Rebellion in Her Touch
Copyright© 2026 by Rachael Jane
Chapter 4: A Curious Friendship
Jeanne takes the hint that despite washing in the river yesterday, the odours from tending injured soldiers on her long journey make her less than desirable company indoors.
“Are you sure that it will be alright for me to have these clothes,” Jeanne asks Jacques when he shows her to her room.
“Master Henri has ordered it so,” replies Jacques. “If young master Louis objects then he will need to take the matter up with his uncle. There’s a bathroom two doors down on the right. Do you require a shaving blade?”
“Um. Thank you. I can manage with my own things,” replies Jeanne.
“Very well. You’ll find the master and young mistress in the sitting room when you are ready to rejoin them.”
Jeanne makes use of the bathroom. There’s plenty of water for the basin, but not enough for a bath. Jeanne usually washes herself this way back at the château, so it isn’t a major inconvenience. She must reuse the bindings for her breasts since there’s nothing suitable with the clothes Jacques has left her.
The clothes are the right size of a man of Jeanne’s height and weight, but she has the same problems she encountered with the soldier’s uniform. Even with her breasts firmly bound, the shirt is tight across the chest, and her arse fills the seat of the trousers placing a strain on the seam. She tries the other set of clothes, which fit her with the same limitations. Once Jeanne is satisfied that Jean-Paul Montfaucon is fit to be seen again, she returns to the sitting room.
Henri D’Aubigny has already ignored Jeanne’s advice to keep his ankle immobile. He’s moved across to his desk where he is busy working. Colette is sat by the window embroidering. Jeanne experiences a momentary flash of memory of a similar family scene back in the château, when her mother was still alive and before her father was called to war.
“My daughter tells me that you have been discharged from the army,” says Henri without looking up from his work.
“Yes. Just over a month ago,” Jeanne replies, expanding on her earlier story. “I volunteered to help bring the injured soldiers to Lyon while I was passing through Besançon.”
“Hmm. I wish there were more men like you, Jean-Paul,” muses Henri. “Do you intend to stay in Lyon and look for work, or move on?”
“I haven’t had time to consider what to do.”
“Do you have a family and home?” asks Colette, joining the conversation.
“Not any more,” replies Jeanne.
“Then I would be delighted if you would accept a position as my assistant,” says Henri. “You can stay here, if that’s agreeable to you.”
Jeanne is unsure what to make of such an unexpected and generous offer. Employment and a roof over her head are more than she could have hoped for so soon, but accepting means having to keep up her disguise as a man. Can she do that without anybody discovering her secret? Jeanne isn’t so sure that she can do that but her options are limited.
What tips the balance towards accepting Henri’s offer is Jeanne’s attraction to Colette. By now Jeanne has realised that her sexual yearnings are directed towards women, and Colette is gorgeous in Jeanne’s eyes. If Jeanne isn’t mistaken, there is a spark of interest in Colette’s eyes when she looks at her. But is Colette’s attraction towards Jean-Paul, the man, or is there some chemistry between the two women despite Jeanne’s real gender?
What Jeanne doesn’t yet realise, but will learn soon enough, is Henri’s newly formed ambition for Jean-Paul and Colette to marry. Jeanne’s father had ensured Jeanne was betrothed when she was sixteen years old, thereby removing the risk of him being saddled with an ageing unmarried daughter. Of course, the premature death of Jeanne’s fiancé couldn’t have been predicted, but at least the social norms had been satisfied. Henri is frustrated that Colette remains unattached at the age of twenty-two. His more recent attempts to pair Colette with her cousin Louis have met with repeated failure. Henri is sure that his nephew is keen enough to take Colette as his bride, but Colette stubbornly refuses. Even more frustrating is Colette’s lack of interest in courting other suitable young men. Consequently, when Colette had earlier inappropriately addressed Jean-Paul as though he was a dear friend, Henri hoped that here was an acceptable young man with whom Colette was interested.
Notwithstanding his desire to see Colette wed to this dashing and courageous young cavalry officer, Henri isn’t about to allow the pair to go anywhere together without a chaperone. Colette’s personal maid, Sophie, is too loyal to her mistress to be trusted in the role of Colette’s chaperone. Henri decides to assign one of the older housemaids to the task. Sylvie was the personal maid of Henri’s late wife, Renée. When Renée died of a fever, Sylvie accepted what was effectively a demotion to remain within Henri’s household. Her loyalty to the family has never been in doubt, so Henri considers Sylvie to be ideal for the role as protector of Colette’s virtue.
Of course, Colette has her own ideas on the subject. She’s not so headstrong as to lift her skirts at the first sign of an attractive man. If she was like that, then she and Louis would have been married several years ago. Colette understands Louis’s motives far better than her father. Her cousin is only interested in inheriting the family factory, and the prestige and wealth that go with it. To him, Colette would be little more than a fuck-toy to service his carnal needs. By all accounts Louis has already sired several bastards on the poorer women of Lyon.
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