If You Deceive - Cole Kresley. Страница 25

"What?" Ethan demanded. "What exactly did all that mean?"

"It means you have to hurry. Maddy's about to get attacked."

Chapter Fifteen

Any question as to if he'd be so fiercely attracted to Madeleine again was answered the moment he spotted her outside the tavern.

At a nearby corner, he rested his shoulder against a wall and watched her waiting in line. In the light of the dying sun, he could see she was more breathtaking than he'd figured. When she'd worn her mask, he'd been able to see her bright blue eyes, full lips, and determined chin, but the rest of her delicate features had been hidden. He now saw her nose was slim and pert. Her cheekbones were high and aristocratic.

Stunning.

Yet even with her seemingly guileless blue eyes, she didn't look innocent. Far from it. Her blouse was opened wide to reveal cleavage he hadn't recalled she had. She wore a black ribbon choker around her pale neck, and though part of her hair was braided atop her head like a gold crown, the rest curled long and loose down her back.

Her cheeks were rouged, and her skirts were strangely cut—they didn't flare out at the waist as usual but were tight around her hips and backside.

Madeleine looked older and a bit…wanton,as if she was ready to be tupped, and he responded with a swift heat that shouldn't even have surprised him anymore.

Her gaze was darting over the other women in line as she examined the situation. She reminded him of a fox, crafty and wary as she calculated her next move.

When an aproned barkeep opened the back door, all stood at attention. The man spoke in French, saying something about taking only two more girls for the night—anyone else seen on the premises would be arrested for loitering.

Immediately they jockeyed for position. Madeleine didn't stand a chance against the bigger women—the ones glaring at her and crossing their thick arms over their chests in warning. If she challenged them, shewould get attacked.

Obviously realizing that fact, she backed from the fray, pausing only to squire to safety a young girl wearing a cigarette tray.

The wee girl looked like she was about to cry over not getting in. Madeleine furtively chucked her under the chin, then held up a gold coin, pinched in her fingers. "I'll bet a hundred francs against any of you," Madeleine began in a carrying voice, "that I'll be one of the two in tonight."

Like vultures surrounding carrion, they circled Madeleine and the girl, tensed to pounce. Ethan pushed up from the wall, striding forward to intervene; Madeleine turned her head to meet some of their stares, taking her eyes from the money. Surely she would know better—

The brawniest one lunged for the coin, slapping Madeleine's hand. The coin went flying into the air, pattering on the bricks ten feet away. The group dove for it, pulling hair and slapping. Madeleine slipped inside, dragging the wide-eyed cigarette girl behind her.

From the pile of women, one exclaimed in French, "It's a stage coin!"

The rest began a chorus about killingla gamine .

Ethan grinned from the shadows.La gamine —the name fit. She did have an impish air about her. He hurried to the front entrance of the tavern, suddenly finding it imperative to see what the chit would do next.

The other barmaids were visibly shocked that Maddy and the cigarette girl, aptly named Cigarette, had made the cut. Maddy had helped the girl because Cigarette reminded her of herself at that age—hungry, desperate, praying for a break.

Wait. That was Maddy now—

Oh, deuce it!Berthe was here, sneering at her from behind the counter. Sometimes Berthe and Odette worked the taverns, but only to solicit new customers. Berthe's presence boded ill.

Maddy hadn't been in the Silken Purse in years, but she'd never been this impassioned to save her arms before. That group of women outside would be waiting for her later, ready to make her pay. Maddy prayed she'd be able to do soin coin .

The interior hadn't changed since the last time she'd seen it. There was an entrance hall and then two large rooms—the main area where food and drink were served and the darker back room, where popular girls like Berthe served drinks while arranging to sell more.

Gaslights dotted the tavern's walls, their cut sconces stained yellow from tobacco smoke. Behind the bar, the wall was lined with vast mirrors, the glass etched with the brand names of ales or gin.

Some older men were already drunk and singing songs from the revolution, but other than their small gathering and a few lone drinkers, the place was empty. She'd heard the bell on the front door ring a few moments ago, but she'd been watching out for Berthe and hadn't seen who'd entered.

Naturally, the one time she'd contrived to get into the usually packed tavern it would be slow. Leaning her elbow on the bar, her chin in her palm, she regarded herself in the back mirror. Even with rouge along her cheeks and a dash of face paint to cover the smudges under her eyes, she appeared tired.

Suddenly she frowned, rubbing her hand over the back of her neck. She had the eerie feeling that she was being watched. Her gaze darted in the mirror, but she didn't see anyone in the main room watching her. The back room was shadowed, and she saw the outline of a man, but she couldn't distinguish features or even determine if he was turned toward her. She was curious but knew better than to go back there.

Assuring herself it was nothing—just overwrought nerves—she turned back, resting her head on her hand again.One little break , she thought again.A single crumb of luck .

When she did get her break, she wouldn't hesitate to take it, as so many in La Marais would. She had to believe that someday she'd leave this place. She, Corrine, and Bea always used to dream about sailing away somewhere, maybe even to America. Maddy would open a dress shop in a city like Boston, and Corrine would sew Maddy's designs. The first time they'd hit on this idea, Bea's face had fallen. "But what will I do?"

"Model, of course," Maddy had said as Corrine nodded earnestly. "We can't very well open a dress shop without a model."

Bea's blue eyes had lit up. "I am so good at standing still! Oh, Maddee, you won't believe how still I can be!"

Maddy grinned at the memory even now….

As if Maddy's prayers had been answered, a big party of English tourists filed in. Berthe got them, but then a group of rich University of Paris students entered.Mine, all mine , Maddy thought as she donned her brightest smile and swooped in on them.

Soon, the place was packed with businessmen, lower bourgeoisie shopkeepers, andles Bohemes . She steered clear of the latter—especially the ones with cheap clay pipes and wear on the elbows of their coats.

She was earning a small windfall in gratuities, doing better than she ever had, and she'd even managed to eat two lemons and at least half a dozen cherries off the bar service. As she prowled to make it a solid dozen, the barkeep noticed and rapped a cane over her fingers—hard.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she shook her hand out, and again had the sense that she was being watched.

Luckily, she could still hold a tray. And over the next two hours, she served countless tankards of ale, bowls of punch, and opaque bottles of absinthe. Berthe was jostling her whenever they met at the bar, but Maddy could still balance a full tray—she was light on her feet, even for all that her boots were two sizes too small.

Yet at every turn, she felt pinpricks of awareness over the back of her neck.

When Cigarette sold out, Maddy felt generous with her windfall and gave her fifteen sous to pay off anybody who might want to beat her up. The girl deftly swung her hanging tray aside to hug Maddy, then skipped away, her braids flopping.