Belle - Lesley Pearse [189]
He drew it out and opened the lid. Lying inside was a thick bundle of francs. He flicked through it quickly and guessed there was well over a thousand.
Etienne returned the lid to the box and replaced it where he’d found it, then put back the drawer and stood up. It was a great deal of money and proof that Belle’s clients were very wealthy men, for Gabrielle had said she never went out more than four nights a week. He was impressed that she’d saved so much – most girls in her position would have frittered it away on clothes and fripperies. Paris was a giddy place, a pretty girl could easily think she had the world at her feet and act accordingly. But she’d stayed in a cheap hotel, bought second-hand clothes and sketched hats, and no doubt when she wasn’t with a client she was dreaming of going home to her loved ones and opening a hat shop. He was deeply moved by that, and it made him determined to turn Paris upside down if necessary to find her.
So who was this Monsieur Le Brun she’d left here to meet?
Etienne locked the door and went back downstairs. Just as he turned on the last half-landing by Gabrielle’s sitting room there was a knock on the front door. Gabrielle hurried to answer it.
The tall, slender man on the doorstep took off his hat as he saw Gabrielle. ‘Bonsoir. Je suis Noah Bayliss,’ he said with a stilted English accent.
Etienne hurried down the remainder of the stairs. Gabrielle had said she’d sent a telegram to this Englishman, but hadn’t explained fully who he was.
‘I speak English.’ Gabrielle used the tone most French people adopt with English people who torture their language. She turned to Etienne and quickly said in French that Noah was a friend of Belle’s family, and that he’d come to Paris several times in the past two years to try to find her. She then introduced Noah to Etienne, and told Noah that Belle had given her his name as someone she trusted.
Etienne moved closer and shook the man’s hand. ‘We are very glad you’ve come, we can do with all the help we can get.’
Noah looked confused. ‘What do you mean? The telegram said there was news of Belle. Where is she?’
Gabrielle intervened to say how Belle had been staying here and had disappeared. She explained she hadn’t wanted to put anything alarming in the telegram but hoped for Noah’s help and was grateful he’d come so quickly.
Noah turned to Etienne, his expression one of puzzlement. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand, Where do you fit into this?’
‘It was Etienne who escorted her to America,’ Gabrielle said.
Noah’s eyes flashed. ‘Then I’m surprised you had the cheek to show your face here. Have you any idea what her family and friends have been through?’
‘I understand how it must look to you,’ Etienne said. ‘All I can say in my defence was that I had no choice but to take her. I was ordered to do it, and the people behind it are such that if you refuse, someone close to you will be hurt. But I can tell you that it was with a very heavy heart that I left Belle in New Orleans, for by then I’d grown fond of her, and I assume she felt the same about me as she gave Gabrielle my name as someone she trusted.’
Noah put his hand to his head. Clearly he couldn’t quite grasp what was going on. ‘I need all this explained more fully,’ he said.
‘Yes, you do, and Gabrielle is the one to do that.’ Etienne realized that Noah didn’t know what Belle had been doing here in France, and he didn’t want to be the one to tell him. ‘I’ve got some enquiries to make now, and you must be very tired after the long journey from England. So why don’t you stay here with Gabrielle? She’ll explain everything to you. We can all get together tomorrow morning when you are fresh and know as much as we do.’
‘That is the best plan,’ Gabrielle agreed. ‘I have a room free for you, Noah, but first let me get you a drink and something to eat.’
*
Etienne caught a fiacre to the Champs-Elysées. He thought that Belle would have assumed that wealthy businessmen would find a hotel in that area because of