The Gilded Crown (22 page)

The men returned with the news that they would leave Vernon the following evening via the tunnels. In their possession were three nun's habits so Cécile, Margot and Minette could more easily gain access to the hostel. The plan was simple enough. Armand and Gabriel would take the horses to the back of the hostel's courtyard near the tree-covered well. They would put clouts on the horses' hooves and wait. Cécile, Margot, Minette and Reynaud would traverse the tunnels to meet them, Reynaud using his smithy tools to break the ancient locked grate to allow them entry. There was still a night-watch in the town but they'd spent the last two evenings timing the guard's rounds. They had a clearance of one hour. Once they were all inside the sewer channels, Reynaud would lead them to the passage which emptied into the river.

‘Thank God the Romans built everything to fit the size of a horse's arse,' quipped Armand, rubbing his forehead. All this thinking and planning was burning a hole in his brain.

‘Do not allow yourselves to be waylaid,' Gabriel warned the women. ‘Dressed as nuns many within will seek your prayers. Stay together, move with purpose and do not stray from your path.'

‘What about Jean Petit?' asked Cécile.

‘I think he will be safer with us,' answered Armand, drinking a goblet of watered-down wine and reaching for another.

‘Thirsty?' questioned Cécile, feeling Armand's brow.

‘I am well,' he said gruffly, pulling away. ‘Who would not be hot in this heat?'

Cécile nodded. She was stifling in her wimple but now she felt the covering was extra protection. The windows had been kept tightly shuttered since their arrival and both doors were closed lest the corrupted air blow in but she knew with the chiming of every bell, the pestilence crept closer. The men brought home news that another street on the southern side had fallen victim.

‘Oh, and Reynaud is bringing a woman.'

‘Oh?' Margot arched a brow. ‘His wife?'

‘No,' said Gabriel. ‘The girl who came through the gate after us. She cannot find her brother so he's been hiding her as he knows she's clean.'

‘You've seen her?' asked Margot.

Gabriel shook his head. ‘No,' he replied. ‘As I said, he's hiding her.'

‘Oui,' snorted Armand, in between gulps. ‘In his bed! Doesn't necessarily mean she's clean.' He glanced up to see Cécile's affronted look. ‘What? Reynaud knows the way out. We do not have much choice if he wants to bring his newfound whore.'

Margot sniffed disdainfully and cast her glance to where Minette sat rocking Jean Petit. ‘Well he might have considered we have a child and an innocent girl in our keeping before adding such company.'

The next twenty-four hours were the longest Cécile could ever remember. Each one dragged by as though it had all eternity to waste. With little to do and nowhere to roam, tempers frayed further and the heat inside the cottage became intolerable. By noon Armand could take no more and stormed into the tiny garden to breathe deep gulps of air, much to the horror of Cécile. He informed her he was going to check on their horses at Reynaud's stables. Perhaps the walk and paltry breeze would alleviate his pounding head. He returned late afternoon as his friends completed packing what little possessions they had.

‘Leave the food,' stated Armand, turning his back. ‘It'll only perish in the river. You can get more in Le Goulet.' There was a false ring to his words.

‘Armand?' Cécile went to him but his arm flew out.

‘
Stay back
.'

Cécile flinched, her eyes growing wide. ‘Armand?'

He turned, his face pale and his brow covered in sweat. ‘All is ready. Go. Meet Reynaud at the stable but Gabriel,' he looked to Gillet's companion-in-arms, ‘you'll have to manage the horses on your own. Margot,' he continued, glancing at his erstwhile lover, ‘perhaps you should take the baby. Hide him beneath a cloak.'

‘Armand,' whispered Cécile. ‘What are you saying?' Her heart raced in panic.

A cry escaped Minette and she palmed her mouth to cover the sound.

Armand finally met the gaze of his younger cousin. ‘I'm saying, I'll not be coming with you.' He pulled up his shirt and they gasped in unison. In his armpit was a small, rising bubo, pink at the base, redder on top. ‘It appeared in the last hour.'

‘No.' Cécile's husky whisper sent shivers over all of them. She slid to her knees with an animal growl, her hands writhing as though she herself were in terrible pain. ‘
God have mercy upon us, no! Not you … not you.'

Armand cleared his throat, tears welling. ‘Gabriel, see the women to safety. Each moment you linger, is another you are at risk. Go.' His voice caught. ‘Quickly. Do not make this any harder. Nothing can be done now.'

Gabriel collected himself and picked up their packs, leaving Armand's on the floor. He nodded at his comrade and for a moment in time their eyes met and held. ‘Go with God, my friend.'

Margot swept the baby up from the bed and loosened her cloak from the hook. She looked over to the dark-haired man who'd shared her bed last Yuletide. Her glistening eyes spoke her feelings.

‘I know,' whispered Armand, watching her. ‘And Arnaud must never know, for your sake. Now go, all of you. Do not wish upon me more than I can bear.
Leave now
.'

Cécile sobbed. She rose on shaky legs, her gaze never leaving Armand's. ‘No.'

‘'Tis God's will, Céci.' He smiled sadly at his cousin. ‘I guess I was not to play Roland after all but you know that I …' He swallowed hard. ‘Well, you know.'

The tears coursed down Cécile's cheeks. ‘I will always be your Angelique.'

Armand gave a strangled cry and turned his head, unable to hide his grief. ‘Take her, Gabriel,' he ordered tightly. ‘If you love me at all, go now before I shame myself. I would not have that be your last memory.'

Gabriel nodded and splitting the packs between Margot and Minette, firmly took hold of Cécile. His hands were shaking.

‘No!' Cécile stumbled and cried out in anguish, reaching out desperately towards her cousin, but Gabriel scooped her up, withstanding her fists as she flailed him. ‘
No.
' Her voice rose in hysteria. ‘
No. No!
'

‘God be with you, Armand-Amanieu d'Albret,' he said, resolutely carrying his distraught load, kicking and punching, from the cottage.

Cécile screamed at the top of her lungs. ‘
Armand
!'

They waited between the next set of bells in Reynaud's cellar. Gabriel glanced over to where Reynaud sat in a corner whispering to Cécile. The large, burly blacksmith had recognised the woman's grief and whatever words he now spoke, Gabriel was grateful for the calming effect they seemed to have on her. He carefully poked the burgeoning bruise on his cheek but, he acknowledged, he would gladly suffer a hundred, nay, a thousand such bruises if only – tears hampered his vision. Swiftly he caught himself and swiped them away. They had to focus on their escape; time enough for lamentation later. Margot sat with her arm around Minette, the women tight-lipped and pale-faced, as united in their suffering as they were in the caring of the baby. At last it was time to move.

The corridors of the Hôtel-Dieu were filled with fear. Every room was jammed with bodies, old and young, some writhing in agony, some with the stillness that precedes death.

Cécile and her companions clung to Reynaud's belt, fearful that they might become separated. Dressed in her nun's garb, Cécile put her head down, one hand clasping a linen square over her nose as she recited the Pater Noster. She shut her ears to the frantic cries for help, the moans of the sick, the groans of the dying, and, relying on Renaud for direction, closed her eyes to what must surely be a glimpse of Hell. It was a luxury only she could afford. Beside her Margot clutched Jean Petit beneath her cloak and an owlet-eyed Minette held onto the smithy with both hands, such was her terror at becoming detached. When Cécile finally felt the coolness of a tunnel did she open her eyes to the darkness ahead. Carefully they picked their way down the slippery slope, the rankness of brackish water a strangely welcome odour. At last the iron grill was before them and, on the other side Cécile could make out the shadowy figures of Gabriel and the horses.

Margot turned accusingly to Reynaud. ‘I thought your mistress was to help Gabriel?'

Reynaud studied the lock and reached into his tool sack, his face impassive. ‘She is not coming.' He inserted a spiked iron bolt into the lock's cavity and struck hard with his hammer. The noise echoed up and down the tunnel. Several times he smote the metal contraption until it finally gave way.

Gabriel led the horses in and together they made their way through an intricate system of tunnels, each turn sloping downward, until they stopped beneath another grate. On the other side they could see the river.

Reynaud took out his tools once more and struck the lock until he could prise it off. The earth smothering the base of the grill was hollowed out and, with his full measure and Gabriel's help, they shifted the gate inwards a whole span – enough for the horses to pass. Gabriel led the animals through, one by one and the animals picked their way over stones to the edge of the river. Margot handed the baby to Cécile so she could follow Minette in climbing the rocks on the other side of the ancient steel.

Cécile took her son and, cradling him possessively, smoothed his puckered forehead. ‘Hush, my little one,' she crooned, fearful he might stir up one of his tantrums. ‘Whatever happens, always remember I love you.' She kissed him hard, the intensity of her affection threatening to cause the very thing she wished to avoid. Jean Petit squirmed his discontent at such rough handling but Cécile passed him through the gate to Margot as though he were a boiling hot sack of coals. Margot's surprise spread to the others outside when Cécile backed away and nodded to Reynaud. He lent against the grill and dragged it closed.

‘Cécile!' Gabriel grabbed the bars and pushed but Reynaud was already applying a chain and new lock to the apparatus.
‘Cécile.
You cannot help him!'

Cécile stepped further back. ‘Give us one week to catch up with you. If we do not, then see my son delivered to Catherine. Tell her, when the time is right, take him to his father.'

Margot and Minette howled their disapproval together.

Gabriel inhaled deeply and waited for their protestation to cease. ‘And what am I to tell Gillet?' Behind them, over the sound of Gabriel's heavy breathing, the lapping of the water could be heard, inviting freedom.

Cécile's expression softened. ‘Tell Gillet that I love him more than life itself. Tell him he has my heart for all eternity and if I am to die, it will be with his name on my lips. Then tell him I could not leave Armand to face this death alone. Gillet will understand for he would do the same. God be with you all.'

Cursing, Gabriel shook the grill with all his strength but it would not budge. By the time he looked up again, Cécile and Reynaud were gone.