“You are, as usual, utterly lovely,” he said, and though he spoke with ease, the tone of her message had impressed the urgency of this meeting upon him: his eyes were anxious.
“Thank you,” she said tartly.
She needed him to understand the gravity of the situation—rather than trying to delicately explain the matter, she decided to be blunt.
“Tell me, Mr. Lémy, exactly how difficult is it to seduce a naive country girl?”
“Pardon me?” Luc replied. He had opened his cigarette case and froze in astonishment.
“Antonina. She should be utterly in love with you by now. You’ve had many days to reel her in, and yet what happens? I hear Auvray may be interested in her again.”
“What exactly did you hear?” Luc asked.
“He escorted her home after Haduier’s party.”
“I was there. I had no idea Hector was there, too,” Luc said, flustered.
“Did you even realize she was gone?”
The guilt tattooed across his face would have been sufficient proof for her, but then he babbled a few words. “No, I did—”
“Of course not. What were you doing exactly?” Valérie asked.
“Talking to friends. Dancing.”
“Dancing. Not with Antonina, I would think, or else she would have been in your arms and it would have been difficult for Hector to extract her from them.”
She imagined how it had gone. Luc had talked to his “friends,” and after a bit of drinking and a bit of dancing, he’d forgotten all about her. Perhaps he had even left the party with these “friends,” looking for other sport, and had imagined that Antonina was still at the Haduiers’ home, safe and sound. He could not have predicted she would meet Hector or leave with him, but he should have been paying more attention. Now who knew what this would cost them.
“In my defense, I had not received approval from your husband to court Antonina until a couple of days ago. It would have been improper—”
“Save your talk of manners. Do not pretend you have not lured a woman before. A kiss or two, a bit of fumbling with each other is all it should take.”
He blushed like an idiot. As if the first thought in the mind of a man of his ilk was not how to lift a woman’s skirts and rut between her legs. Valérie had asked about him; she knew about a dancer a year prior and a painter’s model the year before that, and the countless strings of nobodies he carried behind him.
“Antonina is a lady,” Luc said. “You can’t be suggesting I attempt to compromise her.”
“You’ll compromise her, whether on your wedding night or sooner than that. Sooner would be better if it would help our cause. Don’t stare at me like that, boy. I speak from common sense. If you won’t, I’m sure Hector Auvray can volunteer to do the honor, then toss her at your feet.”
She did not truly think Hector would commit such an impudent act; he was too taken with the idea of being a gentleman. Valérie recalled how sweet he had been, his infinite devotion.
But Luc need not know that. Luc needed fear, not reassurances.
“Surely you jest—”
“Mr. Auvray is not like you and me. He’s a performer, and theater is not exactly a temple of virtue, as I’m sure you have discovered in your dalliances with actresses and dancers. How did you ply those? Champagne and a few choice words of romance? Is that not enough for her?”
“I am attempting to do right with Miss Beaulieu. As I said, she is a lady,” he stammered.
Valérie felt almost like laughing at that comment. Why, a dissolute cad like this was developing fine morals? What was the world coming to? Did he not wish to win this game? Valérie did want to win, and she was going to ensure the pieces moved across the board as she’d planned.
“Not for long, if you let her dangle from the arm of another man,” Valérie told him.
She caught the spark of anger in his eyes. There it was, what she needed. Not fine, clean sentiments but hurt pride and common jealousy.
“Do you truly want Antonina and her money?”
“I want her for more than her money,” he replied, his voice vehement.
Greed was good, but Valérie thought it was not greed speaking. It was his covetous heart, which now had focused on Antonina and aimed to consume her.
Fine. Even better. Whatever would stir this young man’s blood and make him leap into the fray, no more cautious steps.
CHAPTER 10
Hector and Étienne were supping at the Crimson Fox again, only luckily they’d gone earlier and it was not so packed as the last time. All the tables outside, with their red parasols, were taken. Étienne and Hector had managed to wedge themselves near the door that led to the patio, but even the air blowing in was warm. It had rained the night before, briefly, but the temperature had not dropped.
Étienne held a glass of water next to his forehead in an effort to cool himself. Hector was hungry, but their waiter had yet to drop by to take their order. They were short-staffed that day.
“If I could carry a bucket with ice all day long, I would,” Étienne said.
“I think I’ll spend the rest of my evening in the bathtub,” Hector replied.
“That’s no fun.”
“I can read even if I’m in the bathtub.”
“I know you’d read, that’s exactly the problem.”
Hector raised his head, spotting Luc Lémy, who’d stomped into the establishment. He had a determined look as he moved toward their table.
“There comes your brother,” Hector said.
“Really?” Étienne replied. “He didn’t say he was joining us.”
Luc sat down next to Étienne and across from Hector. He immediately reached for his cigarette case, all eager fingers and a scowl on his face. Hector wondered what had brought on one of his moods. When Luc didn’t have money or couldn’t get his hands on a new toy, he sulked, although this time he appeared a bit worse than usual.
“Hello to you,” Étienne said.
“Hello,” Luc grumbled.
Luc snapped his case shut.
“We were—” Étienne began, but his brother shushed him.
“You spirited Nina away from Haduier’s party the other night,” Luc said, his eyes fixed on Hector.
Hector suddenly understood the cause and extent of Luc’s irritation.
“Yes. She wanted to leave,” Hector said.
“Do you realize the kind of talk that leads to? A gentleman and a lady, alone at night?” Luc asked. “You did not escort her to the party, you had no business taking her home.”
“We are friends and well acquainted. We spent plenty of time alone at Oldhouse.”
“It doesn’t matter and you know that.”
“I did not withdraw my courtship request, thus if anyone dares to say anything, Nina can tell them Gaétan approves of me.”
“That is nonsense. No one will ask her what is going on between you and her, they’ll whisper behind her back. It aggravates me.”
“It aggravates you?” Hector said. If any man had a cause to be upset with him, it might have been Gaétan, since Nina was his cousin.