Unmasqued

Erik was already nodding. "Yes, yes. That will be a good time. Philippe will make the grand gesture; he and Delia will dine with them… but what of Raoul? If he is there, Christine will likely be on his arm at the dinner table."

"Raoul must return to Paris tomorrow morning, something related to his enlistment and upcoming voyage."

Which meant that Christine would be without her protector. "Then we must do it tomorrow," Erik said. "Do you know when the guests are to arrive?"

She was glancing out the window. "Late in the morning, I hear. The comte directed the staff to prepare a large dinner for them."

Erik nodded. "Good. Raoul will be gone and that will make it easier. I'll need you to make a distraction that will call the guards' attention away from her escape-a fire in the bam would do it. The horses will be out to pasture, but the fire will be a threat nevertheless."

"I can attend to that," Maude agreed.

Cesar nickered nervously, his ears cocked and flickering, his feet prancing in the small cottage. Erik reached to pat him on the haunches. "Easy, boy," he murmured, wondering if he'd sensed a wolf. "Take care on your return to the chateau; there have always been wolves about, and they have little fear."

"I will indeed."

He turned his mind back to the details. "If the fire is begun in the stable during dinner, that will pull Philippe from his meal and his guests. Start it a quarter hour before the meal is to be served, back in the upper loft. By the time its noticed, it will be a full-fledged blaze. Have Christine slip from her room through the pas-sageway I told you of, and she can leave the estate on the south side, farthest from the barn. Cesar and I will be waiting there for her."

"I'll do that." Maude took his face in her hands, something she'd never done. Her fingers were cool on his bare skin and, on the other side, pressed the leather of his mask into his nerveless face. "Have a care, Erik."

He nodded, and allowed her to draw him into an embrace. "Thank you, Maude. Thank you for all you've done."

At the door of the cottage, he stopped her, listening. The faint rustle he thought he'd heard wasn't repeated, and after a long moment of watching and waiting in silence, and noting that Cesar remained calm, he said, "Go now and beware the wolves."

"Au revoir, Erik," she said. And she was gone.

Chapter Twenty-one

"Christine."

The sound of her name wavered through the lull of sleep, and Christine opened her eyes, her heart pounding when she realized someone was in the dark bedchamber with her. It was a frightening moment before she ascertained that it wasn't Philippe, or even Raoul. She smelled lilies.

"Madame?" Her voice was low by design and from sleep, but before she could say another syllable, a hand was pressed over her lips.

"It is I, oui…, Now listen closely. I have seen Erik-this night, in the village." The hand tightened when Christine would have spoken to demand how he was, and where he was, and every little detail she craved. "Hush! He is well, and nearby. We have planned for you to escape tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Her voice was crushed by the hand, but Christine's lips formed the word in delight, nevertheless.

"While the comte is visiting with his guests, there will be a fire in the stable. As all rush to battle it, you will go through the door through which I have come, there in the closet, and make your way to safety."

Christine pulled the woman's hand from her mouth to whisper, "You will not come with me?"

"I cannot… I dare not be complicit, in the event that I am still needed within these walls after. Erik will be waiting for you on the far side of the chateau, away from the fire. You shall flee to safety. Do you understand?"

Christine nodded, the hand holding her mouth easing away.

"Now, I shall tell you the path you must take for your escape." Madame's voice remained low and smooth as she described the route Christine would take through the secret passageways and out near the servants' entrance, which was on the opposite side of the chateau from the stables.

"If there is a secret way out, why can I not go now?" Christine whispered, pulling herself half-upright.

"The chateau is guarded on all sides because the comte expects Erik to come for you. That is why tomorrow, when the stable is burning and the comte is busy with his guests, will be the best time for you to escape unnoticed. The guards will be busy with the fire, and you will slip from the small entrance near the side."

Christine nodded, but she had another concern. "But if the chateau is guarded, how did you come to meet with Erik? Did the guards not stop you?"

Madame's low laugh was rough. "They have no interest in the comings and goings of a servant. It is you, or Erik, that they watch for. And, indeed, there are enough servants who venture into town in the evening to have a drink at the inn that it is no cause for speculation."