Bisclavret

Chapter 14

"What happened?" Livy demands the second I enter her mother's rooms. "You've been gone for ages."

I glance around, looking for the marquise, but all I see is Livy at the small table where we sew every day, impatience writ across her face.

I shut the door behind me and consider my answer before responding. "I met the baron in his study. He told me of his son's intentions. Lord Giroux really does want to court me." Her eyes flash wide, and I can see the questions piling up in her mind, but I push forward, hoping to stave some of them off. "He took me for a walk in the gardens after my interview with his father, and your mother will be happy to know the conversation was quite proper."

"Weren't you frightened to be with him?" she asks.

I shake my head. "I wasn't. He was very...polite."

Her expression morphs from concern to confusion. "Polite?" she says, deadpan. "He wasn't very polite yesterday morning. Or last night."

"True." There's no sense in trying to make it seem otherwise. "But today, he was rather nice, actually."

She sends me a dubious look. "What about the baron?"

Oh, lord, how to answer that? I'll have to lie to her at some point, but until then, I want to tell as many truths as possible. I can't let her see how much he terrifies me, so I use the distraction of joining her at the table to keep from meeting her eyes as I say, "He was very practical."

"Practical," she says with an unladylike snort. "Yes, I'm sure that comes with being the head of Louis' spies. No doubt he wants to turn you into some foreign operative?"

I mull the question over, picking up the trousers I spent most of yesterday repairing. "He never said anything about me becoming a spy. I don't think he even is one anymore. With the king dead and the rebellion taking all their time and resources, I believe that, at least for now, he and his son have hung up their old profession."

Livy reaches out and grabs my wrist. "But what about his wanting to use you to serve the cause in a different way than mother and I?"

I set the trousers down and place my hand over hers, trying to reassure her. "He merely wants me to be seen with the soldiers and do other things to bolster morale." I decided on the lie on the way up from the garden. It's the most suitable one I could come up with in such a short time without knowing the true extent of what's required of me. I assume I'll join their ranks at some point, despite Lord Giroux's warning that it's not entirely safe for me among them. "It seems the story of my actions has spread, and the baron wants me to speak to the men of the army, thinks it will give them courage."

"And you believe he and Henri have stopped their spying?" she asks, her expression open and guileless.

A small part of me withers and dies in the face of her trust. She wants everything to be all right, to be safe again. It never will be, and I feel godawful for giving her such false hope.

"Yes," I say. "Who are they going to spy for? Spy on? And with what time? From what Jacques said, Lord Giroux leads half the raids, and his father plans them all." This she knows to be true; her brother mentioned it last night at dinner. Another pang spears through me as I bolster my lies with logic.

I'm so sorry, Livy. I'm doing it to protect you. Please forgive me.

She watches me for a moment before finally releasing my wrist. "What did the baron say about Henri's interest in you?"

I nearly sag in relief that she's willing to move on to something relatively safe in comparison. "He asked that I consider him, spend time with him to see if the match suits."