A Place of Storms by Sara Craven Read Free Book Online

care to dye some of the faded curtains. Then she checked herself abruptly. She had to remember why she was here, she told herself vehemently. The state of the chateau, or any of its occupants for that matter, was none of her concern. She would be better occupied in thinking about how she was going to get hold of Clare's letter.
    She was somewhat disconcerted to find Blaise Levallier already seated at the dining table, going through some mail. He did not look any more approachable in the cold light of day, she thought uneasily, as she slid into her place with a murmured greeting.
    'I hope you slept well,
mademoiselle
.' The words were civil enough, but the tone of utter indifference in which they were spoken stung Andrea.
    'Not particularly.' She shook out her table napkin, and helped herself from the basket of warm
croissants
.
    His eyebrows rose. 'You distress me.' His voice was sardonic now. 'May I ask why not?'
    'You may.' She spread the
croissant
with jam and bit into it appreciatively. 'The roof above my room leaks.'
    He frowned swiftly. 'Then you should naturally not have been given such a room. I will speak to Clothilde.'
    'Oh, it isn't her fault.' Andrea reached for the coffee pot and filled her cup. 'She says all the rooms are the same.'
    'Mine is not.'
    She gave him a dulcet smile. 'Naturally,' she agreed.
    He lifted his cup and drank with a meditative air. 'Then what do you suggest,
mademoiselle
? I hesitate to put forward the obvious solution …'
    She hated herself for her faint, involuntary blush. 'Naturally,' she repeated, hanging on like grim death to the dulcet smile. 'But you could also get the roof mended.'
    He shrugged. 'Gaston does what he can.'
    'So I've gathered, but perhaps it's time you got a professional opinion—unless it's your intention to have the house crumble about your ears eventually.' She smiled at him again. 'You'll forgive my frankness, but I do have a vested interest in it now.'
    That was good, she thought with satisfaction, and it should help allay any suspicions he might have about her motives. If she could convince him that she had given way to
force majeure
over their marriage, it would make her task very much easier.
    'Yes.' He studied her for a moment, and she could sense he was puzzled. 'You are—reconciled to our contract, then?'
    'I don't seem to have much choice,' she said, with a slight lift of her shoulders. 'You've made it clear what will happen if I back out, and I couldn't stand that.' She gave an exaggerated shudder.
    'So I imagined.' There was a wry satisfaction in his voice. 'It would lead to the sort of publicity that neither of us desires, I am sure, apart from the probable injury to your father's health.'
    Andrea, who had just taken a mouthful of coffee, choked and had to replace her cup hastily on its saucer.
    'I—I don't know what you mean,' she managed at last.
    'No?' His look was bleak. 'I think I make myself perfectly clear,
mademoiselle
. Your father is an eminent man, and the deterioration in his health has caused a great deal of concern in circles with which I am well acquainted. You could not imagine I would make no enquiries about your background.'
    She could not very well reply that they had been counting on it, she thought, her heart hammering unevenly.
    'I suppose not,' she said at length. 'That was why you knew you could threaten me, of course. Because of— Daddy.'
    'Hardly threaten,
ma mie
. I simply pointed out to you what the consequences would be if you failed to fulfil the terms of our agreement, and left the decision to your good sense.'
    He was mocking her, she knew, and her resentment hardened.
    'I hope you think your victory is worth the means you had to stoop to to win,' she said sharply.
    'That remains to be seen.' He finished the coffee in his cup and stood up. 'When you have finished breakfast, I thought you might like to ride with me. As you reminded me, you have a vested interest in the estate now, and you may be interested in the