Untitled, Part 3 (Send Me Title Ideas please!) By Julie
"Now remember, you�re the regular doctor�s assistant who just got hired, and the doctor was out on call so you had to come."
"I know, I know. You�ve told me a hundred times. I can figure out what to tell them."
"It�s pretty much life or death for Colette. Much as I hate the thought of her going off with you, whom she barely knows and probably can�t trust, she�ll be miserable with Pierre."
"Pierre?"
"Her fianc�, for the millionth time! You�ve got to pay attention or this will never work!"
"Won�t it look a little suspicious when the �doctor� comes riding in on the same horse as you?"
"You are the doctor�s assistant, and the doctor has the buggy! Remember?!"
"Sorry, sorry..."
"I mean it, Alexandre. If this doesn�t work, it�s over for you and Colette."
"It will work. I�ll make sure."
"And whatever you do, don�t act like you know her, because you�re the new assistant, and Colette does not normally live here!"
"But if I don�t know Colette, then I shouldn�t know your brother or Colette�s fianc� or you for that matter!"
Raoul shook his head as they approached the house. "The doctor told you a little about the people in the town. He mentioned the de Chagny family. You remembered the names Philippe and Raoul, and I told you who we were, remember?"
"Yes...Sorry."
"Whatever you do, don�t let Pierre or Philippe come in with you or you won�t be able to talk to her. Though you better let me in. I can�t help what she tells me, I don�t believe that she could fall in love with someone like you. And besides, I don�t trust you."
"And you�re helping us anyway?"
Raoul sighed and didn�t respond. "I just hope nothing goes wrong." He reined the horse in and got down in front of the house. Alexandre dismounted after him.
"You certainly have a big enough place here."
"Thanks," Raoul said, "but it�s my brother�s estate. Not mine."
They were met halfway up the porch steps by Pierre.
"It�s about time you showed up!" Pierre exclaimed. "I have been waiting for nearly two hours while Colette has been dying! Where is the doctor?!"
"Right here," Alexandre said, right on cue.
Pierre gasped and recoiled at the sight of Alexandre�s face. "What on earth--"
"It�s been there since I was a child. Don�t worry, it�s not contagious."
Raoul stuck close to Alexandre as Pierre ushered them up the stairs, without touching Alexandre, of course.
"Colette is deathly ill. I need a diagnosis."
"I doubt there�s anything to be concerned about," Alexandre said. "She�s probably just caught a common cold."
"No, it�s worse than that, I�m sure!"
"We�ll soon find out."
Pierre hurried up the stairs. "We�ve already missed the early train. I�ll have to trade the tickets for the late one. It�s very important that I get home tonight. If this causes me to miss that meeting..."
They reached Colette�s hall, where Philippe stood pacing.
"What on earth took so long? Who is this? You were sent for the doctor!"
Alexandre stuck out his hand. "I�m the doctor�s new assistant. You must be... Raoul�s brother?"
"Yes..." Philippe looked him over suspiciously. "I haven�t seen you in town before..."
"I just started a couple of days ago," Alexandre said. Raoul was impressed at how natural he sounded. "Where�s the patient�s room, please?"
Philippe and Pierre both pointed toward Colette�s door. Alexandre opened the door slowly and stepped inside. Pierre started in, but Alexandre held him back.
"I�m sorry," he said, "but I only need one person and I already told Raoul that I would use his help."
"Well, I am Colette�s fianc�, and I deserve to come in!"
"Sorry, Pierre, what the doctor says goes," Raoul said, slipping in after Alexandre, shutting the door, and locking it. He turned as Colette got up from her �deathly ill� position in bed and ran to Alexandre.
"Oh, Alex," she whispered, "I knew you�d come!"
He dropped his fake doctor�s bag and embraced her. "Colette."
Raoul stood by the door, blocking the key hole, and watched in disbelief.
"Thank you so much for bringing him, Raoul," Colette whispered. "Alex, I didn�t know what else I could do! I had to make up some excuse, and being sick was the only one I could think of."
"I�m glad you did," he whispered back. "Your fianc� fell for it completely--he has no idea who I really am."
"It�s too quiet in there!" Pierre bellowed. "What�s going on?"
"I�m preparing to examine the patient," Alexandre said loudly. He lowered his voice to speak to Colette.
"Colette, you must tell me why you sent for me."
She looked at the floor. "It�s...not really too proper, seeing as how I�m already engaged. I just had to see you again before I left."
"But why?"
"Oh, Alex, you know why. I told you yesterday, didn�t I?" Colette was obviously uncomfortable saying the words, as if afraid that either Pierre or Philippe would hear her, or she was embarrassed that Raoul was listening.
"Tell me again, so I can be sure," he murmured.
"I love you," she whispered against his ear. "I love you, I love you, Alex."
He squeezed her tightly. "I love you, my dear Colette. But what can we do about it? You�re already engaged. Do you have an idea?"
"I shouldn�t say it," she whispered.
"Forget being proper."
"Alex, I love you. I want... I want to stay here in Paris with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you! I can�t marry that Pierre. All he cares about is himself, and I can�t live with a man like that for all my days!"
"Colette, are you saying what I think you�re saying?"
"What�s going on in there?!" Pierre demanded.
"I�m examining the patient," Alexandre said.
"I want to come in!"
"I�m sorry, but no." He ignored Pierre�s ongoing ranting as he continued to Colette. "Did you say what I think you said?"
"Yes. Oh, Alex, I�ve got to run away with you. It�s my absolute only hope to escape from what my parents have said is my destiny. But I know it�s not."
"But won�t your parents be angry? Won�t they come after you?"
"They�ll be furious. But they won�t know where to look." She glanced at Raoul. "That is, if Raoul helps us...?"
Raoul shrugged. "I�m in this far. Though I don�t approve of any of this, I suppose I don�t have much choice."
Colette beamed.
Alex smiled gratefully. "We�ve got to get a plan. If I come back here tonight, after everyone is asleep, can you be ready to leave?"
Colette�s eyes widened. "Tonight?"
"I don�t think Pierre will wait much longer," Alex whispered. "He acted so impatient there that I think the most we can get you to stay is a day."
"But it seems so sudden!"
"Colette, this whole thing is sudden. I�d never seen you before two weeks ago and now look, I�m about to marry you!"
"Sshhh!" she whispered franticly. "If they hear you, our dreams are over!"
Alexandre quickly lowered his tone farther. "I�ll be here at three o�clock tomorrow morning, all right, Colette? Be by the front door, but don�t bring much because I�ll just be on a horse and there won�t be much room."
She nodded solemnly.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Colette?"
"I�ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Are you sure? I�m the one that dropped this onto you as more of an order than a request. Normally it would be your position to propose..."
Alexandre instantly fell to his knee, Colette�s hand in his.
"My dear, dear Colette," he whispered, "I love you more than anything in this world. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"
"Yes, Alex, I will," she whispered. "I love you more than you could ever dream."
Alexandre stood and wrapped his arms around Colette. "May I have a kiss to seal this promise of love, mademoiselle?"
Colette stood on tiptoe and they kissed as Raoul watched, their first, wonderfully perfect kiss.
"It�s too quiet in there!" Pierre yelled. "I�m coming in!"
Alexandre instantly broke from the kiss. "I�m nearly finished. You can come in in a moment."
"I�m coming in right now!" Pierre announced, rattling the door handle. Colette was at once hurrying to her bed, and Alexandre softly touched her cheek.
"Three o�clock, my darling," he whispered.
She nodded, back in the character of being sick. "I love you."
Alexandre picked up his bag and nodded to Raoul, who opened the door.
Pierre rushed in. "How is she? What�s wrong? Will she be all right?"
"I believe she�ll be fine--"
"Oh, thank heaven!" Pierre gasped, rushing to Colette and taking her hand.
"But she needs another night of rest, I would advise that you stay here for the night."
"Another day? I have to be back home tonight!" Suddenly Pierre didn�t seem too loving. He dropped Colette�s hand and gaped at Alexandre. "I have a very important meeting tonight--my financial security rides on it! I have to be home by eight o�clock."
"You could go on without me," Colette whispered, a little too happily.
Pierre was obviously steaming. "Yes, I think I�ll have to." He turned to Alexandre. "You say she can leave tomorrow?"
"Yes," Alexandre said. "I would say she�ll be ready to leave by tomorrow morning."
"Good. Colette can take the early train tomorrow--the six o�clock. I don�t want her here any longer than necessary," Pierre said.
"But right now she needs her rest," Alexandre injected. "You should probably leave her alone for the remainder of the afternoon."
"Of course," Pierre said, ushering them all out of the room. "No one is to bother Colette! Phil, I need to get in contact with my financial advisor, and then I need someone to get me to the train station as fast as possible... I�m probably already going to be late for that meeting, and I--"
Alexandre and Raoul both ignored him and went back to the front door.
"You can take my horse back," Raoul said. "Leave it at the bakery and I�ll get it later."
"I could bring it tonight--"
"No, because then they would know who took Colette!"
"Oh, right. I�m so new to all of this, I--"
Raoul shook his head. "It�ll look suspicious if we just stand here talking all day. Be here at three o�clock on the dot, all right? You have to be on time, or someone could find out. And you�ve got to be quiet when you get here. Colette and I will be watching, so don�t make a lot of noise!"
"I won�t," Alexandre said. "Thank you, Raoul. You... You can�t imagine how grateful I am to you for this for me."
"I�m doing it for Colette," Raoul said firmly. "For Colette. You have to promise me you�ll be good to her."
"I will, Raoul. You don�t need to worry about her while she�s in my hands."
Raoul sighed. "You�d better go, or they�ll know something�s up."
Alexandre mounted Raoul�s horse. "Thank you," he said again, then rode off.
Raoul looked toward the house and saw Colette waving at him from her window.
~*~*~*~
"Isn�t he here yet?"
"Sshhh! Colette, you�ll wake the whole house!"
"Oh, sorry," she breathed. "I�m just so scared! What if he doesn�t come?"
"That would suit me fine."
Colette�s face fell. "Raoul, can�t you be happy for me? You agreed to help--I don�t see why you�re helping if you�re so against the idea."
"I�m doing it for you--sparing you a life with Pierre. If there was any other way, I�d insist that you take it."
"But--"
"Sshhh! Listen for Alexandre--it�s almost three."
"What if Philippe hears him? What will we do?!"
"We�ll cover for it like we planned. You came down because you were hot upstairs."
"But I�m fully clothed!"
"He won�t notice!"
"And if he does?"
"Then we�ll figure something out! If you�d just stop talking, then he won�t wake up and he won�t hear you, and you won�t have to worry about it!"
Colette was silent for a moment. "Raoul, I have to thank you again for helping me like this. I never could have done this without you, and there�s no one else I could trust not to tell Pierre and my parents."
Raoul sighed. "You know I always told you that I�d be there to help you. I�m not going to pretend that I�m for this plan... You already know I�m not. But I won�t back down. No one will ever learn from me where you disappeared to."
She leaned over and kissed his cheek softly. "Thank you, Raoul. You�ve helped me in more ways than you could ever dream, even from the first time I ever stayed at this estate. I...I�ve never really told you how much you mean to me. You�re like the big brother I never had, and I love you just as much as any girl loved her brother. I never told you how glad I am that I have you as a cousin, either. Thank you, for everything, Raoul."
He couldn�t stop himself from gently wrapping his arms around her. "I�m glad you found someone you can love, Colette. I just hope you don�t regret it."
Colette smiled. "I won�t, Raoul--oh, is that him?" She stood from the bench on the porch and looked out across the black night as a figure came riding toward them.
"It must be."
She picked up her bag and went silently down the steps. Raoul followed. He embraced her again as Alexandre stopped beside them and got off the horse.
"You ready, Colette?"
"More than ready," she whispered.
"I found a preacher--he�s waiting at the church up the road a mile or so," Alexandre said.
Colette smiled. "Let�s go, then." She stepped toward Alexandre, then turned back suddenly. "Raoul?"
"Yes?"
"Can you...will you come with us?"
"What?"
"To the wedding. Please, Raoul, I want you to be there."
Raoul nodded. "Let me get a horse."
Ten minutes later, the threesome silently set out, Alexandre in the lead with Raoul behind. Colette rode behind Raoul, her small hands clutched around his waist.
Raoul was, of course, the only witness to the wedding of Alexandre and Colette Beaulieu. Their vows were spoken solemnly, and love showed in their eyes as the tired preacher declared them man and wife.
After the few candles were extinguished, and they stood in the darkness of the early morning outside the church, Colette stood beside Raoul as Alexandre secured her bag on his horse.
"Goodbye, Raoul." She kissed his cheek again.
"I�ll think of you always, Colette," he said softly.
"I�ll never forget what you did for us. Thank you," she said. "I...I mean, my parents, they..." she choked on her words and shook her head. "Never mind. They can�t know that you were involved in this. Goodbye."
"Bye," he said, helping her up onto the horse. Alexandre turned to Raoul.
"Thank you for helping us," he said. "I promise you she�ll be happy, and I�ll take care of her."
Raoul nodded, not believing that he had given in to this man.
Alexandre reached out to shake his hand, and Raoul complied. "Thank you for everything," Alexandre said.
Raoul nodded again and Alexandre got onto the horse behind Colette.
"Bye, Raoul," she said softly. Alexandre turned and started away.
A tear ran down Raoul�s face as Colette disappeared into the distance.
