TEMPORAL AGENT by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 2 – D’ARTAGNAN

17:51 (Paris Time)

Saturday, April 15, 1651

Inn of ‘Le Lion Noir’, Paris

France

Wearily getting off from his

horse in the courtyard of the inn, the rider gave the reins of his mount to the inn’s stable boy before shaking off some of the dust and dried mud covering his worn clothes and cape. Taking his saddle bags and his weapons with him, he then walked to the entrance of the establishment, careful in the growing darkness not to step on the horse droppings covering the cobblestones of the courtyard. Before entering the inn, though, he made sure that his sword was easily grabbed: in these turbulent times of the Paris ‘Fronde

Uprising’1, one had to be wary about who came your way, especially when you worked undercover for Cardinal Mazarin, who was widely hated by both the citizens of Paris and by the aristocratic class. The few confidential letters from Mazarin which he was carrying made him even more leery of strangers. Entering the poorly lit main hall of the inn, he quickly chose a vacant table in an obscure corner and sat facing the entrance: standing in the doorway of an inn was the best way to attract attention.

Scanning the small number of people present in the hall, he was relieved to see no militiamen or soldiers belonging to one of the rebel princes. Only a few bourgeois and travelers were having supper or were drinking wine, with the innkeeper and a young maid in attendance. He couldn’t help smile back at a teenage girl who was eating alongside another young woman. The latter was obviously an aristocrat, judging from the quality of her dress. Both of the girls were sitting at the table nearest to his and the smell of the roast meat they were eating was like torture to his empty stomach. Unfortunately, his purse was about as empty as his stomach and the other agent from

1 th Fronde Uprising: French civil war of the mid-17 Century, opposing the Paris Parliament and many high aristocrats to Queen Anne and Cardinal Mazarin, who were governing in the name of young King Louis XIV. The royal forces eventually prevailed, with King Louis XIV then taking the throne at his age of majority.

16

Cardinal Mazarin who was supposed to give him funds for his stay in Paris and his return trip to Brühl, near Cologne, was not present in the hall. On his signal the innkeeper came to his table, bending down so that his customer could whisper to him: he was loyal to the Queen and the Cardinal and could be depended on to be discreet.

“Is Monsieur Bartet in his room?”

“Uh, no, monsieur. He is out doing some errands at the moment. I gather that you will be using his room tonight?”

“That’s correct.” said the messenger, who then paused while twisting one tip of his moustache. “Innkeeper, could you advance me some credit until Monsieur Bartet returns, so that I can eat something.”

The innkeeper looked at him with embarrassment.

“I am sorry, monsieur, but Monsieur Bartet already owes me two weeks of lodging and meals and is still waiting himself for some funds from your employer. With your two other friends here in the same situation, I am about broke myself: this Fronde Uprising is not helping business at all.”

His Gascon temper nearly made the messenger explode in rage and frustration: Cardinal Mazarin may be the one hope for the salvation of the monarchy in France but he was one stingy employer. His only hope now was to see Abbot Basile Fouquet in the morning and ask him for some money. If Mazarin’s right hand man in Paris had something aplenty, it was money. Emptying with resignation his purse on the table, he looked sadly at the few small coins which fell out, all of it amounting to less than one Livre. The innkeeper quickly grabbed the coins and smiled.

“That will be enough for your night’s lodging and some bread and wine, monsieur. I won’t be long.”

Watching the innkeeper go into his kitchen, the messenger noticed that the girl who had previously smiled to him was looking at him with something approaching pity: she must have seen him empty his flat purse on the table. The girl, a very tall one with a very nice chest, green eyes and long black hair, was maybe fifteen or sixteen and was beautiful, making the messenger wish that he could spend a night with her. The girl then whispered in the ear of her mistress, who glanced at him and smiled before nodding her head. The young girl then rose from her bench and went to him, an engaging smile on her face. She was truly a tall one, towering over all but

17

one of the men present in the hall. The deep cleavage of her dress, in line with the current fashion, made her charms even more evident. She positively looked like hell on wheels and her smile was mischievous. The messenger smiled as he imagined what kind of bed partner she could be. The girl made a quick curtsy before presenting herself in impeccable French.

“Good evening, monsieur. I am Lady Nancy Sommers, lady-in-waiting of Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore. Would you honor us by joining us at our table, monsieur?” He smiled in anticipated pleasure at the girl: at least his luck had not totally run out.

“I would be delighted to accept the kind invitation of your mistress, mademoiselle.”

Rising to his feet, he eagerly followed the young Nancy to the next table, bowing and saluting with his large felt hat the pretty-looking young woman aristocrat.

“Good evening, milady! I am Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, at your service. May I thank you for your most gracious invitation?” The discreet but noticeable reaction of the two English women to his name didn’t escape Charles, who tensed up at once: somebody able to recognize his name in Paris could represent a potential threat to him. Lisbeth of Strathmore however quickly repressed her reaction and showed him the seat besides Nancy while speaking in good French with a perceptible English accent.

“You may by joining us for supper, monsieur.” replied Lisbeth of Strathmore, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “It is too rare to have the company of a true gentleman instead of that of ruffians in these troubled times.”

‘’And how do you know that I am a gentleman, and not a ruffian, Lady Lisbeth?’’ Elizabeth Windsor ‘B’ aka Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore

Lisbeth, aka Elizabeth Windsor ‘B’, exchanged a knowing look with Nancy Laplante ‘B’ before replying to Charles, better known in history under the name ‘d’Artagnan’.

‘’First, your name is that of an aristocrat and you are wearing a sword. You are thus an aristocrat, probably of low lineage judging by your flat purse. Second, you haven’t yet tried to put your hand on the inviting butt of my lady-in-waiting. But please, sit down.’’

Despite his suspicions, Charles quickly sat opposite Lisbeth, who signaled the maid to approach.

“Mademoiselle, bring an extra cover and a pitcher of wine for our friend here.”

18

She then turned her attention back on Charles, who was hungrily eyeing the plates of food on the table.

“You look like you rode long and hard, monsieur. Are you on a business trip?”

“Not exactly, milady. I am in Paris to take care of some of my master’s affairs. May I ask what a gentle young lady of quality like you is doing in Paris? I believe from your accent that you are English, correct?”

“Scottish actually, Monsieur de Castelmore. I am from Angus, Scotland, and I came to Paris to escape for a while the depredations of the parliamentary armies of that Cromwell bastard. These are bleak times for the monarchy in England, what with the recent defeats suffered by young King Charles the Second in Scotland. Those damn

Roundheads2 are quite barbaric when it comes to dealing with the supporters of the King.”

Charles nodded his head in sympathy: the ferociousness and fanaticism of Oliver Cromwell’s army was well known and feared around Europe, especially after the way they had recently repressed a rebellion in Ireland in a monstrous bloodbath. If there was one thing that the monarchs of Europe agreed on, it was on their hatred of Cromwell and of his army of fanatical Puritan followers.

The innkeeper came in then with the bread and wine already paid by Charles and stood near their table, confused. Charles waived the man away with a smile.

“Keep both the food and the money, innkeeper. I have accepted the kind hospitality of the young lady here.”

Lisbeth shook her head in amusement as the innkeeper marched back into his kitchen.

“You are quite generous for a man who is broke, Monsieur de Castelmore.”

“Wealth comes from the heart as well as from the purse, milady.”

“Well said, monsieur! Ah, here is your plate and wine. Enjoy your supper.”

Charles went at the food with gusto: he had not eaten that well in a long time and was positively famished from his long, arduous trip from Germany. Both Lisbeth and Nancy politely kept silent, nibbling at their own plates while letting him have the best parts from the roast beef and stewed vegetables. He did however drink wine with moderation: he could not afford to get drunk with the precious letters he was carrying.

2 Roundheads: Nickname given to the parliamentary cavalrymen of Oliver Cromwell

19

He was halfway through his plate when the noise of a group of men entering the inn made him turn his head. Charles silently swore to himself when he recognized the newcomers as militiamen of the Parliament of Paris. The nine armed men in turn walked straight towards him after a short look around the room, probably because he was the only customer wearing a sword. The leader of the group, a mean-looking man with a pistol in his belt, stopped besides Charles and spoke to him in an arrogant tone.

“You! Who are you? What is your business in Paris?”

To everybody’s surprise, Lisbeth of Strathmore shot to her feet, addressing the militiaman with disdain.

“And who are you to disturb the supper of the daughter of the Earl of Strathmore? This man is in my service. If you have any questions, address them to me!” Taken aback at first by her forcefulness, the militiaman then got angry and shot back.

“Mademoiselle, the good people of Paris have the last word here, not some foreign aristocratic woman with a fancy title. I will ask questions to whom I choose.” Charles rose in indignation at the insolence of the man, grabbing his sword and prompting the other militiamen to do the same. Lisbeth’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from drawing his blade, though.

“Do not dirty your sword on him, Charles. It will be the Duke of Orléans who will run him through once Queen Henriette tells him about this.” The militiaman paled at once at that threat: Gaston D’Orléans, apart from being one of the leaders of the Parliament, was also the brother of Queen Henriette de France, widow of King Charles of England and presently in exile in Paris. With a curt nod, the militiaman turned around and quickly left the inn, followed by his men. A jubilant Charles looked with respect at the young aristocrat, who still had fire in her eyes.

“Well done, milady! But why did you protect me like this?”

“Because I have no time for parliamentary soldiers, English or otherwise. Long live the King! Now, let’s finish our supper in peace.”

Resuming their supper, Charles spoke in a low voice to Lisbeth, resolved to get to know more about her.

‘’Earlier, when I presented myself, you and your lady-in-waiting reacted to my name, as if you already knew me.

Elizabeth thought for a moment about her answer. She and Nancy had not expected to meet face to face with an historic character as famous as d’Artagnan during their

20

historical documentation mission, which was supposed to be done in the most discreet manner possible. However, she could possibly turn this fortuitous encounter into something that could help her mission.

‘’Monsieur de Castelmore, I will tell you a secret. Me and my lady-in-waiting are here in Paris to visit Queen Henriette and to bring her the latest news from England, which are unfortunately not good. We also brought with us some funds to help our queen subsist in Paris and will take any letter she wishes to send to her loyal followers in England. Others before us did the same and one of the letters received in England mentioned you by name as a loyal agent of Cardinal Mazarin and of Queen Anne. We thus are both royalists on a mission.’’

Charles nodded his head at that, now understanding how Lisbeth could have known his name. He had in fact brought twice letters from Queen Anne to Queen Henriette two years ago, when he had visited her in the palace of The Louvre.

‘’Then, I can only sympathize with your cause, Lady Lisbeth.’’

‘’And me with yours, Monsieur de Castelmore. Those civil wars spread chaos and death, weaken both of our countries and profit only the mercenaries who are looting systematically the countryside.’’

‘’Well said, Lady Lisbeth! And what is the official reason of your visit to Paris, if someone asks you?’’

“The same as that I gave you first: to escape the depredations of the armies of Cromwell, depredations which are unfortunately too real. Also, since I have lots of time and money in my hands, I thought that it would be a good occasion to finally go see the famous painter, Mathieu Le Nain, and have my portrait and that of Nancy done by him.”

“A good idea indeed, milady.” replied Charles. “Monsieur Le Nain has done many great portraits for members of the Court, including Queen Anne and Cardinal Mazarin. I believe also that he is in somewhat of a slump right now, what with this Fronde Uprising.”

“Oh, really?” said Lisbeth of Strathmore, obviously interested. “Then maybe Monsieur Le Nain will be able to start my portrait without delay.”

“Probably, milady.” said Charles, who then hesitated before asking his next question, wanting to be as diplomatic as possible with his new benefactor.

“Milady, I don’t see any other members of your retinue here apart from young Nancy. Surely you are not traveling only the two of you alone in these troubled times.”

21

“Monsieur de Castelmore,” replied calmly Lisbeth while smiling, “Nancy is much more than a lady-in-waiting to me: she is also my friend and bodyguard. I am also quite capable of defending myself.”

“Your…bodyguard?” said Charles, trying not to laugh in her face. “A teenage girl as an escort for a lady like you?”

“That’s right, monsieur! Who would pay attention to her, except to grab her ass? On the other hand, I would not advise you to try her on, with or without weapons. Her story is quite particular indeed.”

“If you say so, milady.”

“I do, Monsieur Charles. Now, what about yourself? Will you stay long in Paris?”

“Not long I’m afraid, milady. Maybe two days, then I have to ride out again. But if you are staying for a while in Paris, we will probably see each other again: I will have to ride back and forth quite often in the next few months. Will you stay in this inn all the time, milady?”

“We will, monsieur. Be certain that our table will always be open to you.” Charles bowed to her, pleased by her generous offer.

“Milady is too generous with a lowly stranger like me.”

‘’It is a pleasure to be able to help you, Monsieur de Castelmore.’’ Elizabeth then took a few silver coins from her purse and gave them to Nancy.

“Nancy, go see the innkeeper and arrange for a room and ample meals for Monsieur de Castelmore for the rest of his stay.”

‘’Right away, Milady!’’

As Nancy was going to see the innkeeper, Charles started to protest to Lisbeth that she was doing too much, but was cut off politely.

“Monsieur de Castelmore, consider this as simple courtesy between fellow travelers. Maybe you’ll be able to repay me some day by showing me around Paris.”

“I will be delighted to oblige, milady.”

Nancy returned a few minutes later, a key in her hands. Bowing first to her mistress, she then smiled to Charles.

“If monsieur could follow me, I will show him his room.”

Charles quickly grabbed his saddlebags, which contained all that he possessed, then gallantly kissed Elizabeth’s hand before following the teenager up the wooden staircase that led upstairs to the rooms of the inn.

22

 

Charles soon saw with satisfaction that his assigned room was facing that of Isaac Bartet, the agent of Cardinal Mazarin whom he wanted to find earlier on. Entering with Nancy a clean room with a comfortable-looking bed, Charles started putting his things away on the cupboard and inside the dresser of his room. He was however surprised when he saw the innkeeper and his maid bring in a wooden bathtub with some steaming water in it. Nancy smiled to him as the maid went back downstairs with her boss to fetch more water for the tub.

“I thought that it would be a good idea for you to have a hot bath after your long, dusty and muddy trip, monsieur.”

“A bath? Is it really necessary? Doctors say that water attract diseases.” Nancy then gave him a dubious look.

“The bunch of ignorant twits who pass as doctors here may say that washing is actually bad for health and that body dirt protects from diseases but my common sense

and my nose say otherwise. In New France3, I bathed every day, yet I am quite healthy, as you can see.”

“You visited New France?” asked Charles, surprised.

‘’I was born there, monsieur.’’ replied proudly Nancy. ‘’My father was a French fur trapper, while my mother was an English aristocrat of low lineage who had been captured and taken as a slave by the Hurons. My father bought her back from the Hurons, then married her. I can tell you a lot more, but I want first to see you in this bathtub as soon as the innkeeper will return with more water. If that can motivate you, I will be soaping and scrubbing you…everywhere.’’

That last sentence convinced Charles to stop objecting to a bath and he finished putting away his meager possessions, which consisted mostly in weapons. Charles waited for the innkeeper to return and finish filling the bathtub, then pushed the door’s bolt lock in place after he left. Going then to the dresser, he started to take off his clothes, dusting them off first before carefully folding them as he undressed.

“Nancy,” asked Charles while his back was turned to the teenager, “was your mistress serious when she said that you were her bodyguard?”

“Charles, look at me.” said the girl in a calm voice. He turned around just in time to hear and feel a thrown knife pass by his right ear and burrow itself in the dresser’s

3 New France : Name given to the French colony in North America that would eventually become Canada.

23

door with a thump. Jumping sideways, Charles looked first at the mean-looking blade still vibrating in the door, then at Nancy with both surprise and shock. She resolutely looked back at him, standing with feet apart in a defiant stand.

“Charles, I would appreciate if you would take me seriously. I am much more than what I appear to be.”

She then started to take off her dress, soon revealing a pair of short knife scabbards strapped under her breasts, where she could easily grab the blades through her dress’ cleavage. Two more knife scabbards, one of them empty, were strapped to the outside of her upper legs. Charles also noticed how athletic and muscular the girl was, with a sexy yet well balanced body that reminded him of a few circus acrobat girls he had seen in the past. While her deep skin tan contrasted with the milky skin that was considered a mark of beauty in France, it added to the impression of perfect health and fitness radiating from her. Her groin was also closely shaved, with the skin there nearly as tanned as on the rest of her body. Charles swallowed hard while eyeing her: compared to Nancy, the steamy women of the Fronde who thought of themselves as contemporary Amazons were pale imitations of female warriors. Walking calmly past him, Nancy retrieved her knife from the dresser’s door before taking gently Charles’ hand and guiding him towards the bathtub.

“Come on, Charles, finish undressing: I already saw many naked men in my life.”

‘’And how old are you to supposedly have so much experience with men, Nancy?’’

Her answer shocked him.

‘’I am thirteen, Charles. Know that the fur trappers and the Amerindians in New France are much less puritanical than the people of Europe, since they live with nature.’’

‘’Only thirteen? But, you are taller than me!’’

‘’So what? The Amerindians of New France are solidly built people and my paternal grandmother was from the Huron tribe. Fresh air, constant exercise and a balanced diet do marvels for one’s health.’’

‘’Decidedly, your story keeps interesting me more and more, Nancy.’’ Stepping close to Charles to remove his shirt, Nancy sniffed and frowned in disapproval when Charles raised his arms to help her, exposing his armpits.

‘’Ooof! A bath will definitely not be a luxury: you sweated a lot during your trip. Okay, step in the bathtub and sit!’’

24

‘’And you, Nancy? You are not taking a bath with me?’’ asked Charles with a wink, making the teenager smile.

‘’Not with the same bath water as yours, Charles: I’m afraid that it will take a few repeated cycles of soaping and rinsing before you pass muster with me. But I still can scrub your back.’’

Using a sponge and pouring some lukewarm water on the back and shoulders of Charles once he was sitting in the bathtub, Nancy started scrubbing him vigorously while speaking.

‘’So, Charles, what do you want to know exactly about me?’’

‘’Everything!’’ replied Charles while admiring her breasts, so close and so tempting. ‘’How did you become the lady-in-waiting of Lady Lisbeth, if you were in New France?’’

‘’I actually left New France at the age of ten, after the death of my father. My mother wanted to bring me to England, where she was hoping to claim back her nobility titles. Unfortunately, she died of a fever during our sea trip and I landed in England alone, where I learned that my mother’s family had been dispossessed for cause of debts. I then had my first piece of luck and met Lady Lisbeth, who took me in her service and helped me continue my education. I already had learned to read, write and count in New France, with my mother educating me as best she could, including about proper manners for a lady. I was thus able to adapt quickly to my new life in Scotland, but I still continued to train hard physically to stay fit and I roamed the local forests to exercise my talents. Then, the civil war raging in England and the roaming bands of soldiers and mercenaries gave me many occasions to fight and protect Lady Lisbeth.’’ Charles nodded his head, suitably impressed.

‘’Quite an extraordinary story that you have, Nancy. Which weapons are you familiar with?’’

‘’All of them!’’ replied without hesitation the teenager, catching Charles off guard. ‘’Lady Lisbeth, who is a true expert with a rapier, taught me fencing, while I already knew how to shoot pistols and muskets, thanks to my father, who also showed me how to throw knives. His hunting partner, an Algonquin, taught me how to shoot a bow and how to fight with a knife and an axe. I also know how to hunt, fish, skin and butcher carcasses and to survive Winter in the woods. And you, Charles?’’

25

‘’Uh, I can say without bragging that I am an expert fencer and a good shooter. I also am an expert rider. We will have one day to do some practice fencing together: I would like to assess your degree of expertise in it.’’

‘’Soon, maybe. Well, get up now, so that I can scrub your bum.’’ Nancy giggled when she saw that Charles had definitely reacted to her nudity.

‘’It’s always good to a girl’s ego to see that men react to them. Let’s clean that little bird first.’’

Charles soon found out that cleaning up was half the fun, especially with a girl with the expertise that Nancy demonstrated then with her fingers and tongue.

07:01 (Paris Time)

Sunday, April 16, 1651

Inn of ‘Le Lion Noir’

Paris, France

Charles sat up in bed at the sound of resounding knocks on his door. Glancing quickly at Nancy, he saw that she had already rolled out of bed and was on one knee while holding one of her throwing knives.

“Charles, open up! It’s Isaac!” shouted somebody in the hallway.

“One moment!” shouted back Charles before looking at the teenage girl, smiling reassuringly to her. “Don’t worry: he’s a good friend of mine.” Walking quickly to the door after putting on his shirt, he pushed open the bolt lock and cracked the door open, a loaded pistol at the ready in his hand in case it was a trap. He saw with relief that his friend and comrade in arm was indeed alone. Quickly letting him in, he closed and locked the door behind him before going to the dresser to put his clothes on. Isaac Bartet looked with delighted surprise at the beautiful naked teenage girl who was now gathering her clothes before speaking to Charles.

“How did an old man like you end up with a young prize like her?”

“What do you mean, an old man?” protested Charles. “I’m only 38 years old!”

“That’s what I meant, old man!”

“Never mind! Where the hell were you last night? If not for the generosity of her mistress, I would have spent the night with an empty stomach.”

“I was trying to find a safe way to contact the Queen, that’s what! Spies and sympathizers of the princes are watching her very closely these days: they must be

26

suspecting that she is still corresponding with the Cardinal. Unfortunately, those sympathizers also happen to know both of us. Oh, by the way, I have some money for you.”

“Not too early!” grumbled Charles, taking the purse presented by Isaac and checking quickly its content. “That’s it?”

“Hey, you know our employer. Don’t expect to feast at his expense.” Charles sighed with discouragement then. Apart from being dangerous, his job had done nothing to help him fill his purse. His loyalty was not for sale, however. Whatever happened, he would cling with the Cardinal, unlike too many fair weather supporters who had switched sides or conveniently disappeared during the last months.

“It’s a good thing that I met this young English aristocrat and her servant. Without her generosity I…”

An idea suddenly flashed in his mind, making him pause.

“You what?” wondered Isaac. Charles lowered his voice and got closer to him.

“I think that I found a way to communicate safely with the Queen.” He then whispered in Isaac’s ear for a minute, getting a skeptical look from him at the end.

“Should we really put so much confidence in two strangers?”

“Look, Isaac, they already helped me out once yesterday. That Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore is a staunch monarchist and hates that parliamentary rabble. She would make a perfect messenger between us and the Queen. Who would suspect a total stranger like her?”

“I don’t know, Charles. Those letters are our responsibility. If they get lost or stolen…”

“We can escort them as far as we dare and then watch from a distance.” proposed Charles. “Do you have a better idea anyway?”

“I guess not.” answered Isaac, still looking unconvinced. Charles patted his shoulder in encouragement.

“Well, let me dress and we will go down to have breakfast: we think better on a full stomach.”

Isaac took hold of his arm as he was turning towards the dresser and whispered in Charles’ ear.

“How was your young friend?”

“Like a dream. She is half savage, half noble, half English and half French, with a bit of native blood from the Americas in her veins.” whispered back Charles, a wide

27

smile on his face. “She was right about saying that she is much more than what she appears to be. But enough said about her: let’s go have breakfast.”

Charles and Isaac found Lady Lisbeth having a breakfast of bread and cheese at a table in the inn’s main hall. The young aristocrat woman waved at them to come to her table, greeting both with a smile as Nancy sat beside her and cut a piece of cheese for herself. Charles presented his friend then, who bowed and waved his hat in salute.

“I hear that you helped out my friend Charles yesterday, milady. I must thank you both for your courage and for your generosity.”

“That was nothing, Monsieur Bartet, I assure you. On the other hand, I was hoping that Monsieur de Castelmore would escort me and my friend around Paris when he will be free to do so.”

Lisbeth then smiled maliciously at Charles.

“I am ready to pay well for his services, in money that is.” That made young Nancy giggle. The mention of money did get Charles’ attention though, even if he protested it.

“Milady, you do not need to pay me after showing so much generosity already.”

“I insist, monsieur!”

“Well, if you really do, could I ask of you a service instead of money, milady?”

“What kind of service, monsieur?”

Charles hesitated for a moment, attracting a knowing smile from Lisbeth.

“Monsieur Charles de Batz de Castelmore, or should I say Monsieur D’Artagnan, you don’t need to hide things from me. I am a friend, not a spy or an agent of the princes. Part of the reason I am here is to see if the King and Queen of France will be able to subdue this Fronde Uprising. If they do, then maybe the English monarchy could hope for support from France in its fight against this dastardly Cromwell. I can see things around me, monsieur, and so can my friend Nancy. You arrive from a long trip, then tell me that you must depart soon, to return here on future trips. You are a messenger on a mission, Monsieur D’Artagnan, and from your reaction at seeing those militiamen last evening, I would say that you are not on the side of the Fronde.” Both D’Artagnan and Isaac Bartet tensed up, suddenly on their guard. Lisbeth kept going, her expression now sober.

“Messieurs, you have no need to fear me or Nancy. Your cause is my cause. If I would be in the pay of the Fronde, soldiers of the Parliament would have pounded on

28

Monsieur D’Artagnan’s door instead of you, Monsieur Bartet. So, what is this service you were going to ask?”

D’Artagnan exchanged a quick glance with Bartet before telling Lisbeth about their problems in contacting the Queen discreetly, careful all the while not to raise his voice. Strangely enough, his request seemed to make both Lisbeth and Nancy happy.

“When I think that I was looking for a good excuse to meet with Queen Anne.” said Lisbeth, ecstatic. “Maybe I will see young King Louis the Fourteenth at the same time.”

“In that case,” replied Charles jokingly, “don’t bring Nancy with you: while young King Louis is only twelve years old, he is rumored to have a keen eye for pretty ladies, to the point that the Queen has a valet following him, with orders not to leave him alone with a woman.”

“What a killjoy she is!” exclaimed Nancy. “I had my first boy at twelve.”

“And you never stopped since.” added Lisbeth mockingly. “Alright, Monsieur D’Artagnan, tell me what you want us to do.”

09:50 (Paris Time)

Sunday, April 15, 1651

Rue Notre-Dame des petits champs

Paris

“Don’t forget, milady: this is to be handed personally to the Queen and to nobody else.”

Lisbeth took from D’Artagnan the sealed letter presented by him and nodded in understanding before hiding the letter inside her corsage. This morning, she was wearing a white and blue court gown and a pearl necklace worthy of her rank. Charles took a moment to admire her and Nancy, who was also wearing a court gown, albeit without the kind of expensive jewelry Lisbeth was sporting.

“You should do just fine, milady. Just one last thing, though. Nancy!” He then presented his opened right hand to the teenager, who sighed before pulling out from under her dress her four throwing knives. Isaac Bartet, who was standing close to them in the shadowy doorway facing the Palais-Royal, opened his eyes wide at the sight of the blades that Nancy handed over to D’Artagnan. The latter looked at his friend with a knowing smile.

29

“She is Lady Lisbeth’s bodyguard and I can vouch for the fact that she knows how to use these.”

Isaac looked at the teenager, who was now walking away with Lisbeth towards the main entrance of the palace, newfound respect in his eyes.

“Damn, why are you always the one to find the rare birds, Charles?”

Lisbeth and Nancy had little difficulty in gaining access to the Palais-Royal, a servant escorting them quickly to the inner courtyard after they presented themselves to the officer of the guards at the entrance. With the forces of the Fronde in actual control of Paris, the Queen Regent had few real powers left and even less to do to spend the time. With the royal revenues either dried up or swallowed by military expenditures, the times of the sumptuous parties and balls were over for the moment, adding to the court’s idleness. It was thus no surprise to be received at once by the Queen, who was dying for anything to pass the time.

The servant led both young women through the palace gardens and towards a central fountain where a group of elegantly dressed women were watching a young teenage boy play a game of lawn bowling, applauding when the boy knocked down the wooden pins. A plump woman in her forties and with milky skin smiled benignly as Lisbeth and Nancy performed a curtsy in front of her.

“Please remind me of your name, young lady. I’m afraid that the guard who announced you doesn’t know how to pronounce English names properly.”

Elizabeth, being officially the highest ranking visitor, answered first to Queen Anne. Three micro spy probes were flying around the group, discreetly recording the scene for the benefit of the historical documentary they were helping produce.

“Your Majesty, I am Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore, daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, in Scotland. This is Lady Nancy Sommers, my lady-in-waiting and close friend. We are most honored to be allowed to meet with Her Majesty.”

“Fresh faces are always welcome at the court, Lady Lisbeth.” replied Queen Anne of Austria before presenting the young teenage boy, who had stopped playing and had approached, eyeing with particular interest young Nancy.

30

“This is my son, King Louis the Fourteenth. He is now twelve years-old.” Lisbeth and Nancy bowed deeply, with Louis gallantly kissing both of their hands gently. Both the young king and Nancy had sparkles in their eyes as they exchanged brief smiles, something the queen noticed.

“You will excuse my son, Lady Lisbeth, for he is already very gallant with ladies despite his young age. I suspect that some of my own ladies are not discouraging his early taste for women.”

That made a few of the young women escorting the Queen giggle. Lisbeth smiled in turn.

“That is quite alright, Your Majesty. My own lady-in-waiting also started very early to show interest towards boys.”

As the young Louis’ attention towards Nancy redoubled then, Anne of Austria glanced at the tall teenager, who was standing to the right side and one step behind Lisbeth.

“How old are you, my child?”

“Thirteen, Your Majesty.” replied respectfully Nancy while bowing. Her answer brought incredulity on the faces of the Queen and of the noblewomen around her, while Louis grinned with contentment: he was looking at a beautiful girl who was nearly the same age as him and who had already a very appetizing body.

‘’So tall and strong at thirteen? Your parents must have been very healthy.’’

‘’My father was effectively a solidly built man, Your Majesty. He was a French fur trapper in New France, while my mother was an English aristocrat of low lineage who had been captured and reduced to slavery by Huron Amerindians. My father bought her back and then married her. I was born on the shores of the Saint-Laurent River, in New France, and myself lived as a fur trapper, following my parents through the woods. I was ten when my father died and my mother then decided to return to England. Unfortunately, she died at sea of a fever and I arrived alone in Portsmouth. That was when I first met Lady Lisbeth, who then took me in her service and brought me to Scotland.’’

‘’Mother, could Lady Sommers stay here a bit, so that she could tell me about her adventures in New France.’’ asked at once the young king with an eagerness that made the Queen smile.

‘’Just to tell you about her adventures, or to let you admire her body, Louis?’’ As the noblewomen around giggled again at that retort, Nancy stared into Louis’ eyes while giving him her warmest smile.

31

‘’If it could reassure Your Majesty, I can play many musical instruments, including the guitar, and also know how to play chess.’’

A richly dressed woman of about thirty standing near the Queen then threw a disdainful look at Nancy.

‘’And how could you so educate yourself while running through the woods of New France, miss?’’

Nancy kept a neutral expression as she looked at the aristocrat, whose beauty was spoiled by the stink from her unwashed body. Even for a person of this century, which did not encourage bathing, she stank of old sweat and her yellowish teeth were dotted with the black spots of decay. Queen Anne also didn’t seem to appreciate the rude remark of the noblewoman, who happened to be one of the most ardent enemies of royal power and was also a main instigator of the Princes’ Fronde Uprising.

‘’Please pardon the Duchess of Longueville, Lady Sommers: she likes to remind others of her rank and position.’’

‘’I take no offense to her remark, Your Majesty.’’ replied Nancy politely, not wanting to antagonize the noblewoman and thus put at risk Elizabeth’s mission. Satisfied, the Queen then looked at the latter.

‘’So, Lady Lisbeth, to what do I owe you your visit?’’

“Your Majesty, I recently arrived from Scotland after a difficult journey through Holland, having to be careful not to fall into the hands of agents of the regicide Puritan, Oliver Cromwell. As you may know, young King Charles the Second is raising an army in Scotland to regain the throne so unjustly taken away from his father. He is however sorely pressed by the armies of the English Parliament and is in dire need of help. He is also concerned about his mother and sister, who are presently living at the Louvres without heat and with little food. Here is a letter from young King Charles, asking for assistance for his loved ones in exile. It took us 46 days to bring it to you, Your Majesty.”

Nobody seemed to notice when the Queen tensed up at the mention of the number 46, which was one of the codes used to designate Cardinal Mazarin in their secret correspondence. Coupled closely with the mention of loved ones in exile, it left her no doubt about the real originator of the letter, which she accepted and negligently slipped inside the front of her dress.

“Your devotion to your king is well noted, Lady Lisbeth. However, as you may know, France itself is not without severe problems. I will however see what I can do.

32

Please come back tomorrow morning at the same time and I will give you a letter to bring back to your king.”

“Your Majesty is too kind. I will be back tomorrow without fault.” Lisbeth and Nancy then performed a last curtsy before leaving. The Queen, King and ladies of the royal court all returned to their game of bowling, all except for the Duchess of Longueville, wife of one of the leaders of the Fronde of the Princes and a woman of strong resolve. Going to one of her bodyguards nearby, she whispered in his ear.

“Follow those two English women who just talked with the Queen and find out discreetly where they are staying in Paris, then report back to me.”

“It will be done, madame.” whispered the man back before departing quickly, his eyes on the two women now leaving the inner courtyard. Returning to the side of the Queen, Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon Condé was in time to hear the petulant Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier and a young woman of 23 with curly blond hair, exclaim herself.

‘’My god, did you see the size of that young Lady Sommers? And she was living in the woods of New France? She must have some fascinating stories to tell.’’

‘’Like what? Hunting stories? Any poacher could tell you similar stories, my dear Anne Marie Louise. As for her using the title of ‘Lady’, I doubt that this young savage really deserves it. Even if her mother was a noble, her father was a commoner of the lowest class. Here in France, she would not be entitled to be called a noble.’’

‘’Don’t forget that things are different in England, Duchess.’’ replied coldly Anne of Austria. ‘’There, a title can be transmitted from the mother’s side. This girl anyway conducted herself in a most proper manner, even though she could easily have made you swallow your remark.’’

That made the young Duchess of Montpensier cluck.

‘’It’s true that she has the appearances of a true Amazon, Your Majesty. I would truly like to hear her stories about New France. They say that the aborigines there are most ferocious and cruel.’’

Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon Condé sighed with exasperation before walking away quickly.

‘’Stupid young airhead!’’

As they came in sight of D’Artagnan and Bartet, who were waiting under a shadowy porch, Nancy got closer to Lisbeth.

33

“We are being followed. Warn D’Artagnan and his friend away. I will take care of our trail. We will meet at the inn.”

After nodding, Lisbeth kept walking on the side of the street, still followed closely by Nancy. As the two men of the Cardinal were about to leave their hiding place to join her, she spoke up without looking at them.

“We are being followed. Go away and meet me back at the inn. Nancy will get rid of our follower.”

The two men, stunned at first, quickly complied and vanished in the middle of the morning crowd. Guided by discreet orders from Nancy, Lisbeth soon turned into a small, less frequented street. As soon as they turned the corner, Nancy disappeared in a tiny alley between two houses, letting Lisbeth continue alone. The man of Madame de Longueville, following from fifteen meters behind, didn’t notice anything until he turned the corner himself. Taken aback at seeing that one of the women was missing, he looked frantically around for Nancy, then decided in frustration to keep trailing the one woman still in sight. Hurrying up in order to cut the distance between them, he was suddenly tripped from behind and fell heavily to the ground. Swearing violently and with sharp pain from his bruised forehead, the man was about to pick himself up and look behind him when someone jumped on his back, taking away his breath. He was then struck hard on the jugular and passed out at once.

11:07 (Paris Time)

Duchess of Longueville’s suite

Palais-Royal, Paris

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY ESCAPED YOU?” shouted Madame de Longueville, positively enraged. Her mortified bodyguard, sporting a large bruise on his forehead, cringed.

“I believe that it was that teenage girl, madame. At one time I lost sight of her and decided to follow the aristocrat girl. Then, I was tripped from behind and knocked out by a blow to my neck.”

“ENOUGH! YOU ARE FIRED! GÉRARD!”

“Yes, madame?” answered the head of her bodyguards, who had stood behind his discomfited man.

34

“Gérard, those two English girls are supposed to come back tomorrow morning to take delivery of a letter from the Queen. I want you and three men to trail them and find where they are staying in Paris. Beware of that young servant girl: she may be more dangerous than she appears to be.”

“Don’t worry, madame.” replied Gérard with assurance. “They won’t get away from us.”

“I do hope so. I smell a plot of the Cardinal here.” said the blond duchess, still fuming with frustration.

 

15:38 (Paris Time)

Annexes of the Saint-Germain-Des-Prés abbey

Paris

Mathieu Le Nain had a last look at his preliminary sketch, then at Lisbeth of Strathmore, who was still holding her formal pose in front of a curtain drawn across his shop.

“I think that it will be all for today, Lady Lisbeth. We can continue tomorrow afternoon, if you don’t mind.”

Stretching out after being still for long hours, Lisbeth took out a heavy purse and threw it at the painter, who weighed it with contentment: his customers had been few and far between lately. Now he had not one but two well-paying visitors in a single day. The man who had been waiting with the teenage girl outside of his shop stuck his head through the curtain drawn across the door.

“Milady, I will escort you back to the inn while Monsieur Le Nain starts working on Nancy’s portrait.”

“But it will be dark by the time she is finished here.” objected Lisbeth. “The streets of Paris are not safe at night.”

“Do not worry, milady: I will come back for her after you are safely back at the inn. My friend Isaac is waiting for you there.”

“In that case I accept. See you tomorrow, Monsieur Le Nain.”

“It was a pleasure to have you here today, Lady Lisbeth.” replied the painter. He was preparing another canvas when the teenage girl who was his next customer entered, smiling to him.

35

“Monsieur Le Nain, do you do nude portraits, I mean realistic ones? I want something that reflects what I am, not what is considered the standards of beauty here. I want to see myself with a firm, suntanned body, not a white and plump one.” Le Nain hesitated a bit: her request was quite uncommon. On the other hand, she was a truly special type of beauty.

“I can try, but since it will not follow my usual technique, I will have to leave your portrait unsigned.”

Nancy looked disappointed for a moment, then looked back at him with a malicious expression on her face.

“Maybe we can discuss that point later?”

“Maybe. If you don’t mind, I will get myself some wine before we start. You can start undressing in the meantime.”

When Le Nain turned his attention back on her, a cup of wine in his left hand, he nearly strangled on his drink: Nancy was not only undressing, she was making quite a show of it as well. Captivated as he rarely had been by a model before, he took a chair and sat, admiring her as she stripped in a lascivious dance that would have damned quite a few abbots he knew. Her body was strong, yet sexy, and she was as supple as a cat. When she was finished, she approached him slowly and glued her nude body against him.

“Do you think that you can paint me the way I am and still sign my portrait?” she asked very softly. Mathieu Le Nain licked his lips before replying.

“It is certainly worth a try. Let’s start now.”

20:49 (Paris Time)

Mathieu Le Nain’s painting shop

Paris

Nancy looked quite satisfied with herself when she left Mathieu Le Nain’s shop, joining D’Artagnan in the hallway where he had been waiting patiently. She kissed him gently, with Charles returning it eagerly.

“Thanks for waiting for me, Charles. Could I see you tonight?”

“Of course you can! How could I say no to such a beautiful girl?”

“You smooth talker. Let’s go then.”

36

The streets were very dark when they left the abbey, them not being lit by any lamp posts or torches, and with the Moon being at its first quarter and covered by low clouds as well. The air was also cold and damp, making D’Artagnan shiver in his old, worn coat. Seeing him shiver, Nancy got closer to him and suddenly stopped him while enveloping her own coat around both of them. Next, she hugged him and kissed him on the mouth. D’Artagnan returned her kiss, then looked at her lovingly.

“What have I done that was so special to find a girl like you?”

“Well,” she said softly with sparkling eyes, “you are brave, strong, handsome and kind. Do I need to say more?”

D’Artagnan stared in silence at her for a few seconds, his heart beating faster. That young girl, who actually stood taller than him by a slight margin, was quickly winning his heart. Unfortunately, he could offer her little, being not much more than a traveling soldier with no home and precious little money. She seemed to guess his thoughts and smiled gently to him, showing him her perfect white teeth.

“You don’t need to worry about the long term with me, Charles. Just live and enjoy the present.”

She then kissed him again. That only sealed the spell she was starting to have on him. Gently pushing her at arm’s length, he gave her a resigned look.

“Nancy, you are probably the most fantastic girl I ever met. I wish that I could keep you but that would be impossible for the moment.”

He then saw a tear roll on her left cheek as she spoke in a hesitant voice, searching for her words.

“Charles, I was also going to say that staying together would be impossible. Only one day ago I thought that you were only one nice man among the many I met before. Now, I don’t know what to think.”

“We can discuss this at the inn, in front of a good fire. Now, let’s get out of those dark, cold streets.”

They then continued their rapid walk along the dark and stinky streets of Paris, which were soiled with a mix of excrements and garbage and were populated with beggars and homeless people sleeping on the pavement. The couple was about to turn into the Rue de Seine when D’Artagnan collided with a group of five men in the darkness of the unlit street. The newcomers, who were dressed like swordsmen for hire, swore violently and drew out their blades as one.

37

“LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING WITH YOUR WHORE, YOU IDIOT!” shouted the man nearest to D’Artagnan, who drew his sword as well.

“Morbleu! I will not let you insult a lady and a friend of mine.”

“Please, gentlemen!” shouted Nancy while interposing herself between D’Artagnan and the five strangers. “There is no reason to fight over this: it was a simple accident.”

“Hey, this is quite a nice thing we got here.” said the second man of the group. “We could entertain ourselves with her tonight.”

He then tried to grab Nancy’s right arm but she reacted with incredible speed and assurance, grabbing and twisting his left arm and hitting his immobilized elbow with a sharp karate chop. Screaming with pain, the man collapsed to his knees and let go his sword. The four other men were motionless for a moment, taken off balance by her unexpected combativeness. One of them then shouted at her while pointing his sword.

“YOU BITCH! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!”

He did only one step before D’Artagnan’s sword stabbed him in the stomach. Understanding that this was now a fight to the death, the three remaining intact men ganged up on D’Artagnan, forcing him into the middle of the street. Nancy then took position besides D’Artagnan, brandishing the sword taken from the man she had disabled. One of the three attackers lunged at her on seeing this but she parried easily his blade, then followed with a slash to the man’s face that left a long cut across his forehead, making him scream with pain while blood blinded him within seconds. Another of the attackers then collapsed, his heart pierced by D’Artagnan’s deadly blade. The last man left standing then fled in panic, leaving Charles to stare with disbelief at Nancy.

“Where did you learn to fight like this?”

“I told you before that Lady Lisbeth taught me.” she replied, deadpan, while throwing away the sword in her right hand. “Let’s leave before the city watch or a patrol of militiamen show up.”

“I will definitely have to do some practice fencing one day with her…and you.” said Charles as they walked quickly away from the scene of the fight, leaving two dead men and two wounded ones behind.

“You also are really good at fencing, Charles, apart from being a good lover.”

“I try my best,” replied Charles with false modesty, “especially with you.” She stopped for a moment and pressed him against the wall of a house, her hands on his chest.

38

“Then prove it tonight, Charles.”

She then kissed him with passion before resuming their walk towards the inn.

They were still pumped up with adrenaline and excited by the time they reached the inn. Passing quickly in front of Lisbeth and Isaac, who were sitting at a table in the hall and sharing a jug of wine, they went upstairs to D’Artagnan’s room with near indecent haste. Once in the room, they undressed each other hurriedly before jumping into the bed. Charles, stimulated like he had rarely been before, gave his best, concentrating on Nancy’s pleasure. She in turn showed again a depth of sexual experience that was surprising in such a young girl. They went at it twice, caressing and kissing each other between their climaxes. Charles, not a young man anymore, was spent but happy by the time they dressed and went back downstairs to the main hall, joining Lisbeth and Isaac at their table.

“What got you two so excited?” asked Isaac, looking at Charles and Nancy with amusement.

“We got into a fight with five armed men on our way in, that’s what.” answered Nancy. Isaac’s and Lisbeth’s smiles disappeared at once as she told them the details of their night confrontation.

“Do you think that this encounter was planned?” asked Isaac, worried about the safety of their covert mission. Charles shook his head at once.

“I don’t believe so. They were simply ruffians roaming the streets. They got what they deserved.”

“Did you really have to kill those men?” asked Lisbeth, attracting an impatient look from Charles. His hot reply was cut off by Nancy, who answered for him.

“Lisbeth, it was them or us. D’Artagnan and me acted in plain self-defense and had no choice.”

“Well, nothing that we could do now will bring those men back to life.” Finally said Lisbeth with a sigh. “Nancy did try to prevent the fight and they responded by attacking her. Let’s relax a bit now. Tomorrow will be a busy day: apart from picking up Queen Anne’s letter, I want to pay a courtesy visit to Queen Henriette-Marie at the Louvres. I suppose that you will ride out as soon as you have the Queen’s letter, Monsieur D’Artagnan?”

“You are right, Lady Lisbeth. I will probably be back within a week, though.”

39

Lisbeth didn’t miss the happy smile those last words brought on Nancy’s face but didn’t comment on that…yet. The teenager then confirmed her assessment when she spoke softly to D’Artagnan while putting her hand on his leg.

“I will prepare a basket of food for your trip, Charles. I will be waiting for your return. Just be careful, please.”

“Lucky bastard!” whispered Isaac, who then ducked just in time to avoid a friendly slap on the back of the head from D’Artagnan.

Much later, as they were preparing to go to bed, Lisbeth stared into the eyes of Nancy, who seemed to be dreaming about something. She spoke softly, her voice kept low so that nobody else could hear her.

“Nancy, are you having a teenage crush by any chance?”

“I may.” said weakly the teenager while lowering her head. Lisbeth went closer to her at once and passed an arm around the shoulders of the much bigger girl.

“Nancy, you know that this love cannot go on for long. It is an historical impossibility.”

“I know, Elizabeth.” said Nancy, tears now coming out. “I know perfectly well that D’Artagnan is supposed to enter a marriage of convenience in a few years, live rather unhappily while devoting himself to his duties to France and finally die a glorious death in battle as an old man of sixty. I also know that I am falling in love with him and I am not talking only about sexual attraction.”

“Hell, Joan of Arc falling in love with D’Artagnan. Talk about an explosive love relationship.” said Elizabeth Windsor, referring to one of the past incarnations of Nancy. “If you ever have a baby together and the French government learns about it in 1953 ’B’, it will probably declare that baby to be a French national treasure.”

“Please, Elizabeth, don’t twist the knife in the wound.” said sadly Nancy ‘B’. For all her intensive training as a field agent of the Time Patrol, she was still very much a teenage girl, with often strong emotions and feelings which were hard to control. On the other hand, D’Artagnan was in her eyes turning from simply being a famous historical figure to being a man worthy of the greatest respect and admiration and whose personality seemed to match her to a ‘T’. Something that Elizabeth had said then sank in her head. Wiping her tears, she then went into the bed she shared with her mission partner.

“Let’s sleep now. As you said, tomorrow will be a big day.”

40

Blowing the candle on her night stand, she then looked at the ceiling in the now dark room.

“Good night, Lisbeth. Good night to you guys above us.”

“Good night, Nancy. I envy you, truly.” she heard in her implanted miniature radio. That was the voice of Frida Winterer, on duty aboard the scoutship WALKUREN, floating above Paris and hidden under electro-magnetic cloak.

‘’Thank you, Frida. You are a real friend.’’

11:02 (Paris Time)

Monday, April 17, 1651

Palais-Royal, Paris

Anne Marie Louise D’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, was walking past the suite of the Duchess of Longueville when a series of screamed insults and swears coming from inside the apartments made her stop and put her ear to the door in order to listen. Somebody was obviously getting a first class dressing down inside.

Mademoiselle de Montpensier was suddenly put out of balance when the door opened, making her fall forward at the feet of Gérard, the head bodyguard of Madame de Longueville. The flustered man didn’t say a word then and left quickly, followed by three mortified bodyguards. That left the young blonde, still on her hands and knees, alone to face an irate Duchess of Longueville.

“What were you little twit doing there? Spying on me?”

“Me, a twit?” replied heatedly Anne Marie Louise. “Watch your mouth: I’m of royal blood.”

“Yes, yes, everybody knows that around here.” shot back Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon Condé in exasperation. “Everybody also knows that you are still a virgin at the age of 24 and can’t dream of anything else but of one day marrying little King Louis. You should get a man in your bed one fine night, so that you could get finally some brains in that little head of yours!”

The Great Mademoiselle, as she was universally known, swallowed back the choice words she had in mind and got up on her feet in order to face her counterpart from a more dignified stance.

“My private life is my business! Now, why were you screaming loud enough to be heard from across the palace?”

41

Anne-Geneviève threw her hands in the air in exasperation then.

“Alright, you might as well know, since my stupid bodyguards are at fault. Yesterday, I ordered one of my bodyguards to follow those two English girls who brought a letter to the Queen, since I suspected some plot of Cardinal Mazarin. The idiot was assaulted and beaten unconscious by that savage girl from New France. Now, I just learned that those two English girls managed to lose the four bodyguards who were assigned to follow them this morning. That savage girl even had the nerve to flash her ass at my men before disappearing in a small alley.”

That made the Great Mademoiselle smile in amusement, which got in turn the Duchess of Longueville even madder.

“You find it funny that two girls who are possibly messengers of Mazarin could escape my men?”

“What would you do with them if you caught them anyway? Kill them? If they really represent the Queen and King of England, you could then start a first class diplomatic row. Don’t forget also that Queen Henriette is my aunt.”

“For what little you care about your aunt.” shot back Anne-Geneviève. “Anyway, seeing what kind of letters they carry would easily show me who they really represent. If they work for the Cardinal, I would then make sure that they reveal the hiding places of their accomplices in Paris.”

Anne Marie Louise didn’t have to ask by what means the two English girls would be questioned: the methods had changed little since the earliest times in history.

“Well, good luck in your hunt, madame. I will inform you if I meet these girls again.”

She then left the Duchess’ suite, hoping that those two English girls would have another occasion to ridicule Madame De Longueville’s men.

15:38 (Paris Time)

The Louvre Palace

Paris

Lisbeth stuck her head timidly inside the doorway of the large but mostly bare room on the ground floor of the Louvre Palace. Up to now, her and Nancy had found the Louvre bare of occupants, except for a few French guards and maintenance workers. A

42

young and pretty woman sitting by the side of a large bed and reading a book to a little girl lying in the bed looked up at Lisbeth with curiosity.

“Can I do something for you, miss?” she asked in English.

“Uh, I was hoping that it would be the other way around.” replied Lisbeth, entering the room with Nancy behind her. Both stopped at a good distance to the bed, putting down on the floor their baskets before bowing politely at the woman by the bed.

“I am Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore and this is my friend and lady-in-waiting, Lady Nancy Sommers. We were hoping to have an audience with Her Majesty the Queen, but have found only empty rooms up to now.”

“An audience…” said the young woman, sadness in her voice. She then swept her arms around, showing the bare room and empty fireplace. Her own dress was modest and she wore no jewelry.

“As you can see, Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore, there are no guards to stop you from seeing the Queen, no valets or ladies-in-waiting to lead you to her either. We are only a few around the Queen, hoping for better times in rooms we can’t even afford to heat. I will lead you to her but I’m afraid that you will be disappointed by the state of her court. By the way, I am Countess Ann Morton and this is Princess Henriette-Anne.”

“You are the Countess of Morton?” exclaimed happily Lisbeth before kneeling in front of her and kissing her hand respectfully. “I always wanted to compliment the courageous lady who saved young Princess Henriette-Anne from the clutches of Cromwell.”

Ann Morton blushed and rose from her chair, making Lisbeth get to her feet at the same time.

“I wish that my appearance would be worthy of my title, Lady Lisbeth. As for saving the Princess, I only did my duty.”

“But you did it with such courage, Countess. May God bless you! Could I kiss the Princess?”

“By all means, Lady Lisbeth.”

Her eyes sparkling with tenderness, Lisbeth kissed the forehead of the little girl draped under multiple blankets to stay warm. The girl’s black eyes sparkled back.

“Thank you, milady. Are you coming to stay with us?”

“No, Your Highness. We are only here to visit and bring a few gifts.”

“Gifts?” replied the skinny little girl, hope in her voice.

“Yes, Your Highness. I even have something special for you.”

43

Lisbeth then searched inside her basket and brought to the child a small square cake wrapped in waxed paper.

“We have brought with us a number of honey cakes. This one is for you.” The little princess was about to hungrily bite in the cake when Ann Morton’s hand suddenly stopped her. The Countess then looked gravely at Lisbeth.

“Excuse my suspicions but Cromwell’s agents would love no better than to be able to poison us. Do you have proofs of who you are?”

Lisbeth didn’t get offended by that. The sad truth was that Henriette-Anne was actually going to die from suspected poisoning in a few years time and that Anne Morton’s caution was well justified. Instead, Lisbeth broke a small part of the cake and ate it.

“We didn’t bring letters of patent with us, Countess, as we had to go through enemy lines to come to France and couldn’t risk being discovered with such letters. You know as well as me what the parliamentary soldiers of Cromwell do to the supporters of the King whom they find.”

Ann Morton lowered her head as nightmarish visions came back to her.

“Yes, I know too well indeed. The cruelty of those fanatical Puritan knows no bounds. I am sorry for doubting you, Lady Lisbeth.”

“Can I eat the cake now, Ann?” asked in a pleading voice the little princess. That broke the heart of Elizabeth Windsor who, as an ex-member of the British royal family of modern times, felt a strong affinity with this royal family. Ann Morton was finally convinced on seeing the tears in Lisbeth’s eyes while she smiled tenderly to the little girl.

“You may eat it, my little princess.”

As little Henriette-Anne avidly ate the cake, Lisbeth faced back Ann Morton.

“Me and Nancy brought food in those two baskets. Could I leave a piece of cheese for the Princess before seeing the Queen?”

From the famished look that the Countess gave to the covered baskets, along with her thin face, it was obvious that she was sorely tempted to have a bite herself right now.

“You would make the Princess very happy indeed, Lady Lisbeth: none of us have seen meat or cheese for weeks.”

“I will take that as a yes.” said Lisbeth, smiling. “Nancy, can I borrow one of your knives?”

As Ann Morton watched with surprise and shock Nancy take a throwing knife out from the front of her court dress, Lisbeth explained in a soft voice.

“My friend Nancy also happens to be my bodyguard. She is very good at it.”

44

Accepting the knife from Nancy, Lisbeth took a round cheese from one of the baskets and cut two medium-size pieces, handing the first to little Henriette-Anne, then the second to Ann Morton. Both pieces were eaten very quickly, prompting Lisbeth in cutting two more pieces, a wide grin on her face.

“I thought that you would like this Dutch Gouda cheese. I like it a lot myself.”

“Lady Lisbeth, I won’t forget your kindness.” said Ann Morton as she quickly ate her second slice of cheese.

“Countess Morton,” said Nancy softly while approaching her, “a person of your quality and devotion deserves better than wearing the dress of a simple servant. You would honor me a lot by accepting these as a token of my admiration for your courage and faithful services to the Queen.”

As she spoke, Nancy undid her pearl necklace and matching earrings before clipping them on Ann Morton, who was too moved to protest at first.

“But I can’t accept those, not when the Queen herself is bare of jewels.”

“Don’t worry about that, Countess.” replied a smiling Lisbeth. “We have a few more gifts to hand around. Let’s go see the Queen now, if you may: I have been dreaming of that moment for a long time.”

Following Ann Morton out of the chilly bedroom and into the hallway, Lisbeth and Nancy, food baskets in their hands, soon entered a large lounge. Like in the rest of the palace, the ambient temperature there was quite low and the fireplace had not seen a fire for months. The five persons wearing long coats and playing cards at a table near a window looked up at the newcomers, while a midget hurried towards them, a hand on the dagger at his belt. Ann Morton reassured the midget with a sign of the hand before going to the table and performing a curtsy in front of the only woman of the group.

“Your Majesty, Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore and her lady-in-waiting are soliciting the privilege of an audience with you.”

The small woman with curly black hair Morton was addressing examined for a moment the two newcomers, then smiled.

“Please come forward, Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore, along with your friend.” The two young women complied quickly before doing a curtsy in front of Queen Henriette-Marie, this after putting down their baskets of food. At age 42, the Queen was still a pretty woman, although years of hardship had marked her face. Her dress, while elegant, was quite worn and she was devoid of jewelry. The four men now standing

45

around the table were dressed as modestly as her, with one wearing the robe and crucifix of a priest. Two of the men had swords on their belts and looked ready to use them if need be.

“What brings you to Paris with your friend, Lady Lisbeth?”

“The civil war in our poor country, Your Majesty. My parents, judging the situation dangerous at home, decided to send me to France for a few months in order to let pass what they thought then was the worst of it. It seems unfortunately that they had been too optimistic. With little to do and with ample funds in our hands, I thought that it would be a good time to pay a visit to my Queen. Also, knowing about your living conditions here, the good people around Angus, where our family estate is, collected enough to convey through me a few gifts for their beloved Queen. My friend Nancy came along as my bodyguard.”

“Your bodyguard?”

While the Queen showed surprise, the two armed noblemen behind her smiled as if hearing a good joke. Lisbeth looked with displeasure at the men, something the Queen noticed.

“Lord Jermyn, Lord Goring, Lady Lisbeth and her friend made a long and dangerous trip in order to pay homage to me. Please treat both of them with the courtesy due to my guests.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” replied politely the youngest of the two, a tough-looking man in his late thirties. “Please excuse our reaction, Lady Lisbeth.”

“Apologies accepted, my lord. I realize that Nancy’s abilities are quite unusual. Would you like a demonstration?”

“Why not?” said the Queen, grinning. “We are in such short supply of any entertainment here.”

Lisbeth then winked at Nancy.

“The main door, Nancy.”

At those words, the teenager plunged both hands inside the cleavage of her dress and, with both incredible speed and accuracy, threw a pair of knives which embedded themselves in the door panel, a few inches apart from each other and at chest level. Nancy immediately followed that by performing a series of back flips towards the door, finally retrieving her knives after landing with the grace of a cat. That demonstration left the Queen and noblemen speechless for a moment, which gave a chance to Lisbeth to get back to the main topic of her visit.

46

“Your Majesty, seeing you in such a poor attire pains me, as it would also pain your loyal subjects. Please accept this small gift from your people.” After a last incredulous glance at Nancy, the Queen accepted the flat wooden box that Lisbeth had taken out of one of her baskets and slowly opened it. Her eyes opened in admiration at the set of pink pearl necklace, earrings and bracelet inside the box.

“May I, Your Majesty?” said Lisbeth softly before helping to clip the necklace around the Queen’s neck. Both women were close to tears when they exchanged a hug. The next gift from Lisbeth was a small casket full of gold coins.

“We heard that you had to contract debts in order to feed your retinue. This should cover them as well as the wages of your followers, Your Majesty.” That got the noblemen and Ann Morton to smile in contentment: all of them were penniless after selling off all of their valuables.

“Sir Cowley,” said Henriette-Marie as she handed over the casket to a modestly dressed man, “could I ask you to do an accounting of what I owe and see that the back wages and most urgent debts be paid. Leave some money as well for food and heating wood.”

“Your Majesty,” cut in Lisbeth, “I already took care of the wood: a cart should deliver a load of dry wood anytime now. As for the food, me and Nancy brought some provisions with us. If we may use this table, Your Majesty.” Of a common accord, the playing cards on the table were quickly removed and the four baskets put on top of it after a clean cloth was thrown over the table. Delighted squeals rang out as Lisbeth and Nancy lined up an assortment of sausages, cheese, hard boiled eggs, bread, salted fish and ham. One basket also contained a jug of red wine.

“Bless you both for your generosity.” professed the priest before leading a short grace.

“Oh dear, I was forgetting my poor Minette with all this.” said the Queen as her followers went at the food with gusto. “Lady Morton, please bring Minette here so that she can eat too.”

After letting the Queen and her followers eat in peace for a few minutes, Lisbeth, sitting besides Henriette-Marie, spoke up.

“Your Majesty, may I ask only one favor of you and your followers: that you do not mention my name or that of Nancy to anybody back in England.”

47

“Your modesty is too great, Lady Lisbeth: I am too much in your debt to just forget you and your family.”

“Your Majesty, it is not a question of being modest. If Cromwell or his followers learn that I gave you comfort here, they will take revenge on my family and our people. After the atrocities committed in Ireland by Cromwell and his soldiers, I believe that nothing is sacred or safe from this traitor and regicide.”

Father Cyprien De Gamaches lowered his head at the mention of the massacres in Ireland.

“God will make the final judgment on that evil man. To kill thousands of peasants just because they were Catholics…”

“Sad experience showed me that mixing religion and politics always result in bloodshed and suffering, Father.” said thoughtfully Nancy, attracting on herself the attention of both the Queen and of Father Cyprien.

“Can I assume that you are a good Catholic, my child?” asked the priest, to which Nancy shook her head.

“You would assume wrongly, Father. I am an agnostic.”

That shocked Father Cyprien to no small end. He however bit his lips and faced Lisbeth, keeping a friendly expression.

“And you, Lady Lisbeth, what religion do you practice?”

The young English aristocrat locked eyes with him as she answered calmly.

“Father, I am a practicing member of the Anglican Church. I do agree with Nancy on one thing here: different religions should not preclude peace and friendship. Nancy is my best friend and will stay so irrespective of the religion she practices, if any.” The embarrassed silence that followed was cut by Nancy, who suddenly rose to her feet as she looked out through one of the windows.

“The cart of wood has arrived! I’ll go direct the workers.”

She was about to leave at a run when she remembered something and performed a curtsy in front of the Queen.

“With Your Majesty’s permission…”

“By all means, young Nancy.”

Father Cyprien shook his head as he watched Nancy leave the room.

“That young girl’s mother should pay more attention to her religious education.”

“Father,” replied Lisbeth, with annoyance evident her voice, “Nancy is as kind and compassionate a person as any Christian could be. On the other hand, I have seen

48

too many so-called good Christians commit unspeakable horrors and show utter intolerance towards others, contrary to Jesus’ teachings of tolerance and kindness. I don’t judge others based on their religion and I’m not about to start with my friend Nancy.”

16:07 (Paris Time)

Friday, April 21, 1651

Palais-Royal, Paris

The officer in charge of the soldiers of the Duke of Orléans who were guarding the Palais-Royal frowned on hearing the request from the tall and pretty young teenager who had showed up at the main entrance of the palace, wearing a modest dress and carrying a guitar and a haversack.

‘’You want to play music and dance to entertain the young King, miss? And you are…?’’

‘’Lady Nancy Sommers. I already came twice to the palace with my mistress, Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore, to speak with the Queen.’’

‘’Do you have any weapon with you?’’

In response, Nancy pulled down on the cleavage of her dress, making her firm young breasts pop out while she smiled to the officer.

‘’Only if you call these weapons, monsieur.’’

The officer laughed while admiring her denuded chest.

‘’These could indeed qualify as very effective weapons, mademoiselle. I will however have to search your haversack. Henri, have a look in it.’’ One of the four soldiers on duty at the main gate quickly searched Nancy’s haversack as the latter put her breasts back in her dress.

‘’There are no weapons, Lieutenant, just some clothes and a couple of musical instruments.’’

‘’Very well! Wait here, miss. I will go see if the Queen can receive you.’’ Leaving Nancy with his four soldiers, the officer entered the palace at a quick pace, returning some twelve minutes later.

‘’The Queen will see you, mademoiselle. Please follow me.’’

49

Nancy was led down a long corridor before going up to the second floor, finally arriving at the door of a lounge guarded by two soldiers. Nancy didn’t miss the fact that the soldiers belonged to the Duke of Orléans, and not to the royal army. The Queen and the young King, despite the appearances, were effectively prisoners of the Fronde. Once introduced in the lounge, Nancy found the Queen there, along with young King Louis and his younger brother Philippe, the Duchess of Montpensier and a few ladies-in-waiting. All of them sat in sofas placed near a large fireplace in which a good fire was burning. Like all the stone buildings of the time, which didn’t have a central heating system, the palace was fresh in this end of April, forcing its occupants to live close to their fireplaces in order to find some warmth. Nancy walked to the Queen and stopped a few steps in front of her, then curtsied to her and the King.

‘’Thank you for receiving me, Your Majesty.’’

‘’It is I who must thank you for your visit, Lady Sommers.’’ replied Queen Anne in a friendly tone. ‘’Distractions are so rare in these times. So, what can you do to entertain us?’’

‘’I propose to sing a few songs while playing my guitar, as well as telling a few stories about New France. I can also perform a few acrobatics and dance, Your Majesty.’’

‘’That program sounds nice, Lady Sommers.’’ said the Queen before looking at her eldest son. ‘’What would you like her to do first, Louis?’’

‘’I want to hear her play the guitar and then tell us stories about New France, Mother.’’

‘’Very well, Louis. Lady Sommers, would you have objections to stay in this palace overnight? Darkness will fall in a few hours and the streets of Paris are unsafe in these troubled times.’’

‘’I accept gladly your offer of hospitality, Your Majesty.’’

‘’In that case, come with me and I will assign you a room, where you will be able to drop your things and change for your various gigs.’’

The Duchess of Montpensier, who was now enthusiastic at the idea of hearing stories about New France, thankfully didn’t think about following the Queen and Nancy in order to keep watch on them. Using a door of the lounge which communicated with the royal apartments, Queen Anne of Austria led Nancy to a small servant’s room adjacent with a much bigger and far more luxurious bedroom. The servant’s room, while tiny, was at least well lit by a window.

50

‘’You will be able to use this servant’s room. The bedroom next door is that of Louis. This way, nobody will be able to get at you without being noticed.’’ She then lowered her voice to a near whisper.

‘’Do you have a letter for me, Lady Sommers?’’

‘’Yes, Your Majesty! A rider from the Cardinal arrived yesterday from Germany and brought this letter. Monsieur d’Artagnan should also arrive in the next few days with more letters. Here is the letter that arrived yesterday.’’

The Queen quickly took the letter Nancy took out of her dress, then hid it in her corsage while smiling to her.

‘’Your services to the crown will not be forgotten, Lady Sommers. I will have a letter for Monsieur d’Artagnan for you to carry before you depart the palace tomorrow morning. Now put your things down and let’s return to the lounge before the Great Mademoiselle wakes up and wonders about what we are doing.’’

Less than two minutes had passed by the time Nancy returned with the Queen to the lounge, her guitar in hand. Going to a spot between the sofas and the fireplace, Nancy smiled to the young king and to his brother, who was ten years old.

‘’Your Majesty, I will start with a song called ‘Destin’.’’

She then started playing her guitar and sang an adaptation of a hit song by Céline Dion, composed at the end of the 20th Century. Apart from counting five of her past incarnations as a dancer, musician and singer, Nancy was also part of the ‘Time Minstrels’, a musical band formed by young members or relatives of members of the Time Patrol. The Time Minstrels specialized in adapting and playing songs and musical pieces from various periods of history. Many had told Nancy that she could have easily become a professional artist with her voice, physique and talents for dance and music. Her first performance this afternoon attracted a concert of enthusiastic applauses, with young King Louis XIV smiling from one ear to the other while eyeing her with sparkling eyes.

‘’Bravo, Lady Sommers! Another song, please!’’

‘’With pleasure, Your Majesty.’’ replied Nancy before starting another song in French that had never been heard before in this century, playing her guitar with gusto. That song was as well received as the first, prompting her to bow to thank her audience. Seeing a harpsichord, an ancestor of the piano, which sat in a nearby corner of the lounge, Nancy looked at the Queen.

51

‘’If you don’t mind, Your Majesty, I would like now to play a piece or two on your harpsichord.’’

‘’You are most welcomed to it, my child.’’

Going to the harpsichord, a large Flemish model with a twin keyboard, and standing behind it, as it was meant to be played, Nancy tried a few keys to judge the tonality range of the instrument. Thinking for a few seconds, she then started to play a solo harpsichord piece that was due to be written in about sixty years by the great German composer Johan Sebastian Bach. Queen Anne, like the young Duchess of Montpensier, opened their mouths in astonishment as Nancy played the harpsichord with evident mastery, while they obviously loved Bach’s composition. Nancy followed Bach’s piece by an adaptation as a solo harpsichord piece of a modern pop song, singing along in English as she played the instrument. After another round of applauses, she returned to her guitar and sang a hit song from the musical score of the movie GLADIATOR, a performance that nearly brought tears to Queen Anne with its melancholic, tragic tunes. At the end, after applauding her with enthusiasm, Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans said something that made Nancy smile to her.

‘’When I think that the Duchess of Longueville is calling you a savage, Lady Sommers.’’

‘’Those that Europeans are calling savages could actually show you a few tricks, Duchess. The Amerindians of New France know nature intimately and practice a natural medicine that I believe to be far superior to the medicine known in France. If you don’t mind, I will go change quickly for the second part of my show.’’

Disappearing through the door that led to the royal apartments, Nancy left the spectators alone to comment her performance to date. The young king in particular, who loved playing the guitar, was most enthusiastic and said that he was anxious to see more. He was not disappointed when Nancy returned a few minutes later, executing a number of tumbles and flips before landing in front of the fireplace and of the row of sofas. The French present drew air in on seeing her new outfit: she was now dressed in a red loincloth, buckskin leggings, moccasins and a sleeveless buckskin tank top vest that left her navel and belly bare, plus wore a leather headband decorated with colored stitching. She also had painted her face the way Iroquois warriors did for war and made a ferocious grimace, her eyes wild, making more than one spectator shiver with fear.

52

‘’I am Kakwitte, an Iroquois warrior, and I will tell you how I kill and scalp my enemies.’’

Nancy then executed a frantic war dance while singing in Iroquois language. She followed that with a hunting story told in French, with her hunting expedition turning into a battle at the encounter with a group of Algonquin hunters. She moved constantly during her story, jumping around and performing flips while making scary faces. While the Duchess of Montpensier shivered while still enjoying the show, young Louis and his brother Philippe giggled in pleasure at her grimaces and applauded hard at the end of her performance.

‘’Bravo, Lady Sommers! You are fantastic! Please tell us more stories.’’

‘’That will have to wait after supper, Louis.’’ Said Queen Anne, who was fanning herself to chase the emotion that the ferocious show given by Nancy had brought her. ‘’You are of course invited to have supper with us, my child.’’

‘’It will be an honor for me, Your Majesty.’’ replied Nancy while curtsying to her. ‘’If you don’t mind, I will go change and wash a bit first.’’

‘’Go, my dear!’’

As the Queen commented with the other women present Nancy’s performance, young Louis disappeared inside the royal apartments, pretending that he needed to go use a chamber pot. Going to his bedroom, his eyes sparkled with pleasure when he found Nancy topless in the adjacent servant’s room while she was taking off her Amerindian outfit. The teenage girl didn’t mind that, smiling to him and inviting him to come closer before closing the door of the tiny room behind the King.

‘’I hope that you liked my show, Your Majesty.’’

‘’A lot, Lady Sommers. You also have a fascinating body, so supple and strong for a girl.’’

Unable to resist his urge, the boy of twelve then raised his right hand hesitantly, finally covering Nancy’s left breast and fondling it gently. Seeing that she was smiling at that, he then fondled both of her breasts, his breathing accelerating. Nancy let him fondle her for a few seconds before gently stopping him.

‘’I promise to let you enjoy my body fully tonight, Your Majesty. However, I must now change and wash quickly, before your mother could suspect that you are with me.’’

‘’Can I continue to watch you then?’’

53

Nancy didn’t reply to that, simply continuing to undress until she ended fully naked in front of the boy. Louis licked his lips on seeing that her groin was carefully shaved.

‘’You are truly making me mad with desire, Lady Sommers.’’

‘’I do make the same effect on most boys, Your Majesty, but thank you for the compliment.’’

Nancy then slipped back in her undershirt and dress before washing her face to remove the Iroquois war paint. On her urging, Louis then returned to the lounge, in order not to attract the suspicions of his mother. Once dressed and washed, Nancy took the time to comb her hair and to apply some light makeup, then returned to the lounge. There, on top of the Queen and of the other spectators, she found the Duchess of Longueville, to which the Duchess of Montpensier was enthusiastically telling her about Nancy’s show. Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon Condé stiffened on seeing Nancy appear in the lounge but did as if she had not seen her, ignoring her and leaving the lounge in quick paces, probably to go alert her bodyguards. Nancy resolved to be on her guards for the rest of the evening and night as she followed the Queen towards the dining room.

22:19 (Paris Time)

Royal apartments, Palais-Royal

Paris

A lit candle in one hand, Nancy slipped silently inside the room of the young king in order to get to her own room. She now had with her, hidden in her corsage, a letter from the Queen addressed to Cardinal Mazarin. As she was passing by the bed of Louis XIV, the young boy suddenly sat up, having probably been waiting for her in the dark room.

‘’Lady Sommers, could I see you tonight?’’ whispered the boy.

‘’Just give me time to undress, Your Majesty.’’

Going into the servant’s room, Nancy put down her candle holder on the dresser, then quickly took off her clothes before returning naked in the dark to Louis’ bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she smiled to the young king, who was hungrily eyeing her in the semi-darkness of the room, which was poorly lit by two candles. Nancy knew that Louis was going to catch a venereal disease in a few years, thanks to his fooling around with a multitude of lovers, but that he was still healthy right now. She had anyway received as an agent of the Time Patrol a series of vaccines developed by the doctors of the Global

54

Council and covering the most common diseases of the past, including sexually transmitted diseases. The young king was a solidly built and handsome boy who was only one year younger than her. To talk of abuse in this case would thus be laughable, especially in view of the countless lovers and mistresses, both commoners and aristocrats, whom Louis XIV was going to collect during his life. Nancy certainly found Louis to her taste, but she also had received discreetly a radio message from Mike Crawford, asking her if she was ready to do what was needed for her to get in the good graces of Louis XIV and thus gain a long term access to the royal court. She was already preparing herself for a long term mission in the 19th Century that would see her marry briefly a French Aristocrat living in the Caribbean, in order to create a person important for the Time Patrol. To become the occasional lover of Louis XIV did not bother her, at least for the first years of his reign, before the negative influence of his court and the constant fawning or his courtesans would develop in him his least attractive traits, like selfishness and arrogance. Pushing aside the bed sheet covering the boy, Nancy then made him remove his night shirt before lying beside him and smiling to him again.

‘’You do realize that this cannot have any long term consequences, Your Majesty. I must stay as anonymous as I can in this court, for many reasons, while I am of a much too low class to dare asking favors from you.’’

‘’I know, Lady Sommers. However, know that the hardships of this Fronde have taught me that I can’t expect any true loyalty from the great nobles of my realm, nobles who betrayed the crown and are holding me prisoner with my mother and brother in Paris. To date, only people of the lower classes and nobles of small lineage, like Monsieur d’Artagnan, have proved to be truly loyal to the crown. Once this damn Fronde is suppressed, I will need such loyal and competent persons to help me administer and defend France. You appear to be such a person to me, Lady Sommers.’’

‘’You are flattering me, Your Majesty.’’

‘’No, I am only saying the truth.’’ replied Louis, serious. ‘’You are not only beautiful: you are also full of talents, brave, intelligent and resourceful. To have you in my service would greatly please me. As for your anonymity, that can be arranged easily enough. By the way, call me simply Louis when we are intimate.’’

‘’With pleasure, Louis.’’ said softly Nancy before hugging the boy and kissing him, letting the hands of the young king caress and explore her body at will.

55

Nancy left the palace discreetly early next morning, after a last word with the Queen and a discreet kiss with Louis. Foiling again the surveillance of the men of the Duchess of Longueville, who were watching the royal apartments, she left via the window of her room before the Sun rose up and climbed down the stone façade with the agility of a spider, then disappearing at a run in a nearby street. Less than thirty minutes later, she was back at the Inn of Le Lion Noir, where she gave her precious letter to Monsieur Bartett. In a few days, d’Artagnan would be coming back from Germany and would be able to take charge of the letter. Nancy was already longing dreamily for that day.

14:40 (Paris Time)

Tuesday, April 25, 1651

Inn of ‘Le Lion Noir’, Paris

D’Artagnan, still covered with dust from his ride back from Germany, nearly ran inside the inn, eager to see Nancy again. His heart jumped with joy when he saw her at a table near a window, reading a book. The look of happiness on her face when she saw him was well worth his long trip. Shedding his dirty cape first, he walked quickly to her while she rose to her feet and met him halfway. They kissed each other passionately for a long moment, attracting a few amused but gentle comments from other customers present in the main hall of the inn. Nancy’s bright green eyes positively sparkled when she looked at Charles after ungluing herself from him.

“It was a long week for me, Charles. I missed you a lot.”

“I missed you too, my beautiful Nancy.” He kissed her again before looking around the main hall. “I don’t see your friend Lisbeth or my own friend Isaac around. Don’t tell me that they are upstairs, doing something together.” That made Nancy giggle and shake a finger at him.

“Now, you better not say that in front of Lisbeth: she does not appreciate jokes about her private life. But since you mentioned it, let’s go upstairs ourselves.” Nancy took the time to retrieve her book while D’Artagnan grabbed his cape. He looked at the leather-bound book with curiosity.

“What are you reading, Nancy?”

“A Greek comedy. It’s actually quite funny.”

56

“You can read Greek?” exclaimed Charles, not a little impressed. That attracted a proud smile on Nancy’s face.

“Yes, along with Latin, Hebrew and a few other languages.” Charles was left flabbergasted by that: the more he thought that he knew her, the more she surprised him. He didn’t have a chance to reply to that, Nancy pulling him eagerly up the stairs towards his room.

15:46 (Paris Time)

D’Artagnan’s room

Nancy sighed with contentment and laid down on top of Charles, still impaled on him. Charles’ heart was still beating furiously from the energetic treatment from the teenager, who smiled tenderly to him.

“You know, Charles, I haven’t felt the way I do now for a man in a long time. I have known and bedded many men before but none like you.” Charles stared silently into her eyes, his mind in turmoil. He was a man close to his forties, with no personal fortune and little possessions. His life as a soldier had made him meet many women, but only as short adventures. The sensible and commonly sought way would be for him to find a reasonably wealthy and pretty woman, marry her and thus enjoy a quiet and comfortable retirement, apart from having a few sons to ensure the continuation of his name. Marriages of love for men like him were considered of the utmost ridicule by most. Yet, the thought of losing Nancy hurt him deeply: she was too special a girl to let go. The fact that she was probably of only moderate means herself was now far in the back of his mind. What was on his mind now was to keep riding and fighting with her at his side. If his friends ridiculed him for that, then the hell with them! His hands started caressing gently her face as he spoke softly.

“Nancy, I love you more than anything else in the World. Would you marry me?” Infinite tenderness filled her eyes then. Tears came next as she shook her head slowly.

“Charles, you can’t imagine how your request touches me, but I have to say no. Not because I don’t love you but because too many people depend on me. Also, you are an important man at the King’s court and you will be expected one day to enter a marriage of convenience with some aristocrat woman. I have my destiny and you have yours.”

57

“Nancy, my destiny is with you. I don’t want it any other way.” She had trouble replying to him, tears and sobs choking her.

“Charles, I do love you, but I simply can’t marry you. Will you be contented with me being your occasional mistress?

“How often could we see each other?” asked D’Artagnan, his eyes full of tears. Nancy kissed him tearfully before replying.

“Every week, if you wish so. We will just need to give ourselves a rallying point every time.”

D’Artagnan thought that over for a moment, then pressed Nancy’s naked body against his.

“Then, I could live with that, Nancy.”

They kissed each other again before Nancy looked into D’Artagnan’s eyes.

“Charles, there is something else that I can do for you.” she said very softly.

“And what’s that, my love?”

“I want a baby from you.”

“You…you would do that for me?” said D’Artagnan, touched. Nancy nodded, then kissed him again.

12:49 (Paris Time)

Thursday, April 27, 1651

Rue Saint-Antoine, Paris

D’Artagnan eyed nervously the sinister towers of the Bastille fortress to their right, then the group of soldiers visible ahead at the Gate of Saint-Antoine. Lisbeth rode besides him Amazon style on her mare, while Nancy rode closely behind them. The Queen’s precious letters to the Cardinal were hidden under his shirt, while a bulging bag full of food was solidly attached to his saddle. Charles then noticed a rich carriage pulling to the side of the barricade watched by the soldiers, having come from outside the gate. A young woman aristocrat was now conversing with the officer in charge of the barricade. D’Artagnan felt acid in his stomach when he recognized both the woman and the soldiers and he got closer to Lisbeth to speak to her in a low voice.

“Trouble ahead, milady! I see Mademoiselle De Montpensier at the gate, speaking with soldiers of the Duke of Orléans, her father. She knows me.”

58

Lisbeth’s face closed up at those news. Discreetly changing her riding posture to that of a man instead of the awkward Amazon style deemed proper for women, she signaled Nancy to do the same without breaking their stride.

“Monsieur d’Artagnan, your letters must go through. No matter what happens next, ride away!”

“What about you and Nancy?”

“We will take care of ourselves, Charles. You, on the other hand, are the only one that can take care of those letters.”

Charles swallowed hard as he looked behind him at Nancy, who nodded her head in agreement.

“She is right, Charles. Ride through with Lisbeth. I will cover your escape if need be.”

“But…”

“Go! We still can bluff our way through.”

Anne Marie Louise D’Orléans was still speaking with her father’s officer when a trio of riders approaching from the Rue Saint-Antoine caught her eyes. She then recognized with excitement the two English girls who, only this morning, had again ridiculed Madame De Longueville’s men by losing them despite being trailed by eight experienced men. Their discomfited faces after having been admonished by their hysterical mistress had made her laugh hard then. Her amusement at seeing the two young women suddenly vanished when she looked closely at the man riding alongside them. Grabbing the officer by the shoulder, she then pointed at d’Artagnan.

“THAT MAN IS AN AGENT OF CARDINAL MAZARIN! ARREST HIM!” Her scream and that of the officer ordering his men to seize him prompted d’Artagnan in doing something the Great Mademoiselle, herself a good rider, did not think possible: ignoring the guarded chicane entrance of the barricade, he made his horse jump over the barricade itself. Adding to the Duchess’ amazement, the English aristocrat girl vaulted the barricade as well with her horse and galloped away behind d’Artagnan, prompting the officer to shout an order to his men.

“SHOOT THEM!”

The Duchess then saw Nancy, who had stayed well behind her two companions, spur her horse and charge the dozen or so soldiers leveling their muskets at the fleeing d’Artagnan and the English aristocrat. Nancy’s horse crashed into them before they

59

could fire, throwing their ranks into utter confusion. Anne Marie Louise D’Orléans understood with a pinch of admiration that Nancy was deliberately staying behind in order to protect the escape of her companions. Seeing a soldier about to point his pistol at the girl, she shouted at once as loud as she could.

“DON’T SHOOT HER! TAKE HER ALIVE!”

Soon trapped between the defensive moat of the Bastille and a half-circle of soldiers armed with halberds, swords and muskets, the teenager jumped off her horse and, taking from her saddle bags some sort of twin baton flail, swung it over her head while shouting at the soldiers as her horse galloped away on her order, breaking through the cordon of soldiers.

“COME ON! SHOW ME WHAT YOU MEN HAVE!”

Mesmerized by that scene, Anne Marie Louise watched on as the four first soldiers to approach the girl were greeted by a flurry of flail swings and high kicks and sent sprawling to the ground in seconds, to the astonishment of all around her.

“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?” taunted the teenager, adopting a strange combat stance. Seven men then charged her at once from three different sides. The first two got slapped on the temple by her baton flail and collapsed to the ground, followed quickly by two more men. The fifth one was greeted by a piercing war scream and a punch to his plexus, while the sixth one, charging at a run with his musket wielded like a club, was grabbed by an arm, swung around her twice and sent flying into the water-filled moat. The girl then ducked under the musket swung at her by the seventh man and punched him viciously in the testicles. She then grabbed a discarded halberd with both hands and, with a blood-curling war shriek, charged the line of stunned soldiers, who seemed nearly ready to run away by then and had backed off by a few paces. At the last instant she planted the butt of the halberd in the ground and pole-vaulted over the heads of the incredulous soldiers. Hitting the ground in a smooth roll, she then started running towards the now panicking Duchess of Montpensier. Luckily for the Great Mademoiselle, a soldier tripped the teenager with his long pike, making her fall hard on the ground. A dozen now furious soldiers used that chance to jump on the girl, brutally grabbing her and punching her repeatedly.

“STOP THAT!” ordered at once Anne Marie Louise, worried that they would kill her. “BRING HER TO THE BASTILLE AND PUT HER IN CHAINS!” The Duchess then faced the officer besides her.

60

“Quick, take your horse and inform immediately the Duchess De Longueville at the Palais-Royal that we captured one of the two English girls. She will understand.”

“It will be done, mademoiselle.” replied the officer before running to his horse. Anne Marie Louise then followed the soldiers dragging the unconscious English girl, still having trouble believing what she had just seen.

13:41 (Paris Time)

The Bastille, Paris

Nancy ‘B’ woke up slowly, waves of pain coming from her battered body, head and face. She then realized that she was suspended by both wrists to chains passing through steel pulleys attached to the ceiling of a large, high-vault room made of stone masonry. She also saw that her feet were chained to the floor, making it next to impossible for her to move in any way. A soldier who had been standing by the door of the room briefly turned his head towards the hallway beyond the door and shouted.

“TELL THE DUCHESS THAT THE PRISONER IS CONSCIOUS!” The noise of footsteps then told Nancy that another soldier was going away to pass that message. Looking around the poorly-lit room, which had no windows and was probably underground, she swallowed hard on seeing a number of torture instruments, including a brazier with iron bars plunged into it. Furthermore, the chains from which she was suspended ended up around a wooden drum which could be turned with a lever, thus tightening the chains and making the whole contraption a vertical stretching rack. Nancy ‘B’ breathed deeply a couple of time to control the fear which then rose in her. Her timeline twin had to go through similar severe tortures on two occasions and she had no wish to gain a similar experience. She however had little say on how things would go now. Worse, as long as witnesses were present, she would not be allowed to use her implanted time distorter to jump space-time and escape this awful place by disappearing into thin air. The footsteps of a number of persons approaching along the hallway then focused back her attention towards the door. Those persons turned out to be that pesky Duchess of Orléans and another, older aristocrat woman accompanied by four men. The older aristocrat had been at the Palais-Royal but Nancy could not remember her name. Once inside the torture chamber, the unknown noblewoman approached Nancy and looked up at her with a mean smile.

61

“So, you thought that you could play around with my men? Now you will pay for it. First, you will tell me for who you really work.”

“And who is asking, if I may?”

The noblewoman was seemingly displeased by her question and motioned to one of the men, who then went to the drum and pulled the levers a number of times, tightening the chains holding Nancy and painfully stretching her body.

“I will ask the questions here, not you! Who do you work for?”

“I am the lady-in-waiting of Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore, who was sent to Paris by King Charles the Second of England to find support from the Queen of France in his fight against the armies of Oliver Cromwell.”

The eyes of the noblewoman narrowed as she stared coldly at Nancy.

“That was the story your mistress dished out at the court. However, you were caught while riding in the company of an agent of Cardinal Mazarin. If you answer my questions truthfully, you will avoid a lot of pain.”

“And what then if I do?” asked Nancy, only trying to delay the inevitable.

“Then, I may show some leniency with you. After all, you are nothing more than a servant.”

That disdainful remark by the noblewoman infuriated Nancy, who had no respect for all those high-born people who had done nothing by themselves to deserve their privileges. She however knew that the noblewoman could be trying to entice her in speaking too fast and reveal something through anger.

“What I am, I became through my own merits and efforts, not through birth. If you think yourself to be superior to me, then unchain me and I will show you who is really the superior person here.”

That clearly irritated the noblewoman, who made another sign to the man at the drum. Nancy had to clench her teeth together in order not to scream with pain as her joints were painfully stretched hard.

“No simple servant will mock the Duchess of Longueville! You obviously need a good lesson in humility.”

Walking to Nancy, the Duchess then roughly ripped her dress away, soon leaving her totally naked. The noblewoman then massaged Nancy’s large, firm breasts.

“You have a really nice chest. Maybe we should start with it.” Going to a table supporting a number of instruments, the noblewoman chose a pair of pliers with long handles and returned to near Nancy, the pliers held high. That was

62

when Anne Marie Louise D’Orléans could not stand this anymore and went quickly to Anne-Geneviève De Bourbon Condé, pleading with her.

“Do we really have to do this? She’s a brave girl and deserves better than this. What could she tell us of real importance anyway since she is a simple servant?” The Duchess De Longueville looked down at her with contempt.

“You fancy yourself as some kind of Amazon and you can’t stomach this? That simple servant, as you called her, knocked out a dozen soldiers by herself. I will tell you what she is: a spy and a potential assassin. She must know where to find Mazarin’s agents in Paris and she will tell us, I promise you that.”

She then grabbed with her pliers the lower part of Nancy’s left breast and pinched it as hard as she could while twisting the pliers. Searing pain shot through Nancy’s brain but she barely managed not to scream through sheer willpower. As the Duchess De Longueville took one step back to leave space for her men to continue the tortures, she was hit squarely in the left eye by a ball of saliva spit out by Nancy. Pushing a scream, she jumped back and dropped her pliers, then used part of her dress to wipe her eye dry. She was positively livid when she looked back at Nancy but was cut off by her prisoner, who stared at her with utter contempt.

“You torture a chained prisoner and think of yourself as a tough woman? You are no more than a spoiled woman who was spoon-fed by others all your life. At least the Duchess De Montpensier proved that she is no sadist, contrary to you.”

“YOU WILL REGRET THIS! MEN, QUESTION HER HARD! I WANT ANSWERS BUT, MOST OF ALL, I WANT TO HEAR HER SCREAM!” The noblewoman then went to a corner of the room and grabbed a chair, bringing it to a position three meters in front of Nancy. The Duchess sat in the chair and looked on as the first crack from a whip echoed in the room. Disgusted and sickened by this, the Duchess De Montpensier ran out of the torture chamber and threw up once in the hallway. She then heard the voice of the Duchess De Longueville, mocking her.

“YOU’RE NOTHING MORE THAN A LITTLE WHIMP, ANNE MARIE!” Filled with both rage and horror, the young blonde didn’t dare however go back in the torture chamber, for fear of seeing more unspeakable things. She thus ran away, in a hurry to leave this sinister prison.

Jumping in her carriage parked in front of the main entrance to the Bastille, Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans ordered her driver to bring her back quickly to the Palais-Royal.

63

Suddenly feeling sick as the carriage started to roll, she barely had the time to stick out her head by the door’s window before she threw up. She was still disturbed when she arrived at the Palais-Royal and went to lock herself in her apartments to try to chase from her mind the horrible images she had seen in the Bastille. After half an hour of trying to find peace of mind and also feeling remorseful about her role in the capture of Nancy, Anne Marie Louise then decided to go see the young King Louis. She found him after fifteen minutes of walking through the palace, practicing his sword fencing with his personal weapons trainer, Monsieur Vincent de Saint Ange. Running to the King, Anne Marie Louise threw herself at his feet, interrupting his practice session.

‘’Your Majesty, pardon me for interrupting your practice like this, but something horrible is happening in the Bastille. Lady Sommers, the lady-in-waiting of the English aristocrat who visited us a few times here, is being tortured in the Bastille, on orders from the Duchess of Longueville.’’

The teenage king looked at her for a moment with incomprehension before his expression hardened.

‘’She is being tortured? But why?’’

‘’She was seen in the company of Monsieur d’Artagnan, an agent of Cardinal Mazarin, and helped him and Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore escape the soldiers guarding the Saint-Antoine Gate, but was herself captured after a hard, unequal fight.’’

‘’And where precisely is Lady Sommers right now, mademoiselle?’’ asked Louis, now anxious and worried. He could not of course confess to her that he had quickly developed a crush for the tall girl from New France.

‘’In the torture chamber in the basement of the Bastille’s central tower, Your Majesty. The men of Madame de Longueville are now torturing her with whips and red hot irons.’’

Louis stared for a moment at Anne Marie Louise before turning to face his fencing teacher.

‘’Monsieur de Saint Ange, give me my war sword and bring me my pistols, loaded!’’

‘’But, Your Majesty, the guards of the Duke of Orléans will not let you leave the Palais-Royal like this.’’ objected with good reason the master fencer. Anne Marie Louise, now seeing a way to redeem her conscience, then spoke up.

‘’I can order my father’s soldiers to let you out and escort you to the Bastille, Your Majesty.’’

64

‘’Please do that, my cousin!’’ exclaimed the young king. ‘’It will not be said that I let a young girl be tortured while doing nothing to save her. My weapons, Monsieur de Saint Ange!’’

As Anne Marie Louise left at a run to go talk to the guards, Louis armed himself quickly and ordered that his horse be brought to him. The young duchess came back to him as he was mounting his horse.

‘’The gates are opened, Your Majesty. May God protect you!’’ Louis saluted her with his large felt hat, then galloped towards the main entrance of the palace.

The commander of the palace guards was suddenly confronted with an impossible dilemma when the young King Louis XIV arrived on his horse at the main entrance barely a minute after he had gotten the order from the Duchess of Montpensier to let the King leave. His orders from the Duke of Orléans were clear: to prevent the royal family from fleeing Paris, while also insuring its security against possible rioters. This time, however, only the King wanted to go out, and this to go to the Bastille, a fortress solidly held by the forces of the Fronde. On the other hand, while he detested Cardinal Mazarin, like all the other members of the Fronde, the captain of the guards had only the greatest respect towards the young king and would never think of hurting him, or to let others hurt him. Stepping besides the King’s horse, the captain saluted his monarch with his hat.

‘’Your Majesty, what is pushing you into wanting to go out like this, armed to the teeth?’’

‘’I intend to stop an injustice, Captain des Ouches. Some people are cruelly torturing a young girl in the Bastille and I have the firm intention to go save her and put her under my protection.’’

Des Ouches did not remark on the irony of those words, as the King was himself under the guard of his men and was in reality ill placed to put anyone under his personal protection. However, the young Louis would reach the age of royal majority in barely four months and would then be legally able to govern by himself. Many things could happen in those four months and avoiding gaining the enmity of the young king seemed a good idea to the captain, who also knew too well the eminently versatile character of his master, Gaston d’Orléans. The resolute expression of his young king finally decided the old soldier, who looked at his lieutenant.

65

‘’Monsieur d’Arbouilles, get me my horse and have ten fully armed men mount up as well: I am escorting the King to the Bastille.’’

‘’Right away, monsieur!’’

As the lieutenant ran away while shouting orders, Des Ouches looked back at Louis.

‘’May I ask on whose orders that girl is being tortured, Your Majesty?’’

‘’She is being tormented on orders from the Duchess of Longueville, Captain Des Ouches. The girl in question is the tall English teenager who visited my mother a few times here.’’

‘’Ah, yes, I remember her, Your Majesty. She is in truth way too young to deserve such tortures, which are anyway officially illegal against children.’’

‘’My point exactly, Captain.’’

Less than five minutes later, Louis XIV left the palace at a gallop, closely screened by Captain Des Ouches and ten riders. Luck then smiled to the young king. Disgusted by Nancy’s resistance and stubbornness, the Duchess of Longueville left at the same time the Bastille in her carriage but, wanting to visit someone in town, took a different road than that leading directly to the Palais-Royal. She thus never crossed path with the King’s party, which arrived without incident at the main entrance of the fortress. Captain Des Ouches, riding level with Louis, shouted to the sentries posted at the lowered drawbridge of the main entrance to the Bastille.

‘’MAKE WAY FOR THE KING!’’

The soldiers standing guard at the gate hesitated for a moment but then let the King and his escort enter, coming to attention as he galloped inside the fortress. The commander of the Bastille hurried to come down in the inner courtyard and bowed low to Louis as the latter was dismounting from his horse.

‘’Your Majesty, your visit is rather unexpected.’’

‘’I know, monsieur. I am however in a hurry. Lead me at once to the basement of your dungeon.’’

Understanding now why the King had come, the noble, who took his orders from the Paris Parliament and not from the Duchess of Longueville, didn’t object and led Louis and the guards of the Duke of Orléans inside the central dungeon. The members of the Fronde actually justified their revolt by saying that they were opposed to the abuses committed by Cardinal Mazarin and Queen Anne. However, nobody had up to now had attacked the young king himself, or had denied his authority, another factor that played

66

in favor of Louis that afternoon. As the small group were going down a steep spiral staircase and was about to get to the first basement level, a long scream of pain echoed along the stone walls, making Louis cringe. Grabbing and drawing out one of his two pistols, he patted the shoulder of the commander of the fortress.

‘’Hurry up, monsieur!’’

‘’Uh, yes, Your Majesty!’’

The group soon could hear distinctly the repeated crack of a whip as they approached a massive wooden door. The commander of the Bastille pointed the door to Louis.

‘’This is the only door to the torture chamber, Your Majesty.’’ Captain Des Ouches reacted at once, turning around and designating the door to his men.

‘’I want four men to guard this door. Accept orders only from me or the King. The rest, follow me!’’

The old soldier then opened the door and rushed inside, sword and pistol in hand, followed closely by Louis. The captain and the young king were confronted at once inside by a sinister scene: four men surrounded a naked girl being stretched by chains suspending her above the ground, with two men whipping mercilessly the girl’s back and chest with bullwhips while a third man was turning progressively the mechanism that put tension on the chains. The fourth man was actually approaching the naked girl while holding a red hot iron in one hand, evidently ready to brand her. Blinded with instant fury on seeing this, Louis raised his pistol and shot from five paces away the man with the branding iron, killing him outright. The three other men snapped their heads around at the detonation of the shot and looked with wide eyes at the King and his escort.

‘’DON’T SHOOT! WE ARE IN THE SERVICE OF THE DUCHESS OF

LONGUEVILLE.’’ shouted the man turning the wheel of the stretching mechanism.

‘’Jackals like you have no place in my kingdom!’’ replied Louis. ‘’Release this girl at once!’’

The order was given more weight by six soldiers pointing their muskets on the three surviving men of the Duchess of Longueville. The men then raised their arms without another word. Going to the stretching mechanism and brutally pushing aside Gérard, Captain Des Ouches released himself the tension drum. The cry of pain from Nancy when she crumpled to the ground finished convincing the old soldier that he had done the right thing today by escorting and backing his young king. On his part, Louis hurried to Nancy, kneeling besides her and caressing her face before kissing her gently.

67

‘’You are now safe, my friend. I will bring you back to the Palais-Royal, where you will be treated under my protection.’’

‘’Louis? What…what are you doing here? You can’t risk your life like this for me. You are too precious to France.’’ said Nancy with difficulty while repressing her cries of pain. Des Ouches paled on hearing that exchange: the girl must be a lover of his young king. This story was decidedly becoming more intricate by the minute. Going to Nancy, he helped Louis undo the manacles which had held her and that had dug deep, bloody furrows around her wrists and ankles. Her back, chest and buttocks were covered with bloody whip marks and with at least a dozen deep burns from branding irons. The stretching she had endured had also probably damaged or even disjointed her articulations. Des Ouches evaluated that the girl would need weeks of care to recuperate, if she in fact didn’t suffer lifelong sequels from this. As he expected, she proved incapable of standing by herself, sitting down on the floor with a cry of pain on her first try to get up. Des Ouches then pointed at two of his soldiers.

‘’Grab her under her legs and armpits and carry her up to the inner courtyard. Be gentle about it.’’

Seeing the cape of one of the tormentors hooked to a nearby wall, Des Ouches went to grab it and used it to cover Nancy’s nudity as his two men carefully picked her up. As Nancy was being carried out, the graying captain pointed the three surviving men of Madame de Longueville to the King.

‘’What do we do with these three pieces of shit, Your Majesty?’’

‘’Shoot them!’’ was the immediate order from Louis. On a sign from their captain, four soldiers raised their muskets and shot the three men from barely six paces away as the latter had their backs to a stone wall. Des Ouches then used his sword to give them the coup de grace before leaving with the King.

Nancy was gently hoisted on the back of Louis’ horse, with the young king feeling pride and satisfaction fill him as Nancy put her arms around his waist in order to hold on to him: justice had been done, and this by his own hand. Still escorted by the soldiers of Des Ouches, he pushed his horse into a slow trot, in order not to make Nancy suffer more. The royal party arrived back at the Palais-Royal after a fifty minute trip. There, servants and maids helped take Nancy down from Louis’ horse there and put her on a stretcher before carrying her towards the royal apartments. Before entering the palace himself, Louis face the captain of the guards and saluted him with his hat.

68

‘’Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help, Monsieur Des Ouches. You rendered me a great service and I will remember that.’’

‘’It was a pleasure, Your Majesty.’’

Louis then walked inside, hurrying to catch up with the servants carrying Nancy. Now that the level of adrenaline in his blood was coming down, he started to worry about the possible reactions of his mother to his actions. In that he was soon proved right. Pacing nervously in front of the door to the royal apartments, Queen Anne watched the servants carrying Nancy pass by her, then stared hard at her son.

‘’Louis, what were you thinking? Why did you risk your life like this for a simple commoner?’’

Louis, who normally bent to the authority of his mother, got irritated by her choice of words.

‘’A simple commoner, Mother? This girl just endured atrocious tortures in order to protect your secrets. It is people like her whom I wish to have in my service once in power, people who are loyal, competent and honest, instead of nobles ready to betray the crown and rob it. I rendered justice as the King today and I am proud of it, Mother. The least you could do for this poor girl is to thank her for not betraying you under the tortures.’’

Anne of Austria, taken aback by his forceful reply, calmed down a bit and looked at him gravely.

‘’Are you sure that she didn’t speak, Louis?’’

‘’Mother, they would not have continued to torment her so cruelly if she had already talked. Now, with your permission, I will go make sure that Lady Sommers is properly cared for.’’

‘’Then go, my son, and pray that your little adventure will not bring unfortunate consequences to us.’’

Deeply disappointed by the reaction of his mother, Louis entered the royal apartments in hurried steps. A servant then led him to a small servant’s room, where Nancy had been laid on top of a bed. Three women were already busy washing Nancy’s wounds while she lay naked on her left side when Louis entered the room. The oldest of the women gave him a sad look.

69

‘’This poor girl was made to suffer most cruelly indeed, Your Majesty. She will probably need weeks of bed rest and care to recuperate. Hopefully, infection will not set in.’’

‘’I…I know Amerindian ointments which prevent infections.’’ cut in Nancy with a weak voice. ‘’I don’t want the so-called doctors around here to care for me: they would probably kill me with their treatments.’’

Louis hurried to the bed and sat by her side on it, speaking to her softly.

‘’My servants will do what you will tell them to do, my friend. Now, rest: you need it.’’

As Louis was about to get up from the bed, Nancy grabbed his right hand and pressed it while looking at him with moist eyes.

‘’Thank you, Your Majesty: you are a king as brave and kind as you are handsome.’’

That compliment, and the tone on which it was said, warmed Louis’ heart and filled him with pride. He quickly kissed Nancy on the lips before getting on his feet and looking at the senior servant.

‘’Do what she will tell you and don’t let in any court doctor without my prior consent. Also, if the Duchess of Longueville tries to see her, warn me at once.’’

‘’Yes, Your Majesty!’’

His mind now less preoccupied, Louis left the room after a last longing look at Nancy, then went to the palace chapel with the intention to pray for her prompt recovery.

 

10:46 (Paris Time)

Friday, April 28, 1651

Palais-Royal, Paris

Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon-Condé charged down the corridors of the palace at a furious pace, accompanied by two of her surviving bodyguards. She had gone to the Bastille this morning, only to learn there that her four men had been executed on the King’s order and that the savage girl, from which she had hoped to extract the names of the agents of Cardinal Mazarin in Paris, had been freed and then brought to the Palais-Royal. Going to the palace, she had been received coldly by Captain Des Ouches, who had not been impressed by the threats and invectives from the duchess. Anne-

70

Geneviève had to contain her rage, not having enough of her soldiers in Paris to be able to intimidate or relieve of duty Des Ouches. Her husband was presently in Normandy and was trying to gain more nobles to the cause of the Fronde, while her brother, the famous Great Condé, was leading his army in the field against the royal army, far from Paris. As for Gaston d’Orléans, whose soldiers seemed to have supported the King in this affair, he was in Orléans, taking care of his lands. To find herself so helpless was not something that Anne-Geneviève liked.

Seeing the young Duchess of Montpensier walking in the opposite direction from her in the hallway, Anne-Geneviève blocked her path, forcing her to stop. She didn’t like the way the Great Mademoiselle averted her eyes while showing hostility towards her.

‘’Where is that damn savage girl whom the King took out of the Bastille yesterday?’’

‘’She is under guard in the royal apartments. I visited her this morning and what your men did to her was horrible. I am actually happy that Louis freed her.’’

‘’You young moron!’’ spat Anne-Geneviève. ‘’That girl holds information vital to the Fronde. She must talk!’’

‘’Your men tried the worst tortures on her, without results. You will never make her talk. Even better, you will not be able to lay your hands on her now. You should go pray for the salvation of your soul, which is in great need of it. Goodbye, madame!’’ The Duchess of Montpensier then walked away without another look at her, leaving Anne-Geneviève livid. Going up to the royal apartments with her two men, she was stopped at the door of the apartments by two soldiers of the Duke of Orléans, who crossed their muskets to block her passage.

‘’Nobody enters: order from the King!’’ said firmly the senior soldier. Anne-Geneviève threw him a furious look.

‘’Do you know who I am, you idiot? I am the Duchess of Longueville and you will let me pass!’’

‘’My orders come from the King and apply specifically to you and your men, Your Highness.’’

As Anne-Geneviève was about to explode, six more soldiers led by a young lieutenant came out of a nearby lounge facing the royal apartments, their muskets at the ready. The young officer, his left hand on the pommel of his sword, spoke to her in a barely polite tone.

71

‘’You will have to stay away from the royal apartments, Duchess: order from the King!’’

‘’But, have you all become stupid? The King is supposed to be our prisoner here, not the other way around. The girl he freed yesterday is an agent of Cardinal Mazarin.’’

‘’My orders from the Duke of Orléans are to stop the royal family from leaving Paris, but also to protect the King and to treat him with all the respect due to him. Either you leave now or I will have to use force, madame.’’

‘’Enough! I understood: I will leave!’’ said the Duchess of Longueville before turning around and walking away with her bodyguards while muttering between her teeth.

‘’Bunch of dummies!’’

Returning to her carriage parked in the palace’s courtyard, she climbed inside it with her two bodyguards and ordered the driver to roll towards her private residence, situated in another part of Paris. The carriage had been rolling for less than ten minutes when it abruptly stopped, nearly projecting the duchess out of her bench seat. Sticking out her head by the door with the intent of telling the driver what she thought about his driving, Anne-Geneviève then swallowed her hot words on seeing that a chariot was blocking the narrow street and that six big men holding either pistols or blunderbuss guns were now surrounding the carriage. A strong hand then grabbed the duchess by her collar, while the door of the carriage was opened from the outside. Anne-Geneviève was brutally pulled out and thrown face first on the pavement, while her two bodyguards were forced to raise their hands up, four pistols pointed at them. Shaking with fear, Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon Condé was pulled back on her feet by one of the attackers and then violently pushed against a wall. A young blond woman came forward at once and grabbed her by the front of her dress, coming nose to nose with her while speaking with a strong English accent.

‘’You will now pay for what you did to my friend, Frenchie!’’ The blonde then hit her in the belly with her right fist, making the duchess bend over, her breath taken away. An uppercut returned her back up against the wall. Alternating insults in English and threats, the blonde administered to the terrified noble a solid beating that went on for a good minute. She finished the beating with a kick to the ribs that made Anne-Geneviève scream with pain.

‘’You get anywhere close to Nancy again and you will get even worse, you bitch!’’

72

The six men and the blonde then disappeared in an instant into the side streets, leaving the duchess bleeding but still conscious on the pavement. Her two bodyguards, who had been disarmed by the assailants, then came a bit late to her rescue.

‘’Are you alright, madame?’’

‘’No, I’m not alright, you idiot!’’ spat Anne-Geneviève with difficulty, her ribs and face making her suffer. ‘’To be attacked by Englishmen here in Paris, in daylight: what a scandal!’’

‘’They are gone now, madame. We will help you get back in your carriage.’’ The duchess let out a cry of pain when the two men helped her up on her feet and she held her left side.

‘’AAAH! That damned Englishwoman must have broken one of my ribs.’’ What her bodyguards didn’t dare tell her was that her face was also a mess, with blood from her lips and nose and one eye that was already starting to close. Without another word, they helped their mistress get back in the carriage, then ordered the driver to leave at once. That same night, the Duchess of Longueville left Paris without further ado, to go spend a few days on her lands in Normandy. She certainly was not ready to show up at the royal court and have to explain what had happened to her, thus becoming the laughing stock of the palace.

23:49 (Paris Time)

Wednesday, April 26, 1651

Royal apartments, Palais-Royal

Paris

Louis woke up with a startle when a hand gently covered his mouth. Opening his eyes and with his heart racing, he took a few seconds to focus his vision and see in the darkness of his bedroom a naked female silhouette bent over him. A soft voice then whispered to him.

‘’It’s me, Nancy, Louis.’’

‘’Nancy? Why are you up at this hour?’’

‘’I wanted to say goodbye to you. I am now strong enough to walk and even to run and I don’t want to continue to make you and your mother run risks because of me.’’ On an impulse, the young Louis started caressing Nancy’s hair while staring into her eyes.

73

‘’I will miss you a lot, my friend. Where will you go?’’

‘’I will go hide with friends, time to fully heal my wounds. I promise you that I will return to Paris for your next birthday, when you will be declared old enough to reign by yourself. I however wanted to leave you with a last proof of my friendship, Louis.’’ Nancy then slipped under the bed sheets and straddled the boy, offering him her breasts.

‘’I am all yours tonight, Your Majesty. Enjoy me as much as you want.’’ Louis didn’t have to be told twice and made love with her passionately for more than an hour, with Nancy helping the uncommon libido of the young king by caressing and stimulating him while he recuperated between orgasms. She finally gave him a last kiss.

‘’Thank you again for saving me in the Bastille, Louis. I will have an eternal debt of gratitude towards you.’’

‘’It is I who owes you a debt of gratitude, Nancy, for your loyalty, courage and friendship. You will always be welcomed at my court.’’

Louis then observed her as she put on a night shirt and a cape, noting in the light from a nearby candle how her cruel wounds were quickly healing. He became alarmed when she opened a window and stepped on the outside ledge, but Nancy reassured him with a gesture of the hand.

‘’Don’t worry, Louis. I am able to climb down the wall. Tell your mother that Lady Lisbeth with continue to serve as an intermediary between her and d’Artagnan while I recover. I will see you back in September, Louis.’’

‘’I will be awaiting you, my friend.’’ replied the young king, who rose from his bed and went to the window to watch her go down. To his relief, she got down on the ground without problems and, nearly invisible in the night with her dark brown cape, disappeared at a run inside a nearby street.

‘’Be careful, Nancy.’’ whispered Louis before returning to his bed. He went to sleep with a smile on his face as he dreamed about his last moments with her.

18:23 (Paris time)

Saturday, May 6, 1651

Inn of Le Lion Noir

Paris

Having just arrived back from Germany, d’Artagnan nearly ran inside the inn once a stable boy had taken custody of his horse. Seeing Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore

74

inside the main hall, he went to her table, where she was having supper, and sat facing her, speaking in a low but urgent voice.

‘’Where is Nancy, Lady Lisbeth?’’

The English aristocrat gave him a reassuring smile and showed him the plates of food on the table.

‘’Don’t worry about her, Monsieur de Castelmore: she went through some difficult and painful moments but she is now safe. Please serve yourself: you must be famished from your long trip.’’

Recognizing that his stomach was indeed empty, Charles grabbed a chicken leg and started to devour it while still looking at Lisbeth.

‘’Tell me what happened after when we went out by the Saint-Antoine Gate, after you peeled off towards another gate, milady.’’

‘’To make a long story short, Nancy was captured after covering our escape and was then brought to the Bastille. There, the Duchess of Longueville had her tortured for hours, but without being able to break her.’’

Charles felt a mix of horror and rage on hearing that. Lisbeth continued before he could say something.

‘’Young King Louis, God bless him, then came to Nancy’s rescue once informed by the Duchess of Montpensier of what was happening in the Bastille. The King took Nancy out of the Bastille with the support of Captain Des Ouches and his men and then brought her to the Palais-Royal to have her cared for. Nancy left discreetly the palace five days later and is now recuperating in a secret safe house.’’

‘’The King himself saved Nancy?’’ said Charles, incredulous. ‘’But Queen Anne would never let him take such risks.’’

‘’Let’s say that the Queen learned of the rescue only after Nancy arrived with Louis at the palace. The important thing here is that Nancy is now safe and will be able to recover, even though she will be left with some scars.’’

‘’Could I see her?’’

Lisbeth shook her head slowly, her expression grave.

‘’I cannot risk compromising her hiding place, Monsieur de Castelmore. She however left me a letter for you.’’

Eagerly taking the letter produced by Lisbeth and opening it, Charles read it with growing emotion. Nancy, on top of reassuring him about herself, was declaring again her love for him and was promising to see him again in Paris at the end of August, when she was

75

going to take again a room at the Inn of Le Lion Noir. Charles was feeling a bit better as he slipped the precious letter inside his vest.

‘’August! The months till then will be long months indeed for me. May God help her.’’

10:02 (Paris Time)

Friday, June 30, 1651

Mathieu Le Nain’s painting shop, Paris

Mathieu Le Nain weighed with satisfaction the heavy purse just given to him by Lady Lisbeth of Strathmore as four big men hired by her and supervised by young Nancy were nailing shut the crates containing the two finished portraits.

“It was a true pleasure dealing with you and your young friend, milady. Don’t hesitate to come back whenever you feel like it.”

“The pleasure was mine, Monsieur Le Nain. You truly deserve the title of master painter. Be assured that I will recommend you to my friends.” Le Nain acknowledged the compliment with a smile and a bow.

“You are too kind, milady. I wish you a safe trip home.”

Nancy got close to Mike Crawford, who was finishing with James Parker to close the crate containing her nude portrait, which Le Nain had finally agreed to sign. Sean Brady and Otto Skorzeni had already started bringing out Elizabeth’s portrait to the cart waiting outside, where Heinrik Braun was at the reins.

“I will let you decide where to hang it, Mike.” she whispered in his ear. “Just make sure that it is on public display.”

Mike smiled tenderly to her as he lifted his end of the crate.

“With the way you fulfilled your mission here, you can ask about anything from me. We will hang it at the Time Club, where everybody will be able to admire it. After that, we will have those scars of yours removed as much as possible. Unfortunately, now that your wounds had time to heal naturally, some traces of them will be left permanently.”

“That’s alright: I can live with them. I could not risk having these scars disappear as if by magic. That would have raised too many questions at the court. Thank you for convincing Farah to let me visit from time to time d’Artagnan in this time period.”

76

Mike then stared at her gravely.

“Nancy, Farah didn’t need much convincing to agree with your request: she cried like a fountain when she saw the film of your love declaration to d’Artagnan. Hell, many of the girls in the Time Patrol are jealous of you and think d’Artagnan to be gorgeous. As long as you never tell Charles who you really are, we all can live with a romance through time. Where will you spend your maternity leave?”

“In Paris ‘B’. I want my child to have French citizenship. D’Artagnan would have it no other way.”

Mike nodded to that.

“I certainly can understand his point of view. The child of d’Artagnan and of Joan of Arc: that should get the French medias excited.”

He and Parker then left with the crate. Nancy went to join Elizabeth near Le Nain, smiling at the latter.

“Thank you again for accepting to sign my portrait, Monsieur Le Nain: it will be a true honor to possess such a work of art.”

“Your pleasure is mine, mademoiselle.” replied the painter, bowing again. He watched both young women leave, then firmly tied the purse full of gold coins to his belt with a content smile. If only he could get two customers like these every six months. Painting a nude of that magnificent tall teenager had also been a nice bonus.

09:50 (Paris Time)

Thursday, March 5, 1953 ‘B’

Hospice de la Maternité

Boulevard de Port-Royal, Paris

Nancy ‘B’, dressed in a wool skirt and sweeter, only needed to walk in the reception lobby of the Hospice de la Maternité, situated on the site of the old Abbey of Port-Royal, to understand that her pregnancy was going to be public news. All the waiting patients and the staff present gawked at her at once, with some whispering excitedly between them while glancing at her. Sometimes the celebrity of her timeline twin, whose death was still not known in this timeline, could be a real pain. Ignoring the stares, Nancy made her way to the reception desk, where a young receptionist sat. The woman gave her a big smile as she leaned on the counter.

“It is truly an honor to receive your visit, Overseer. What may we do for you?”

77

“I am sorry to disappoint you, miss, but I am not the Overseer of Palestine. I am just her timeline twin. As you can see, I am over five months pregnant and would like to be consulted by one of your doctors.”

“A timeline twin?” said the nurse, confused. Nancy explained herself patiently.

“Yes! Nancy Laplante ‘A’, the Overseer of Palestine, was born in the future of timeline ‘A’. I was born in the future of this timeline. My name is Nancy Laplante ‘B’. Do you have a doctor who still takes new patients?”

“Uh, yes, miss, we do. One moment, please.”

The nurse, a bit embarrassed, grabbed her telephone and talked briefly with someone before putting it down and looking back at Nancy.

“If you could take a seat, Miss Laplante, Doctor Marsant will come for you in a few minutes.”

“Thank you, miss.”

Nancy went to one of the chairs of the reception lounge which were empty and grabbed a used fashion magazine on a low table before sitting. She had to wait less than ten minutes before a man in his early forties and wearing a white overcoat and a well used suit came to her and shook her hand.

“Miss Laplante? I am Doctor Jacques Marsant. You want to register with our clinic?”

“That’s correct, doctor. The Time Patrol does have its own medical facilities but I prefer for sentimental reasons to have my baby here in Paris. I can tell you more once in your office.”

Taking the hint at once, Marsant escorted her without further ado to his small office, which connected with an examination/treatment room. Once both of them had sat in Marsant’s office, Nancy took a large envelope from her leather attaché case and gave it to Marsant.

“My doctor with the Time Patrol is Doctor Farah Tolkonen. Here are copies of her preliminary examinations and medical scans on me. You can keep them for your files.”

Marsant opened the envelope and extracted a file from it, examining it for a minute or so before looking back at her.

“May I ask what was the reason for not having your baby at a Time Patrol facility, Miss Laplante?”

78

“Basically, I want my baby to have French citizenship, doctor. It would mean a lot to me and the father, who was a French citizen.”

“Was? Is he dead, miss?”

“Yes…and no. He is from the year 1651, the year I conceived my baby with him in Paris.”

Interest showed at once on Marsant’s face, who grabbed a pen and a medical form at once.

“This certainly sounds like a fascinating maternity case, miss. First, may I have your date and place of birth?”

“Certainly! I was born on June 13, 1982 ‘B’, in Montréal, Canada, and am now fourteen. My name is Nancy Laplante ‘B’. Before you ask, I could not marry the father of my child because of the possible historical implications. He is however more than ready to recognize the child as his. Before we go further, I must ask you to keep all this information confidential, at least until the birth of my child.”

“Do not worry, miss: we take our patients’ confidentiality very seriously. Could I have the approximate date of conception of your child?”

“Late April of 1651. Five months and a half have elapsed since then.”

“So, you should give birth around the end of June or early July of this year…if you don’t travel in time until then.”

“I actually am working at the Time Patrol liaison office at Le Bourget and do not plan to travel in time from now until after I give birth, doctor.”

“Excellent! I have to say that juggling past, present and future dates like this is a bit confusing to me. Uh, could I have the name of the father, just for the sake of legality?”

Nancy smiled as she felt the contained excitement of the French doctor: he probably expected some famous historical name in view of her status as agent of the Time Patrol. In this he was not going to be disappointed.

“Certainly, doctor. His name is Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, born in 1613.”

“D’Artagnan, the musketeer?” asked Marsant, his voice nearly strangled by surprise. Nancy grinned at his reaction.

“That is correct, doctor. This of course has to stay confidential: I have no wish to see an army of reporters descend on this clinic for my child’s birth.”

79

“Neither do I, miss.” replied Marsant, shaking his head. Preventing all of his staff from leaking this explosive news to the medias was going to be a near impossible task. If it ever came out in the open, he could then expect his clinic to be submerged by a wave of journalists and press photographers.

21:13 (Paris Time)

Friday, June 26, 1953 ‘B’

Hospice de la Maternité

Boulevard de Port-Royal, Paris

“COULD YOU PLEASE MAKE SILENCE? SILENCE, I SAID!” The shouted words from Doctor Marsant finally quieted down enough the mass of reporters, television crews and photographers camped in the lobby of the clinic to let Marsant speak in a normal voice.

“I shall remind you all that this is a medical clinic and that silence is required here. Do not force me to have the police clear you out. Now, I have an announcement to make. Miss Nancy Laplante ‘B’ has given birth to a healthy baby boy at eighteen twenty, without the need for a cesarean section. The baby weighs three kilos and four hundred grams, or about seven and a half pounds for the British and Americans here.”

“WHY WAIT THREE HOURS BEFORE TELLING US ABOUT THE BIRTH?” Shouted at once a reporter from the back of the crowd, eliciting a concert of approving grunts.

“That was the wish of Miss Laplante, so that she could have some time to recuperate and prepare for this.”

Marsant then signaled a nurse to open the double doors leading inside the clinic. Preceded by a good dozen male orderlies who formed a protective line between her and the reporters, Nancy was then wheeled out on a wheelchair, a baby in her arms. Dozens of flashbulbs exploded at once, forcing Nancy to protect the eyes of her son with one hand. The nurse pushing her wheelchair stopped it four paces from the line of reporters and photographers. Nancy, looking tired but happy, then raised one hand to request silence.

“Gentlemen, I will now make a short statement, if you will stop shouting questions like this…Thank you! First, I wish to thank the staff of the Hospice de la Maternité, for

80

their kind, professional care of me and my baby. Next, I wish to present my son, Charles d’Artagnan.”

More flashbulbs erupted, while cameramen jostled for better positions as Nancy presented to the crowd the newborn in her arms. After a few seconds of pausing for the cameras she cradled back her son and spoke up.

“I am now on maternity leave from the Time Patrol and will stay until tomorrow in this clinic, then will have my son registered as a dual citizen of France and of the Time Patrol. The ones here who did their history homework may know that d’Artagnan officially married the Baroness of Sainte-Croix, Charlotte-Anne de Chanlecy, on April 3rd of 1659, to officially separate from her in 1665 after having two sons from that marriage. He never remarried afterwards and eventually died in combat on June 25th of 1673 in front of the walls of Maestricht, at the age of sixty. I did not marry him and couldn’t, for obvious historical reasons, but we love each other in secret. I intend soon to go back in time and present to him his son, which we conceived together in Paris in 1651. We will then see each other at intervals, as history permits. Before you ask, no, d’Artagnan doesn’t know about the future, as I used a cover story to see him.”

“MISS LAPLANTE,” shouted a reporter, “WHAT KIND OF COVER STORY DID YOU USE IN 1651?”

“For him and other people of that time I am an English girl of low nobility visiting occasionally the widowed queen of England, who lived in exile in Paris during the stay in power in England of Oliver Cromwell, who had King Charles The First decapitated in 1649.”

“DID YOU MEET MANY OF THE IMPORTANT CHARACTERS OF THAT TIME, MISS LAPLANTE?”

“I effectively met most of them, including King Louis The Fourteenth, Queen Anne of Austria and the Great Mademoiselle. The Time Patrol is now in the process of preparing both a printed and a video documentary on the history of the Fronde insurrection, which went on from 1648 to 1653 in France.”

“WILL WE BE ABLE TO SEE D’ARTAGNAN IN THAT DOCUMENTARY, MISS?”

“Many times!” replied proudly Nancy. “He was after all a key messenger between Cardinal Mazarin and Queen Anne. And yes, you may see me by his side a few times in that documentary.”

“MISS, WHY DID YOU HAVE A CHILD FROM D’ARTAGNAN? WASN’T THAT RISKY FOR THE INTEGRITY OF HISTORY?”

81

Nancy gave the reporter who had shouted that question a dark look.

“I had a child from him because we fell in love with each other. The Time Patrol may have strict rules about the preservation of history but it also understands that its agents have human feelings. The way we had our child didn’t put history at risk and I certainly didn’t have a son from d’Artagnan just to brag about it. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to give some peace to my son.”

The nurse pushing her wheelchair then turned her around and returned her inside the clinic as the crowd of reporters broke away to run to the nearest telephones.

82

 

Jeanne de Brissac, swimming in the Anse des Grandes Salines, Guadeloupe.