The Baron's Arrogant Redemption

The Baron

“Where is Kendy?” Kate asked.

“He's gone. . . Gone to safety.” She said" The gentleman in the Gardens. . ."

The room seemed to be spinning round her. She felt sick with apprehension.

“He came just after you'd gone. He said Paris was no place for the boy. He was going to take him away to safety. I tried. . . But he just took him."

“And Kendy. . . “

“He said he wouldn't go without his mother. . . But he was picked up, carried away”

Kate covered her face with her hands, she said “This can't be true. He's taken him to Centerville. I must go after him. Oh, Jeanne!. . . Nicole is dead.”

She stared at Kate.

“I. . . I've e been with her,” she stammered. “And while I was with her, he came and took my son away. Jeanne, I must go after him. I know where. Come with me. You can't stay here, if you could have seen Nicole "

“How can we get to this place?”

“I don't know, but we must go at once. Take all the money we can. There is not a moment to lose. We have to go after him.”

Kate ran quickly to her room, gathered all the money that was in the house and put them on her cloak. Action, desperate action, was the best way to live through a situation like this.

She went downstairs. Jeanne was already there.

“Come then.” She cried out.

The door opened, and he was standing there, the Baron himself, holding Kendy by the hand.

Kate gave a cry of relief and ran to her son, kneeling and embracing him, clinging to him. He looked bewildered but clearly shared her relief.

“There's not a moment to lose,” said the Baron. “You are dressed. Where is Nicole? Go and tell her.”

She stared at him for a few seconds, unable to speak.

“Hurry,” he shouted. “This city will be under siege in a few hours, perhaps it is already. Get Nicole quickly.”

“Nicole is dead. I have just left her.” Cried Kate.

“Dead!”

“She is in the hospital. She was hit by this bombardment. I stayed with her until she died.”

The Baron was stunned.

And this was the first time Kate had seen him moved by emotion.

“Nicole. . . Dead. . .you. . . You're sure?” He murmured.

“I have just left her. That's where I was. They sent for me” she turned away from him.

Kate could hear him say “She was a good woman, the best” and then he recovered himself. “Come on. There's no time to lose.” He looked at Jeanne. “You too. You can't stay here.”

They went into the streets. There was hardly anyone about. The bombardment had sent them all scurrying into their houses.

“I have horses nearby. We'll get away from here as fast as we can. Come now. Every minute is important.” He commanded.

They were at the top of the street when the second explosion blasted.

That was the worst moment of Kate's life. A building beside them had been struck. Time appeared to slow down. She saw it stagger like a drunken man, then it started to crumble slowly, and the facade seemed to slither to the ground, She saw disaster. Kendy was staring up at it as though mesmerized. She could hear the Baron shout at him. The boy turned but was too late to move before there was a violent rumbling and the air was full of blinding dust.

Kendal was sprawling on the ground. She knew that that pile of bricks and rubble was about to fall on him. She ran, but the Baron was ahead of her. It was too late to pick up the boy, so he threw himself on top of him for protection.

Kate screamed. She could see nothing for a second or so because of the blinding dust. “Kendy,” she called desperately.

Then she was kneeling beside them tearing off the rubble. There was blood on the Baron's leg. She kept calling Kendy.

Kendy crawled out and stood before her. She felt a crazy joy because he appeared to be unhurt.

But the Baron was lying there among the bricks and the dust, still and silent.

Jeanne, Kendy and Kate knelt down in the dust beside the Baron. His leg seemed to be twisted under him. He was unconscious, and she thought that he was dead. Strange emotions swept over her. She had seen death once that morning. But

It could not happen to the Baron. Never the Baron. He was indestructible.

“We must get help at once,” she said to Jeanne.

Jeanne stood up. People were now coming out of their houses to see what damage had been done. They called to them and soon there was a little group around them. Kate could not take her eyes from him lying there, inert, blood on his clothes, his usually fresh colored face deathly pale, his eyes closed. She was conscious of a terrible emptiness.

Nicole, her dear friend, had gone forever and that was a sadness which would haunt her life. But she was unable to imagine a life without the Baron, to remember, to revile, to hate.

Someone had brought out a ladder, and they put him on it using it as a stretcher. They could take him to the hospital they said.

Kate replied on impulse. “Bring him to my house. I can look after him there, and go and get a doctor quickly. . . Quickly. . .”

He was carried into the house. Kendy clung to Kate's hand.

“Is he dead?” He asked.

“No,” she answered fiercely. “No. . . He can't be dead. Not the Baron.”

That was the beginning of the siege of Paris, the most tragic and humiliating period of that great city's history.

She gave little thought to the war during the next day. Her mind was solely on her patient. The doctor had come. Part of the bone in the Baron's right leg had been crushed. He might be able to walk again, perhaps with the aid of a stick. His vital organs were undamaged and strong and the loss of blood and the shock had not been too great for him, he would recover and be able to resume a restricted way of life.

Kate sat by his bed throughout that first night. He was unconscious then, and they were at that time uncertain how much damage had been done. She was glad they had not taken him into the hospital.

The doctor showed her how to dress the leg. The wound appalled her. There was considering pain, she knew, but the Baron bore that with the fortitude she would expect of him.

Kate had, with Jeanne's help, moved the beds down so that they were all on one floor and not too far from each other. She had a terrible fear that she might be separated from Kendy.