The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon Read Free Book Online

are good to me. How soon can you be ready?”
    She stared at him. “Never” was all she could bring herself to say. “Never.” And she turned and fled intothe front of the shop. Monsieur Lanchon looked after her for a moment, his face mottled with fury, then snatched the telephone on his desk. An hour later Noelle’s father walked into the shop. He made straight for Noelle and her face lit up with relief. He had sensed that something was wrong and had come to rescue her. Lanchon was standing at the door to his office. Noelle’s father took her arm and hurried her into Lanchon’s office. He swung around to face her.
    “I’m so glad you came, Papa,” Noelle said. “I—”
    “Monsieur Lanchon tells me that he made you a splendid offer and you refused him.”
    She stared at him, bewildered. “Offer? He asked me to go away with him for the weekend.”
    “And you said no?”
    Before Noelle could answer, her father drew his hand back and slapped her hard across the cheek. She stood there in stunned disbelief, her ears ringing, and through a filmy haze heard her father saying, “Stupid! stupid! It’s time you started thinking of someone besides yourself, you selfish little bitch!” And he hit her again.
    Thirty minutes later as her father stood at the curb watching them drive off, Noelle and Monsieur Lanchon left for Vienne.
    The hotel room consisted of a large double bed, cheap furniture and a washstand and basin in one corner. Monsieur Lanchon was not a man to throw away his money. He gave the bellboy a small tip and the moment the bellboy left, Lanchon turned toward Noelle and began to tear off her clothes. He cupped her breasts in his hot, moist hands and squeezed them hard.
    “My God, you are beautiful,” he panted. He pulled down her skirt and pants and pushed her onto the bed. Noelle lay there unmoving, uncaring, as though she were suffering from some kind of shock. She had not uttered one word driving down in the car. Lanchonhoped that she was not ill. He could never explain it to the police or, God forbid, his wife. He hastily took off his clothes, throwing them on the floor and then moved onto the bed beside Noelle. Her body was even more splendid than he had anticipated.
    “Your father tells me you have never been fucked.” He grinned. “Well, I am going to show you what a man feels like.” He rolled his plump belly on top of her and thrust his organ between her legs. He began to push harder and harder, forcing himself into her. Noelle felt nothing. In her mind she was listening to her father yelling, You should be grateful to have a kind gentleman like Monsieur Lanchon wanting to take care of you. All you have to do is be nice to him. You will do it for me. And for yourself . The whole scene had been a nightmare. She was sure that her father had somehow misunderstood, but when she started to explain, he had struck her again and begun screaming, “You will do as you are told. Other girls would be grateful for your chance.” Her chance . She looked up at Lanchon, the squat ugly body, the panting animal face with its piggish eyes. This was the Prince to whom her father had sold her, her beloved father who cherished her and could not bear to let her waste herself on anyone unworthy. And she remembered the steaks that had suddenly appeared on the table and her father’s new pipes and his new suit and she wanted to vomit.
    It seemed to Noelle that in the next few hours she died and was born again. She had died a Princess, and she was reborn a slut. Slowly she had become aware of her surroundings and of what was happening to her. She was filled with a hatred such as she had not known could exist. She would never forgive her father for his betrayal. Oddly enough she did not hate Lanchon, for she understood him. He was a man with the one weakness common to all men. From now on, Noelle decided, that weakness was going to be her strength. She would learn to use it. Her father had been right all along. She