La Flamme (Historical Romance) by Constance O'Banyon Page B

Instead, we are going to have a great adventure. How would you like to go on a big ship?"
    His eyes brightened, and he jumped up and down, clapping his hands excitedly. Then he looked at her questioningly. "Will Father allow it?"
    "He would wish it, Richard. There is just you and me now, and we shall survive as long as we have each other." She hugged him to her, and his little arms went around her neck. "I will not let anything harm you, Richard."
    He drew back and smiled at her. "And I shall take care of you, Sabine."
    She stood and gripped his hand. "You will be my champion." She gave him a mock curtsy. "Now, sir knight, would you like a twopenny cake with raisins? I see a confectioner just across the street, and his goods smell wonderful."
    He nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, may I, Sabine?"
    She would give the rest of the money to Monsieur de Baillard, but Richard would have his confection.
    When they came out of the shop, Richard's tongue darted out to lick the crumbs from his lips. "I could have eaten everything, Sabine."
    "Thea would say it is wrong to overindulge. I believe one was enough."
    "You did not have one."
    "I. . . wasn't hungry."
    "Where is Thea? Why is she not with us?"
    He adored the old nurse and missed her dreadfully, as did Sabine. She would one day tell him how Thea had sacrificed her life that they might escape. "She could not come on our great adventure, Richard."
    His eyes suddenly darkened. "I want to go home. I don't like it here."
    "We cannot go home, Richard," she said patiently. "Don't you like Ysabel and the de Baillards? They certainly like you."
    "Yes, they're very nice. Could we take them with us on our adventure?"
    She fastened his cap against the sudden cold wind. "Yes, they will come with us."
     
    Jacques took the money Sabine gave him and placed it in Marie's outstretched hand. "With this, we shall soon have enough to sail for home," he said.
    Marie counted all their money and shook her head. "It is still not enough. Besides passage and the transport of the wagons, we shall need thirty francs to repay the moneylenders when we reach home."
    Jacques sighed. "We also have to eat until we find more actors to join our troupe."
    "What troupe?" Marie asked. "There is no de Baillard Players."
    Jacques looked miserable. "If only we could stage a play in Dover to raise the fare."
    "That is impossible, my fool of a husband. You are the only one they would allow to act since you are the only male except Richard and he's too young. We will just have to work harder, and it will take longer to leave this cursed country, but leave it we shall."
     
    Richard was asleep, so Sabine and Ysabel huddled near the campfire to keep warm. It was a calm, clear night, and the sky sparkled with thousands of stars.
    "If we were in the village where I was born," Ysabel said reflectively, "there would be a warm breeze blowing off the sea. You would only have to reach up and pluck an orange from a tree."
    "Why do you not return, Ysabel?"
    "For many reasons. You would not know it to look at me now, but I was quite pretty when I was young, and had many suitors."
    Sabine settled comfortably. "Do go on," she said.
    "When I was in my seventeenth year, the lady of the great house, where my father was master of horses, engaged me to work as a maid. Within a year, I became her personal maid." Ysabel closed her eyes, as if it was painful to remember.
    "Do not speak of your past if it distresses you."
    "Only my father, and later the man I loved and married, knew what I now tell you. Perhaps it will help me put the past to rest if 1 speak of it. Since you also have troubles, I believe you will understand."
    Sabine placed her hand on Ysabel's arm. "Then I will listen."
    Ysabel laced her gnarled fingers together and stared at them, remembering a time when they had been soft and unlined. "I was my lady's maid only a few weeks when her husband began to show me marked attention. He would touch me in a way that was offensive, and say things