Soldier of Fortune

'You have neglected me,' she said, pouting slightly.

'I'll make amends for that this evening,' he promised.

'Where have you been?'

'I told you, my love. I had business to attend to.'

'What kind of business?' she pressed. 'I know that you are a merchant with interests all over the world but your work surely does not take precedence over me.'

'Nothing could ever do that, Berenice,' he said, taking the opportunity to plant another kiss on her hand. 'But let's not waste time talking about trade. The only person with whom I'm interested in having commerce at this moment is the one I adore.'

Her eyes flashed coquettishly. 'How do I know you adore me?'

'I could give you at least ten good reasons.'

'What's the first?'

'That would be telling,' he said with a teasing smile. 'And I'm not sure that you're in the right mood to hear them.'

She stamped an impatient foot. 'I want to be told, Daniel.'

'Let me refill your glass.'

'No,' she said, grasping him by the wrist. 'Stay here and recite these ten good reasons for me.' She lowered her voice to a purr. 'There may be a reward in store for you.'

He sealed the bargain with a laugh then he began. As he worked his way unhurriedly through the list, he was allowed to take a liberty each time, unhooking part of her dress or delicately removing an item of jewellery or even taking off a whole garment. At the end of his recitation, she stood before him almost naked, exuding a bewitching fragrance and making a visible effort to hold back her passion.

'Now, it is my turn,' she said, helping him off with his coat. 'I must tell you the source of my adoration for you.'

Berenice did so with deliberate slowness, undressing him at intervals, heightening their mutual pleasure by delaying its release until they both reached a point of explosion. Daniel could wait no longer. Picking her up in his arms, he carried her to the bed and placed her gently down beneath its richly embroidered canopy. No more words were needed. Their writhing bodies continued the dialogue in a much more expressive language. Berenice surrendered herself completely and he responded with characteristic vigour, kissing her, caressing her and filling her with the urgency of his love. She matched his ardour at every stage, letting out a cry of ecstasy when she reached the peak of her pleasure and taking him into Elysium with her. They lay panting happily in each other's arms.

'Your husband is stupid,' he said at length.

'Stupid?'

'How could any man spurn such joy?'

'Armand has not spurned it,' she said coldly. 'He is probably sharing the same joy with his mistress at this very moment. I am a wife in title only. My husband sees me as no more than an attractive piece of furniture.'

'Then he is blind as well as stupid.'

'It was so different when we were first married.'

'Were you happy then?'

'I was treated with respect.'

Berenice omitted to mention that she had been the mistress of Armand Salignac before becoming his wife after the untimely death of her predecessor. The extravagant promises with which she had been showered beforehand wilted under the tedium of domestic life. As his lover, she had been mysterious, desirable and only infrequently available. As a wife, she was there all the time, diminished in every way by sheer familiarity. Her mystery had soon vanished.

'I should never have married a soldier,' she sighed.

'He's wealthy and highly esteemed at Court.'

'But he's never here to enjoy that wealth or to take me to Court where I can share his esteem. It's where I belong, Daniel — among the ladies at Versailles, earning smiles and glances from the King.' 'Even I cannot compete with King Louis,' he admitted.

She hugged him. 'You outshine any man!'

'Does that mean I can come here again?'

'Yes — as often as possible.'

'What about this blind, stupid, uncaring husband of yours?' he asked. 'He cannot stay away from the house forever. Surely, he will return to his wife soon.'

'If he does, it will only be to pack his trunk.'

'Is he off on another campaign then?'

'Armand will leave next month,' she said bitterly. 'Knowing him, I doubt if he will even bring me back a present from Vienna.'

'Vienna?' Daniel's ears pricked up. 'Why is he going there?'

'Armand swears they will capture it in a matter of weeks.'

'Indeed?'

'According to him…'

Berenice talked about her husband with a candour she had never shown before. When she had first met Armand Salignac, she freely conceded, she had been impressed by his military prowess, his social position and his easy sophistication. He had been loving and attentive to her. Once married, however, he cared less about Berenice and more about his career in the French army, subordinating her to the fringes of his life while he sought glory in the field. When the campaigning season resumed in April, he would desert her without a hint of regret.

Cradling her in his arms, Daniel listened intently until a more menacing sound was heard. It was the rattle of a coach, turning off the cobbled street and rolling down the side of the house to the courtyard. The lovers sat up guiltily. Without warning, Armand Salignac had returned home.

They leapt off the bed as if it had just been set on fire. While Berenice ran to the door to check that it was locked, Daniel went to a window that overlooked the courtyard. He watched in horror as the coach came to a halt and a servant rushed to open its door. A bulky figure stepped out. It was clear from the deference shown to him that he was the master of the house. Daniel did not hesitate. Snatching up his clothes, he dressed himself with a speed born of practice. A hasty retreat was his only option.

Berenice reached for her own apparel, alternately cursing her husband and apologising profusely to her lover. When she glanced in a mirror, she saw how ruffled her hair was and trembled with fear. Her husband must not be allowed to see her in that state. Having put on his own clothes, Daniel helped her into her dress, trying to calm her and insisting that she was not to blame for her husband's unexpected return. The important thing was that she was not compromised in any way. He was still assisting her when there was a thunderous knock on the door.

'Berenice!' shouted her husband. 'Berenice — let me in!'

It was no time to stand on ceremony. Taking a last kiss from his lover, Daniel opened the window and clambered out on to the roof. As he searched for a way to get down to the ground, he could hear the cuckolded husband, pounding on the door with a fist as if trying to knock it down. Escape was his priority but it would not be easy. When he looked at the courtyard, now illumined by torches, he saw that ostlers were loosening the harness on the horses so that they could be led forward out of the shafts. Daniel's own horse had attracted the attention of a servant who was opening the saddlebags in the hope of identifying the animal's owner.

An alternative route was needed and that meant scrambling across a steep roof made slippery by vestigial frost. It was a perilous manoeuvre. If he lost his balance, he would plummet down to certain death. Picking his way over the tiles with extreme care, he went up to the apex and cocked a leg over it. Daniel was able to rest briefly and consider his best course of action. From his elevated position, he could see, in the gloom, the guttering that ran along the base of the roof. Long, square, cast-iron drainpipes conducted rainwater to the ground. He had to trust that one of them would hold him.