The shots rained down from above, that was all Amorette was sure of as she let Athos drag her through the dust that still lingered over that area of Paris. Athos clearly knew were the shots were coming from too as he didn't even attempt to look over his shoulder once. They were not a target; that much was clear by the haphazardness of the rounds fired. Every so often a shot would be aimed yards from them, at someone else who had risked the streets. Amorette also did not think they really intended to shoot them, but she let Athos take charge none the less. It wouldn't do to argue with him when he was still firmly on duty as one of the King's finer musketeers.
A break in the shots must have meant that the shooters had run out of ammunition. Taking advantage of the lack of fire, Athos propelled Amorette towards a secluded alleyway and followed her down it, the darkness of the creepy corridor and the low brim of his hat making it very hard for her to ascertain just what expression he wore in that moment.
"If they're reloading, they won't be watching the streets. Hopefully they won't have seen us come down here. When they move off we should be able to make it back across the river." It was all said in the gruff and cold manner that Amorette had forgotten Athos could possess at times. His eyes darted from one end of the alley to the other repeatedly without blinking. Amorette leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath, her chest heaving with the exertion of the mad dash through the streets. Athos on the other hand, was not affected at all. Amorette supposed that he was used to all of that running though.
They waited for a while longer in the quiet solitude of the alley, the air around them beginning to freshen all the while. The dust was beginning to clear which would enable them to find one of the bridges more quickly, but it would also mean that whoever was shooting at them would have a clearer view. Athos began to step closer to the mouth of the alley, poking his head gingerly around the corner to observe the street. Amorette gave a worried yelp and grabbed a fistful of his doublet sleeve in readiness to pull him back towards her, but nothing happened.
Tentatively, Athos began to move further out into the street until none of him remained in the alley. The more steps he took, the more apprehensive Amorette became and when he finally vanished from sight she rushed out after him, not wanting to lose him should anything else happen. He held out his hand to her when she approached and she silently accepted. They hurriedly walked hand in hand back the way they thought the river flowed, hoping to catch sight of one of the bridges with every corner they turned. The air was beginning to clear, but they met no one along their way.
Suddenly another shot rang out behind them and Athos let out a snarl as he glanced over his shoulder. He dropped Amorette's hand and pulled out a pistol to fire back. He had not done so before hand; Amorette understood because he could not have been sure he would have hit his target when they were positioned on the roofs of the buildings. Now that they had come down to his level though, Amorette could tell by his stance that Athos felt sure he would hit them. Part of her wished he was not so confident, that we would even consider retreating whilst he shot but he stood stock still in the middle of the street with his free arm pushing her behind him.
The young men Amorette had observed lining the streets this side of the river during the parade looked back at them now from the other end of the street. There were at least twenty of them, but only a select few held pistols or muskets. Those were the young wealthy students Amorette presumed, who probably carried pistols and rapiers on their person every day. They were still firing wide of the mark and Athos returned the volley. Amorette quickly made her mind up and reached for Athos' other pistol when his elbow gave a sudden jerk, almost winding Amorette as his free arm flew backwards with force into her diaphragm. Amorette knew that such a reaction could mean only one thing and sure enough, when she looked down blood was beginning to drip to the dusty ground beneath their feet.
The realisation that he had been hit instilled a sense of fear in Amorette like never before. She felt her heart rate increase rapidly in panic, the blood pumping organ almost threatening to burst from her chest. She did not freeze though as even Amorette might have expected of herself. Spurned into action by the sight of his blood, Amorette grabbed fistfuls of the back of his doublet whilst he still fired shots with his uninjured arm. She began to drag him backwards with all her might, letting out grunts of frustration when Athos dug his heels into the ground.
Amorette didn't know how Athos was managing to use his injured arm to reload his pistol but she was almost certain that he wouldn't have enough musket balls to outlast at least five or six weapons firing at them. It seemed the musketeer eventually came to that realisation himself and began to reluctantly let Amorette drag him backwards. Where would they go though? Amorette glanced behind her but could see no narrow alleyways for them to dart into.; there were only wide main thoroughfares. She guessed they must be closer to the river than she had thought. If they could make it to the river, they might find help along the way.
Just as they reached a crossroads and Amorette halted as she tried to work out which way they should turn, something large and solid barrelled into them from the side with a strangled growl of "MOVE!" An eruption of shouting and more shots disorientated them both as Porthos dragged them around the corner of a building and out of the line of fire. A brigade of Red Guards began advancing down the street the way they had come, towards the protestors. Amorette did not feel relieved though. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see others running along the roofs of buildings again.
"Where the hell have you two been?" Porthos growled.
"Looking for her!" Athos replied grimly as he jerked his head in Amorette's direction.
If Amorette had been paying attention she might have been offended at his dismissive tone, but the five young men on the roof opposite them were distracting her slightly. She raised her hand and pointed as the two musketeers followed her eye line with their own. The long-range muskets they had set up were likely going to cause multiple injuries to the brigade of Red guards who didn't even know they were there. Almost as if on reflex Athos and Porthos lifted their pistols and fired. Porthos reloaded with ease to fire again but as Amorette glanced down she saw that Athos was having difficulty. The hand of his injured arm shook uncontrollably, blood staining the cuff of his shirt.
Amorette felt her heart almost crack in two for him as he struggled to place the new musket ball into the barrel of the pistol. He was not the type for panic but he was clearly angry with himself for displaying such a weakness. Amorette had two options, either help him reload, or fire the pistol herself. Thinking the latter, a quicker endeavour Amorette quickly reached for his other pistol.
"Athos give me a pistol!" she cried when he jerked out of her reach. He ignored her, still fumbling with the single musket ball. Amorette met Porthos' eye for a split second before she asked again much more forcefully. "Give me a pistol!"
Swiftly Athos seemed to admit defeat at hearing the authority in her voice and pressed the weapon he already held into her outstretched hand. There was a strange expression on his face as his eyes met hers. Amorette thought she knew what he was trying to tell her and rolled her eyes in defiance as she accepted the musket ball into her other hand.
Athos had already half-cocked the flint and loaded gunpowder into the weapon so Amorette simply dropped the musket ball into the barrel, rubbed a little gunpowder over the flash pan and released the safety lock. The weapon being a Flintlock musket, there may have been a need for Amorette to shove a ramrod down the barrel to ensure that the musket ball had rolled as far back as it should, but she judged swiftly that there was little time for that and aimed her weapon at the now retreating protestors. It seemed Porthos' firing had made them rethink their endeavour somewhat.
Amorette aimed carefully, counting three beats in her head as the boys continued to skirt along the roof tiles in no particular direction. On the fourth beat, Amorette sucked in a breath and pulled the trigger. A shower of sparks erupted from the musket and the gunpowder ignited, sending the musket ball hurtling through the barrel and into the air to embed itself in a protestor's thigh. Amorette grinned in satisfaction when the boy jerked and stumbled, but managed to stay standing. She hadn't intended to kill him, but it would certainly slow him down enough for them to gain ground on him. Wherever it was that he decided to drop from the roof, they could wait.
"We might hope to make a shot like that but only just. Where the hell did she learn to shoot like that?" Porthos demanded of Athos incredulously.
"Me..." Athos muttered as he accepted the pistol back into his hands.
The spark ignited as Amorette pressed down hard upon the trigger, catching the gunpowder inside the barrel. Amorette repeated her well taught steps and fired at the glass bottles lined up along the stone wall. She hit a few bottles, but some of her shots went wild, and others embedded themselves in the stone wall of the garden feature. A while ago Amorette might have cared about that, but now she simply shook her head in amusement and reloaded the pistol.
She jumped a little as a voice from behind interrupted her. "I thought I told you to take a breath between aiming and firing?"
She turned to find Athos advancing towards her across the lawn. She lowered the pistol and waited for him to reach her, offering a small smile as a greeting. "You did tell me that Athos, but that's all well and good if you are firing at glass bottles in the garden. What happens if your target is moving rapidly; either towards or away from you? Or even firing back at you? There is no time!"
"Of course there's time," Athos muttered as he gently took hold of her arm that held the pistol. "Here, let's try it again?"
Athos placed his hands on Amorette's shoulders and began to spin her around, talking all the while. "No matter how fast or in what direction your target is moving, you still hold the upper hand because you remain still. Aiming and shooting without thinking about it will not provide you with the perfect shot; almost ever. Try again, but this time let a beat pass before you fire."
Still spinning her, Athos suddenly clamped down tightly upon her shoulders and Amorette was forced to stop. She rapidly brought her pistol up and aimed at one of the still standing bottles atop the wall. As his hands dropped to her waist Amorette had no need to concentrate on waiting a beat. She was overly aware of her racing heart due to his proximity to her. She counted a few beats, breathing out and then in again slowly before his breath on the back of her neck startled her into action and she pulled the trigger. The bottle shattered into pieces as the musket ball tore through the glass.
"See," Athos grumbled as he let his hands drop from her waist and turned away from her again. Amorette felt suddenly cold without his gentle momentary touch. He looked just as he had done earlier that morning when he had arrived at her father's estate, confused, grim and perhaps a little disappointed. Amorette was well used to his sullen moods, having been his friend for nearly ten years but it was not a side of him that she enjoyed so much. When he was like that, she didn't have the first idea how to talk to him.
"What's gotten into you anyway?" she called after him. "You've been in a terrible mood all day! You know you can talk to me about anything, I won't breathe a word."
He sighed heavily as he turned back to observe her. Amorette walked towards the wall to retrieve the other musket and items she had brought outside with her and sensed Athos following her. "That's the problem, I think. I know I can tell you anything and you will not speak of it to anyone, but perhaps in this case that's risky. You have a habit of bottling things up, and in this case that might make things worse."
"Me?" Amorette cried. "I bottle things up? What about you? Isn't that your signature move? The last party that you attended, I do believe you spoke to me and no one else all evening! You sat in the corner oh so stoic and refused to converse with anyone!"
"Even then I was not sure how to tell you what I must indeed tell you," he said forlornly.
Amorette opened her mouth to reply when Stafford, her father's steward approached them from the direction of the stables. "Why don't I clean all this up Cometess?"
Amorette shook her head at the boy who was only a few years older than her. "Nonsense Stafford. It's my mess so I'll clean the guns and replace them. I'm sure you've already got one hundred and one things to do already without having to run around after me!"
Stafford threw a sheepish look to Athos. "With all due respect Cometess, isn't it better that I deal with the guns? I know you will recall what happened last time?"
Amorette shrewdly looked at Stafford before admitting defeat and handing over the two weapons. He nodded curtly and marched off in the direction of the stables. She turned back to find Athos gazing at her with his eyebrows raised in curiosity. "What happened last time?"
Amorette groaned. "You know as well as I do that my father doesn't agree with you teaching me to shoot," she mumbled and turned to walk in the direction of the house.
"I do, and that's exactly why I did teach you!" Athos called as he caught up with her. "But what happened last time Mademoiselle?"
Amorette stopped and turned to look at her oldest friend who towered above her small frame. He had grown again, if that were even possible for a man of twenty-three. "The last time I used my father's guns he was unhappy. He said I didn't clean them or put them away properly. He had another one of his shouting fits and had Stafford clean them all over again. I suppose Stafford is right, there is no point in them being cleaned twice!"
Amorette tried to turn away again but Athos caught her arm in his grip. "And what did this shouting fit entail?"
Amorette sighed heavily as his cobalt blue eyes assessed her for inclination that she might be hiding something from him. "Just that Athos. He shouted and threw things but that was all that happened. It was quite tame really for him, and he smashed his new brandy decanter when he threw it against the wall. He says he's selling this house, you know."
Amorette had successfully steered the conversation away from her arguments with her father for her last statement really did pique Athos' interests. "No, I didn't know! Why is he selling?"
"It's not as if this is home to him. I think he thought somehow that being in France would bring his dreams of owning my mother's property closer to reality." Amorette kicked out the hem of her burnt orange dress as they began to slowly retreat towards the house again. "He's not getting a penny of her money or any of her houses though, it's all too well tied up in her will. Plus, she has a rather good lawyer who has ensured there is no loop hole in which my father can rob me of my inheritance. My mother may have had poor judgement when it comes to most things, but in this case, she chose wisely in the form of her lawyer."
"What about you then?" Athos asked her solemnly. "What will you do?"
"Go to my mother's home here. I think my father half expects me to return to England with him but there's no chance of that. Not now that he no longer controls me. Now that I am my own woman I can do what I please. I'll leave in a week or so, and I don't expect to see my father for a long time after that!"
"I'm sure that pleases you," Athos mumbled. "It certainly eases my worries about you residing in the same house as him!"
"Enough of all this," exclaimed Amorette with a wave of her hand. "You didn't come here to spend all day talking of my father. You wanted to tell me something in fact, go on!" She nudged him gently with her elbow, her smile dropping when he stopped walking and turned to face her with a grim expression firmly in place.
"This is not an easy thing for me to disclose, and I've been in turmoil for months about how to tell you. I'd rather that you hear it from me before someone else informs you. Have you spoken with your sister lately?"
Amorette shook her head incredulously. "Ann? No, she hasn't written in weeks. We haven't had much contact at all since she left my home. Oh, Athos, tell me what all of this is about? It can't be so very bad!"
Athos drew in a staggering breath as he seemed to be contemplating how to place his words. "Perhaps then, your sister felt a little uncomfortable in your presence. You see, since you introduced us both your sister and I have spent an uncommon amount of time in one another's company."
Amorette rolled her eyes. "I know that Athos. There's no need for you to feel bad for spending time together. I understood that there was an initial attraction, although I must admit I thought it should have passed by now."
"Passed?"
"Yes. Not on your part necessarily, but I have come to learn since knowing my sister that she can be fickle and indecisive at times, perhaps even wicked in some respects. I thought she might have attached herself to you in some way and then spurned you for another. She told me that she plays men off against one another, and whilst I cannot blame her for her behaviour when I think about some of the horrid men out there I was reluctant to believe she would do so to you at first. My feelings changed slightly after your first meeting her though."
"Before you go any further Mademoiselle, perhaps I should inform you of what I came here to tell you?"
Amorette was confused. "You came all the way here just to tell me something? You could have written! There was me thinking you wanted to spend some time with one of your closest friends, but that was my mistake."
"I am glad to see you, and to know you are not letting your father rule over you as he was want to do before your mother passed on, but there are other matters that required me to attend in person. I wanted to tell you to your face, I owe you that much at least."
Amorette felt a strange bout of nerves blossom in her stomach. "Good grief spit it out then! It must be serious if you speak so gravely of it!"
"You see-"
Amorette interrupted him swiftly with a hand held up between them, "If you're about to bring me some other complaint about Buckingham or Henry Fitzgerald I don't want to know! I know you and my cousin Charles dislike them but they are my friends. I'm entirely tired of hearing of your disputes."
"It's not about-"
"Oh Lord you're going away again, aren't you? Why do you have to go now? You go so often that I feel I never see you! One week and I will have returned to my own home in Provins! You can come and stay! I'll invite Ann if you so wish it; although I can't be sure she will want to be in my company again. She seems reluctant to have anything to do with me lately."
"Mademoiselle-"
Athos had yet to make any efforts to get directly to the point and that was what told Amorette that she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. She kept interrupting and talking so that he might get irritated and storm off. She felt tears begin to well in her eyes as she interrupted him yet again. "Won't you at least stay until after Christmas? I've missed you these last few months. You didn't even write this time! It must have been something so very great to keep you from reading and replying to my letters!"
"For heaven's sake Mademoiselle, your sister Anne and I are to be married in a week's time!"
Amorette's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, like one of the fish in her father's pond. It took a few seconds for her to remember to breathe. Athos was staring down at her worriedly. "I understand now why you were nervous to tell me. That must have been hard for you."
Athos grimaced as if in pain. "Please don't beat me away with pleasantries. Scream and shout at me as you want to! I do not deserve you treating me so well!"
Amorette looked down at the dirty hem of her dress, not sure if she could indeed look at him without slapping him. "You wish for me to treat you badly for planning to marry my sister? You want me to forgo all decorum and behave like some harpy? That is not who I am Athos! But then you would not know that, would you? You have not taken the time to get to know that side of me very well at all! You were too preoccupied making eyes at my sister."
"Mademoiselle we've known each other a long time and I do feel that I know you well enough to-"
"Well enough to what, Athos?" she choked out between sobs. "Do you love her?" Athos gave a solemn nod. Amorette felt her heart almost physically shudder. "Then there is no more to say upon the matter is there?" She tried to smile through her tears. "Although you have not left me much time to think of what I shall wear to the wedding! One week Athos? I know you were conflicted about telling me all of this but if you are in love with my sister, then what else am I to do but be happy for you? I cannot say it shall be easy for me but I am prepared to try."
Athos groaned warily. "I must confess I am surprised that you are taking this so well. I had thought we might have argued as we usually do."
"Well? You think I'm taking this well? Athos what do you want me to do? Tell you that you cannot marry my sister who you confess to love simply because I have feelings for you? I'm not taking this well at all but you know I'm not the type of person to have an emotional break down in public! I won't be some quivering wreck for you to feel sorry for and to feel guilty about. You want to feel sorry for yourself, though don't you? That's what all of this is about! You want to be the heartbreaker guilty of tearing my heart into pieces and then trying to patch it together again! None of this is entirely fair you know, but I'm not going to be that mess! I'm not going to lose my composure so that you can say I'm mad!"
Amorette turned on her heel and stormed away from him as guttural sobs shook her whole body. She balled her hands into fists as she took the steps two at a time until she reached the rear doors of the house. When she looked back, she saw only an empty lawn void of all human life. Athos must have headed for the stables to retrieve his horse. It was only then that Amorette let herself really cry. She let out a wail as she sank to the floor. She pounded the wooden floorboards with her fists in anger as in her mind she cursed her father, and Athos and her sister but above everyone else; herself. She had been the one to introduce Athos to Ann and in doing so had lost him forever.
Despite her feelings never being reciprocated, in her mind Amorette had always strangely believed that she and Athos would be married one day. They got on so well as friends for such a long time that she could never imagine being married to anyone else. No one else could possibly treat her as well as he could. There were other reasons too. Athos was a Comte, and she was herself now a Cometess after her mother's death. They were equal in titles if not fortune. Oddly, Amorette's father did like Athos even if he did not think him a good marriage prospect for his daughter. Amorette had believed she might have been able to bring her father around to the idea in time, but now it was not to be.
Thoughts of her father had Amorette glancing tearfully towards the celling. Had her father known about all of this? Standing on shaky legs, Amorette wandered through the house and onto the upper floor. The house-keeper, Madame Tasse had come upstairs at the same time from the servant's stairwell. Carrying a tray of what looked to be her father's late lunch, Madame Tasse was headed towards the room that Lord Barclay had taken up as his study. "Madame Tasse, I will take that to my father!" Amorette called as she hurried down the long hallway.
"Of course Mademoiselle," Smiled the older woman. Amorette waited until she had retreated downstairs again before turning towards the study door, tray in hand. Pushing open the door with her shoulder, Amorette observed the room through a minute gap in the door before opening it fully. Her father was at his writing desk scribbling furiously with his quill.
"Ah," exclaimed Lord Percy Barclay. "I see you've finally decided to lend a hand where it is needed. You shall have to learn to do so now I'm afraid. Especially as you are now a property owner. I was thinking of asking Madame Tasse to tutor you for a few weeks to ensure you get to grips with it all. Of course, there would be no need for all of that if you would simply hand over your mother's property to me. Then you could go on being the errant rich brat that you are!"
Amorette ignored her father's jibe and crossed the room to set down the tray. The windows of the room looked out towards the front of the house and Amorette convinced herself that a tiny speck in the distance was Athos astride his horse. Setting the tray down on a side table, Amorette briefly took her hands from it but quickly replaced them when she saw how much they shook.
"Well you're hovering for something Amorette! Spit it out, will you? I'm rather busy." Lord Barclay stood and reached for his new brandy decanter to pour himself a drink.
Amorette knew that he was watching her without even turning around. "You knew, didn't you?" she said to the wall.
"Knew what?"
Amorette turned to look at her father as he took a swig of brandy. "About Athos and my sister! I thought you liked Athos?"
"I do like the Comte de la Feré." Her father poured himself another brandy as he watched her intently. "But he was not for you, evidently. Your sister is a much better match for a country Comte with little fortune! She rises in society with such a marriage. Inadvertently, you would have been marrying beneath yourself if you had chosen Athos."
Amorette let her jaw drop. "Beneath myself? Athos is a good man who would have taken great care of me! I have enough fortune for both myself and a potential husband; whoever he may be!"
Her father closed his account book with a snap. "Enough of this, Amorette. Your sister will marry Athos in a week's time! You must forget all ideas of Athos and think of your own marriage prospects! You must marry well and soon. You can forget any ideas of seeing Athos much too, he will have a new world of his own with his wife. They will have a child within a year or two I expect. No one will want the errant unmarried sister shuffling about, fussing over everything! If you want to get over Athos the right way, marry someone else."
"You know very well that you have no say in such matters any more Father," Amorette announced. "Your lunch will be getting cold. I'll leave you to devour it."
Amorette started towards the door, but not before her father moved towards her. He grabbed her upper arm in a vice like grip and threw her into the wall. A section of wooden panelling collided sharply with the back of Amorette's head and she saw stars as the room spun. She might have fallen to her knees if her father hadn't pressed her against the panelling. "No say? My dear I have every say! I am your father still, despite your recent windfall. You may have title and coin now but I still hold the cards in regards to your future. Wherever you go and whoever you chose to marry, I will always be over your shoulder! There is not a man who cannot be influenced and manipulated by me! This quiet life in the country that you dream of so much will never come to pass! I may not know the location of your mother's secret hideaway in the country but I do not need to. You know I have men at my disposal who will follow you wherever you go when I cannot!"
"I will not stand for it!" Amorette cried. "Neither will my friends. I am not your plaything to control anymore!"
"Do not think to threaten me with Buckingham! His father the Duke is a wet blanket and the son is too busy making eyes at any piece of skirt placed in front of him! I will get your money! Unfortunately, you have not even received half of it or I'd have killed you right now with my bare hands!" Amorette's quizzical look had her father laughing menacingly. "You didn't know there was more money, did you?"
Amorette shook her head, still a little in shock. She had a rough figure in her head of her mother's money that she had already inherited but clearly her mother's lawyer had cleverly kept the rest from her. Amorette supposed he wanted to inform her of it once she was back in her mother's home and out of her father's clutches. She could certainly see the reasoning of that decision.
Lord Barclay abruptly let go of her and stepped away, the veins in his neck protruding in anger. "What on earth is a chit like you do to with all of that money eh? You'll likely spend some of it on some frilly god-awful dresses; feel guilty for spending so much on yourself and give and the rest to some charity! You must know my lawyers are working as hard as they can to find a loophole in all of this! Failing that, you'll want to watch your back. You will be looking over your shoulder from now until the very day that you receive the rest of the money. I will have it, one way or another! If you die, it all reverts back to me anyway!"
Amorette shook her head, suddenly aware that she might just have the upper hand in this conversation. "No you won't! Did you think I would not take advantage of my mother's lawyer whilst I had him at my disposal? I may not be of age but as I am emancipated now, I have every right to complete my own will and organise my own benefactors! Upon the occasion of my death, everything that is mine will be bestowed equally amongst my cousins! That is until the day I marry of course, and then some will be set aside for my husband and children!"
The brandy glass smashed just above Amorette's head. She snapped her eyes shut as the shards tumbled down around her, one nicking her cheek slightly. Her father let out an unintelligible roar of anger and overturned his writing desk. It crashed against the wall and sheets of parchment tumbled to the floor. The ink well shattered against a book case and the black ink oozed out onto the jade green carpet. Amorette knew what was coming before it happened, but she froze in fear; unable to save herself as her father raced towards her. His fist collided with her head noisily as her head flew back to knock against the wooden panelling again. Unable to stand, she sank to the floor and threw her arms up to protect her head as he punched and kicked any part of her he could reach.
————————————————————————————
The sound of a carriage pulling up outside startled Amorette from her packing. She ran to the window and glanced out, but her fear was unwarranted. Henry Fitzgerald stepped out of the carriage and Amorette went back to her packing. Her second trunk was almost full when she felt Henry's presence in the doorway. She continued packing with her back to him, and waited for him to speak first.
"I met your father on the road Mademoiselle. That is, I did not meet him, but see him. He rode his horse down the lane as if he were a bat out of hell. He was in such a rage that he didn't stop at all. I take it you had a dispute again?"
Amorette nodded without turning to look at her friend. "We always argue."
"Well I must say I was glad to receive your note Mademoiselle. I did not think it a good idea that you attend the sham wedding. I'm glad to ferry you home to your mother's house! I have not been there myself yet but Buckingham says it is set in a very beautiful part of the country."
Amorette closed her trunk with a snap, and having no more belongings to pack she could prolong turning around no longer. She did it slowly, gently reaching up to tidy her hair and hide part of her face with her hand at the same time.
"Oh Jesus Christ lass!" Henry cried as he gingerly stepped towards her, his scots dialect slipping though in his shock. "Not again! I'm not having this! I'm sending for Buckingham and we will deal with this tonight!"
"No Henry you can't!" Amorette exclaimed in reply. "I'm leaving now with you and God knows how long it will be until I come face to face with my father again! He is selling this house and going back to England. I'll have nothing to fear once he has left France!"
Henry took her bruised and cut face gingerly in his hands. "He can't be allowed to get away with this lass!"
"I don't want to give him another reason to come looking for me Henry! He's already threatened me! Please let's just go from here and forget all this!"
Henry dropped his hand to take Amorette's hands in his. "Try forgetting it yourself when you catch your reflection in the glass Amorette, or when you have nightmares about all of this! You were actually going to go to the wedding until this happened, weren't you? You only changed your mind because you did not wish anyone to see what he's done to you! I'll tell you this for free Amorette, but if you showed up to the church with a face like that Athos would marry you in a heartbeat instead of your sister! He'd want to save you from all of this and he would. He's no fool, although I do think him rather dull. He would know you would care for and provide for your sister very well. It is you who needs him as a husband right now! Your sister is in no such danger!"
Amorette shook her head as she began to cry again. She did not think that there were any more tears to cry but somehow they kept coming. "That is why I must not go! I can't stop him from living his life Henry! He wants to marry my sister because he loves her. He does not love me! He will never love me!"
Henry raced forward and caught Amorette up in a crushing hug. She clung to his doublet as she cried, not even aware of the footmen who took her trunks from the room to load onto the carriage.