9Chapter Thirteen
London - July 29th, 1888;
It was just shy of two weeks that Lorraine and Lucien began speaking to each other regularly, again. The Duchess didn't say a word about it, unless it was to remind her to bring a chaperon when she saw him; which didn't happen.
He insisted that she did not come during the day, and Lorraine insisted that she didn't come at night; so they both settled on only seeing each other at social events and speaking through letters.
Their letters contained nothing of importance, just discussing gossip and rumors and basic, everyday things the two of them encountered and wanted to discuss.
That night though, a extravagant dinner and dance was held for the Viscount of Fielding and his new Bride.
Lorraine smiled as she paraded around the other people smiling brightly as she did so. Lucien had sent notice that he would be arriving late due to some "urgent business" he had to attend to so she enjoyed her time before the stares began.
She danced with several gentlemen at the Duchess' request before she went in search of some air; slipping out the back door unnoticed by the people who were dancing around merrily.
Walking the path quietly and paying attention to the plain flowers that littered the grounds, Lorraine didn't notice when someone fell into stride behind her until they grabbed both of her arms.
Letting out a short scream she reeled forward and away from the person who had grabbed her; spinning around only to see Lord Mattel. "Dear Lord in Heaven, you gave me heart attack." she breathed in slight relief her hand clutched at the material of her dress that was over her heart.
"I am deeply sorry, Miss Whitworth." He paused and looked around before whispering, "Have you found out anything that might prove the foreigner a damned monster?"
"No I have not, and I do not believe I will." Lorraine snapped angrily, "Mr. Gautier is a hardworking man and does not trifle with the workings of the devil, nor would he even think of such things."
"How do you know such things? Has he told you or have you seen them with your own two eyes?" Mattel asked eagerly.
Trying to keep her composure, Lorraine said calmly. "Sir, how would you like me to see such things with my own eyes. How would I know if he is evil like you say?"
"Being a follower of Satan would cause him to not dwell around Churches or hold any holy figures. The lot of them are sinners beyond what God himself would forgive." Mattel said, "Have him hold a cross, try to get him to go to attend Sunday mass with you; anything to prove it."
"Or disprove it," Lorraine told the man.
"You will not be disproving anything. Now what are you doing to find out everything I asked you to?"
"I am speaking with him," Lorraine stated.
Mattel's eyes narrowed slightly, "You are not going to get the information you are hoping to get from him. He will not just come out and tell you such things. The best place to learn such things would be on your back in his bed."
"Do you still have that ridiculous notation in your head? I will not whore myself to him. It's unladylike and horribly degrading." Lorraine spat angrily.
"It is hardly unladylike." He shot back, "It is what woman are good for, at least your sacrifice won't go to waste. You most likely have already spread your legs for the vile bastard."
Before he could continue - and before she noticed what she was doing - her hand whipped out and hit him across the face. Her palm making a loud SMACK! noise when it made contact with his left cheek. Her hand stung as she put it back down at her side and lifted her chin to the man, "I will not tolerate you speaking to me as if I were a tramp."
She barely finished her sentence before the back of Mattel's hand came in contact with her opposite cheek. The impact of his hand sent her
stumbling backwards, she regained her balance by grabbing hold of a tree before her eyes lifted to him again.
"If you lay a hand on me ever again I will personally see you hanged," Lorraine spat viciously.
"What in the hell is going on here?" An approaching voice asked. Relief flooded Lorraine at the sound of Lucien's voice, causing her to look up at him, "What happened to your face?" he asked.
Touching her cheek lightly she came up with a lie quickly, "I tripped over my skirts and fell. It's nothing. Lord Mattel stopped to help me up."
The look Lucien sent to Mattel told her that he didn't believe what she said but he didn't question her, "Well, I am happy that he stopped to help you. You're not one to be clumsy often."
"Yes, I believe I told him the same thing." Her tone was sharp and dismissive as she turned her attention to Lucien who was staring intently at her cheek.
"You're bleeding," he lifted his hand - which now had a handkerchief in it - and brushed away a bit of blood that was coming from the corner of her mouth. "Come now, Lorraine. Well walk around the garden once more to get any remaining clumsiness out of your system." He looked at Mattel. "That'll be all," he dismissed before setting Lorraine's arm in his and quickly leading her away from a shocked Mattel.
When they were away from Mattel he asked, "Why did you lie about him striking you?"
"It was nothing." Lorraine lied, "We had a disagreement about something we were discussing and the situation escalated." Lucien scoffed, a sound that Lorraine never thought would come from his beautiful lips. "You do not believe me?"
Lucien stopped and turned to her, "Not in the least. A man does not hit a woman over a disagreement."
"I hit him first." Lorraine told him, lifting her chin defiantly. "A man hits a woman when she strikes him first."
An eyebrow arched and a smirk formed on his lips, "Why would you strike him Lorraine? Was your disagreement so disagreeable that you had to resort to violence."
"He was being crude." She sneered, "A Baron should not use the same language to a lady that he uses with his whores. I am refined and educated and I will not have him treat me as if I am not." This time she smirked, "I slapped him and he hit me back, I then told him I would see him hanged if he laid another hand on me. Then you came gallantly to my rescue; whisking me off before he even had the chance to reply to my threat."
Chuckling, Lucien shook his head, "Of course. It all makes sense now. That's lovely Lorraine, just lovely."
"I hope you are being serious." She told him.
"I am. I would not joke about this... you might threaten to have me hanged." He laughed then, it wasn't a small laugh or even a chuckle. It was a laugh like she hadn't ever heard from him before; a true laugh.
"Whats so funny?" She asked, hoping that there was some joke that she didn't understand. When he didn't reply and his laughing came to a stop she demanded, "Tell me what is so funny."
"Nothing Lorraine, just the fact that you are naive enough to think that a man would be afraid of your threat."
She huffed and turned away from him, crossing her arms at her chest and said, "I am not naive. He took it seriously. The Duke and Duchess are my guardians and he stuck me."
"Yes, but striking you would not justify his hanging. Now, if he slaughters all your animals, sinned on every level possible, and threatened your virtue then yes that would get him hanged." He shook his head, "Though, I do give you credit for trying." Clearing his throat he said, "Now, lets not let him ruin the night. Lets go back to the dance and converse with the other guests before they think we are off doing something horribly sinful."
AN: Alright, so I finally got this chapter posted. Sorry it took so long but I was - and still am - suffering from a horrible case of writers block. I'll try to post the next chapter next weekend but once again, I'm not making any promises. Also my computer which had every ounce of my writing is currently dead, the computer itself works but the internet doesn't, meaning I can't download my OpenOffice which means I can't open any of my writing. Luckily, I didn't have that much written for the two stories and my newest story that is helping me get rid of my writers block is currently sitting on my computer at school waiting for me to fix it.
So long story short, I have writers block and a broken computer. Bare with me on getting updates out because I'm using my brothers computer that he basically lives on so it's rare that I'm on for more than an hour at a time.
Thank you all for reading.
x.
Tatiana