White Horses. Joan Wolf
said I agreed with you.” His annoyance showed in his voice. “I’ll wait until tomorrow to check it.”
Gabrielle was pleased. She had gotten under his guard. She rewarded him with a smile.
He stared back, his face impassive. He was the first man she had ever met who did not respond to her smile. The smile died away from her lips and she regarded him thoughtfully. Did he never smile himself? She could not remember seeing him smile once during that long dull ride from Brussels to Lille—he had not even smiled when they were buying clothes and he had looked so funny in the jacket he had tried on.
Was he always like this, or was it just because he was with people he thought were beneath him?
Don’t brood about it, Gabrielle, she told herself. You only have to put up with him for four weeks and then your duty will be done and he will go back to his regiment. Let him be as sour as he pleases. It can’t bother you.
“Everything is ready,” Albert said. “Do you want to leave tomorrow?”
“Is everyone else ready?”
“Yes, we were just waiting for you,” Mathieu said.
“There’s no point in waiting, then,” Gabrielle replied. “The sooner we leave the sooner we will get our cargo to its destination.”
“What is your agenda?” Leo asked abruptly.
“Our first stop is Amiens,” she said. “We will spend one day traveling and then two days in Amiens, where we will give four performances—one in the afternoons and one in the evenings. Vincent, our advance man, has gone ahead to Amiens to procure a field for us and to book lodgings.”
He frowned. “You didn’t mention Vincent.”
She lifted a delicate eyebrow. “Didn’t I? I suppose I forgot because he’s our advance man, he doesn’t travel with us, he travels ahead of us. We meet him at a designated spot and he takes us to the field he has rented and gives us directions to the lodgings he has procured.”
“He puts our bills up all around town, too,” Albert said eagerly. “Here, I’ll show you one.” He jumped up and went into the living room, coming back with a paper in his hand. Leo took it.
ROBICHON CIRQUE EQUESTRE
A GRAND EQUESTRIAN DISPLAY
STARRING
MLLE GABRIELLE ROBICHON
DANCING HORSES!
HORSES AT LIBERTY!
JUGGLING!
TIGHTROPE DANCING!
DARING FEATS OF HORSEMANSHIP!
M. LUC BALZAC!
M. SULLY, the Clown!
TUMBLING!
TRAINED DOGS!
THE COURIER OF ST. PETERSBURG!
Performances
12:00 and 4:00
“Very nice,” Leo said, looking up from the circus bill. “But there is no direction.”
“Vincent will write the direction on each bill before he posts it,” Emma explained. “He’ll also write the days of the week we will be performing.”
Leo nodded and handed the bill back to Albert.
Emma stood abruptly. “There is a trundle bed in my room, Gabrielle. Shall I have one of the boys bring it into your room for Leo?”
Everyone stared at Leo as the thought of their sleeping arrangements was introduced.
Gabrielle suppressed the urge to laugh. “I own I would like to see the sight of Leo trying to sleep on a trundle bed.”
“You forget I have been in the army for five years,” he said imperturbably. “A trundle bed will look good compared to some of the places I have slept.”
“Good,” Emma said briskly. “Mathieu, come upstairs with me and we will move that bed.”
Mathieu got to his feet. He looked at Leo suspiciously. “Where are you going to sleep when we are on the road? There will only be one bed in the room Vincent rents for you.”
“If I have to sleep on the floor, I will,” Leo said a little impatiently. “I’ve done it before.”
Mathieu’s brown eyes searched his face and seemed to be satisfied with what he saw there. He nodded and turned to follow Emma out of the room.
“I’m going to walk down to the barn to see the horses,” Gabrielle said. “Would you like to come, Leo?”
“Yes, I would.”
“Come along, then,” she said. “Albert, if you will put the dishes in the sink, I will wash them when I get back.”
Gabrielle picked up a lantern from beside the kitchen door and lighted it from a candle, her greyhound going immediately to her side. Gabrielle turned to Leo and gave him what she hoped was a superior look. “We can go out this way,” she said. “Do try to keep up.”
Four
The lantern threw a yellow light on the path before them and Leo took it from Gabrielle’s hands, saying, “Let me carry that.”
They crossed the yard, the dog leading the way, and went down a path that led to a large barn. When they had driven in earlier, Leo had seen that it looked rather ramshackle, but now in the dark it was simply a great looming building in front of them. The door was open and inside smelled like horses and hay.
He held up the lantern to illuminate the area.
“This way,” Gabrielle said. “We’ll say hello to the Lipizzaners first.” Her voice softened. “Hello there, fellow.”
Leo heard a soft nicker, and a white face loomed up out of the darkness of the stall. Gabrielle rubbed the white forehead and straightened a forelock. She gave the horse a piece of sugar, then opened his stall door to check if he had a full bucket of water.
“This is Sandi,” she said. “Neapolitano Santuzza, to be formal about it.”
“He’s small,” Leo said in surprise.
“Lipizzaners aren’t tall, like thoroughbreds. They are built for collected work, not for running races. He has marvelous muscles, though. You will see them tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing him perform,” Leo said sincerely. It was the one good thing he had heard about this circus. He might have to put up with tumblers and clowns, he thought, but at least he would get to see Lipizzaners in action.
Gabrielle moved to the next stall, the greyhound at her heels. “And this is Conversano Nobilia, also known as Noble.”
Another white head appeared out of the darkness and another piece of sugar was snapped up. Once again Gabrielle checked the water.
“How old are they?” Leo asked.
“Sandi is twelve and Noble is thirteen. But Lipizzaners can work for a long time. Some of the horses that perform at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna are in their twenties.”
“That is remarkable,” Leo said. “Thoroughbreds can’t match that.”
“Thoroughbreds are beautiful animals, but they are no good for a circus. My father used to say all they are good for is going fast.”
“But they do that extremely well.”
He saw her white teeth gleam in the lantern light. “Yes, they do. I must say I have a wish to ride a thoroughbred one day. It must be like sitting on the wind.”
“That’s a good way of putting it,” he said approvingly.
She