Part 38 (1/2)
”Please, Simon, put down the sword!” Her plea, in her eyes and in her voice, yanked him from his thoughts once more. He returned his attention to Fouquet, who remained frozen against the wall, barely breathing as he keenly watched Simon's reaction.
Simon swallowed hard and took in a breath, trying desperately to quell his murderous desire. Slowly, he forced his sword arm down. His hand shook visibly.
Fouquet grinned, victorious. ”You see, someone like you could never stop someone like me.” He leaned closer and said in a low voice, ”By the way, nothing in my life was sweeter than sinking into the innocent young flesh of my beautiful stepdaughter.” Then he laughed.
The words sent a jolt of violent rage through Simon. He shoved Fouquet back against the wall and thrust. His sword sliced through the unsuspecting flesh of Fouquet's shoulder.
Fouquet recoiled, shocked, filling the room with a blood-curdling shriek. Simon leaned in, knowing that the tip of the sword pressed against bone. Fouquet continued to howl in agony. Simon stopped inches away from his ear.
”The pain you feel is small in comparison to the suffering you have imposed on others. And this is a small payment for what you did to her.”
Simon yanked out his sword.
Fouquet slammed his palm against his wound, trying to contain the blood, still wailing between pants.
”Arrest him!” Louis bellowed out.
He stepped away from Fouquet, bracing for the moment the King's Musketeers would seize him.
Someone grabbed him and shoved him back.
Stupefied, he saw two musketeers seize Fouquet's arms.
”Me?” Fouquet shrieked, reeling between physical pain and shock.
He was dragged before the king. Louis stood erect and authoritative, in sharp contrast to the genial king everyone knew, who enjoyed merriment and women-all indulgences that were the prerogative of a young monarch. He looked regal dressed in a gold-and-white doublet and breeches with a white hat and large gold plume.
”What have I done?” Fouquet cried out.
Angelica watched her stepfather. For a man who had risen so fast and so high in power, who had never offered anyone in his path compa.s.sion or mercy, he'd never looked more pitiful.
Louis lifted his chin. ”I placed my trust in you, the Superintendent of Finance,” the king began. ”I expect honesty from you at all times, and yet you steal from me and France!” A collective gasp swept the room.
Fouquet, who was being held by the two musketeers, paled further. Blood ran down his arm, yet arrogantly, he straightened his spine. ”I've shown the highest integrity for my post, Sire!”
”Do not lie to me! Let it be known before all here that I have proof of your gross deceit! Your wickedness is scribed in these ledgers.” Louis gestured beside him at Simon's ledgers held by Jules and Armand.
”Those are not mine!”
”I'm aware of that. They belong to Monsieur Boulenger.”
”Him? Sire, he's no more than a scoundrel. Completely untrustworthy.”
”Perhaps.” Louis tilted his head. ”But why, then, do his figures match the figures in your ledgers, written by your hand?”
Angelica heard Fouquet's gasp when he saw two musketeers holding the brown ledgers he'd hidden at Beaulieu. His dark eyes darted accusingly at her. The silent word, You! burned in his eyes.
She glared back at him with smug contempt. Walking into Beaulieu had been the most difficult thing she'd had to do. Memories had swamped her from the moment she stepped into the chateau. Painful memories lurked in every room-memories of her mother's sadness that had consumed her during her marriage to Fouquet, and of the night that had changed Angelica's life. The night of her rape. It was in the very library where the rape had occurred that Angelica found the hidden ledgers. She'd carried them out of Beaulieu herself, for they symbolized the future, leaving behind the ghosts of the past, ghosts that had haunted her for too long.
Seeing her stepfather's misdeeds finally catching up to him filled her with such satisfaction. She'd done it for Simon. Yet it aided her in ways she couldn't have imagined.
Her stepfather was finally going to pay for all he'd done.
”Be gone from my sight.” Louis waved his hand. Immediately, the musketeers dragged Fouquet out pleading and bleeding. Fouquet's wife broke through the crowd. ”No, Sire! Please!” she cried out. The pity Angelica felt for the woman who shared her age didn't touch Louis, for he didn't so much as look her way as two more musketeers stepped forward to escort her, weeping, from the room.
”Monsieur Boulenger, approach!” Louis commanded.
Simon hadn't moved from his spot since the musketeers grabbed Fouquet. The unprecedented events unfolding before him held him immobilized with astonishment, leaving him feeling almost light-headed.
Fouquet arrested. At last.
Simon forced his legs to move forward. Stopping before the king, he bowed low.
”Sire.”
”Boulenger, have you trouble with your hearing?” Louis was still vexed.
Simon didn't require further explanation. He'd raised the king's ire by defying his command and piercing Fouquet with his sword. He might not have been arrested for it, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't still be punished. His fury had gotten the better of him. His act of public defiance had removed the likelihood of gaining n.o.bility. Whatever punishment Louis would render, it couldn't be worse than having failed Robert and his beloved Angelica.
”No, Sire. I have trouble with the injustices imposed by the Finance Minister on the people of the realm who must have the resources to provide themselves with the basic necessities of life to give them the strength to serve you well.”
”And you appoint yourself their defender? Their leader?”
”No, Sire. You alone are their leader. You are their king. And they wish your leaders.h.i.+p, desperately.”
Louis considered Simon's words for a moment. ”I have heard their cries and am aware of their needs and wishes, Boulenger, just as I am aware of yours.”
Simon looked up at the king, trying to gauge the meaning behind his words. He then turned to Angelica, whose smile was as brilliant as the sun on a summer's day.
Louis continued, ”I've heard about you for some time now. The late Marquis de Nevelon very much made it a point of taxing my ears with your many naval and financial successes for France. Back then, I left these matters in the hands of others, believing that they were attending to them justly. That has changed. Now then, Monsieur Boulenger, kneel before me.”
Simon's brows shot up. His heart sputtered. For a moment, he was frozen in disbelief. His gaze darted to Angelica. She continued to smile, unshed tears glistening in her eyes.
Simon looked down at Robert's sword still clutched firmly in his hand. He swallowed the lump of emotions that welled up in his throat as he thought of Robert. This was what he had wished for him always.
Slowly, Simon turned the sword until the tip touched the floor and used it to aid him down onto his knee, overwhelmed with the incredulity of the moment. The crowd erupted, equally surprised as they realized what the king was about to do.
”This man is Simon Boulenger, the Black Demon. For his outstanding service to his country, I recognize all of his past accomplishments, and I deem them to have been performed while he was the commodore of a distinct elite fleet of the French navy.” A cheer filled the room, echoing in the domed ceiling. Simon turned and saw that a battalion of his men had filled the overcrowded salon. The men from the King's Navy joined in the jubilation. His gaze traveled to Angelica, who continued to beam at him, tears of joy welling forth.
Louis raised his hand, silencing the crowd. He continued, ”Furthermore, all of his loyal men are to be recognized as part of the French navy and derive any and all benefits that it brings.” Another burst of jubilation erupted. ”Now then, Monsieur Colbert, if you will read the doc.u.ment.”
Simon's heart lost a beat.
Colbert stepped forward. Stopping before Simon, he unrolled the parchment he held in his hands and began to read.
”By the grace and favor of the most serene, most mighty, and most Christian Majesty, King Louis XIV of France, His Majesty, whom we have praised above, affirms and announces publicly by these Letters Patent that Simon Boulenger, in consideration of his merits and valor, and as a reward for services rendered, be hereby enn.o.bled.”
Simon lowered his head and closed his eyes. Enn.o.bled. The word that exalted him in society humbled him. He swallowed hard and gazed up at Angelica. Tears rained down her cheeks now, although she still wore a radiant smile on her lips.