Having gone through so much to finally return and unwilling to give up, Noel went over Madelaine’s room one more time, taking care to set things the way he remembered them being when he first came in. Under the assumption that Madelaine didn’t know he was looking for anything, he certainly didn’t want to tip her off now.
Noel didn’t turn anything up, but As he was finishing, he heard the clink of a chatelaine coming from the hallway. He froze.
Wherever the clothes were, as long as Madelaine didn’t know Noel was looking for them, they would probably be fine overnight. He wasn’t so sure about himself. He’d already underestimated her once, and it hadn’t taken her very long to dispatch of Gaetan. He didn’t know how many mistakes he could afford to make before she figured out what he was up to.
Noel only had a couple of seconds before she entered the room. On instinct, he spun around and made for the window. He managed to climb out and flatten himself against the ground below before Madelaine arrived. He heard her enter the bedroom and pause.
“Hmm,” Madelaine said, looking around. When she spotted the open window, she walked over to it. “Vicomte?” Madelaine leaned out and scanned the grounds outside.
Noel caught a whiff of floral soap and moisture from her bath. He didn’t even dare to breathe with her right over him. All she had to do was look down.
“Vicomte?” Madelaine called again. She cocked her head, listening for a reply, but there was none. Nothing moved in her view, either. She tapped the windowsill with her fingers and sighed. “Where did my fresh husband go?” she asked herself as she straightened up, “better check the coats, first.”
After that, Madelaine closed the window, and Noel let out the breath he was holding. He shivered and sat up. Once he was sure she was gone, he sprinted across the lawn and towards the forest. It seemed to take him forever, but once he was standing on the edge of the forest, catching his breath and looking behind him, there was no sign that anyone had seen him.
Long shadows cast themselves over Noel as the sun set somewhere in the distance. Above him, he could see an almost-full moon, and the weather had cleared, with only a few faint clouds wandering overhead. The temperature was dropping and Noel could feel the cold prickle against his skin.
For a moment, Noel fought with his instincts on the edge of the forest. There was a reason that Madelaine had gone to check the coats when she hadn’t seen him. There was a reason Gaetan had been declared dead with no body. If he turned around now, he’d be embarrassed and trapped with Madelaine, but he’d be safe, at least in theory, at least for the night. Fortunately, Noel didn’t have to argue his case to any rational older brothers. He only had to know that there was another instinct at play; the hunter’s pull towards the danger and not away from it.
Noel disappeared into the forest. He had become somewhat familiar with the area around the estate since Gaetan’s disappearance. Traversing it on foot in the twilight, however, was a very different experience. The landmarks he was used to were obscured in shadow, and the underbrush was alive with the rustling of crepuscular animals skittering away from his footsteps. He walked as quickly as he could, tucking his fingers under his armpits to keep them warm, but time stretched out between each marker. Several times, he began to despair that he had really gotten lost, only to spot a familiar stump, or a cross cut high up into the bark on a tree, and be reassured that he was still following the correct route.
As night descended, the temperature dropped further, and Noel began to navigate more by instinct than by marker. The moonlight was just enough to walk by, but he had to be right in front of a landmark before he could recognize it. Thinking that wolves had excellent hearing, he periodically called Gaetan’s name, hoping the other would hear him. At the rate he was travelling, and assuming that he didn’t get lost, it would take Noel half the night to get to their meeting spot. He slapped his cheeks and rubbed his nose to bring some feeling back into them and continued on.
“Gaetan?” Noel yelled, his voice disappearing into the dark. He felt it didn’t sound strong enough, so he cleared his throat and tried again, “Gaetan!”
There wasn’t so much as an echo in response, but at least he had scared off all the little critters in the vicinity. The forest was quiet around him.
A sharp howl pierced the air. The sound was so cold and clear that Noel instinctively flinched when he heard it. As it trailed off, however, he recovered, remembering that he had no reason to be afraid. His heart beat faster, his skin flushed, and he even smiled a little before calling again as loudly as he could.
The wolf howled again, this time closer, and Noel knew that it was on its way. A few minutes later, it emerged from the forest like a ghostly apparition, its pale fur starkly visible in the moonlight. It greeted Noel by jumping up on him and licking his cheeks, and Noel immediately buried his hands in its fur to warm them up. “I’m back,” he said.
Gaetan whined slightly and circled Noel in concern. There was almost no scent of horses on him, replaced by a subtle indoor redolence. More strongly, he could detect a familiar woman’s perfume lingering around him.
“I’m okay,” Noel reassured the wolf, stroking it between its ears, “I found your clothes, but I got trapped by Madelaine before I could bring them to you. I think—I hope—she’s still hiding them somewhere on the estate.”
Gaetan paused and absorbed this information. On his own, he had come up with all kinds of reasons why Noel had disappeared, and he had considered whether or not Madelaine might have played a role. Nevertheless, he was unhappy to confirm it, especially since it sounded like Noel had been trying to help him at the time.
While the wolf stood still, Noel finished his thought, “Right now, Madelaine doesn’t know I’m looking for your clothes, but it might take me weeks to search the whole estate, and even then, I’m not sure if I can find them.”
A careful reading of Noel’s words, coupled with his own experiences, and Noel’s current formal attire, led Gaetan to believe that Madelaine had succeeded at arranging herself another wedding. He’d been backed into his own marriage well enough by Madelaine; it didn’t really surprise him that she’d managed to do it again, despite the compressed timeline. This was bad news. Gaetan didn’t like the idea of Noel living with her at all, especially knowing how ruthless she could be to people she’d lost interest in.
Noel continued, “if they’re still there, maybe…” he got the wolf’s attention and touched its snout lightly, “you have the best chance of finding them if we go back together.” He figured he ought to take full advantage of his status as master of the St Germain estate for as long as it lasted.
The wolf thought about it and slowly nodded. The two of them walked side by side as they made their way out of the forest. It was darker and colder by this time than it had been when Noel had left, but having company made the return journey easier, if not faster. Several times he did lose his sense of direction, but the wolf could scent where he’d walked previously, so they never got lost. Periodically, they’d stop, and Noel would warm his hands in the wolf’s fur, or the other would lie on his feet until he could feel them again.
Compared to the weeks he’d been locked up in his bedroom, Noel found he was much calmer and more hopeful with Gaetan by his side. He couldn’t be sure of what would happen when they got back to the estate, or if it was really wise to bring Gaetan back while still in wolf form. Some part of him preferred not to go back at all, but remain walking through the forest forever.
Noel glanced at the wolf, who was at that moment walking ahead of him with its nose to the ground. Gaetan definitely wanted to go home, and his wolf form, with no pack to protect it and a blond coat that made it easy to spot, wasn’t well-suited to the forest either. Unlike Noel, Gaetan had always seemed most comfortable when surrounded by other people, in dining halls and ball rooms and stately offices. Noel blew on his hands and hardened his resolve. Even if returning to the estate turned out to be dangerous, he had to try for the other’s sake.
It took them most of the night to make it out of the forest. By the time they neared the estate, the sky had lightened significantly and dawn was imminent. Suddenly, the wolf paused, head up and ears swiveling. Noel could guess that it had heard something.
“What is it?” he asked, “is it people?”
The wolf huffed and nodded, turning back to heel at Noel’s side. Sensing its discomfort, Noel took off his tie, ever-present since the wedding the previous day, and tied it loosely around the wolf’s neck, holding the other end in his hand. “Now we look like we’re together,” Noel reassured it.
