Surrender to a Stranger by Karyn Monk

to leave you a note.”
    She turned. “Thank you.”
    He gave her a curt nod and gestured toward the food laid out on the blanket. “Eat something.”
    She needed no further invitation. She seated herself beside the feast on the bed and immediately tore into the loaf of bread, stuffing great chunks of it into her mouth in a manner that could be described as anything but ladylike. She did not care. Graceful, restrained table manners could not possibly be applied here. The food at La Conciergerie had been barely edible, and she had not eaten since the previous day. She was absolutely starving, and was preoccupied with trying to fit a massive chunk of bread with a slice of the cold beef and a piece of cheese into her mouth when she noticed that Citizen Julien was moving toward the door.
    “Where are you going?” she demanded, her mouth full.
    “I have some business to attend to before we can leave here,” he replied vaguely. “I will return in about an hour. Eat as much as you can and then pack everything up, including your new clothes. You will be leaving here as the boy.”
    “But where are we going?” she asked. She disliked the fact that he still had not told her of his plans.
    He sighed. “Mademoiselle, I cannot tell you exactly how or by what route we will be leaving, any more than I can tell you who I am. If you are captured, the less you know the better,” he told her firmly.
    Jacqueline scowled. “First of all, I have absolutely no intention of allowing myself to be captured,” she informed him flatly. “But if I am arrested again, I will be executed regardless of what I know, so what does it matter if you tell me of your plans?”
    “I was not thinking of your protection,” he qualified. “I was thinking of my own.”
    Not terribly gallant of him, although she had to admit there was some logic to his reasoning. If questioned, she could not give much information about a man she knew virtually nothing about. And if there were others helping with her escape, as the boy Dénis had, she did not want to put their lives at risk any more than was necessary. Nevertheless, she did not enjoy being kept so ill informed. It gave her the sense that she had no control over what was happening to her, and after these past few weeks helplessness was a feeling she no longer intended to endure.
    “Surely there would be no harm in your at least telling me where we are going?” she persisted. “If something happens to you and we become separated, it would be helpful if I at least knew what direction I am headed in.”
    He hesitated a moment, weighing the validity of her words. Finally he relented. “I am taking you to England, to live with your sisters and Sir Edward Harrington.”
    She looked at him with pure dismay. “But I cannot go to England,” she protested. “I cannot leave France. Not yet. Not until I have found out what has happened to Antoine. If he is alive, and I am certain that he is, I am not leaving Paris without him. We must find him and free him. I told you that last night.”
    She turned her attention back to her food, fully expecting him to argue with her. After all, it was obvious he had overlooked Antoine’s fate, and would probably not be happy about having to change his plans. She waited for him to inundate her with all the reasons why they should flee now, without trying to rescue poor Antoine. But he said nothing. The meaning of his silence slowly wrapped itself around her.
    “No,” she whispered, finally looking up at him. She shook her head in denial as a mixture of horror and grief began to well up inside her.
    “Mademoiselle,” he began, his voice soft and hesitant. He knelt before her and reached up to take her hand.
    “No!” she screamed abruptly, flying off the bed and racing over to the window. She stood in front of the frosted glass and looked out, not seeing anything, wrapping her arms tightly around herself and shaking.
    He moved to stand behind her. She trembled violently as