Page 8 of The Duke's Price
Miss Henwood answered for herself, loading her speech on her own behalf with subtle references to her supposed future as Carlos’s mistress and prisoner. And, Perry supposed, her actual future as his temporary lover. “I also seek spiritual counsel, Excellency. It is true that I worship the God we share in the English way when I am my own country, but the people here can tell you that I have attended services with the princess since I came to Las Estrellas. I have found much comfort in them. I face a time of much change, and I am grateful to Princess Isabella for offering me this opportunity.”
She curtseyed. “I beg you, Excellency, to allow me this nourishment for my soul, this time among the virgin brides of Christ, before I must step into the darkness of an unexpected future.”
The reference to the virgin brides of Christ was a masterstroke. Carlos’s chuckle sounded nervous. “Well, then. What can I say? It shall be as you wish, princess. You, your governess, and the maid shall have your three days in the convent, and the wedding shall be…” He looked around the room and fixed his gaze on the Bishop of Monteluz. “What do you say, esteemed reverend father? A wedding on Monday?”
The bishop’s eyes widened, but he nodded. Someone started clapping and others joined in.
Miss Henwood took the princess’s hand. “My goodness, princess, we have no time to waste. We must see to your gown before we leave for the convent.” The pair of them dropped curtseys, and they hurried from the room.
A couple of hours later, Perry watched from his chamber window as Miss Henwood left the castle with the princessand her maid, and an escort of Carlos’s soldiers. The soldiers returned thirty minutes later. The plan was afoot, then.
Perry wondered if he should have arranged to join the ladies outside of the city walls. But he would be known as an Englishman as soon as people saw his height and his hair colour. And as soon as he opened his mouth.
No, it would be best to wait until they were within reach of France, which would be once they reached the south-eastern end of the pass out of the principality. That was the legal border, though they’d have another twenty miles through hard country to reach the nearest French town, and some measure of safety.
In France, Perry’s colouring would be unremarkable and his accent was that of his French grandmother, who had raised him until he was twelve. He would coarsen it a bit to add to the disguise, and also because the French continued to be suspicious of aristos.
They’d still be in danger from Carlos and his men. But in the nearest town, he’d find a way to get word to the French constabulary that the guerilla known as El Diablo had led his band into France.
That should leave Carlos thinking about his own skin rather than his pursuit. Carlos as El Diablo—the Devil—and his deputy Garcia as the Devil’s Wolf had been known for their cruelty, as well as for their remarkable successes against the French.
3
Liliana was Ruth’s and Bella’s first problem. She was a spy for the Duque de las Sombras, but she was also lazy and venal. Putting her out of the picture was as easy as inviting her to spend three days on her knees and then suggesting that she might prefer to see Ruth and Bella to the convent and then slip away to visit her boyfriend for a couple of days.
A gift of a silver coin was enough to clinch the deal. Ruth and Bella happily promised not to tell anyone that Liliana had abandoned her post, especially Don Carlos, and just like that, they were free of their minder.
“I hope she has enough sense not to return to the castle when she learns we are gone,” Ruth said. Don Carlos could be vicious when he was crossed.
Bella took the pragmatic view that Liliana brought any consequences on herself. “If she was trustworthy, it would not be a problem. If I could trust her, she would come with us. If Don Carlos could trust her, she would refuse to leave us.”
Madre Katerina nodded. “Liliana must work out her own salvation. Let us consider ours. Princess, it is time for me to takemy remaining sisters out of Las Estrellas to the southwest. We shall join those who have already left in another convent of our order.”
“Those who have already left?” Bella repeated.
“I saw this day coming months ago,” said Madre Katerina, “and have been sending small groups of the sisters on ahead. We have not forgotten the lesson of St Teresa of Jesus.”
The Convent of St Teresa of Jesus had been sacked, and the nuns violated and murdered. They had taken in French soldiers who were too sorely wounded to keep up with the retreat from Vitoria, and the public story was that those soldiers had risen from their beds to destroy their hostesses. The persistent whisper was that Don Carlos de las Sombras had taken exception to Spanish nuns offering Christian charity to Frenchmen, even those who were dying. That rumour said he and hisguerilleroshad carried out the desecration.
“We shall leave tonight,” said Madre Katerina. “A group of volunteers will remain behind to attend Mass tomorrow morning, and will then follow us. We will have nearly two full days for our escape, and should be at the pass of the wolves by the time they know we have left the convent. Then you shall continue on to France, and we will make our way to our sisters.”
It was all organised then. They would go the way of the wolves, take the journey over the mountains into France, and then the duke would claim his reward. Ruth’s trepidation was tinged with a certain eagerness to know what Richport could teach her—a highly inappropriate response. When Madre Katerina proposed they join the nuns for Vespers, Ruth was as eager to agree as Isabella.
After Vespers, they changed into men’s clothes that Madre Katerina provided. “We have been saving them from the poor box against this necessity,” she explained. She wrinkled her nose. “They have been washed and mended.”
Ruth, who was much the same height as the average Estrellasan, found clothes to fit her easily enough. As for Bella, they had to tie a bit here and tuck a bit there, but with a loose coat over the whole, she would pass well enough.
The sun was setting when they went down into the crypts under the monastery, carrying their own clothes in a pack on their backs. It was not a trip for the squeamish, for the nuns of the Convent of Our Lady of the Stars had been buried there for hundreds of years, since the convent was founded. Madre Katerina led the way with a lamp, the prioress brought up the rear with another, and everyone else followed in single file between.
Ruth was astonished that only ten nuns remained in total, from a monastery that had once held more than fifty. With her and Bella, that made a dozen roughly dressed men—in appearance at least—who headed past the dozens of ossuaries, small rooms full of shelves holding bones.
The stone passage sloped down, switched back several times, and finally ended in what appeared to be a solid wall. Until Madre Katerina pressed the rock to one side, and the end of the passage rolled out of the way with a groan and the crunch of stone on stone.
The same noise sounded behind them when all were through the door into a rougher tunnel, this one more of a natural cave than a formed passage.
Madre Katerina did not stop, but continued on. The tunnel forked twice. Madre Katerina made her choice of paths without hesitation. They had been walking for what seemed like a long time, and now the tunnel was sloping upward, on and on, sometimes so steep that they climbed steps that had been chiselled into the rock. Then the walls of the tunnel widened, and the roof, which had varied from just above their heads to yards taller, suddenly soared out of sight in the darkness.
“Be aware,” Madre Katerina said, her voice quiet but carrying in the silence. “If any bats remain in the cave, they will be disturbed by the light. Do not be afraid. They will do you no harm.”
