A Powerful Little Love

Chapter 56

Amorette's fist shakily curled around the but of the pistol in its brace at her waist.  The crowds were beginning to thin out as she reached the end of the street and she picked up her pace for a few seconds before Sacha Rouzet emerged through a throng of people crossing the street.  He caught Amorette's eye and smiled at her as he turned in her direction.  Amorette's eye was drawn to little Ynes in her father's arms who held out her chubby little arms in greeting as the pair drew closer to her.  Amorette breathed a sigh of relief and tried to give the child a weary smile.

It appeared her relief was visible because when Sacha finally reached her he was frowning.  "What's wrong?"

"I thought I saw my father," Amorette said quietly as she glanced around her again.  She felt a little more reassured with Sacha by her side, but there was no one else on the street that she recognised. 

She felt Sacha gently touch her elbow.  "You think you saw him; or you know you saw him?  Two very different things Madame!"

Amorette almost sensed the mind of a rational lawyer taking over as he stared worriedly at her.  Amorette nodded to show her understanding of his question.  "I did see him.  I'm sure of it.  It was only for a second but-"

"Where?" asked Sacha as he too began to glance around him.  Little Ynes was now gazing at Amorette reproachfully with her arms outstretched, as if upset that Amorette hadn't greeted her.  Amorette reached out and took the little girl into her arms where Ynes proceeded to grab a loose tendril of her hair to tug.

"Further up the Rue St Martin, but I think he darted down a side-street when he realised I'd seen him," said Amorette.  She shifted the child's weight in her arms a little as Sacha continued to observe the street.

Amorette started a little, pulling the child closer into her arms as Sacha suddenly leapt out into the street and gave a wave.  It had only been to catch the attention of Captain Eustis though who was walking in their direction.  Veering away from a group of Red Guards who were wandering the street, Eustis approached them quickly. 

"Monsieur Rouzet, Cometess," he nodded to them both.  "Is something amiss?"

Sacha wasted no time in informing Eustis that Amorette's father was close by, and within minutes the streets surrounding the Rue St Martin were swarming with Red Guards searching for him.  Amorette stood silently and clutched little Ynes to her, trying to listen in to the conversation that Sacha and Eustis were having a few yards away.

"He's a traitor," said Eustis softly, "And a terrorist.  If we find Lord Barclay he goes straight to the Bastille or the Châtelet."

Sacha held up his hands in protest.  "Captain I appreciate that his capture would be a very good thing for you and your regiment, but you must appreciate that there are some questions my friends will have for the man that Barclay might be able to answer."

Eustice sighed heavily.  "I appreciate that Monsieur, and once Lord Barclay has contacted his own lawyer, we will permit them to visit.  I'm afraid you and any musketeers will not be allowed to speak with him though.  No English nobility either; if we arrest the man then he's ours to interrogate."  Sacha sighed heavily and threw a tired glance Amorette's way.  "Look I know how important this is to you," continued Eustis, "What with Lord Barclay being your friend's father but that is the way things must work.  The Red Guards have a reputation for negligence and chaos but that's something myself and Captain Neville before he left were trying to rectify.  We have to do this by the book.  Unless he's the culprit of some crime that the musketeers are investigating, they will have nothing to do with him."

"For heaven's sake man I'm not trying to break him out of prison before he's even put there!" Sacha growled angrily.  "All I mean is that there are certain loose ties that need knotting and only the musketeers and the Cometess can do so.  I don't want the man roaming the streets any more than you do!  He's a monster who has treated his daughter abominably and I don't even know the whole story."