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“Oh my,” said Corrie.
“It was remarkable.”
Corrie felt both embarrassed and wicked, a delightful combination, but she knew that anyone could walk in on them, and she didn’t want to have to face Jason after hearing about his midnight encounter with Judith. She cleared her throat. “Tell me about how my mother-in-law finally buried the old bat.”
When James walked in a few minutes later, it was to hear Corrie and Judith laughing. That pleased him, and he smiled even as he said from the open doorway, “I have come to fetch both of you. Father wants to tell you where all the guards are stationed here at Northcliffe. He doesn’t want any of you getting accidentally shot.” He paused a moment. “Ah, he also wants to hear if either of you have any more ideas, even though he swears that you’re weak-headed, Corrie, what with your tale of the Virgin Bride visiting you. However, he is loathe to let me out of his sight, so what is one to believe?”
Corrie jumped to her feet. “Yes, I want to hear what your father has to say. How many more guards are there?”
“Two more.”
“He hasn’t told me to my face that I’m weak-headed. Do you think he will?”
“My father is an excellent diplomat. You are still too new to the family to be blasted. However, now that I think of it, your sneer and my father’s aren’t all that different.” He gave each girl an arm.
Lady Arbuckle wasn’t present, Judith telling them that her aunt was resting quite happily in her lovely bedchamber, drinking tea and eating toast.
A
“It wasn’t a dream,” Alexandra said.
“Ha,” Douglas said.
“The point of the whole thing,” Corrie said, sitting forward, her hands clasped in her lap, “is that the Virgin Bride made it clear to me it is James who is in danger. Then she sort of faded away.”
“Then why was I shot at?” Douglas said.
“I don’t have an answer to that, sir.”
“It’s perfectly obvious that she would come to you since you’re now James’s wife,” said Alexandra. “It doesn’t mean she isn’t worried about Douglas as well, but since you are now James’s wife, he must be your first concern.”
Corrie said, “I wonder why she didn’t tell me who was behind this?”
No one had an answer for that. Alexandra said, “I have sometimes thought there are things she doesn’t know. In other words, a ghost isn’t omniscient.”
“But she knew you were taken by Georges Cadoudal,” Douglas said, then looked like he wanted to shoot himself. He closed down tighter than a clam, didn’t say another word.
A
Douglas said, “That’s a good point, Mrs. Trelawny, but Georges and I weren’t enemies; I had nothing to do with his assassination. Surely his son must know that. But it hasn’t seemed to matter.”
“And now James has been added to the list. Why on earth would Georges’s son want to kill James? They must be about the same age. They’ve never met.”
The discussion continued until Hollis cleared his throat. “Cook wishes to feed all of you now. My lord, my lady, you will please rise and come into the dining room.”
“Ah, William,” A
“Oh yes,” said Hollis. “The French must needs fight against themselves; they must needs fight against others. Disagreement and perversity sing through their blood, poor blighters.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The Devil gets up to the belfry by the vicar’s skirts.
THOMAS FULLER
IT WAS THE end of November. In England, in Corrie’s experience, that meant unrelenting cold, so much wind you couldn’t keep a bo
But not today. Today in southern England, at least, the sun was high overhead and clouds were fat and white against a brilliant blue sky. There wasn’t a hint of fog, not a breath of wind, only abundant sweet fresh air that wafted about your head, making you smile and breathe deeply.
“Just incredible,” Corrie said to one of the hunting dogs that trotted at her side, his tail a waving flag, as she walked toward the stable where James, Jason, and a half dozen stable lads were breeding the new mare to Bad Boy.
In her pocket she carried the small derringer James had bought her two days before. She’d practiced firing it, and James admitted yesterday afternoon, after watching her shoot for some ten minutes, that she was a natural. He sounded peeved about her skill, and that made her grin at him, wickedness overflowing in that grin, and he picked her up and whirled her around and around until she was dizzy and laughing so hard she could barely hang on. Then he’d carried her into a small maple copse and laid her down on his coat beneath a fir tree. Ah, so very nice that was. So it had been on the cold side. Who cared? It wasn’t cold at all today. Hmmm.
Corrie was smiling even as she quickened her pace. She heard the mare whi
No, she saw immediately, it wasn’t James, it was Jason. How could she have been deceived even for an instant, no matter that he was standing some thirty feet away, examining Bad Boy’s front hoof?
Where was James? He should be here. But then she knew, and her heart plummeted. He was in danger.
She shouted, “Jason! Where is James?”
Jason dropped Bad Boy’s hoof and strode over to her. “Good morning, Corrie. I expected James to be here before now. He’s probably in the estate room reviewing documents with Father. He’ll be here sooner or later. Stay, Corrie, James would want you to.”
She was torn. James was on his way here. Very well, she’d wait. She settled herself on the paddock railing. Two minutes passed. “I can’t do this. Something’s wrong.” Jason, who’d been breathing a heartfelt sigh of relief, froze in his tracks. She said to the back of his head, “Forgive me, Jason, but I’m worried. I’ll go look for him. I’m afraid. You must be careful too, Jason. This man who is after James, he might not know that you are not he.”
Jason turned and walked to her, squeezed her arm. “Yes, I know, and yes, I understand you very well. I will be surrounded by people. But I wish you would stay here, where James knows you are. He’s probably still in the house; when he comes, he’ll bring Judith here with him.” He gri
“But you can’t know, you-”
“Ah, Mrs. Trelawny is here in her very smart landau. Excellent. Stay still, Corrie, and stop worrying.” He gave her another pat and shouted, “Lovejoy, let’s see how the mare’s doing. That’s right, that’s right, bring her out, slowly, SLOWLY! All right, that’s fine. Hold her still now.”
Bad Boy wanted the mare desperately. Jason had covered Bad Boy’s front hooves with soft cotton stockings so he wouldn’t hurt her. Corrie felt for the derringer in her pocket and was reassured. She watched, paying no attention to the trembling horses, her ears alert for James’s voice. Where the devil was he? Was he with Judith? She looked up to see Jason pull his watch out of his pocket, say something to Lovejoy, then come striding toward her. She would have sworn there was worry on his face, but when he looked at her, it was gone.