Page 44 of The Remarkable Myth of a Nameless Lady
With that, he went back to his polishing, and gradually the work of the kitchen fell back into the pattern that he had so rudely interrupted. Thoughtful now, and more than a little puzzled, Jacob frowned and reached for the door, seeing the stairs beyond, and the flickering lamplight that lit the way into the distant depths.
He had been there as a youth, he remembered, venturing down on a whim, Owen trailing behind. They’d ended that particular excursion with a rather fine vintage, stolen from the rack and drunk behind the large caskets of ale, brewed at Ravencliff and stacked in formidable walls that divided the cellar down the middle, bisecting the racks of various vintages.
He reached the bottom of the stairs in less time than he expected, proving that time had indeed inflated things in his memory until they were bigger than before. Perhaps he remembered the entire adventure wrong, for he could not remember smiling, much less laughing with his brother in recent years.
Nor would he get a chance to tonight. He heard them before he saw them, the Mistress and her maid, their voices high-pitched and urgent as they argued wildly while between them stood Owen, right in the thick of things.
Chapter 32
“Here. This is far enough.” Alicia bid the boy stop the horse, and slid down almost before he had a chance to object.
“But His Grace told me…”
“I imagine he gave very explicit orders regarding me,” Alicia said with some amusement. “At the same time, if I am seen riding up to my father’s house on one of the Duke’s horses, I expect I will be in no end of trouble. He told you to see me home safe, you have done so. I will walk from here. It is not far.”
The boy sat on the horse, his face the very picture of consternation. The animal shifted restlessly beneath him, impatient and likely anxious to be away home given the lateness of the hour. The animal had earned its grain long ago given how many trips back and forth to Ballycrainn it had made that day.
“Allow me to make this easier for you,” she said and pursing her lips, whistled exactly the way her brother had taught her long ago. “Oy! You may as well show your face. I know full well you are there.”
For a moment she wasn’t sure she’d been right. She jumped near a mile when she realized that she was no longer alone on the road.
“You are a cat-footed one…” she murmured in surprise as Tom raised his hand and passed something to the boy, who sat open-mouthed atop his mount.
“’Tis all right, lad,” Tom said, and the boy nodded. She heard the clink of a coin within his palm as he shifted his seat and gathered the reins. A moment later he had the mare clattering back up the road the way they had come.
“Your own horse…” she prompted, with a keen look at the Duke’s man.
“Is just over yonder,” he said, with a nod back the way they had come. “I left him in the farmer’s field along with a herd of rather surprised cattle.”
“I should have realized when I heard them lowing.” Alicia shrugged and nodded toward the village below. The houses lay dark and snug between river and forest, with nary a light between them. “I expect we will wake them all…” she sighed and started down the long winding way.
“Only if you insist on making so much noise,” Tom said and she laughed, the sound carrying on the night air.
She clapped a hand over the mouth, but could not stop giggling. “After such a day ‘tis no surprise that I seem to have lost me wits. You shall have to teach me your cat-footed ways as we walk, for I would dearly love to know the trick of it.”
“It is not so hard as you might think,” he said, and proceeded to explain as they walked.
After several long minutes during which Alicia proved she was a quick study, she looked up at the young man beside her and smiled. “You remind me of my brother. I think you would have liked him.”
“I expect I would have,” he agreed. They had almost reached the outermost houses, and thus far, save the exception of an uncanny dog or two who barked as they had passed, they had gone without notice. Alicia reached here to tug at his sleeve, needing to ask before they reached the village proper and could speak no more.
“I need to know,” she said when he turned to look at her. “What will His Grace do to us? To all of us, I mean.”
“Will he punish the village?” Tom asked, seeming to understand immediately what she was getting at.
She nodded, unable to speak.
Tom thought a long moment. “He will punish those who are deserving of it,” he said finally. “As our Captain, he was always a fair man.”
“My father…” she said softly, forcing the words out, “My father, I think, is one who will be deserving.”
Tom looked at her sympathetically. “There is still time. Perhaps he can be convinced otherwise.”
“Not if he has already killed a man,” she whispered.
There seemed little else to say. They moved as one toward the village, edging silently along, keeping to the shadows. In no time at all, they stood before the house that was her own.
“Tell him…tell him I will do what is necessary. He will understand,” Alicia said and disappeared up the walk.
