Section Two
Milady de Winter refrained from raising her voice, not wanting to reveal her displeasure to any of her bodyguards. Richelieu was already attempting to limit his access to the funds he needed to carry out the tasks his eminence had entrusted to him. Furthermore, it was beginning to appear that after successfully completing this latest job, the cardinal would relinquish the main reasons for his dominance over the countess if he kept a close eye on things. Of course, there was always that influence that she wasn’t sure how to get off his hands.
Almost imperceptibly, she winced as a stab of pain hit her, reminding her that her ribs were still tender. Well, she wouldn’t be dancing to the cardinal’s tune, not after visiting her first stepfather’s estate and claiming money she’d stashed away and she never had a chance to get back. Until then, her leverage was very limited, considering her. . .
Gracefully, he took the offered hand and climbed into his carriage, informing the driver to head down the Loire Valley. The door closed behind her and the carriage rumbled towards her destination, away from Moulins, while Milady hid the ornate but highly functional dagger in the sheath between her breasts.
Where to find Laurel? That was the question. It was obvious that she had fled the property, but where? Where had Thomas told her to seek refuge when she thought she was in danger? Lord Treville. No. The Marquis’s dislike for the Cardinal and anything close to Richelieu had surely infected his daughter. My Lord Compton, however, was a possibility, and Compton was in Marseilles; he seemed like he would be heading to Marseille after the stop at his stepfather’s estate, logically speaking.
“Marseilles,” he said out loud. -Of course! It was there that Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d’Artagnan escorted a caravan of merchants several days ago. According to Richelieu, the musketeers had not yet returned. If Laurel had gone to Marseilles, she might have contacted the Musketeers. Dear Thomas had adored the musketeers, as had his daughter. Which could mean that if he found the four musketeers, he would also locate Laurel d’Anlass at the same time. Now, where had the cardinal’s men lost sight of those musketeers?
Milady hit the screen and one of the drivers opened it. “There’s been a change of plans,” she said abruptly. Head towards Aurillac as fast as you can. She closed her side of the screen and leaned back. Her instincts hadn’t been wrong before, and she didn’t see the need to doubt them now. Besides, her money had waited so long. She could wait a little longer.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
As the carriage rattled through streets in dire need of service. Milady parted the curtain and peered out over the bustling street scene, carefully memorizing every detail. Her life could depend on it.
Just as he was about to let the curtain fall again, he saw a man striding away from the market. Taller than average, with shapely legs that matched the rest of his well-toned body. Blond hair and commanding bearing and confident step. She knew that man. She turned around for a moment before disappearing from sight of her. She dropped the curtain and whispered under her breath, “Athos.” She quickly, she ordered one of her bodyguards to follow the man who had just disappeared and not to return until she knew where the man was staying.
As Milady de Winter completed her task of settling into her newly acquired room, her bodyguard entered and bowed. At his request, she informed the lady of the name and location of where Athos was staying. “Thank youhe said without an audible change in the tone of his voice and dismissed the guard.
The noblewoman double-checked to make sure her dagger was in place between her breasts and once in her comb. Satisfied, she pulled on her hooded cloak and walked out of her room into the dark alley below. She stopped short as three men, sabers at their sides, approached the doorjamb of the abandoned building.
A tall man with a crescent-shaped scar from ear to chin and an eyepatch removed his hat and addressed her. “What can we be doing for you, Mrs?”
Milady ignored the slip, the fact that the man had not given her a fully qualified title of her own. He would prefer that they know nothing about his identity. She took a sack full of pistols and various gold pieces from his bag and placed them in the scarred man’s hands. “That is the first half of his payment. If he carries out the task successfully, he will get an equal sum when he reports here tomorrow night.”
The man undid the drawstring of the bag and passed the coins between his fingers. She was offering them what these men considered to be a small fortune. “What do you want us to do?”
“Tonight I want you to kill a man, and you’d better not let me down,” he replied with a disturbing lack of emotion. Emotions would not be allowed to interfere with revenge, not this time as they had before. She just couldn’t allow it. Besides, it was too late to save her ruined soul from her. Too late…