The Fencing Master's Daughter Read online

  “You should have thought of that before you gave yourself to another man.” He shoved her over onto her back, pushing his leg between hers and moved his body over hers. He settled into position so she could feel the length of him hard against her stomach and turned her face towards his. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her eyes were squeezed tight shut. Madelaine was trembling and the tears had flooded over her face.

  “Madelaine look at me! Why are you crying?”

  Her eyes flashed open and stared at him.

  “You order me to strip and demand I allow you to have your way with me, then ask me why I am crying?”

  “You must know I would never hurt you.You enjoyed my kisses. Am I so unattractive you must soak the pillows rather than let me love you? Why are you trembling? There is nothing to be frightened of. It is not as if you are a virgin.”

  “If you must have me, then do it quickly and let me go.”

  Edward was by this time beginning to sober up a little and was trying to understand why Madelaine was behaving this way. She said she was not a virgin, but she was shrinking from his touch and behaving as if he was mistreating her. He rolled off her body thinking that of all the dreams he had had of Madelaine in his bed, none of them had ended like this. He did not understand. Was it possible she had misunderstood and was still untouched? Madelaine’s mother had died when she was a young girl. Perhaps she had not had a woman explain it to her. Could it be, she simply did not understand what happened between a man and a woman?

  He sat up and looked at Madelaine who was rolled up tight away from him once more. He reached for the clean handkerchief Plovett always placed under his pillow and gave it to Madelaine.Then he got up and retrieved her night-rail and handed it to her before returning to the bed. Madelaine quickly put the garment back on and buttoned it up with her back turned to Edward. She made to get out of the bed but Edward caught her wrist and restrained her gently.

  “No you are not going to run away. Do you understand what happens between men and women, Madelaine?”

  She nodded and wiped her eyes again.

  “You are certain you are no longer a virgin?” Again she nodded.

  “But you have had never made love with a man?” This time she shook her head.

  “But a man took your virginity?” Again she nodded and sniffed wiping her nose with Edward’s handkerchief.

  “I think you should tell me the whole story.” He pulled her towards him so he cradled her against his shoulder. All he could see of her was the top of her tumbled blonde curls.

  “I’m sorry I was angry, but I need to understand and I think you should start at the beginning. When did this happen?”

  “In North Italy in the summer of 1799,” Madelaine sniffed.

  “You would have been only twelve then? Where was your father?”

  “He had to go to Rome. The nobleman he was working for wanted him to fight a duel for a friend of his. He was offered a lot of money to go and he left me with Henri. We had rented a small house in a village not far from the lord’s palazzo, where I lived with Henri and Louis would visit when he could.”

  Madelaine sniffed again and blew her nose before continuing.

  “We had made friends with a family who had a farm on the edge of the village. The farmer had lost his first wife and his second had a two-year-old son and a new baby girl. He had two sons and two daughters from his first marriage. The eldest boy was about seventeen, but the younger was only thirteen and his sisters were fifteen and fourteen years old. I was friends with the girls, Giuseppa and Lucia who were beautiful buxom girls.”

  “It was summer and the sun was scorching, Henri wanted to go to town to get provisions. I didn’t want to go because it was so hot. I wanted to play with my friends. It was something we had done before and they were a good family, who were friendly with my father and Henri. He borrowed a cart and horse from the farmer and drove off to town. They were helping another farmer to harvest some olive trees and the farmer and his oldest son had gone with the farm’s men to an orchard a few miles away.”

  “At the farm house there was just women and children. There was his widowed mother and a couple of maids who helped with the dairy and the babies. The four of us were playing in a barn, staying out of the sun. We heard the sound of horses and for a few moments we thought the men were returning early, there were only three horses, but a group of about twenty French soldiers were with them.”

  “Giuseppa and Filippo, her younger brother thought they would go past the farm, but after a while they realised they were coming to the farm house. The youngsters ran to warn their step-mother. They assumed the soldiers would conduct some business with the farmer’s wife. Buy some cheeses or fodder for the horses. I stayed in the barn as I was not interested in soldiers. My father tried to keep me away from them as much as possible.”

  “The soldiers marched up to the farm yard. They were slovenly and dirty. There were two officers with a lot of gold braid on two of the horses. The third horse was limping badly and was ridden by a young man in dark civilian clothes who looked unimportant. The foot soldiers started moving through the farm buildings looking for something. They asked no permission and the two officers and the other man went into the house. Then the screaming started. I hid in the straw and tried to make myself invisible.”

  “I was ashamed to hide but there were twenty men and I did not think I could help my friends. The farm men had taken all the horses with them except for the mare the farmer’s wife rode occasionally and the horse Henri had borrowed. The soldiers found the mare in the stable and put the saddle from the injured horse on it. Then they slit the lame horse’s throat and left it where it fell in the farmyard. They killed and butchered a cow and a pig in the farm buildings. The screaming in the farmhouse seemed to go on for a long time, but no one had spotted me.”

  “Then one of the farm dogs found me and started trying to get under the straw to me. It was covered with blood, but I don’t know whether it was human or from one of the slaughtered animals. The soldiers followed the dog and I was pulled from the straw. One of the soldiers called to the man in dark clothes. “Major, here’s a young skinny one, more to your taste!”

  “The major tore my clothes off and... and raped me. I could do nothing to stop him. I tried to fight but he hit me and I fell. He hit me again as I struggled, but I couldn’t stop him, he was laughing. I was dazed and didn’t move or cry out, because I knew there was no one who could help. I expected to die, but I was lucky, some travellers were sighted on the road a mile or so off and the soldiers formed up in a hurry taking their plunder with them. They marched down the road away from the travellers and the village.

  I got up and went to the farmhouse, everyone was dead even the babies and the old lady. All the women had been stripped and raped. The farmer’s wife had been tortured to find where they put their money. Every cupboard and drawer had been emptied. The floor boards had been torn up and their strong box was gone. They even raped Filippo. I washed the blood off my body under the pump in the yard and found some of the girls’ clothes to replace those torn from me and I ran back to the village to raise the alarm.”

  “At first no one believed me, but finally a group of the citizens came to the farm with me and found the bodies and someone sent for the farmer to come and bury his dead. Henri returned and I looked fairly uninjured. I had a few scratches from hiding in the straw but the bruises were covered. He thanked God I had survived unharmed. He told me he would never forgive himself if those animals had defiled me and I said nothing, because I was ashamed and I was frightened my father and Henri would try to kill those men. Then they would have died too and I would be left alone with no one.”

  “I decided if I never married I would not have to explain I was not a virgin. As I grew up my father never thought any man good enough for me, so it was easy. I just said no to everyone. Then you asked for my hand and my father thought it would be a good match. I did not know what to do. I’m sorry for deceiving you, b
ut I am not a harlot. I know I should have fought harder or should have killed myself, rather than live with dishonour, but I did not want to die.”

  “It was not your fault, Madelaine. You suffered an injury the same as I did. Just because that man was vile, it does not make you unfit to be my wife. You were just a child. You could not be expected to fight off a grown man. Did you discover what happened to him and his name? I would like to have him in my power and choke the life out of him.”

  “You have already tried to, but he got away. You have met my defiler, Edward. Major Furet, murderer, rapist and Napoleon’s spy.”

  “I’ll kill him if I ever get the opportunity to. Mr. Grey is busy searching for him. In the morning we will tell everyone we are going to marry and no one need know what happened. I love you Madelaine. I’m sorry I was so angry with you. I simply did not understand. Please forgive me.”

  “I don’t blame you for being angry, Edward. I didn’t want to tell you. I should have trusted you with the truth, but you will want me to be a proper wife and give you children. I am frightened I will never want to behave as a wife should.”

  “I will be very patient with you. If we take it slowly you will learn not to be frightened. If you never marry then you are letting Furet win. We will be happy, if only you will try to be with me. Now it is late and I think we should go to sleep.”

  Edward blew out the candles and settled down to sleep with Madelaine gently nestled within his arms. Neither of them expected to sleep but they did, and slept well. Edward slept, his body hard with his arousal, squashed against the curves of Madelaine’s slender body tucked tight to him. He stroked her hair as she drifted off to sleep within his arms. He dreamt, smelling the perfume of roses and jasmine she wore and feeling the silk of her unbound hair lose against his chest.

  Madelaine slept, exhausted by her tears, with the strength of Edward’s arms around her. She felt safe and loved. She had admitted the enormity of what had happened to her and somehow it no longer mattered so much. He still wanted her and loved her. He did not blame her for what had happened. She snuggled surrounded by his arms and the male musk of his body. She relaxed smelling the brandy he had drunk breathed over her shoulder and the heat of his body warmed hers into sleep. They slept as neither of them had slept for days and it was close to morning before Madelaine awoke.

  Madelaine came awake still within Edward’s arms and took a few seconds to remember where she was. She felt the firmness of his naked body against her night gown and for a few moments basked in the feeling of security. A feeling of languor came over her limbs. She realised she wanted to turn to Edward and enjoy his kisses. She liked the feeling of being in his arms and smelling the scent of his body holding her.

  Madelaine knew she must return to her room, or her presence would be discovered by the servants up about their daily chores. They would gossip and his family would turn from her and everything would be for nought. She turned to say goodbye to Edward and find her dressing gown, but he was now tossing a little. She tried to shake him awake but his skin felt very hot to her touch and he muttered something inaudible as she touched him. She shook the earl harder and he woke, coming to his senses slowly as if he had been very far away. He felt hot and sweaty. His head ached but he remembered drinking the brandy and sat up sharply.

  “I must go Edward, the servants will be rousing. I’ll be found here.”

  Edward lit the candle by the bed and Madelaine climbed out of the bed and found her dressing gown passing Edward his night shirt and rebinding her hair into its braids while searching for her night cap. Edward watched Madelaine lethargically from the bed as she tidied herself. As she turned to go, he begged one kiss and she returned to the bed to be enfolded once more in his powerful arms. He kissed her gently and she responded kissing him back. He had not put on his night shirt and her hands stroked the small dark curls of hair on his chest as he crushed her to him. His skin felt burning hot and his kisses were fiery on her lips, but all the more potent. She felt breathless as she tried to break from his embrace and return to her chamber. She pushed away from him and as he clung tighter to her body, her hand slipped and pushed down upon his thigh.

  His sudden gasp of pain broke their embrace but as she lifted her hand away from his leg she found it covered with thin sticky liquid. She looked down at his thigh and saw the enflamed swollen scar meandering over the thick muscle of his leg. The scar was livid and had broken open and a nasty smelling liquid was suppurating from the wound. His leg was hot, red and causing him a lot of pain. Madelaine examined his wound and came to a swift conclusion. She pulled the bell cord and Plovett appeared a few minutes later, obviously hurriedly dressed.

  “The earl is unwell, his wound is infected. I want Henri informed we shall need a lot of hot water, bowls, clean bandages and find my father and bring him here at once please Plovett.”

  Plovett rushed to do her bidding as Madelaine relit a large number of candles and pulled open the bed curtains. Edward put on his night shirt buttoning it up and watched as she made sure her hair was neat in his dressing table mirror. Henri arrived neatly dressed and took in the situation. He said hot water and bandages would be coming shortly. Plovett returned.

  “The chevalier is not in his room and his bed had not been slept in, my lady,” Plovett apologized.

  Madelaine opened her mouth and shut it again. Henri copied her response and looked first at her and then at Edward. Edward looked at his betrothed and her servant, understanding exactly what they conjectured and were trying not to put into words.

  “I think if you were to wait quietly in the corridor beside my mother’s room, you will shortly find the chevalier, Plovett. Make sure you keep your tongue still about it!”

  A few minutes later a very straight-faced Plovett returned accompanied by Louis. Louis was dressed in shirt sleeves, unshaven and his long white hair was loose and curling roguishly around his face. Somehow he looked much younger in the white linen shirt and the muscles of his arms stood out beneath his shirt. He asked Henri to fetch his medical bag from his bedroom and then went and rolled up his sleeves and scrubbed his hands in the basin before examining Edward’s thigh. He pressed gently upon the wound wiping away the liquid with a towel that Plovett provided. Henri returned bringing the bag and Louis’s waistcoat, coat, a cravat, a fresh shirt and a fresh black hair ribbon. Louis quickly donned the cravat and tied back his hair but left the waistcoat and coat to one side.

  “The wound is seriously infected. I believe some foreign body is still inside your thigh. The scar will have to be reopened and cleaned. If whatever is causing the infection is not removed you will lose the leg.”

  Lady Henrietta Charrington dressed in a very fetching robe de chambre with her black curls tousled around her shoulders, entered her son’s bedroom having heard Louis’s words. Her eyes passed over her son and the others in his room, before coming to rest on the chevalier.

  “Edward’s leg was examined by the best surgeons in London. He said it was healing, surely it cannot be as bad as that, Louis?” she enquired seeking reassurance from the depths of his green eyes. No one commented on her use of his Christian name.

  “It is easy to miss something, especially when you are trying not to hurt the patient. His leg will have to be reopened and cleaned out. Henri can you get one of the grooms to find a dozen leeches? You know how to clean them for me. Madelaine I think it would be better if you dressed and returned with your sewing bag.”

  “Do you have a decent local doctor who would operate? His wound cannot wait for a surgeon to come all the way from London.”

  “Doctor Ashton has always dealt with the Manor’s medical problems. I’ll send for him at once,” replied Lady Chalcombe.

  Madelaine left at her father’s instruction and Plovett went off to order Dr Ashton fetched. Henri followed to direct a groom to locate some leeches.

  “Perhaps you should dress as well, my lady?” Louis asked Lady Chalcombe. She nodded clearly worried about her only son a
nd left Louis and Edward alone.

  “I suppose I should ask what my daughter was doing in your bedroom, my lord.”

  “I think it more to the point to ask what your intentions are to my mother, Chevalier. Although Comte de Morlaix would be more correct as all your nearer relations are long dead. I don’t think my mother would forgive me if I challenged you over her honour.”

  “Your mother and I have discussed marriage. She insists she will have me although I have argued that I cannot with honour marry her, as I am without the means to support her. This business over your kidnapping has put ideas into her head. She threatens to hold me captive until I agree to her proposal. Henriette insists we will be married at St. James’s, Hanover Square and will not accept I am Catholic and that the service would not be valid in my eyes.”

  “I suggested we marry in Lisbon, but she says she married at Chalcombe St. Mary to please your father and she will not be deprived of a society wedding a second time!”

  “You had better do what she wants and have a second marriage when you go abroad on honeymoon.” Edward winced as he tried to move his leg.

  “She is also determined I should see a better tailor and thinks I should cut my hair.”

  Chapter Twenty – Pourriture

  Madelaine returned with her hair restrained and obscured by a plain white cap. Her day dress was covered by a white kitchen apron and she carried a small sewing bag. She directed the footmen to build up the fire and drag the curtains wide open, so what wintry sunshine there was filtered into the room. Dawn was still reddening the sky, but the day looked to be cold and fine. Further clean aprons appeared and a pile of linen readied for bandages. Several jugs of hot water arrived and Louis stripped to the waist and scrubbed the skin of his arms and hands thoroughly before redressing in a clean shirt.

  Edward, his leg in agony, watched the arrangements trying to accept the pain with fortitude. His mind wandered around the room in a detached manner, it observed the slim fencing master who rippled with taut muscle and carried not an ounce of excess flesh as he moved efficiently preparing to treat his leg. For an old man Louis was in excellent condition, he thought approving his mother’s taste as Louis wrapped a clean apron around himself to cover his breeches and his shirt.