Part 15 (1/2)
Crispin's eyes flashed up to meet Buxton's. ”Then you agree to it?”
The room hushed as every nerve in Crispin's body screamed. Buxton raked him with an acid glare. The heat in his eyes as they devoured his form would have made his skin crawl if his heart hadn't been so full of Aubrey. A grin twitched the corners of Buxton's mouth and he shrugged. ”Why not. Either way I win.”
Crispin broke into a genuine smile before he could stop himself. ”Thank you, my lord.” He meant it as he hadn't meant those words for years. ”I must go and tell Aubrey.”
”Yes, of course,” Buxton called after him as he turned to leave. ”Give her plenty of time to figure out a back-up plan.”
The words were like an arrow in his back. Again he had to fight his suspicion that she was a part of this scheme. He had to believe that at least a small part of her would be content to marry him. He loved her a thousand times more than any man ever could. That certain knowledge had to keep him going.
Aubrey pressed herself against the castle wall as the storm crashed around her, illuminating the square in front of the castle gate for a few seconds. It grated on her nerves that she had to sneak out in the dead of night to meet with Ethan and the others, just as it had set her teeth on edge that all Ethan wanted to talk about was his grand design for disrupting the Council of n.o.bles. Rescuing her friends, rescuing her from marrying Crispin, were afterthoughts.
She dashed across the courtyard and into the castle through the cloister with a bitter smirk. Here she was risking detection as the Bandit by dressing in her chausses and cloak to sneak through the night when what she should really be wearing was her most low-cut kirtle. Maybe that would snag Ethan's focus.
The castle had long since gone to bed and she was able to rush through the halls without being noticed. She made it to her room in one piece, shut the door, and pulled the wet cloak from her shoulders, dropping it in the middle of the floor. She unbuckled the sword from her belt, tossing it on the bed. Finally she stripped off her wet Bandit clothes and changed into her nightgown, scowling the whole time.
A knock at the door startled her. ”Who's there?” She lunged to her wet clothes in a puddle by the fireplace and pushed them behind a heavy chair.
”Aubrey, it's me.” Crispin's baritone made the hair stand up on her neck.
”Just a second.”
She jumped towards the bed and shoved the sword under her pillows. Then she surveyed the room to make sure everything was concealed. A large damp spot stood out on the stones in front of the fireplace. There was nothing she could do about that except to keep Crispin from entering the room. She grabbed the robe that lay over the foot of her bed and threw it around her shoulders before answering the door.
The frown on Crispin's face melted when he saw her. For a heartbeat she caught something primal in the depths of his blue eyes as they raked from her toes to her face. She s.h.i.+vered in spite of herself. ”Aubrey, are you well?”
”I'm fine.” She hoped he couldn't see her heart beating through her skin. ”It's late, Crispin, very late. Do you need something?”
He stood too still. His eyes followed the pale line of her neck as it dipped under the soft rose of her robe. A lock of his unruly black hair brushed across his forehead and his pale face was splashed with color. She found herself wondering how it would feel if his hands followed his eyes.
When he shook himself and let out a breath she blushed with shame at her disobedient imagination. ”Would you like to see your friends?”
She blinked, not sure she had heard right, and sucked in a breath as she pulled the robe tighter across her chest. ”My friends?”
”Buxton has ordered their room be cleaned.” The softness of his jaw and the weariness in his eyes made heart thump harder. ”I've had them moved to the library while the servants are working. They'll only be there for two hours.”
”But ... but why would anyone clean a room in the middle of the night?”
Crispin stared at the floor before admitting, ”Buxton doesn't want you to know they're not in their room. He wanted them to do it while you were asleep, so that you wouldn't try to see them.”
”Then why are you here telling me about it?”
He glanced into her eyes. She blinked again as realization hit her. Her whole body burst into tingles against her will.
She turned and pulled her door shut, stepping out into the hallway with a quick shake of her head. ”Crispin, you're taking too big a risk.” She marched past him.
He fell into step behind her. She could feel him as if he were a breath away. ”Your hair is wet.”
His whispered observation made her already flushed face burn. ”I took a bath before going to bed,” she lied.
”I'm sorry to have woken you.” He reached her side in one long stride.
”I wasn't asleep.” She glanced up at him as he walked with her, frowning. ”Are you sure this isn't too much of a risk for you? Buxton wouldn't approve.”
”Buxton has been in bed for hours. As long as the servants are quiet he'll stay there.”
Her eyebrows shot to her hairline. ”What if he finds out?”
He paused as the stairs let out into the main section of the castle. ”Are you going to tell him?”
He was so close to teasing her that Aubrey let the barest hint of a smile play on her lips. ”No.”
They continued side-by-side to the castle library. It was small compared to other libraries she had seen. There was only one shelf of bound volumes and a long table with mismatched chairs around it. The table was nothing more than a huge oak blotting pad where generations of scholars had spilled ink. Sister Bernadette sat slumped in a chair at the head of the table under a tall, narrow window that Madeline stared out. The rain and wind still lashed at the castle walls with an occasional clap of thunder but Aubrey ignored all of it. She rushed forward to Madeline and threw her arms around her. Madeline let out a squeal as she hugged her in return.
”What are you doing here?” She held her at arm's length, mouth gaping and eyes tearing.
”Crispin brought me.”
”Sir Crispin? Oh Aubrey, we've heard the most horrible accusations! We've heard you are to marry him!”
Aubrey's gut seized at the fear in her voice. She turned to the door and was surprised when she saw that it had been shut behind her and Crispin wasn't there. They were alone in the room. ”It's not an accusation.”
Madeline gripped Aubrey's arms harder, trembling. ”How ... how can it possibly be true?”
Aubrey took a deep breath to steel herself for her friends' sake. ”I have a plan. Crispin said he would let you go on the day that I marry him.”
Madeline blanched, her green eyes wide. ”Aubrey, no! You can't sacrifice yourself to save us.”
”I'm not sacrificing myself.” She waved her to silence. Her glance flickered to Sister Bernadette and she knelt beside the chair to study the older woman's face. ”I'll get you home to the convent so you can be healed.”
”I am no invalid, my child,” she protested, but her grimace as she s.h.i.+fted in her seat said otherwise.
”You need proper medical treatment,” Aubrey insisted. ”As soon as possible.”
”I am grateful for your consideration, but-”
”The wedding will be at Windale.” She hated to squash Sister Bernadette but she was tired of being argued with. She turned to Madeline. ”I'll ask that you attend. They'll have to let you out of the castle to do that. You'll escape and Ethan will come and rescue me.” It felt so good to finally tell someone the plan she had been mulling over for weeks now that a genuine smile lit her face.
”We can't just escape like that.”
Her smile faltered. Madeline wasn't supposed to question her, she was supposed to congratulate her for the brilliant plan. ”Ethan said that he would save me from marrying Crispin and....” She wanted to say that she believed him but the words wouldn't cross her lips. She cleared her throat. ”Jack is in on it. He'll be there to take you to safety.”
”We cannot leave without the Madonna.” Sister Bernadette's solid declaration took Aubrey aback.
”What?” She had forgotten the statue in the heat of her plans.
”We will not leave without our treasure.”