The Wolf's Promise Read Online Free PDF

have healed, but his spirit was still sorely wounded. Benoît watched her shrewdly, but he didn’t comment.
    Angelica glanced down, dragging her attention back to the business in hand, and was dimly surprised to realise that she was still holding the two letters. One of them had already been creased and stained; now they both looked the worse for wear. She tried to smooth them out in an instinctive, almost automatic gesture.
    â€˜So what is it your father wants me to do for him that he is no longer able to do for himself?’ Benoît enquired, a trifle impatiently, as the silence lengthened.
    Angelica looked up.
    â€˜To rescue my brother from Bitche,’ she said simply.
    Outside, the wind was growing stronger, and she could hear the patter of raindrops against the window. A storm was blowing up, isolating Holly House even further from the outside world. She had heard no movement from anyone else in the house for some time. It would be easy to imagine that she and Benoît were the only two people awake and breathing on the face of the earth. She certainly had the veryreal sense that he was the only person who could help her, and that this was the moment of truth.
    â€˜I see,’ he said at last, his deep voice expressionless. ‘You want me to travel through more than two hundred miles of French-occupied territory and then rescue your brother from one of Bonaparte’s most notorious prisoner-of-war fortresses.’
    â€˜Papa spared you—and your family. Now we’re asking for a life in return,’ said Angelica with breathless urgency.
    She leant towards him, her golden curls dancing, unconsciously holding out her hand to him in a pleading gesture, trying with every fibre of her being to compel him to agree.
    She was desperately anxious for her brother to come home. She was sure the Earl’s black moods were made worse by his unspoken fears for his son’s safety. And Harry had always been so cheerful and lively. Perhaps he would be able to find a way of helping Lord Ellewood to come to terms with what he had lost—all Angelica’s efforts had failed.
    â€˜A dramatic rescue is hardly necessary,’ said Benoît dryly. He was still leaning back in his chair, dark and imperturbable, infuriatingly unresponsive to Angelica’s beseeching blue eyes. ‘All your brother—what’s his name…?’
    â€˜Harry. He’s a midshipman.’
    â€˜All Harry has to do is sit tight and behave himself, and he’ll be exchanged in due course,’ said Benoît. He took a sip of brandy, and watched Angelica over the rim of his glass. ‘There’s no need for all this melodrama over a perfectly straightforward situation.’
    â€˜But it’s not straightforward!’ said Angelica passionately. ‘Maybe you haven’t realised, but the French have stopped making automatic exchanges of their prisoners. When the war broke out again in 1803 they even detained civilians—women and children. Many of them are still being kept prisoner at Verdun. Papa says such infamy is in breach of every civilised code of war!’
    â€˜I’m sure many people think so,’ said Benoît softly, still intently studying Angelica, an enigmatic expression in his eyes. ‘But I also understand there is a school at Verdun, with several young midshipmen among its pupils. Why is Harry not one of them?’
    â€˜He wouldn’t give his parole,’ said Angelica flatly. ‘He has already tried—and failed—to escape once. That’s why they’ve sent him to Bitche. It’s a punishment depot, isn’t it? You seem to know all about it.’
    â€˜Only what I hear,’ said Benoît mildly.
    His expression revealed nothing of his thoughts, but he was frowning slightly and Angelica at least had the satisfaction of knowing that he was giving the problem his full attention.
    â€˜The fortress was built by Vauban, I