Jane Feather - Charade by Unknown (howl and other poems .TXT) 📕

to be a short respite and Danielle pacedthe drawing room in Grosvenor Square in an agony of indecision.

"We have heard nothing from D'Evron and nothing from St. Estephe. Wewould have received a message by now if they were safe. We must thenassume that they have been taken and plan accordingly."

"What do you have in mind, Danny?" Sir Anthony Fanshawe asked thequestion on the lips of every member of this small gathering. It was anatural enough question since she held undisputed leadership.

"Why, that we must assume they did not succeed in their mission andmust try it ourselves," she replied simply. "It will be more difficult,of course, after this latest news and if our friends have beendiscovered ... as they must have been." She sighed and tried to put outof mind the face of her friend and colleague these past three years.

"Danny, you cannot mean to go into France yourself," Julian protested,knowing the protest to be ineffectual but one he had to make for hiscousin's sake.

"I do, Jules. But we will be a little more devious this time." Shelaughed suddenly, a laugh of pure deviltry that did nothing forJulian's disquiet. "We shall have some splendid adventures, mes amis.We will work from Cornwall to the north coast of Brittany. No one inParis will suspect such an approach. I have played the urchin once andshall do so again. I do not think my figure has changed significantlywith motherhood, do you?" She looked anxiously around the group who hadrecourse tocoughings and shufflings of feet. "Oh, do not be such milksops," shechided. "Tell me directly. Do I have too many curves to wear britchesundetected?"

"No you do not," Julian replied eventually, when it was clear no oneelse was prepared to venture an opinion. "But that is not the point.You cannot expose yourself to such danger. Justin would not allow it,and in his absence I ..."

"You what, Jules?" Her eyes glittered dangerously.

"Oh, I meant nothing," he said hastily. "Except that you must think ofyour husband and Nicholas."

"And do you dare to think that I do not?" Her voice was a mere hiss andJulian blanched.

"Danny, we all share Julian's concern." Westmore stepped in briskly."But we will pledge ourselves to your support. If you must go intoFrance then we will go with you. But you cannot keep secrets from usand while you may formulate the strategy, you must allow us equalvoice."

"D'accord, mes amis."

Dannysmiled. "I did not wish to appear managing.Let me explain my plan."

The plan was essentially very simple. They would base themselves atMervanwey and use the Earl of March's yacht,

Dream Girl

, to cross tothe north Brittany coast. From there, they would travel to Paris alongunfrequented country roads. "You will leave me to do most of thetalking," Danielle instructed the attentive group. "I mean noaspersions on your French, but there is an accent . . .

vous comprenez?

"

"Danny, there will be times when we will have to speak," Lord Philipasserted.

"Mais, oui."

She shrugged. "Iwill teach you a regional accent that youmay use in emergency and for a short conversation will provide adequatedisguise."

"And just how do you propose to persuade your grandparents to lend bothhouse and yacht?" Julian demanded, feeling as if he should provide abrake of some kind to his young cousin-in-law's blithe plans.

"Oh,

pas de probleme."

Danielle responded confidently. "They will behappy to help once they understand the urgency.

And they will be there for Nicky whilst I am away. It will workperfectly, you will see."

*  *  *

The Earl and Countess of March in fact did what they could to dissuadetheir granddaughter, but eventually decided that if they did notsupport her plans she would find some other way to achieve her ends andit were best that they remain involved, offering some kind of familybase in Justin's absence. They thought it highly likely that Lintonwould reject out of hand Danielle's schemes, but their own authoritywas nebulous in the extreme so they settled for providing a home andguardians for the baby viscount in his parents' absence.

St. Estephe, unaware of these plans, fortunately for his own, made hisnext move before they left for Cornwall. A messenger arrived late onenight in Grosvenor Square and his news confirmed Danielle's urgentdetermination. D'Evron had disappeared, presumably imprisoned, but allSt. Estephe's efforts to discover his whereabouts had failed. Many ofthose on the list had also disappeared as the National Guard increasedits vigilance and the number of its raids on the houses of thearistocracy. St. Estephe would remain in Paris, in hiding, doing whathe could to persuade the others to take flight, but it was becomingalmost impossible to leave Paris now, as the city gates were mannednight and day and passports were no longer being issued. There waslittle that he alone could do, and the message ended with a desperateplea for reinforcements and precise instructions as to how he could befound once they reached Paris.

Danielle questioned the messenger minutely. His story of how he hadslipped out of Paris through the

Barriere

St. Martin hidden beneath apile of straw convinced her that he had indeed come in secret from the

comte

and that the

comte

himself was risking his lifeevery day heremained in that beleaguered city.

It was now more than ever imperativethat they go to his aid and set up some organization for the safeescape of those who wished it. It was quite clear that groups ofroyalists would not be allowed simply to walk through the city gateswith the blessing of the people any more than Danielle and her friendswould beable to leave freely once they were within the city walls.

On the long journey into Cornwall, Danielle and her four cavaliersdiscussed the situation endlessly.

"We must find a small beach on theBrittany coast from which to base our activities," Danielle decided.

Dream Girl

can remain anchoredoffshore while we journey to Paris. I donot think we should attempt to bring more than four or