Page 94 of A Night of Forever
Sebastian considered him. At last he pointed out, “It could be a trap. They could be leading us all into a trap.”
Arend hesitated for a second. Fear for Isobel warred with his desire to keep his friends safe. “True. Only one way to find out.”
Sebastian slapped him on the back. “We won’t go rushing in, then.”
And with that, the men raced back to the house.
Arend studded his person with weapons. Two guns in his pockets, a large dagger in each boot, and a pistol shoved down his waistband at the back under his jacket.
“Half of the men will go with Philip aboveground,” he said. “The rest of you with me. One of the men will come up to street level every half mile so the others can follow on horseback.”
Once in the tunnel, Arend and his men traveled for about half a mile and found only one other hairpin. But as there were no other tunnels branching off the main one, Arend suspected his clever Isobel was conserving her ammunition.
Then they came to a junction where three tunnels branched off.
It took several minutes to find the signal. Another hairpin lay in the dirt down the left tunnel. It appeared that the floor was rising. It was definitely leading them away from the town, eastward toward the coast.
Arend dispatched a man to inform Philip and his men of the direction they were taking.
Chapter 22
Isobel was relieved that Victoria was unaware of her dropping the hairpins. She’d forced one through the lining of her pocket so she could drop them unobserved. She hoped the men would find them but knew the chances of that were very slim.
The tunnel had started to run uphill, but after about another mile it began to meander downward once more, and she could now smell the sea. The dirt turned to crunching shells underfoot.
Just then Victoria let out a series of whistles, and a man appeared in the tunnel up ahead of her. It wasn’t Dufort.
“Dufort was getting worried, but you made good time. The tide will be turning near first light. We will be ready to leave then.”
Victoria pushed Isobel toward the man, who grabbed her and began pulling her. Soon she found herself hustled into a large cave. She could definitely hear the sea.
The floor of the cavern was wet and Isobel struggled to keep her footing on the slippery stones worn smooth over centuries from the waves that obviously filled the cavern at a very high tide.
“Isobel!”
At the anguished cry from across the cave, she turned.
“Father!” And the next minute she’d shaken off the hands holding her and was slipping and sliding across the cave’s treacherous floor into her father’s outstretched arms.
Tears came, and she could not hold back her sobs as her father wrapped her in his embrace.
“I thought you were dead. I thought she’d killed you.”
He didn’t say anything, only held her tight.
“How touching. Only his mistress died in the fire and some old tramp Dufort found. I needed your father dead. He was asking too many questions. I think he’d begun to understand my purpose. Besides, his wealth was useful. A woman can never have too much coin. Lastly, alive he becomes insurance. He stays alive while he’s useful.”
Isobel pushed out of her father’s arms and wiped her face with her sleeve.
“What’s this all about, Victoria? Why is Isobel here? I’ve already promised to do what you asked.”
Suddenly Isobel understood. Her father had no idea what Victoria was up to. “She needs me for her final act of vengeance. I’m the bait to lure our Lord Labourd.”
Her father looked between the two women. “You don’t even know the man.”
“Oh, but they do, dear husband. They are lovers.”
Isobel felt her face heat, and she could barely look at her father.
