BBC Musketeers / Coast of dreams

The city of perfume

"Who is Milady?" Jeany asked.

"Louis new lady friend. Has him wrapped around her little finger. She's a little strange and mysterious, I don't quite know what to make of her. Anyway, in Monte Carlo we stayed at the Hermitage, as you know. A very impressive hotel. And that's where we met Nicollier again."

"And who was that again?"

"A friend and business partner of Feron. He deals with finance matters here, and among other things he's the owner of the casino in Monte Carlo, which we have also visited. But, believe it or not, we – Constance, I and the guys – have found out that Nicollier uses the casino to launder money."

Jeany was surprised at how much she had missed.

"We confronted him with it, of course, I have to protect Louis' interests after all. We can't afford to do business with someone like him," Anne stated. Jeany nodded.

"We convinced him to resign from the business partnership with Louis."

"That's good."

"Yes, but Louis only knows that Nicollier has resigned. That made him so angry that we had to leave in a hurry. And that's how we ended up in Grasse," Anne finished her tale.

"But why Grasse of all places? It's not exactly a metropolis, I can't really see Louis here."

"I have no idea. I was very surprised myself. Today we visited a perfume distillery. Apparently, he has plans with it. The director of the plant was at the banquet tonight, too."

"It all sounds very mysterious. Well, if you need me for anything, I'll help," Jeany offered.

"That's nice of you, but you should get settled in first and enjoy your vacation. You worked hard enough the past few weeks. At least that's what Athos said."

"Oh, did he talk about me?"

"Yes, I asked about you and he could hardly stop talking. He really likes you."

Jeany smiled dreamily. They were together and she was happy with him, but it was nice to hear that he spoke so much about her that others noticed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Constance moved slightly to check what time it was. Through an opening in the curtains she could see a glimpse of the sun rising over the horizon. Good, then she could stay in bed for a little longer. An arm, that was firmly wrapped around her, pulled her back against the body of the man beside her in the bed. "Lie back, it's far too early yet," D'Artagnan grumbled.

"I know, I just wanted to check what time it is," Constance said, snuggling back against D'Artagnan, but she didn't go back to sleep.

"There's enough time. Go back to sleep for a while." D'Artagnan relished the opportunity to stay in bed with her for a little longer. Usually they both had to get up early, because of appointments or assignments, so they didn't have much time together. Although they were officially together now, Treville couldn't make any exceptions in his case, and D'Artagnan didn't want him to, either. Still, he often missed Constance and looked forward to the moments they could spend together. Gently, he stroked his thumb up and down her shoulder and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Constance snuggled even closer, if that was at all possible.

"I still have to think about those poor workers at the plant," Constance said. It helped her to talk about such things with D'Artagnan. He didn't always have to reply or offer advice. No, just telling him her concerns and sharing her thoughts with him were often enough. At first, he hadn't understood and had always tried to find a solution for her, but eventually he understood, that Constance was capable of finding her own solutions, she just needed him by her side.