Page 67 of Never Love a Lord
Piers turned to Oliver. “This is no good.”
Oliver grimaced and nodded. “All right, you old badger, what is it we are to do to rescue Lady Sybilla?”
“Do, Lord Oliver?”
“Yes, do. Sybilla has obviously been taken against her will to the king.”
“Has she?”
Oliver growled. “Well, I’m fairly certain she didn’t plan it thusly.”
The old man raised his eyebrows and shrugged, returning his attention to the infant who was regarding Oliver and Piers quite warily from the corners of her eyes.
Then Piers spoke, in his calm, thoughtful manner. “She already has a plan.”
“Doesn’t she always?”
Oliver was frustrated to the extreme. It had been enough of a struggle for him and Piers to leave Bellemont without their pregnant wives. If they did not resolve a way to rescue Sybilla Foxe, and quickly, they might as well not return to Oliver’s home at all.
Piers spoke again, and Oliver admired the man’s careful way of holding his tongue while his brains did their work. Oliver would have to try that in the future.
“What does Lady Sybilla need from us?”
Graves was silent for so long that Oliver did not think he would answer. The child’s feeding bladder was empty, and so the old manservant removed it and expertly placed the baby on his shoulder, patting her back as if it was his sole duty in life to care for children.
“What do you know of Madam’s character?” he asked musingly.
Oliver was not amused. “I’m not playing your little game, Graves.”
“Strong willed,” Piers said immediately. “Faithful. Cunning.”
Graves rewarded Piers’s answer by pointing at him with one gnarled finger. “And when the pair of you and your wives were in the most dire of straits, what did Madam do?”
“She came for us. Herself,” Piers answered. “She risked everything.” Piers glanced at Oliver uneasily. “For Cecily, she apprehended the villain who would have seen her dead. For Alys and me, she breached the king’s home herself.”
Oliver nodded, not liking the direction this conversation was taking. “Are you telling us that we need to go directly to the source of Sybilla’s trouble?”
“Why would you need to go to the king?” Graves asked mildly.
“Wait,” Piers interjected, then paused, obviously working out the situation in his head. “Julian Griffin was also arrested. You indicated that Sybilla might have gone willingly, and Lord Griffin’s child has remained behind at Fallstowe.” Piers looked to Oliver.
“Sybilla said she is in love with him,” Oliver said.
Piers nodded and then looked back to Graves. “She’s going to confess, isn’t she?”
“She can’t do that, though,” Oliver nearly shouted. “She’ll be put to death.” He looked at Piers. “We must go. I don’t know what we shall do when we get there, but Cecily and Alys will never forgive us if we don’t.”
“Again I ask you, why wouldyouneed to go to the king?” Graves repeated. “What skills would you add to Madam’s defense?”
“Skills?” Piers asked this time, nonplussed. “If you mean skills in the way Lady Sybilla and our wives possess skills, then I don’t—”
“Yes, whereareLadies Cecily and Alys?” Graves interjected musingly.
“They’re safe at Bellemont,” Oliver answered, but even as he did, a rock seemed to drop into his stomach.
“Are they?” Graves wondered.
Piers kicked a nearby chair. “Shit!”
