‘I warned you, Hastings.’ They were standing in the hall of the château. Lasalle stood squared up to him, glaring. James said, ‘I know, and I’m not here to upset anyone. I just want to see my wife. If she says no, I’ll go. Will you tell her I’m here?’ They were of a height and a weight, but not an age. If Lasalle lost his temper, and it looked as if he might, James didn’t want to hit him. He turned away, avoiding a physical confrontation. ‘She has a right to know I’m here,’ he stated. ‘She has a right to get well without you causing any more trauma,’ Lasalle snapped back at him. ‘Haven’t you hurt her enough?’ ‘I’m not going to argue with you,’ James said. He had made up his mind to be calm on the way down. ‘You’ve been very good to her, and I’m grateful.’ ‘I love her,’ Jean Pierre said. ‘When she’s got rid of you, I want to marry her.’ It took the last of James’s self-control, but he managed to say, ‘Just let her know that I’m here.
