<Hastings>
Hastings nodded in agreement. �I am certain you are not the type to lose your head,� Hasting said as he looked into the faces of the drivers of passing carts. �But if something happens, Madame, I will be nearby.� He hailed a cart fresh for the Place du Carousel and paid the man 3 louis to bring them within two block of Chauvelin�s apartment. Helped Teresia onto the box while holding onto the side. The cargo was a sobering reminder of what failure would bring. He dropped down a full block before Teresia, sticking to shadows as he ran along to a dark doorway that gave him a view of the entrance gate and waited.
<Teresia>
"We're close," she whispered to her companion, Hastings, "I should go the rest of the way alone or Chauvelin may suspect me. His is the second window from the right, do you see it?" She pointed to a house in the distance, almost obscured from view by the winding of the carriage down the street. "Remember," she cautioned again "you must wait until he leaves before you enter." She saw him leave the carriage and it carried on it's way. Alighting at the end of the street, walked straight up to the door without hesitating and knocked. "Is Citizen Chauvelin at home?" she enquired when the door was opened. "It's most urgent that I speak with him."
<Louise>
Old Louise was offering rations of coffee to the guards who had, till a couple of hours ago been watching the Blakeney woman. The moment he spirited her away the men on duty gave up any pretenses of duty, filing into the apartment and making themselves very much at ease in Chauvelin's home. When the knock came, they all tensed. Each for their own reasons.
Two of the men followed Louise to the door where she peeked out and they peeked out over her head.
"Is Citizen Chauvelin at home? It's most urgent that I speak with him." The woman was dark, her voice heavily accented. Probably Italian or Spanish by the look and sound of her and Louise was not fond of foreigners.
"Citoyen Chauvelin is not here," she said. "If you give me your name I'll tell him you called."
<Teresia>
The door was half closing as the woman spoke, but Teresia stuck her foot inside the jarm. "Where is he?" Joder, if Chauvelin were not at home, that could spoil everything. "I have to know, it's very important," but the woman seemed disinclined to help so she added quietly, "It's about the aristo you've been holding prisoner here."
<Hastings>
Hastings listened. The entirety of his attention was bend on that the lit windows of Chauvelin�s apartment. Teresia should be inside by now. She should be talking to the inspector now. �Go with her, you arrogant pug!� he muttered under his breath as the minutes stretched out.
<Louise>
Louise looked back down the dark hall to the door that had been �the holding cell�, not wishing to think any further on what had happened there. �Citoyen Chauvelin has gone to La Force.� Since Chauvelin had left the guards still on duty, she figured he didn�t want anyone to know that the Blakeney woman was moved and thus did not offer the information.
<Teresia>
La Force! Teresia's dark eyes flashed with a mixture of anger and panic. "And the prisoner... is she still here?" she demanded, with fire in every syllable.
<Louise>
At the mention of Lady Blakeney, Louise looked back over her shoulder at the soldier who tensed. He too thought it strange that a foreign woman was inquiring about the prisoner when her presence had been such a tightly guarded secret. �And who are you to make such demands?� he demanded in turn.
<Teresia>
"If you knew who I was, you would not ask such impertinent questions!" she spat haughtily back at him. "Answer me quickly, or you will be shaking citizen Sanson's hand for your negligence... is the English spy's treacherous whore still here or not?"
<Louise>
In that moment Louise wanted nothing more than to slam the door in that haughty little viper's face, hoped the sergeant at her shoulder would laugh in contempt, and he certainly wanted to but their was always the chance... Finally it was his conviction that swayed him. Would anyone be so bold if they didn't have the power to back him?
"Citoyen Chauvelin took her with him," the man finally said warily.
<Teresia>
"Thank you Citizen," she said, curtly but more politely, "I must pray that I am not too late. Adios, Citizen Sergeant. Citizeness."
She turned and walked back out of the house, knowing that her accomplice would see her and hoping that he would wait until she could reach him. She could not go directly to him, in case she were being watched. Chauvelin seemed to have chosen his guard well. Instead she walked with purpose further down the street, turned right and then, once out of sight, began to run around the block as fast as her stays would allow.
<Hastings>
How long did it take to coax Chauvelin away from his prey? Hastings shifted from foot to foot impatiently. Ten minutes. Fifteen. When Teresia finally appeared she was alone. Something went wrong. He watched her move down the street, quelling the urge to meet her and demand the facts, but that would be foolish. Had Chauvelin turned her away? He looped back around the block to intercept her and caught her as she came around a corner, breathless and pale from the run. He supported her weight as he led her to a nearby step where he made her sit. �What�s happened,� he demanded.
<Louise>
Louise listened from her chair as the guard in charge conferred with a fellow who had taken to propping his feet up insolently on the dining table. �You! You return to La Force and report to Chauvelin that a Spanish woman arrived demanding information on the prisoner that was here. Go now!� The other man grudgingly obeyed. Louise sighed and looked down at her work. She wished they would all leave.
<Teresia>
Exhausted as she was, she had to try to speak. Leaning heavily against Hastings' arm, she recounted what had happened, punctuated with much fighting for breath. "Chauvelin's gone... taken Lady Blakeney too... left a female... servant and a.... guard behind... think he's gone... to La Force... Joder!!!" This last expletive came out as she caught sight, over Hastings' shoulder, of the soldier leaving the house. "Must be going to tell Chauv... elin I was here. Got... to warn the others... need to head him off... can't run any further!" she added, in case her companion was feeling energetic.
<Hastings>
Teresia news was the least welcome of all news � it had be "the worst" that he'd tried to prepare himself for, but still it came as a wave of cold dread. He looked back at the soldier wandering down the street and considered, tried to think passed the major failure of losing Lady Blakeney to the repercussion of a guard tell Chauvelin Teresia was involved. The simple fact was that Chauvelin would find out either way, he knew this. More the pity she hadn't considered this. Or had she�?
"If we try to stop him, it may be the worst for you," Hastings said. "One way or another Chauvelin will know you were here. If not this man then any of those who were in the house. If the messenger is intercepted then Chauvelin would be more suspicious, the best thing we can do is stall him so that Chauvelin doesn't know a rescue is on it's way." Hastings turned towards the direction the man fled in and let out a whistle that sounded very much like the cry of a crow. A few seconds later it was answered in the distance by an owl's call, and some fainter noise even further on. John would arrive in a moment and Holte would become the man's shadow.
"How certain are you that Lady Blakeney was gone?" Hastings asked as he turned back to her. "Do you have the proof of your own eyes or that of a fool's word?"
<Teresia>
"She is gone." Teresia replied, some composure returning now. "If she were still there, he would not have left the house unguarded... he would have sent the maid to La Force." It was a logical assumption, but Teresia had no facts to back it up, only her intuition... she somehow knew they had told her the truth... but how could she ever hope to explain that to a man?
<Hastings>
�But it is guarded,� Hastings returned impatiently, as he calculated odds and risks. �You saw one, but you did not go inside to know for certain whether there were more.� If he took her word (and he didn�t trust her that far) and assumed Lady Blakeney gone, then if she were wrong they would miss their one opportunity. If Lady Blakeney were in La Force there was no way to find where in a night or hope to rescue her. They had to eliminate the possibly.
Hastings heard the uneven shuffle of his brother from around the corner and waited for him to come into sight.. Young John blinked questioningly at his brother. �The Marquise was told Lady Blakeney has accompanied Chauvelin to La Force,� the older Hastings reported. �Do you still have that sash?�
�Here in my pocket,� younger Hastings replied, patting his left pocket in emphasis.
�Go up to Chauvelin�s apartment, show that bloody sash to whoever opens the door and get inside. Look in every room there for Lady Blakeney,� Hastings ordered. �Tell them you need to speak with Chauvelin, that you need to requisition any guards in that apartment to deal with the riot at the prison. March them this way and signal me if she�s there.� John nodded and hurried off in the direction Teresia had come in.
The marquise scowled, apparently displeased with being second guessed. �If she�s in the prison there is nothing we can do for her,� Hastings explained. �We�ve been scouting out the others for days, but if she�s been moved�� Hastings shrugged. �We must pray your instincts are wrong. In the meantime, you�ve put yourself in jeopardy by going up to that house, which leaves you one of two options: we smuggle you out of the country or we come up with an infallible excuse for you to have been there when you were.�
<Teresia>
"No te precupes, I can look after myself." she replied with a glare, as though it was an affront to her dignity to suggest otherwise, "But you are forgetting one thing... they say Chauvelin has gone to La Force!" She tried to load the words with significance, but it seemed lost on her companion, "Blakeney!!!" she said finally in exasperation. "Chauvelin must have heard about the riots and has gone to check on his prize. He will be there when Sir Andrew and the others arrive."
<Hastings>
Hastings shrugged as the haught Marquise snapped back that she could attend to her own affairs - he had no doubt at that fact. There was always that worry that she was playing the lot of them - driving them all to La Force to close the trap.
"... They say Chauvelin has gone to La Force!" she emphasized, adding in exasperation. "Blakeney!!!" As if he'd forgot his friend. Women could never see the bigger picture.
"Madame, that is the very individual I am thinking of in this," Hastings assured her. "First thing when he is rescued will be to inquire about his wife and Lord John. If there is a question that either of them being liberated, Sir Percy won't budge. We must make every effort and eliminate every possibly." His line of reasoning was interrupted by the clatter of noisy feet, as young John appeared trailing no less than four armed soldiers. The younger Hastings gave a subtle, curious signal as he marched the lot on to La Force. Hastings scratched his head perplexed. Lady Blakeney wasn't there, but part of the message he couldn't decipher.
"The other thing you have not taken into account, madame," he continued, offering his arm to help her up, "is that La Force is being called on by an angry mob. Dozens and dozens of bodies and little to nothing to distinguish our people from them save by sight. We would be lucky to get a message to anyone inside... which is why I had sincerely hoped you were wrong. Unfortunately, it appears the unexpected has transpired and we will have to act accordingly." Even as he helped Teresia back up to her feet, he stole a glance back up at a lit window that certainly lead into Chauvelin's flat. What had the rest of John's message meant?
***This thread is currently in progress***
This thread is continued from Uneasy Allies
This thread is parallels Mission Improbable and The Massacre
Return to the Archives