Page 142 of Storm of Bells
The bodyguard took a step backwards.‘Sahib. You can’t mean….’
‘Yes.’
‘No, please!Sahib, I implore you! Byall the merciful—’
His eyes hard and merciless as ice, MrRikkard Ambrose gave the order. ‘Go with them. Keep watch.’
Karim, face wooden, posture stiff, inclinedhis head, accepting his doom with the staunch bravery of a truewarrior. As Adaira and Amy tugged me out of the room, chattering,he marched after us, striding like a soldier to the guillotine,valiantly facing his fate—until he caught sight of Jenny and Coraat the bottom of the stairs, at which point he jumped behind thenearest column.
‘Lilly!’
Patsy beamed up at me. Behind her, Ella, Eve,Flora, Cora and Jenny were waiting. I cocked an eyebrow. ‘Are weplanning to invade a country?’
Patsy waved my words away. ‘Ah, you alreadyyou own this place anyway. We’ll just have to take care of theoccupation and repel any invading armies.’
It said a lot about Patsy that I wasn’tentirely sure if she was joking.
The vicar awaited us at the door with afriendly smile. Bowing deeply, he greeted me with an avuncularsmile—well, probably. I wasn’t quite sure. I supposed, in order toknow for certain, I would have had to have an uncle who actuallysmiled.
‘Miss Linton! So nice to see you again. Andmore of your friends have arrived, apparently?’
‘Oh, yes. Reverend, please allow me tointroduce you. This is Miss Amy Weston, a dear friend of mine fromLondon, and her friends, Jenny and Cora.
The vicar beamed. ‘Delighted to make youracquaintance, ladies!’
Amy blinked. Cora and Jenny took aprecautionary step back, as if they expected any moment to bepelted with Bible verses on the whore of Babylon.
‘Err…ye are?’
‘Of course! Any friends of Miss Linton’s aremore than welcome in my parish and my church.’
A little elbow-nudge in the ribs sent Amystumbling forward. ‘Amy is going to be my maid of honour,’ Iinformed the vicar with a smile.
Beaming, the vicar clapped his hands. ‘Howwonderful! We’ll have to sit down sometime soon and discuss thedetails of the wedding. I have a wonderful sermon on marital loveprepared, and would love to hear your opinion.’
Amy almost choked on her own spittle. ‘I,um…well…’
‘She’d be delighted!’ Jenny piped up,grinning wickedly.
‘Oh yes,’ I nodded, deciding I really likedAmy’s friends. ‘Absolutely delighted.’
A frown spread across Adaira’s face. ‘But…whywould you need her to come by later to discuss the wedding? Isn’tthat what you’re here to do? Benson told me…’
‘I, um…’ The vicar cleared his throat, hischeeks turning as red as his rose garden. ‘I may have been guiltyof a slight untruth there.’
Adaira’s eyebrows shot up. Amy leanedforward, a grin spreading over her face. ‘Ye don’t mean to say…yelied?’
A pained expression spread across the vicar’sface. ‘That is an extreme way of putting it, but,essentially…yes.’
Amy’s grin widened. ‘I think I like dis oneafter all. I might have missed somethin’ all these years not goingto church.’
The poor reverend coughed, hard. ‘Years ofnot….Miss! You cannot seriously mean…’
‘So,’ I enquired, stepping on my dear maid ofhonour’s foot. ‘If the wedding isn’t the true reason why you’vecome, why exactly are you here?’ Worry started to grow in me. Rightnow, I could imagine only one reason why things might go wrong. Areason with a mane of blonde hair, a steely smile, and lots ofmuscle at his command. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Well…’ The vicar cleared his throat. ‘Areyou aware of the duties of a vicar, Miss Linton?’
He looked solemn. I considered the questionearnestly.
