Gabrielle rushed to his side, dropping to her knees. Donner laughed as he looked down at them.
'The only good thing I can say about the cellars here is that there's a lot of them, they're very secure and the windows are barred. However, they are rather cold.' He turned to Stavrou. 'Put the three of them in together. An intriguing situation. They might have to bundle.'
Wanda had heard a great deal of what went on, crouched as she was beside the landing rail in the darkness above the main hall. She saw Stavrou and the two guards escort Villiers, Montera and Gabrielle across to the door which she knew led to the cellars. After a while, Stavrou and one of the men returned. Donner appeared from the sitting room as the guard went out.
He said, 'Everything okay?'
'Fine,' Stavrou told him. 'The doors on those cells are more than secure. Bolts an inch thick and I've left a guard in the corridor.'
'Good,' Donner said. 'Warn the men for a six o'clock start and make sure Rabier stays sober.'
'I will. What about Wanda?'
'Oh, yes, Wanda,' Donner said. 'I promised her something special. I've decided she can have you.'
'You mean that?'
'Of course. I wish you well to wear it,' Donner told him and returned to the sitting room.
Wanda felt physically sick as revulsion and fear coursed through her. As Stavrou hurried across the hall and started up the stairs, she got to her feet and moved along the landing in the darkness, blundering along the passageway beyond until she reached the door to the back stairs. As she opened it, light flooded out and Stavrou, at the end of the landing, saw her.
'Wanda!' he called.
She went through the door fast, slammed it behind her and plunged down the stairs, kicking off her high heeled shoes as she went. She managed to get the back door open, was outside and running across the lawn into the trees by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs.
She ran through the wood in panic, head down, an arm raised against flailing branches. Finally she paused to listen. She could hear him blundering about some distance away on her right. He called her name angrily and she moved away as quietly as possible.
A few moments later, buildings loomed out of the night and the realised that she had come round in a circle to the rear of the stables. By now she was wet through and chilled to the bone. As she moved forward, she saw a ladder against the wall, leading up to a loft. She mounted it as silently as possible, aware of a murmur of conversation from the men in the stables.
Once inside, she turned and pushed the ladder away. It fell into the soft rain-sodden ground with hardly a sound and she closed the loft door.
There was laughter below, light coming up through the odd chink in the planks. She found herself an old horse-blanket and crawled into the corner, covering herself with musty hay. She was shaking terribly, still filled with fear and repugnance about the thought of Stavrou. Very gradually, she got control of herself and after a while, she slept.
Stavrou said, 'God knows where she's got to. Nothing but rain and darkness out there.'
'Nowhere for her to go, she can't do us any harm,' Donner said contemptuously. 'I know my Wanda. The silly little bitch will come crawling back when she's had enough of the rain. Better go and check the men out now.'
Stavrou went and Donner tried on the tunic again. It really did fit him rather well. His official rank in the KGB was colonel. Once back in Moscow they'd probably promote him to general for services rendered. He wondered what that uniform would look like on him.
Gabrielle dozed in the corner, Villiers' jacket about her shoulders. Montera took a cigarette packet from his pocket and found it empty. Villiers offered him one.
As he gave Montera a light, he said: 'You remind me of an advert I used to see as a kid. It showed a man smoking a pipe and surrounded by beautiful women. It read: What's he got that other men haven't. The answer was the brand of tobacco. What's your secret?'
'Relationships are really very simple,' Montera said. 'They either work or they don't. The moment you have to try hard, you've lost.'
'Then I was in trouble from the beginning,' Villiers admitted. 'I seemed to spend all my time trying.' He glanced across at Gabrielle. 'A hell of a girl.'
'I know,' Montera told him.
'You would, wouldn't you?' Villiers said bitterly and went and sat on the bench in the corner, knees drawn up against his chest to conserve warmth.
He fell asleep and was finally awakened by the sound of footsteps in the courtyard. He looked out in time to see a Landrover drive out of the garage. Stavrou was at the wheel, Donner beside him. They were both in uniform. Montera joined Villiers and they watched the Landrover turn out of the gate.
'It's started,' Montera said.
'So it would appear.'
Gabridle stood up and joined them, pulling Villiers' jacket around her shoulders. 'What are we going to do?'
'For the moment, nothing,' Villiers told her. 'Because there's nothing we can do.'
The detachment from the 23rd Guided Missile Regiment travelled in an army three-ton truck, the officer sitting up front beside the driver. It was just after six a.m. and raining heavily when it came round a bend in the road near Lancy and found the Landrover blocking the way. Donner, a military raincoat over his uniform, ran forward, waving his arms.
The truck slowed, the officer wound the window down and learned out. 'What is it?'
'Captain Leclerc?' Donner asked.
'That's right.'
'Major Dubois, on assignment at Ile de Roc at the moment. Crossed over to St Martin last night with the landing craft to be ready to pick you up this morning, but this appalling rain is causing problems. Heavy flooding on the main road, so I thought I'd come to meet you with an alternative route.'
'That's very good of you,' Leclerc said.
'Not at all. Just follow the Landrover and I'll have you there in no time.'
Montera was standing at the window, peering out through the bars when the Landrover drove into the courtyard, followed by the truck.
Villiers and Gabrielle moved to his shoulder. 'Now what?' Villiers asked.
Donner and Stavrou got out of the Landrover and Captain Leclerc jumped down to join them. He was a fair-haired young man with glasses which were giving him trouble in the rain.
'Just exactly where are we?' he asked.
The stable doors opened and Roux's men emerged on the run, everyone in uniform and carrying either a rifle or a sub-machine gun. The whole thing was over in a few moments, the rest of the detachment ordered out of the back of the truck at gunpoint and hustled away with Leclerc.
Villiers turned to Montera. 'Clever bastard, isn't he?'
They heard the sound of boots on the stone stairs outside, doors opening, then closing again, bolts ramming home. Suddenly there was a movement at their own door, it was opened and Stavrou appeared, two men at his back.
'Right, Colonel, outside.'
Montera hesitated. His hand reached for Gabrielle's, clung for a moment, then he moved out. She didn't say a word as the door slammed home and Villiers slipped an arm about her shoulders.
Outside, the footsteps receded along the corridor and mounted the steps. Villiers went to the tiny barred window in the door and on looking out found the young French officer he'd seen in the courtyard, peering through the bars of the opposite door.
'Who are you?' Villiers asked.
'Captain Henri Leclerc, 23rd Guided Missile Regiment. What in the hell is this all about?'
'I rather think they're substituting themselves for you and your men, so they can land on Ile de Roc.'