Love's Vengeance by Dana Roquet Read Free Book Online Page A

liquid and the scent of wild flowers engulfed her. For a time, she simply laid back, relaxing her tense muscles.
    Bridgett appeared beside the tub, picking up the discarded articles of clothing and then shot a meaningful frown at Desiree. A look she was very familiar with.
    “I’m sorry Bridgett, I forgot. I know I am not the neatest person in the world.” Desiree sighed, smiling sweetly.
    Bridgett could never actually become angry with her young mistress and allowed the sour look to leave her face, replaced by a smile as she turned to put the garments in their proper place. Laying a silk chemise and dressing gown upon a chair next to the tub, she started for the door.
    “I will be back to help you dress. Now don’t dawdle all day in there or your skin will look like an old prune and we have nearly an hour drive to the house.” She called over her shoulder.
    “ Oui Bridgett, I won’t be long.” She assured, as the door closed softly.
    Desiree reached for a bar of soap, inhaling the wonderful fragrance, while it enveloped her. She lathered her body and rinsed then lay back and could have fallen to sleep but Bridgett’s final words roused her grudgingly. She rose, stepping from the tub and took up a towel, drying herself quickly then slipped the delicate underclothes on. After belting the dressing gown about her, she took a seat at the mirrored table, to await Bridgett’s return.
    Her mind turned to thoughts of her nurse and she felt very grateful to have her steady, familiar presence. She knew Bridgett almost as well as her own mother, in fact, she had been with the family since shortly after Desiree’s birth. Her mother had had a difficult delivery and hadn’t been able to care for an infant for some time. Bridgett had been in France but a few months, working as a tutor for a family who were acquaintances of the Roche’s and when the need arose for a nurse, Bridgett had taken the position and had been with her ever since.
    Bridgett was close in years to her own mother, which sometimes caused Desiree to wonder why she would devote her entire life to caring for someone else’s child. Why she had never married and had a family of her own? It was a mystery to Desiree. Bridgett was a pretty woman, with mild features, soft blue eyes, light tawny hair and a handsome figure. She was tender and gentle, a loving and giving person. Desiree had asked the question before, but Bridgett had laughed, exclaiming she had too much to do keeping up with her to even think of marriage. Desiree had sometimes wondered if it was somehow true but in her heart, she knew it couldn’t be. Whatever the reason, she was very happy Bridgett was with her now. The door opening interrupted her thoughts and Bridgett stared at her in surprise.
    “Well I don’t believe it. You are actually dressed and waiting for me. Desiree I never know what to expect from you lately. I assumed I would have to come in here and drag you, bodily, out of that tub but here you sit. I do believe you are growing up right before my eyes.”
    Bridgett smiled broadly and patted Desiree on the cheek and then set about brushing out her hair. With nimble fingers, she quickly braided the tresses into a long complicated braid with yellow and black ribbons, entwined amid the ebony. Then after helping Desiree dress, in a subdued gown of black water silk moiré with tiny yellow blossoms, and gathering all Desiree’s items into a satchel for the ride home, she hurried downstairs to see about the carriage and Desiree followed a few minutes later.
     
    ***
     
    Francois Roche’ waved from the front veranda, until the carriage rounded the curve in the drive, disappearing from view and was turning to enter the house when the Chandelle’s driver, Georges’ approached.
    “ Monsieur , Philippe and I would ask that you come to the carriage house for a moment.”, Georges’ wiped dark axle grease from his hands onto a scrap of linen as he spoke, “I had come to see about salvaging