Page 17 of The Duke's Price
The knock on the door a few minutes later startled them both.
“Your Grace? De-Ath? Sir? May I come in?” It was Walter’s voice. The fact that Walter would not disturb him for anything less than a clear and present danger slowly penetrated Perry’s lust-preoccupied mind.
“Excuse me,” he said to Ruth, as he rolled from the bed and padded across the room. As he opened the door he glanced back. She was under the blankets. All he could see of her was her head—wide eyes and a furious blush.
It was both of them at the door. Walter and Bella. “Your Grace,” said Walter, “The duque’s man is here. Iago Garcia. The princess saw him in the innyard.”
With a mental sigh, De-Ath said. “You had better come in. Just a moment while I put on a robe.”Iago Rodriguez Garcia. He was not from the valley, but had returned with Carlos after the wars. A stone-cold killer, he was completely loyal to Carlos.
Bella was certain of the identification. “The light was on his face, De-Ath. It was certainly him. And I recognised some of themen with him. They had their saddle bags over their shoulders. They looked as if they were planning to stay here for the night.”
“Coincidence?” Perry mused. “If they have just arrived in Toulouse, they cannot know which inn we chose, and they must stay somewhere, after all. Walter, can you go and see what you can learn? Ladies, we will need to go tonight, before they begin to ask questions. Pack your things and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”
He grimaced. “All they need to do is ask after the De-Ath party, and half the merchants in town will be happy to talk about how much money we spent. I am sorry, ladies. I should have changed our name again.”
Ruth replied with an old saying. “It is easy to be wise after the event.”
True enough, but the safety of the party was Perry’s responsibility. He had been stupidly arrogant, and now he had to make certain that Bella and Ruth did not pay the price. Though there was one precaution he had thought to take.
“One more thing.” Where were they? Ah! There. Tied up in brown paper and string. “I asked Walter to order you some men’s clothes. Slightly more respectable than those awful things you were wearing when I met you up in the pass.” Walter had written on them. Just their initials. R.H. and I. V.
“There you are. Ruth, you would be more comfortable changing in Bella’s room. I shall dress and then pack.”
“But De-Ath,” Bella protested, “what are we going to do?”
“We can discuss that when we know what Walter finds out, and when we are dressed and packed,” Ruth said, and guided Bella out of the room. Magnificent woman.
Perry dressed, and was loading his carriage pistols when Walter came back from his scouting mission. Bella and Ruth returned to hear his report.
The Spanish gentleman had taken rooms for himself and his men. “They asked after the De-Ath party, your grace, and described you and the princess. The innkeeper is a veteran of the wars and hates the Spanish. He has ordered his servants to tell them nothing.”
A stroke of luck.
“Walter, I want you to acquire a carriage and team. I would prefer to buy the carriage, so we do not need to change?—”
A knock on the door interrupted him. Pistol in one hand, Perry opened it a crack. It was the innkeeper. “Sir, I came to warn you. I have a guest at the inn, a Spanish gentleman by the name of Garcia. He has asked about you—told me a tale about you running off with somebody’s niece. I did not believe him. I think he is a dangerous man, sir.”
“Come in,” said Perry. Best to have this conversation where one of Garcia’s men could not accidentally wander by.
The innkeeper’s eyes widened when he saw Bella and Ruth. Dressed as men, they were unconvincing, but a long coat and a hat would cover most deficits.
“As you can see, innkeeper, we are already preparing to flee. My daughter saw Garcia from her window. You are right about him being a dangerous man. He was with theguerrillosduring the war, and did many terrible things.”
“Please,” said Ruth, extending a pleading hand towards the innkeeper, “do not tell him you have seen us. Our daughter… he is infatuated with her. He demanded to marry her, and would not take ‘no’ for an answer.”
That was a good one! Perry could work with that. “He has friends in high places in Spain, and men who work for him who will stop at nothing. My family and I thought we had escaped him when we left Spain, but he pursued us and tried again, here in France.”
Bella eclipsed the thespian skills of them all by bursting into tears and casting herself into Perry’s arms. “I am so frightened, Papa. You will not let him take me, will you?”
“Never, Bella,” he assured her. “We will keep you safe. Innkeeper, we must flee. If I can make the coast, we can take passage to Belgium, where all his influence will not matter.”
“The magistrate?” The Frenchman suggested. His doubtful tone suggested he had little faith in the ability of the magistrate to withstand ‘friends in high places’.
“We tried that, sir,” Ruth informed him, her tone indignant. “But the magistrate said Senor Garcia had done nothing that was illegal in France. We were to inform him at once if Senor Garcia actually abducts our daughter! Or shoots my husband, as he has threatened. By then it will be too late, I told him. But he said there was nothing he could do.”
“We must leave Toulouse,” Perry said. “Tonight. Before he begins to ask for us. This is my fault, Madame De-Ath. We should have travelled under another name. I did not think of it.”
Bella had stopped sobbing into Perry’s shoulder. “I shall finish packing, Papa.” She smiled at the innkeeper, though her lips quivered as if she were about to burst into tears again. “Thank you for not giving us away. Thank you for coming to warn us.”
