Alleyn, Fredrica by Cassandra's Chateau Read Free Book Online Page A

might even be included.'
    Monique shivered. She'd heard of such things from Sophie and had no wish to endure them herself. 'Yes, Madame,' she whispered. 'I understand.'
    'Good, and make sure your hair is washed and tidy before dinner tonight. You look a mess at the moment.'
    'Of course, Madame,' apologised Monique, wanting only to be gone from the room with all its memories.
    Cassandra relented. 'Very well, you may go now.'
    The maid rushed from the room and Cassandra gave a soft sigh. It had been fun, and the girl had clearly enjoyed herself at the end, but she was beginning to understand Dieter's excitement at the prospect of Nicola's visit. To work on genuinely innocent flesh would be unbelievably erotic, and her earlier fears vanished at the thought of the excitement which lay ahead.
    Chapter Three
    N icola Desmond sat in the back of the chauffeur driven Mercedes that the baron had sent to collect her from the airport and stared out of the window. The scenery was breathtaking, the wide Loire river with its islands of woods and the incredible beauty of some of the most famous of the valley's chateaux, which the driver pointed out to her as they passed, all seemed like something out of a fairytale.
    Wearing a mauve and green madras check cotton dress with short sleeves and a simple round neckline, the English girl looked as innocent as she was. This sudden departure to France to stay with one of her father's friends was the most exciting thing that had happened to her in her entire twenty years. She pictured the unknown baron as a contemporary of her father's; a white-haired, impeccably mannered member of the aristocracy whose way of life would be just as slow and boring as her father's, but at least in a more exotic setting and without any military library for her to catalogue.
    The Mercedes left the main road they'd been on for the past half hour and now the chauffeur slowed his speed as they followed a narrow twisting lane overhung by trees. Suddenly the car emerged from the shadows into brilliant sunlight and Nicola gasped as she looked out across a large blue lake and saw a white, three-storey, Renaissance-style chateau on the far side. It was so exquisite it seemed unreal, and its reflection in the water made it look as though there was a twin chateau upside down, beneath it.
    There you are,' said the chauffeur, with a smile at her obvious delight. 'The baron's chateau. That's the back you can see from here. We have to drive around the lake to reach the entrance. The driveway itself is four hundred metres long.'
    'It's very isolated,' murmured Nicola.
    'He prefers it that way.'
    'I suppose men like their peace as they get older,' replied Nicola. The chauffeur didn't respond.
    When they reached the huge, wrought-iron gates at the entrance to the chateau, a man emerged from a small gatehouse and opened up the gates to allow them in. They then swept along the gravel drive and around an immaculate square of lawn until they came to a halt outside the front door.
    As Nicola clambered out of the car, her dress sticking to her bare legs and clinging tightly across her breasts where her skin was damp with perspiration, she glanced around in excitement at the vast grounds and dense copses, and for the first time felt grateful that her father had decided to marry Lara.
    For the baron, looking out of a second-storey bedroom, it was an equally exciting moment. This girl, with her corn-coloured hair cut in an old-fashioned pageboy style and her expensive but plain dress was quite clearly totally unaware of herself as a sensual being. The manner in which she scrambled from the car, her slightly awkward walk and the way she kept her head down gave off no hint of sexuality. He sighed with pleasurable anticipation.
    Next to him, Cassandra also watched intently. Wearing a calf-length cream skirt with long vents at the back and sides, teamed with a matching scoop-necked over-tunic, and her small waist emphasised by a thick brown woven