Oh no!That would never do. If Adelaide went with Lord James’s men, the plan unraveled completely. “But she can’t,” Isabella said, attempting to improvise as quickly as she could manage. She lowered her voice to a murmur only Lord James could hear. “Lord Martin is carrying secret messages to Her Grace regarding King Stephen’s allies, their strength at arms, and where they are mustering. If his men don’t come bearing those messages along with my sister, the duke and duchess will both be furious.”
Lord James shrugged. “Then I’ll make him hand over the messages to me.”
“He and his men would die before telling you where to find them.”
“I have ways of making men talk,” he grumbled. “Have no fear. I’ll soon possess all of their secrets.”
This wasn’t going at all how she had hoped. “But you won’t possess them in time. The letters are in a hidden compartment on the ship. Only Lord Martin knows how to find it and open it, and he’ll never give you what you want.”
“That pathetic wretch? I’ll have him singing my tune before the midday meal. Hezekiah,” he bellowed, and one of his men hurried over. “Prepare Lady Adelaide to depart onThe Falconfor Normandy before the day is out. Find a healer to accompany her. And get Lord Martin out of bed and dressed. We’re all going to take a little trip down to the docks. Prepare the carriage.”
He turned to Isabella as Hezekiah rushed off. “Go say your goodbyes to your sister. We leave for the docks within the hour.”
Isabella hurried back to her room to make sure all of Adelaide’s things got packed. Fortunately, she arrived before any of Lord James’s servants.
Adelaide blinked her eyes open as the door closed behind Isabella. “What is it? What’s gone wrong?”
Isabella wished she could shield her sister from everything that was happening, but under the circumstances, it wasn’t possible. She was going to have to trust in her sister’s inner strength. “Lord James is going to try to send you to Normandy on his own ship with his own men. I made up a story about secret documents onThe Wind Songthat Lady Eleanor required and that only Martin could find. He’s going to bring all three of us to the dock. At least it gets us out of the castle, but I have no idea how we’ll escape from there.”
“I’m sure you and Lord Martin will find a way,” Adelaide croaked. “I’ll help any way I can.”
Rummaging through Adelaide’s chest, Isabella pulled out a thick wool gown to keep her sister warm despite the wintry weather. “Let’s get you dressed and packed. We need to get you out of here, no matter what. I can’t let him use your health as leverage over me ever again. If anything bad happens to you because of that coxcomb, I’ll strangle him myself.”
There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Isabella called out.
A young woman dressed in servant’s clothes entered along with an older woman with snowy hair who Isabella recognized as the healer. “I’ll just get Lady Adelaide packed up while you examine her,” said the servant.
“I don’t like that they are moving you,” said the healer, as she took Adelaide’s pulse. “Your humors are still badly out of balance. I should bleed you, but I fear it would weaken you too much for the journey ahead. My apprentice, Lizbeth, will accompany you on your journey. She will meet you at the docks. The earl has arranged everything. Drink this,” she said, handing Adelaide a flask of some pungent concoction of herbs and spirits. The scent of it filled the room.
Adelaide choked and sputtered as she drank it down.
“You’re all packed, my lady,” said the servant, closing Adelaide’s trunk with a thunk. “The carriage is waiting below. Can you walk, Lady Adelaide, or do you need someone to carry you?”
Adelaide slowly, agonizingly, pushed herself to standing, letting Isabella wrap an arm around her to steady her. “I think I can make it to the carriage with my sister’s help.”
Together, their small party made their way down the stairs and out to the courtyard where an enormous carriage that looked like a house on wheels stood. Isabella helped Adelaide climb in and settle on a leather-covered seat while the servant lashed her trunk to the back. Moments after they settled on the bench, Martin came hobbling in with a cane to help him walk.
As soon as Martin was seated, Isabella whispered, “He’s going to try to send Adelaide away on his own ship instead of with yours. I told him there was a box of secret messages aboardThe Wind Songthat Lady Eleanor is expecting and that only you knew where to find. We have to find a way to make contact with your men and enlist their assistance to help us escape.”
“I will—” Martin closed his lips abruptly as Lord James peered into the carriage.
“The healer will travel with you to the docks to keep an eye on Adelaide,” Lord James announced, making way for the flustered-looking older woman.
With the healer there, they wouldn’t be able to talk freely. At least Isabella had been able to explain her deception to Martin in time.
“How is your foot, Lord Martin?” the healer asked, taking a seat beside him. “I hope you’re staying off it.”
“I couldn’t step on it if I tried, good woman,” he said with a grimace. Clearly, he had tried and failed.Poor Martin!They all had to get away from this place before anything worse happened.
They rode in silence to the dock, as Isabella racked her brain for some plan for how to get them away from Lord James. From Martin’s furrowed brow, she could tell he was doing the same. Adelaide slumped against her as the carriage thumped and bumped over the stone-paved road.
As the carriage door opened, the cacophony and smells of the dock washed over them. All Isabella could do was pray that they found a way to end this nightmare before her sister was torn away.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
It was alla matter of timing, Martin thought to himself as he led Lord James along the dock towardThe Wind Song. After a tearful goodbye with Isabella, Adelaide had boarded Lord James’s ship, which was scheduled to depart when the church bell rang for afternoon prayers. He needed to absorb enough of Lord James’s attention to give Isabella a plausible chance to have a private word with someone from his crew. Then he could raise the threat of the letters and hopefully, they could all leave. But Lord James had to be made to believe the letters went out, which meant he had to distract the man as long as possible. But not so long that the ship Adelaide was on set sail.
Each step was torture, even though he only placed the lightest pressure on his injured foot as he hobbled along the quay with a gnarled branch that currently served as his walking stick. Halfred and the men were hard at work putting up new rigging to attach to the new mast they had installed, but work ground to a halt as he limped his way up the gangplank, followed by Lord James, Isabella, and three of Lord James’s men.
