Free Broken Legacy (Secret Lives Series) by Colleen Connally Page A

assumed she would have had no more contact, but her father did not know her well. No, not at all. Instead, with her actions, she had seen well to their needs. In secret. Always in secret. The legacy that Luc had left for her, she used to benefit those in need. Her family’s need for money; other’s need for freedom and life.
    Luc would have never wanted this, death and destruction as it was now. Luc had been a dreamer. When she had been with him, she dreamed , too. Dreamed of a life away from all that encompassed them, a life far away where one’s birth was of no matter. America! Where years before Luc and Marc Pierre’s father had lost his life in the fight for their independence. But it was never to be…
    “Ah, Lady Granville,” a voice bellowed over the wind. “It is good you , too, are early. The tide is turning.”
    “Then prepare,” Eloise answered, tying the bandana tighter around her head. The slippers she carried in her hand she bent down and placed over her feet. She walked soundly to the rowboat sitting in wait for her. “I take all went as planned.”
    “Delivered seven safely to Monsieur Bolton at our assigned designation. And all settled before we left.”
    “That is well. We can’t have an episode as happened before. I was seen and recognized. The silence cost me, Captain Moreau. You realize the consequences if discovered.”
    “Absolutely, Lady Granville. I hope you were able to silence the…”
    “It was taken care of, but it cost me. I have married. I’m Lady Lenister,” she said soundly, entering the boat. “We have to be more careful. I beg you, Captain. Do not take all lightly.”
    “Aye, you are coming across , I see. You haven’t crossed in weeks. It is bad?”
    “I’m on a different mission, Captain. It will take time and I don’t know how much. Until then, I believe we will have to put all on hold until my return.”
    “If you insist.”
    “I do, Captain. You will wait on my orders before your next voyage across. Is that clear?”
    “As always,” Captain Moreau replied in his thick, heavy accent. “We await your command.”
    * * * *
    The midday sun bore down on Eloise. With each step, sweat began to trickle down her back. She wiped back her forehead. Captain Moreau offered to find her transportation after her arrival along the beach outside Calais, a small coastal town more than a hundred miles from Paris. She refused. She had walked the path numerous times in her youth.
    The captain had other concerns beyond her. His cargo needed to be delivered. Arriving undetected along the shoreline had become increasingly more difficult. Troops began to patrol with more frequency due to the fear of the enemies of the state escaping. The semblance of the government now sitting within Paris had made it of the utmost importance not to let any offender escape their justice.
    The relief in the captain's face upon her declaration to slow their voyages did not go undetected by Eloise. She had pressed him. In that, she realized to the point of recklessness. Captain Moreau would never refuse her. In this, Eloise comprehended well. Not after she rescued his family. So many more needed to be saved and so few willing to face the danger it would entail.
    She took a trail on the outskirts of the town. Calais, as opposed to most of the other provinces of France, had not felt the full effect of the Revolution only because their eyes lay across on England. The constant threat of an invasion never relented, but Eloise was under no illusions. The swift form of justice that the French Republic held was an invariable hazard if one aroused suspicion of any sort.
    Justice reigned down quickly with only an accusation made, no substantiation, no validation needed. France , without a doubt within Eloise’s mind, was ruled by the angriest of passions that had exploded, with all feeling the full force of that passion. Contumacious individuals from the days prior to the Reign of Terror now led the masses.
    The