Page 33 of Nature of the Crime
She hitched a brow, faced forward, and took the next twist in the steps at a rapid clip. Thornton tipped his hat to Audrey and followed.
“Stubborn, mule-headed…” Michael cut himself off when the two corporals shared an amused glance.
They led Audrey and Michael up the twisting steps at a regular tempo, which was plenty fast for her. Thornton and Cassie’s quick steps echoed in the cylinder, as did a girlish giggle and then a yelp as she no doubt tripped. Michael only sighed heavily. Audrey did as well. Thornton’s rakish teasing worried her. Cassie guarded herself with him, almost to a fault…and that could only mean one thing: she liked him. But it wasn’tfor Audrey to concern herself with. There were plenty of other things to occupy her mind right then.
Every few twists, she would pause to peer through a window. The distance to the bottom seemed to lengthen her stomach. The pauses also gave herself a chance to catch her breath.
“It is good these bars are in place,” she said, wrapping a gloved hand around one of the wrought iron spikes set into the window casement. She gave a testing tug. “It’s quite a drop.”
“Aye, Your Grace,” Corporal Hart said. “The top is also covered with wire netting.”
“Came too late for one bloke,” Corporal Levens said under his breath. The echoing of their voices carried the comment easily. Audrey’s skin prickled.
“Do you mean to say one of your fellow soldiers fell from the top?”
Above them, Thornton’s rumbling laughter was ill-suited to the moment.
“He wasn’t a soldier,” Corporal Hart said, a stern look of reprimand for Levens for bringing up the story. “But unfortunately, yes. Last summer.”
Her stomach flipped at the thought of a man plummeting to his death here. They continued climbing, a fine sweat rising between Audrey’s shoulder blades and on her chest. It might have been freezing outside, but the physical exertion was turning her into a furnace.
“The top had been left uncovered?” Michael asked, his disapproval apparent.
“No, Your Grace,” Hart replied. “There was some netting, though not made of wire. Must have ripped beneath the weight of the drunkard.”
“How awful,” Audrey said softly, with a shudder.
Minutes later, they emerged from the shaft, to find Cassie and Thornton, both flushed and sweaty, hitched at the hip anddrawing deeply for oxygen. Thornton’s hat was off, and Cassie was again scowling.
“I won,” the physician declared between shallow breaths.
“You…cheated,” Cassie gasped.
“I would like to know how I could possibly have done so.”
But Cassie had no answer; either that or she couldn’t form one for all her heavy breathing.
“You shouldn’t encourage her,” Michael advised him.
Audrey took a moment to inspect the wire covering the shaft’s round, open top. From the mess on the wire, it was clear birds used it as a roost. Why would a man, even in a drunken state, climb out onto such a thing?
“This way,” the corporals instructed, and they started for a path leading to the stout brick defenses of the Western Heights.
From this viewpoint, it didn’t look all that imposing, but as they grew closer, and then descended into a dry ditch, Audrey understood the tactical advantage of the fortress. On one side of the dry ditch, the earth had been refaced with flat, unscalable brick. On the other side, more brick fronted the fortress, the only openings being small gun slits. At medieval castles, this space would have been flooded to create a moat, but all that was here was browned grass, dusted with snow. More of the same browned grass topped the fortifications, giving the impression that the whole thing was buried in the ground. Which, she supposed, it was.
Lieutenant Edmunds welcomed them as they came upon each other at a turn in the dry ditch.
“Ah, Your Grace, my lady.” He gave a tight bow of his head toward Audrey and Cassie. “Forgive me, I would have suggested a meeting at the keep had I known to expect female company. These barracks are rather austere, though I thought, with the duke’s military background, he would enjoy seeing them.”
“As would I, lieutenant,” Audrey assured him. Michael side-eyed her but said nothing. He knew full well that she was not the least bit interested in anything having to do with the military. She could barely drag herself to the military reviews whenever they invaded Hyde Park in Town, though Michael thoroughly enjoyed the displays.
Cassie, still too winded from her race up the Grand Shaft, simply waved a hand through the air, as if signaling she, too, was happy to see the fortification. Edmunds bowed again, making no comment.
“May I introduce Lord Grant Thornton, fourth son of the Marquess of Lindstrom,” Michael said. “Lord Thornton is a physician in London.”
“And elsewhere, if the need arises,” Thornton tacked on as the two men shook hands. Though he was likely curious, the lieutenant didn’t ask why he had come to Dover. Instead, he turned to the two corporals.
“Hart, Levens, return to your regular posts. Your duties guarding the dowager duchess are concluded.”
