Page 91 of Exile's Return
The steward straightened, indignation bristling from every pore. ‘That’s it, my girl. Ye’re out on your ear.’
‘Oh, I don’t think so. Ye need me and ye know it. Handsome here will be gone and there’s none here that takes my fancy.’ She looked around the household staff.
The steward’s mouth opened and closed like the frog he so closely resembled.
Daniel slipped an arm around Sarah’s shoulders. ‘My mistress’ll be gone today and me with her. Rail at me all you likebut don’t punish the girl for her pretty face. Now, I’ve a mind for a bit of sleep before her ladyship upstairs starts issuing orders.’
The steward glared at him ‘All of you, back to bed. It still lacks an hour or so until we have to be abroad. God knows we get little enough time in our beds.’ He clapped his hands to emphasise his order and the servants dispersed. ‘And you,’ he said to Sarah, who cast a wink in Daniel’s direction before following the rest of the servants out of the kitchen.
‘As for you, my lad,’ the steward wagged a finger at Daniel. ‘I’ll thank you to keep your hands to yourself in future. Or…else…’
With that impotent threat, he turned on his heel and stalked out of the kitchen. Daniel settled into his rough bed and lay awake waiting for the snores of the kitchen boy. When he was satisfied the lad was asleep, he rose and retrieved his boots and jacket, consigning the mask to the fire.
What a damnable mess, he thought as he crouched by the fire, watching the fabric take light. Jonathan and Kit were out in the cold night being pursued through the dark by Turner’s men and Agnes…what had happened to Agnes?
He hated himself for abandoning her. He imagined her trapped in the nursery as Turner and his men burst in. He had blithely suggested the worst that could befall her would be eviction, but he knew Ashby and Turner were capable of much worse.
He ran a hand through his hair and glanced across at the servants’ stairs. He had to know that she was all right.
The moon had started to set as he found his way through the maze of corridors and stairs to Agnes’s chamber. Someone — Agnes? — had provided Brown with a blanket, and as he passed the soldier stirred and swallowed a few times before settling back into a doze. The man would be stiff and cold when he woke.
Daniel tried the door and found it unlocked. It creaked as he opened it. He glanced at Brown but the man didn’t move.
‘Who’s there?’ Agnes’s voice came from the gloom of the bed.
‘Daniel,’ he responded.
She was in his arms as soon as he closed the door behind him.
‘I was so scared they had caught you,’ she mumbled into his jacket. He thought he heard her add, ‘I’d die if anything happened to you.’
He tightened his arms around her. ‘We all got away. They don’t know I am involved.’
She relaxed in his grip for a moment and he brushed the top of her head with his lips, breathing in the subtle scent of rosemary.
If she noticed the gesture, she gave no sign. Straightening and pushing herself away from him, she looked up into his face.
‘Are we leaving? Have you come to fetch me? I can be ready in no time.’
He let his hands fall and shook his head. ‘We can’t go anywhere. Every one of Turner’s men, except the man I wounded and that lazy sod out there, are out there on the lookout for the intruders. We would get no further than the stables and we may as well sign our confessions. We have no choice but to complete the charade we set ourselves.’
Her eyes widened and she wrapped her arms around herself. ‘I’m not sure I have the strength,’ she said.
This time he drew her into him, holding her head to his chest and stroking her hair as she probably would do with Henry, hoping she did not sense his fear.
‘Just a few more hours, Agnes.’
He wanted to stay, take this woman to bed, hold her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right in the morning, but he would be lying. For now, it was enough to know she was unharmed and relatively safe. He just had to return to the kitchen and keep up the pretence for a little longer.
Reluctantly, he disengaged her.
‘It would do neither of us any good for me to be found here. Try and get some rest, Agnes. You will need all your wits for the morrow.’
She shivered, and he lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the bed, pulling the covers around her. He bent and kissed her forehead, her skin warm and soft beneath his lips. She made no protest, no attempt to detain him longer, and he left her, stepping over Brown’s long legs and making his way back to his cheerless billet in the kitchen.
Chapter 39
At the sight of four heavily armed troopers on the road ahead of them, Kit issued a string of colourful French expletives under his breath.
