It was depressing how quickly Alexander took to the suggestion. It was of course what they had wanted but it didn't stop George from wanting go grab him and scream at him that he was leaving his unmarried sister with a man. It was girls in just that situation that Alexander was always spending his time with and more then one of them had come to a bad end. If Alexander continued on this way who knew what sort of trouble Annabel might get into, George was surprised to find that he actually cared, had it been several weeks ago he would have never even thought of Annabel like that. She had never been someone who had to be looked after to him because he had never thought of her as a person before really. It was a startling discovery and one that he decided he would think more about if he ever had the time, but not now.
The moment that they were free from Alexander a cab was hailed and they gave an address several blocks from what George knew to be the prison. They had already agreed that it would be a bad idea to show up within even a few blocks their target would be a bad idea. Annabel did all of the talking since she could speak like a native. It would be disastrous if the cab driver could say that he had delivered two English people to the scene of the crime. Suspicion might instantly fall to their party if their country of origin could be labeled.
A back alley served as a dressing room for the pair, both carefully keeping their backs turned to the other. It was horribly indecent and had anyone come around the alley George probably would have killed them to keep their reputations clean but they were lucky that no one wandered much in that part of the city. They emerged with their dress clothing carefully concealed in a crate in the alley, they now looked like members of the poorer classes if Napoleon would admit to such a class now that the society was supposed to run on equality.
In George's mind the plan was recited over and over again, he had heard it from Annabel so many times that he even heard it in her voice. She was going to have to run the distraction while he went into the prison, though all she would tell him is where to go once he was through the back window and which door to get open. She didn't tell him who would be there or that it was probably a cell but he could assume. He felt like she should be the one who broke into the prison since she knew what they were there for except that he couldn't speak French and therefore couldn't distract the guards well. It would instantly ring bells if an English man was acting strangely, and again, they would be identified. The weight of the saw he was to use on the window bars was heavy against his leg, hidden in the folds of his long coat.
George and Annabel split up once they were within a block of the prison, Annabel headed for the front of the prison to catch the guards near the entrance on their round of the building. It was to be her goal to keep them from the back of the building for as long as possible, in any way that they could. George meanwhile headed towards the back of the building, already fingering his saw. He knew exactly where the window was that he needed to saw open by Annabel's description.
It seemed to George as if the saw had made enough noise for all of Paris to hear it even though he had tried to be quiet. He hadn't had time to be truly stealthy about it however because he had to be in and out before Annabel ran out of things to say to the guards. It wasn't the first time that George had been in a prison, on several occasions he had been placed on sentry duty in places where people were imprisoned but he swore he would never grow used to the smell. The stench of humans all confined without good sanitation was one that clung to his nostrils. It was a smell that reminded him of what the stakes were, if they failed they could very well be in one of the cells he was now running past. He kept his face covered with his coat as he ran, knowing that there would be prisoners staring at him as he went past, from somewhere in the darkness there were eyes ready to report him he was sure.
To be continued...
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