Page 26 of Weave me a Rope
He could do nothing about it, however.
Nor could he trust Fielder enough to use him to send and collect letters, so Spen couldn’t write to Cordelia. Fielder’s main motivation in shelving his former hostility was that Spen would be his boss one day. Given a choice between the current marquess and the probable future marquess, Spen assumed Fielder would look after his own skin first.
Nothing was more certain than that the marquess would return. Perhaps even his steward did not know when. Certainly, the marquess’s plans were not known to the servants or anyone else whose gossip Fielder related. It would be well for Spen if the old man stayed away a bit longer.
When his lordship found Spen was still defiant, Spen had no idea what would happen. He shivered at the thought. Perhaps the countess would give birth to a son and put his lordship in a good mood.
Fielder finished his evening tasks by picking up yesterday’s dinner tray and returning Spen’s good wishes for a pleasant night, before exiting the room and locking and bolting the door.
Spen took his usual seat by the window facing the oak tree. The sun would not set for hours. He would work on his ladder, which was nearly finished.
*
The following morning,he was back at the window and making a start on a groove at the base of the second bar when a beloved voice spoke from the nearby oak tree. “Spen. Thank God you are well. You are well, are you not?”
How could joy and fear co-exist? Joy because Cordelia was within reach, and fear for the same reason. “You shouldn’t be here, my love. What if you were caught?”
She took no offense, perhaps because of the grin he could not suppress and the longing that must show in his eyes. “I will be safe, Spen. There is a festival in the village today, and most of the servants have been given leave to attend. Also, I have servants on watch all about, and some of them are yours. You have more friends than you know, and they told me you are safe and being treated well. I had to see for myself, though. Did they take everything from you when they caught Charles? Have you had time to make another rope?”
“They only took the one you brought,” Spen said, and added smugly, “I have made more and woven a rope ladder. I managed to keep the chisels and your letters, too. Look!”
He removed the loose bar. “I can’t fit through, but one more bar and I’ll be able to climb down out of here.”
Cordelia narrowed her eyes as she considered the gap. “I could probably get through that gap. Drop your ladder, Spen, and I shall try.”
“Do not think of it, my love.” Spen was horrified at the idea of her attempting such a climb, even as he yearned to touch her, to hold her in his arms. “What if you slipped? What if somebody saw you?”
“There will never be a better time, with most of the household and grounds servants away. Drop the ladder, Spen. I’m coming up.” She disappeared with a rustle of leaves.
I shouldn’t let her take the risk. I should send her away and tell her not to come back.Even as he told himself he must not allow her to risk her safety, he was retrieving the rope ladder from its hiding place and tying it firmly to the bars.
He removed the loose bar and put his head through the gap to watch Cordelia come out from under the tree and wave up to him. She was dressed in men’s clothes again—boy’s clothes, really. A pair of workman’s trousers and a rough baggy coat. She removed the coat and bundled it up. She used her neckerchief to tie it to the bag she wore on her back. A man in similar casual dress came with her, to take hold of the two outside ropes of the ladder and hold it firm.
Even with that stability and the freedom of movement trousers gave her, Spen’s heart was in his mouth as she climbed, and he did not take a breath until he could reach out to help her, first to take her coat and bag from her and toss them behind him, and next to support her as she balanced herself on the sill and twisted and wriggled to squeeze through the narrow gap and into his arms.
She clutched him as if she wanted to merge their bodies. Spen’s embrace, born of relief she had survived the climb combined with joy she was within reach, turned carnal in a split second. He had to deny the frantic urging of his own body to put her slightly away from him so he could see her beloved face, grinning with delight.
“It was not a hard climb,” she boasted.
“The last bit was the worst,” he admitted. “I did not think you were going to fit. If you had slipped…”
“You had me firmly held,” she assured him. “I was not afraid. I am never afraid when I am with you.” She leaned forward again, resting her face against his chest, and he tightened his arms to hug her close.
“We had better pull up the rope ladder,” she murmured, “lest it attract attention. My servant will be back to hold the ends in two hours.”
Spen let her go and bent to the task. It would be as well to keep his distance, but he didn’t know if it would be possible. Not for two whole hours. He couldn’t deny her, though. Quite apart from the fact her arms must be tired from the climbing, the servant to keep the ropes from swinging and twisting was already gone from view. Anyway, letting her leave him again was going to tear the heart from his chest.
*
Cordelia knew Spenwas right. She shouldn’t be here. But the last few weeks had made her desperate. Her uncle declared he had no power to get Spen released—the marquess was acting within his legal rights and was contemptuous of the circles within which her uncle had the most influence. And what little John said about the marquess made her fear the man would eventually win. He would find a way to force Spen to comply with his wishes, and she would have lost him forever.
Lost him before she had ever truly had him. They had kissed, of course. Even done a little cuddling that had set her on fire. Any more, he insisted, would come after they were married. It was nice he treated her with such respect. Indeed, it was. But she wished he had not been such a gentleman. If memories were allshe was able to have of him, she wanted all the memories she could gather.
Unable to resist being close to him, she had arrived in the village late yesterday afternoon, certain she would be safe with the large contingent of servants Uncle Josh had left to guard and protect his solicitor. They were coming for Charles this morning and planned to leave with him after that, which gave her plenty of time for this adventure. Not that the solicitor and John knew where she was. They were still asleep when she left the inn. She had told only those of the servants she knew would not stop her.
When John’s friend the stable boy had told her about the fair, she had leapt at the opportunity to see Spen one more time. Except now her plans had changed. Being able to enter the tower room was too much of a temptation to resist, and a two-hour delay would still bring her back to the inn before the solicitor left to fetch Charles. This was her chance to seduce Spen into taking her to bed, and she was determined to take advantage of it.
But now that she was here, she did not know what to do. The welcoming hug was promising, but the only kiss he gave her was nearly as decorous as their very first, which had been sweet and compelling but nothing to the knee-trembling assaults on her senses that had followed after she agreed to marry him.
