Free The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt Page A

most unwise since we had to try to please him; and here I was antagonizing him before we began.
    But he did not look displeased. He was actually smiling, and it occurred to me that he was enjoying the conversation. I was being as unpleasant as I could without being rude. How strange that he-who was used to sycophants-should not object. It must be because it was so rarely that anyone stood out against him.
    But Nicole was by no means a sycophant. Perhaps that was why he liked her as he obviously did.
    Bertrand had returned.
    He said to me: “Perhaps you would like to take a walk in the grounds before retiring for the night?”
    I rose with alacrity.
    “That would be delightful,” I said.
    “You need a wrap. Shall I go and get one?”
    “Take mine,” said Nicole.
    “It will save a journey up to your room. I don’t need it.”
    She handed me a scrap of chiffon which seemed to take its colour from whatever it covered. It was decorated with a border of sequinned stars.
    “Oh.. thank you,” I said. “It looks too… pretty. I should be afraid to harm it.”
    “Nonsense,” said Nicole coming to me, and herself put it round my shoulders. I thought she was very charming.
    Bertrand and I went out through the courtyard to the moat.
    “Well, what did you think of the Baron?” he asked.
    “It’s rather too big a question to answer briefly,” I said.
    “It’s like confronting someone with the Niagara Fails and asking for an immediate opinion.”
    “He would be amused to hear himself compared with them.”
    “I would say he is very conscious of his power and wants everyone else to be too.”
    “Yes,” agreed Bertrand.
    “He likes us to recognize that and to do exactly as he wants us to.”
    “Which is all right as long as it coincides with what one wants oneself.”
    “You are perceptive, Mademoiselle. That is exactly how it has been for me so far.”
    “Then,” I said, ‘you must be prepared for the day when it is not. I thought Madame St. Giles charming. “
    “She is considered to be one of the most attractive women in society.
    Her association with Rollo has lasted for several years. “
    “Her… association!”
    “Oh! Did you not guess? She is his mistress.”
    “But,” I began faintly, “I thought he was going to be married to this Princesse.”
    “He is. I suppose it will have to end with Nicole then … or perhaps there will be just a lull. She’s prepared for that. She’s a woman of the world.”
    I was silent.
    He laid his hand on my arm.
    “I’m afraid you are rather shocked. Did you not know that there was this relationship?”
    “I’m afraid I’m rather unworldly. Nicole … she doesn’t seem to be upset.”
    “Oh no. She always understood that there would come a time when he would marry. He has several mistresses, but Nicole was always the chief.”
    I shivered beneath Nicole’s wrap. His hands would have been on that chiffon, I thought. I pictured him with Nicole . sensuous . cynical . It was a horrible picture. I did not want to paint that miniature. I realized that one could learn too much about a subject.
    The next morning our ordeal began. I arranged a chair for the Baron where the strong light fell on his face. My father sat opposite him.
    We had decided that the support should be ivory which had proved to be ideal since the beginning of the eighteenth century. I sat in a corner watching. I was memorizing every line of his face: the sensuous lips which could be cruel, the rather magnificent high brow and the strong blonde hair springing from his head.
    He had told us that the completed miniature would be set in gold and the frame should be studded with diamonds and sapphires. For that reason he wore a blue coat and it certainly accentuated his colouring;
    it even put a hint of blue into the grey eyes.
    My fingers itched to hold the brush. I was deeply aware of my father. He worked quietly and without apparent tension. I wondered whether he was aware of how much he could not