Chris thanked the valet and left the house spitting mad. That strumpet was engaged! That Lord's insolence made the bile in his mouth sour. He would see to it that she suffered as Laurel did, he would hear her scream and beg for mercy, he would see the fear in her eyes, when he destroyed her slowly and give that rude Anglais something to grin about. "Little pet, beware" he whispered as he mounted his horse. Lord Blakeney and that Hastings were about to loose their little lady, painfully.
He followed the directions and arrived at another manor. He took out the flowers and knocked on the door. When a servant answered, he said "I am Vicomte Christof Lovell, a friend to Lady Emilie. Is the Lady Michelle in?" he said.
The butler, Pierre, gave a slight bow and showed Christof into the parlor. "Please wait here, Monsieur Vicompte, and I will inform the Lady Michelle that you have come to visit," he told him, then went upstairs to see if Michelle was feeling up to company.
He looked up as Pierre came up the stairs. "Sir Matthew, a Vicompte Christof Lovell has come to visit the Lady Michelle, if she is willing to have company," the man said. Sir Matthew nodded, then stepped into Michelle's room. "I heard," Michelle said. "I suppose I'm willing, but I don't want to see him alone. He frightens me." Sir Matthew nodded. "Don't worry, dear. I shall chaperone myself." She smiled, and Sir Matthew asked Marie to help Michelle dress and prepare to meet her visitor, then left the room, shutting the door behind him. "Thank you, Pierre. I shall personally go down to the parlor to greet the visitor and inform him that my daughter will join us momentarily." Pierre gave a bow and returned to his work. "Percy, perhaps you should join your cousin?" he suggested. "I'm sure he will wake up in a while and will want to visit with you." He then walked downstairs and stepped into the parlor. "Vicompte Christof Lovell? I am Sir Matthew Ffoulkes, the Lady Michelle's father. Michelle will be joining us momentarily." He looked the young man over quickly as he gestured for him to take a seat.
Chris sat in the parlor, noting the elegant and serene surroundings and rose when a nobleman came into the room. "A pleasure to meet you, sir. I do hope milady is feeling better. My friend Emilie told me about what happened and I thought I could cheer her up a bit" he said.
Sir Matthew nodded, and the two sat silently for a few minutes. Before too long, Michelle came into the parlor. She was wearing a simple red dress, with her hair carefully pulled up and put under a bonnet. Marie helped her into the room, but Sir Ffoulkes rose and helped his daughter to a seat. She wore no makeup, and the bruises on her face and arms were obvious and purpled, her face still somewhat puffy. She sat stiffly in the chair, wincing slightly as she sat, and she thanked her father quietly. As Sir Matthew returned to his seat, she gazed across the room at Christof, her face betraying nothing but the soreness she felt.
Chris noted the girl had been given a thorough beating. Albert enjoyed this part of his work immensely. Her face was pained. "My lady, Emilie told me what happened to you. I brought you these flowers to make you feel better. Anything I can do to help?" he asked.
"Thank you for the lovely flowers and for your concern, Vicompte," she replied, politely, still wondering what it was about him that made her dislike him so. Sir Matthew spoke up, "Our doctor has said that she will be fine, and should recover soon." He watched his daughter's face. She kept it free of feelings about Christof, but he could tell that, for whatever reason, she was not fond of the young man.
Chris smiled. "Excellent, I am happy to see you well. It's no trouble, any friend of Emilie is a friend of mine. Has the villian been caught? I heard in town some people were whipped for this but I wonder if you know more" he said.
Michelle�s eyes widened. Whipped? Sir Matthew shook his head. "No, I have heard nothing of this as of yet." He laid a reassuring hand on his daughter's.
Chris nodded. Here was his first chance for some revenge. "Well, from what I heard, some belongings were found in a local tailor's shop. Lord Blakeney had the workers taken out and publicly whipped, some poor innocent seamstress was branded, shaved and put into the pillory. He even made Emilie watch this, poor girl fainted. The crowd was badly riled up, it's not safe there today. The workers are popular in town, now there is an ugly mood against English. My father, the Comte is very worried for English holidayers." He said, trying to destroy Blakeney's reputation and show how much trouble he was.
Michelle became pale and gripped her father's hand. Andrew was out there! Sir Matthew looked sternly at Christof. "Perhaps I am a bit different from Lord Blakeney and yourself in the belief that such things are not appropriate for a young lady's ears, let alone her eyes." He stood, helping Michelle to her feet. "If you will excuse us, Vicompte, Michelle must go rest. She is quite tired out. Thank you for your concern. My butler will show you the way out." He gently put his arm around her daughter and helped her out of the room, gesturing to Pierre to show Christof the door. A tear ran down Michelle's cheek as she was helped up the stairs to her room. The tenderhearted girl hated to hear of anybody being hurt so badly, and feared for her brother if the French were truly as violent as Christof made them sound.
Chris had clearly said the wrong thing because the next moment he found himself outside before he could even apologize. He blushed a bit; he was clearly losing his touch. What happened to Laurel had clearly affected him. He'd best not go there; he was liable to trip up even more. Chris had barely slept the previous night and he had not eaten. The girl seemed sufficiently cowed anyway; he didn't need any more assurance. He decided to go home and eat. A good brandy would be nice too.
