Page 76 of His Wicked Secret
“Not to complain, but that is a very ugly dress. The modiste must have been drunk when she made that.”
“Very deep in her cups indeed. I’m sure it’s the height of fashion, but I fear I might drown in all this lace.” He plucked at the skirts in disgust.
Avery chuckled. “Better to drown in lace than be hung by the French, I should think.” Avery’s gallows humor made Jon laugh.
The shouting outside continued, and Jonathan rushed over to help Avery brace the doors as they suddenly shuddered with a greater force. The heavy rhythmic pounding from outside sounded like some sort of battering ram.
Jonathan threw his body against the door, fighting to keep the flimsy fortifications from busting open.
“Did Audrey escape?” Avery asked through gritted teeth.
“I hope so.”Please God, let her get out.He couldn’t think of what the soldiers might do to a female spy before killing her. No woman deserved such a fate, especially not the woman he loved more than his own life.
The door jerked behind them, the lock shattering. Only the tables and their combined weight were keeping the soldiers out. Jonathan and Avery stood shoulder to shoulder, boots dug into the floor, fighting with every breath to buy them more time. The wood shuddered over and over as the soldiers continued their assault.
“I’m sorry you’re here, Jon,” Avery muttered as the door splintering.
“I’m not,” Jonathan said. “Dying beside a good man to save the woman I love? I have no regrets.”
He only wished he’d had more time to be with her. He’d been a fool to think he had years, decades even, to be with Audrey. If only he’d known, he wouldn’t have waited so damn long to…
The walls of the inn groaned as the wood vibrated from the blows outside.
“See you on the other side, Jon.” Avery met his gaze, and they both strained one last time to stop the soldiers before they were knocked to the floor in an explosion of wood.
Jonathan’s ears were ringing as he struggled to get up, but every muscle in his body ached. Avery had collapsed beside him. His ears were ringing as the world slowed around him. Smoke rolled like waves over the floor of the taproom. Smoke? His hazy mind struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. Had the soldiers usedgunpowderto blow them out?
He was hauled roughly to his feet by two men and dragged out of the inn, into a swarm of soldiers and French townsfolk, all shouting.
“Well, that was foolish,” A man in a captain’s uniform stepped forward, staring at him and Avery. “Very foolish.” His accent was thick, but his English was surprisingly good.
Avery managed a grin. “Well, you know…we are English.”
“We came here looking for spies, and instead we find…” The captain looked Jonathan up and down. “A bearded lady?” Jonathan hadn’t shaved in almost a day, but he certainly didn’t have a beard. “It is no wonder the English come here for holiday, when theirwomenare so ugly.” It was obvious that the captain knew he wasn’t a woman, but the hope was the captain would believe that Sheffield had gotten it wrong.
“I take offense, sir.” He replied with mock solemnity. “We were here on holiday, and now you’re wrecking what was to be a lovely honeymoon.”
The soldiers burst out laughing, and the captain wiped a tear from his eye as he tried to stem his own laughter.
“Honeymoon? You’re married? Well then, my congratulations! Please, kiss him!” the captain challenged, which resulted in more hilarity among the soldiers.
Jonathan glanced at Avery, who shook his head. “You kiss me and I’ll kill you myself.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Jonathan snorted. “I’m far too good for you.”
The captain turned serious. “Take them. Bind their wrists.”
Jonathan and Avery put up little resistance while having their hands bound. They both knew there was no escaping this. Their only objective now was to keep all eyes on them, far away from wherever Audrey might be lurking, and afford her as much time as possible to escape.
He didn’t dare look back as they were led away from the inn, lest he betray Audrey’s location.
I will love you till my last breath and beyond, my little sprite.
22
Audrey hastily threw on the breeches and white shirt, packing her hair tight under her cap. Her hands trembled, but she ignored the fear rolling through her as best she could. There wasn’t time to break down, not if she was going to get through this night alive. Then she ran to the fireplace and smudged her fingers with ash and hastily rubbed them on her cheeks.
She had learned a number of tricks in the last few months. People did not naturally like to look at dirty people, and if they were looking for the woman who’d arrived at the tavern, dirty would be the last quality they’d use to describe her. Outside she could hear an awful commotion as the soldiers prepared to storm the inn.
