Page 24 of A Lady's Past
Sobs racked her body, and she was helpless to stop them. Years of pain poured out of her while Jacques cradled her in his arms.
“C’est bon, ma chérie.None of this was your fault.” He was a warm balm on a wound too deep to heal, pressing kisses along her cheek, neck and shoulder. “You are safe now.”
Swallowing down her tears, she hiccupped several times before she could catch her breath. “I am not safe.” She pushed his arms away. They only offered false hope. Moving to the edge of the divan, she faced him. “They will find me, or the English who think I’m a traitor will capture me. Regardless, I will never be safe.”
“After your parents were murdered, they made you help them?” His eyes shone in the firelight, fierce and beautiful.
“They tried. I escaped.” The chill returned, and she shivered despite the warm room. “It took months to make my way to England’s shores. I tried to go home, but found English troops surrounding the house and grounds. I have been running a long time, Jacques. I’m tired, and I don’t want anyone else to die for my sake.”
“How did you escape, and how did you get yourself back to England?” His voice was tight, and the earlier, soothing tone had disappeared.
“I have told you more than enough, Jacques. None of this is your business. I can take care of myself.” She hated herself more and more. She was a fool to let him in for even one second. If she told him what he asked, it would be the end. She should do it, but imagining the disgust in his eyes when he knew, she couldn’t. Wiping her eyes, she reached for a napkin and took a moment to clean herself up. It was good to let some of it out, but nothing had changed, and she would need her strength to stay alive.
Watching her a long moment, his frown eased into a sigh. He stood. “Stay at Everton’s. Work for Francis. You are safe there for the moment. I saw that you have a very large footman who follows you. I assume you have told Lady Jane of your troubles?”
But she knew he was wrong. Safety was an illusion. No one was truly safe. “It seemed only fair that she knew harboring me could bring danger on the Society.”
Expression devoid of all emotion, he leaned over the fireplace with his arm on the mantel and stared into the flames. “I am not sure what can be done. You and your family are infamous. It was in the paper for weeks after you disappeared. The French must have someone at the newspaper who writes their propaganda.”
“Why would you want to help me? I’m nothing to you. A woman of no means from a country family. My father was a gentleman, but of little worth. And as you say, I am infamous, with a reputation beyond repair.”
Eyes filled with passion, he returned to her, wrapped a curl of her hair around his fingers, and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. “Why did you trust me on the road to London? Why did you trust me, a Frenchman, to hold you while you slept? Of all the people to trust—I am French. I represent those people who hurt you and destroyed your family. There is something between us, Diana. I cannot explain it, but I have never felt it before.”
“Just because the men who hurt me were French does not mean that all Frenchmen are evil. You have a kindness in you that shines through. I knew you would never harm me.” Her soul open and bare to him, she wished she could take the words back as soon as she’d said them.
His smile was the North Star bringing her home. “You are an extraordinary person.”
“I’m a fool who is not good enough for a man like you.”
In a flash, he lifted her from the divan and wrapped her in his arms. He pressed one hand to her back, and the other cupped her cheek. Tipping her head back, he stared into her eyes. “Do not speak so meanly about yourself. I cannot allow it. Those bastards hurt you, and they will pay. I swear it. Nothing you endured or that you did to survive will matter to me, Diana. Wounds heal.”
Just because she wanted his words to be true didn’t make it so. Lord, how she wanted to believe him. “Some wounds fester until they kill you. You are a kind person, but you are too idealistic. Nothing can make me the person I was before.”
He kissed her forehead and eased away. “I did not know that woman. You are probably right. She no longer exists on her own. Still, she is inside you, intertwined with three years of experiences that shaped the woman you are today. It is who you are that I am drawn to, not someone you used to be. When you embrace this Diana, you will be whole again.”
“I don’t believe that is possible.” Mother and Father had died to protect her, and it was that sacrifice that forced her to survive. She couldn’t let them have died in vain. A noose tightened around her heart. Staying alive was the most she could hope for.
“I shall make it my goal to prove you wrong.”
“Perhaps it is you who are the fool.”
A twitch of a smile lit his eyes before they hardened and narrowed. “How much does Victor Caron have to do with this?”
Even his name sent chills through her. “He was in charge of capturing my family and forcing my father to help them. He is the devil in the guise of a man. He became obsessed with getting what the emperor wanted, and fixated on me during our imprisonment.”
Jacques’s hands flexed and fisted several times. “Did Caron touch you?”
“If you are planning to do something stupid on my behalf, don’t.” When she’d spotted Victor at the ball, her entire body had tightened like a band about to snap. Running was her only hope. That ridiculous temple had been a haven. It never occurred to her that anyone would bother to look for her. She’d been lucky; Victor hadn’t seen her, only his lackey, Reneau, and she was sure it was a fleeting glance. He couldn’t be sure it had been her, or they would have been far more forceful with Jacques and demanded to see who he had in the corner of the temple. Still, the notion of her being in London was planted in his head. Leaving town would be the smartest thing to do.
“I never do anything stupid.” His knuckles were white with strain.
She covered his hand with hers. “I am not yours to avenge or care for.”
Pain flashed across his face and was gone in an instant. “Perhaps not, but I do not like Victor Caron, and I never have. He was someone else’s lackey when I had my troubles in France, but he was already a viper. My country is in peril, and it breaks my heart.”
All the warning bells went off, but Diana let them ring. She released his hand, but he gripped her fingers before she could pull away.
Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her hand. “I am an uncomplicated man, Diana, goddess of the hunt and moon. I work hard and have a few good friends. Once I make a friend, I am fiercely protective.”
