Young bloods

Chapter 43

By the time evening came, Napoleon had calmed down, but the sense of outrage still smouldered deep inside. As he emerged from his hotel to go for his evening walk and find somewhere to eat he discovered that the rain had at last stopped and the air had a clean, crisp feel to it. Thin strips of silvery cloud half veiled a bright moon. Around him the wet street gleamed in the dull glow of light shining from windows. He clasped his hands behind his back and set off, heading for the heart of the city. His appetite had deserted him, so he walked for long hours, past the fine buildings and monuments of the capital, until late in the evening he found himself amongst the crowds wandering along the colonnade of the Palais-Royal. It was a favourite spot for the young of Paris to congregate to drink and flirt, and perhaps, if the mood took them, to fight.The shadowy colonnade that ran alongside the Palais was also the preserve of a more sensual pastime and as Napoleon strode past he ignored the advances of the prostitutes sitting on the steps or leaning against the pillars.

He was close to the end of the colonnade when he saw a slight shape hunched against the base of a cold stone pediment. It was a small street girl, asleep as she sat leaning against the stone. Her face was tilted up and to the side, and the moonlight gave her a cold, blue ethereal beauty that arrested Napoleon's attention so that he stopped and stared. She was quite stunning, he realised. Her hair, long and dark and wavy, hung in tresses over a dull grey cape. She had full lips and high cheekbones, and fine eyebrows above long lashes. He felt a sudden yearning for her in the pit of his stomach that caught him by surprise. Disturbed by the spontaneous sensation Napoleon was about to tear his gaze from her and walk away when her eyes flickered open and she ran the tip of her tongue delicately across her lips to moisten them. As she became fully conscious, she immediately noticed the slight figure of the artillery officer staring at her from a short distance away, and smiled.

'Hello, handsome,' she lisped. 'Looking for somebody?'

'Me?' Napoleon stammered. 'No. No, I'm just walking.'

'Really?' She laughed, revealing good teeth. 'I thought people moved when they walked.'

Napoleon blushed, but he drew a quick breath and recovered his poise. 'I had just stopped to admire-'

'Me.You were admiring me.' She jumped up and approached him quickly, pointing her finger. 'Go on, admit it!'

She laughed, a light trilling sound that was so infectious that after a moment Napoleon could not help joining in.

'All right then, I give in. I was looking at you.'

'I bet.' She assessed him shrewdly. 'Would you like some company, sir?'

'My name is Napoleon.'

'Napoleon,' she nodded.'And what would you like to call me?'

Napoleon looked puzzled for an instant before he replied, 'I'd like to call you by your name.'

She shrugged. 'As you wish. Annabelle.'

'Annabelle. Pleased to make your acquaintance.' He held out his hand, and she took it with a grin. Napoleon formally shook her hand, but she held on after his grip relaxed and refused to let go.

'So where are you taking me then, Napoleon?'

'Taking you? Why, I hadn't thought-'

'I'm hungry. And you look like you need some company. Let's go and find something to eat first.'

'I don't know if I can afford it.'

'That's all right. I know somewhere that's very reasonable.' She slipped her hand under his arm and smiled at him. 'After that… well, we'll just have to see.'

As the first grey smears of dawn spread across the room Napoleon woke with a start. He was naked. He felt it at once. He also felt the warm flesh of another curled up in the crook of his body and his forearm rested on her hip. At first the shocking unfamiliarity of the situation frightened him, and then the full details of the night before flooded back into his mind. The cheap meal he had bought them at a small inn.The lightness of the conversation and the fact that she had made him laugh, then little by little drawn out his ambitions to which she listened with avid attention – or seemed to, he reflected. Afterwards they had walked arm in arm back to his hotel, their laughter and high-spirited talk echoing along the dark streets. Then, in this room, by the light of a single candle, they had undressed in awkward silence before Napoleon held his breath at the vision of a naked female body standing before him.Then she had shivered and dived into the bed. After a brief hesitation he had followed her under the blanket and then flinched as she wrapped herself around him.

'It's your first time, isn't it?' she had said softly.

'No.'

'If you say so. Come on then, you great lover. Let's see what you're made of…'

He smiled at the memory of the lovemaking; tender and nervous at first, before he gave in to the rush of animal pleasure that flowed through his body until the ecstatic burst of nerve-tingling energy of the climax, and the warm relaxing glow of oblivion afterwards. Then sleep, curled across her, his head resting on the soft smooth flesh between her shoulder and her breast.

She stirred, opened her mouth and yawned. Then she ran her tongue over her dry lips and her eyes blinked open.

'I'm hungry. Got anything to eat?'

'Some bread, over there.' Napoleon gestured towards the room's only table, under the window. Outside the morning was clear and bright and a pale shaft lay across the table, illuminating the wooden box Napoleon kept his food in to protect it from the rats. 'There's a sweet pastry as well. I'll get them for you.'

'I'll go.' She slid from the covers and padded across to the table as Napoleon stared at her. She ate the pastry first, hungrily. Then she finished off the bread and reached for her clothes, hanging over the back of the chair.

'Where are you going?' Napoleon propped himself up on an elbow.

'Home. I have to get home. My man gets worried if I don't come back in the morning.'

'You're married?'

'As good as,' she replied, smoothing down her heavily worn slip. 'We're to have a blessing in a few weeks.'

Napoleon was horrified. 'Does he know about… this?'

'Lord, yes.'

'But doesn't he object?' Napoleon glanced away from her. 'I know I would, if you were mine.'

She paused and smiled at him. 'Bless you, Lieutenant.That was a kind thing to say. But then it's easy for you. My man was a silk weaver, and that trade's in trouble. He lost his job over a year ago and we had to come to Paris to try and find work. There's not much work to be had here. One of us had to earn money so…' she shrugged, 'here I am.'

'Where were you from?'

'Lyons.'

'I see.' Napoleon shifted uncomfortably and pulled the blankets over him more securely. 'Is there nothing else you can do?'

'Like what?' she replied with a helpless gesture.'I have no skills, apart from being able to please men, and we need food, shelter and that's before we have to cope with all these tax rises. We barely survive as it is. I don't expect you'd understand.'

Napoleon was about to protest. After all, he was only here in Paris because his family faced ruin unless the Government could be persuaded to honour its original agreement. But the difficulties faced by the Buona Parte family were leagues apart from the struggle for survival that this girl and her man faced.

She had finished fastening the buttons on her simple dress and completed her attire with a thick shawl that had been hanging around her shoulders last night but which she now fastened securely over her hair. She pulled on and laced up her boots before coming back towards the bed.

'Lieutenant, you have to pay me now.'

'Pay you?' Napoleon blushed. 'Yes, of course. Excuse me.'

He rose from the bed, wrapping the blanket around him, and crossed over to where his coat lay draped over his travel chest. He fumbled in the pocket until his fingers closed round his purse. He took it out, unclipped the fastener and peered at the coins inside.

'How much?'

'Five francs, sir. But any more would be appreciated.'

He nodded and counted out five francs, paused a moment and counted out another five before he approached her and placed the money in her outstretched hand. 'Annabelle, get out of this city. Go back to Lyons. Go to the country, but get out of Paris. Find somewhere to settle down with your man and give up this life.'

She looked hurt. 'I thought we'd had a nice time.'

'We did. I did.The best night I've ever had.' Napoleon reached out to take her hand and the blanket fell away revealing his naked body and his penis, stirring into life once again. He laughed, trying to hide his embarrassment. 'There's your proof of my earnestness!'

They both laughed now, and when they had recovered she leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth. 'Farewell, Lieutenant. I wish you well. Maybe one day, we'll both find ourselves quiet homes in the country.'

'Maybe.' Napoleon nodded. 'Goodbye.'

She left the room quietly, closed the door and he heard her footsteps softly cross the landing and descend the stairs. He returned to bed and curled up under the blanket until his body had warmed up again.The smell of her was still on the pillow and he shut his eyes and breathed the scent in through his nose and let his mind drift back to the thrill of the previous night.