Page 19 of Weave me a Rope
“Even so,” Spen insisted. “I don’t want you at risk. If you won’t go for your own sake, go for mine. I don’t want to be forced to marry Lady Daphne. Even if she was competent to marry—and I cannot believe she is—she is not you, Cordelia. I will marry you or no one.”
“Lady Daphne is sweet,” Cordelia commented.
The second bag reached Spen’s level. “It doesn’t matter what Lady Daphne is,” Spen told Cordelia as he unpacked it. “I will marry you.”
Boxes and parcels. Two bottles. A pack of cards. A sharp knife. A brief examination confirmed the boxes and parcels contained food. “I think you’ve thought of everything,” he told his two accomplices.
“It was mostly Cordelia,” said John.
“John thought of the brandy and the cards,” Cordelia pointed out. “And the knife.”
Spen raised his eyebrows. “What are you learning at school, John?”
John just grinned, then turned his head to gaze at the corner of the tower. Spen couldn’t see what had attracted his attention, but Cordelia said, “Draw the rope and the bag inside, Spen. John, keep quiet and still. Andrew and Charles know to hide until whoever it is has gone past.”
After that, she said no more, and John, too, obeyed her command to be still. Spen, meanwhile, drew in the bag and pressed up against the bars to try to see the path below the tower.
The sill was in the way, but he could hear two men talking, their voices carrying clearly to his ears in the quiet morning. He didn’t recognize them by the sound, but then the estate had several hundred servants, both indoor and outdoor, most of whom never entered the rarified sphere of the young heir.
“’E won’t last. Pampered young lordling like that.”
Was Spen the topic under discussion? It seemed so, for the other man said, “Maybe so, maybe not. ’E’s been goin’ be’ind ’is Da’s back for years to look after the young ’un.”
“Five shilling says ’e gets wed like ’e’s told.” They had passed the tower and turned onto the path that led across the park, ending up eventually at the home farm.
“Done!”
Spenhurst could see them now, coming into view between the branches as they passed under the trees. One was pushing and the other pulling a cart, but it could not have been hard labor, for they continued arguing as they moved away out of sight.
“We had better go,” said Cordelia.
“I love you, Cordelia,” Spen told her. “Get yourself and John to safety. Please.”
She shook her head, stubbornly. “We have a couple of days. I will be here again tomorrow.”
“So will I,” John agreed.
They disappeared from view. Spen sat there for some time watching, but he did not see them depart.
Chapter Eight
Spen had apoint. If his father caught Cordelia still in the neighborhood of his estate or—even worse—on his estate, there was no knowing what he would do, but it would be bad. True, even the Marquess of Deerhaven would not get away with killing or even hurting Josiah Milton’s niece. However, since he was far too arrogant to realize how much power Cordelia’s uncle had, he would only find out his mistake after Cordelia was already in far more trouble than she wished to contemplate.
The wisest thing was to retreat and plan Spen’s rescue from the safety of her uncle’s protection. Uncle Josh might balk at extending that protection to John, but Cordelia was confident of her ability to persuade him.
Still, Cordelia thought it worth the risk to wait one more day, and when she got back to the inn, it became a moot point anyway. Aunt Eliza’s migraine had returned, and there was no way they could travel today. Perhaps, if Spen was able to deal with the bars, they could all leave together tomorrow.
The following morning, she again walked to the tower in the early morning light, with Andrew the footman, and Charles the outrider. She took the path John had shown her the previous day, and he was waiting on the other side of what the boy had called “the home wood”.
His face lit up when he saw her. “You came.”
“Of course. Do you think Spen has managed to get through the bars?”
John shook his head. “I couldn’t tell in the dark, but I think they are still there. They were there last night.”
As he had the day before, he led them into the shadow of a tall hedge. They followed the hedge until they were close to the tower. They then had to cross an open space, but the tower already screened them from view of the house and the stable block on this side of the house was largely empty.
They would be visible from the windows of the tower, but John had already assured Cordelia that only Spen and his guard were within, and the guard occupied the house side of the top floor where Spen was incarcerated.
