable, she thought, that Claudine was afraid of Francois
by now, something which in itself would disgust him. She
laughed quietly to herself. There seemed little chance now
that this marriage would work - and she, Elise Pascale, was
going to do everything in her power to see that it didn’t. For
no matter how often Francois told her he would never marry
her, she knew that in the end he would. And that would set
her apart from all the great courtesans of France. Not for
her the humiliation of being cast aside in preference for
another: one day she was going to be the Comtesse de
Rassey de Lorvoire. And though The Bitch presented an
enormous obstacle, Elise Pascale would overcome it - by