Noble Hearts 03 - The Courageous Heart (23 page)

“There you are, proof that your dear earl and his friend are murderous traitors.”

Pennington’s
nonchalance took the wind out of Joanna’s efforts to stay strong. She
turned the bundle over in her hands, not bothering to open it
.
“These are forgeries.” She held them out.

Pennington surprised her by saying, “Of course they are.” He
sent Matlock a peevish look and motioned
for Roderick to take the letters from
Joanna
.

“You can’t
use those as evidence.
”
Joanna
’s
confidence grew
. She
scrambled
for any other
argument to get the powerful men in front of her to help
, anything at all. All she could come up with was,
“Prince John told me to come to you for help.” She blurted the words before weighing whether they were a good idea.

To her shock, neither Pennington nor Matlock laughed at her
.

“What did
Prince John
tell you to
come to
me
for help with
?”
The obsequious Pennington was gone. The man that took his place was as dark and serious as any devil.

Joanna swallowed, her mouth gone dry. “He
told me
that
if
Matlock
spoke in Sir Crispin’s defense, made sure he was released
, he would grant
him
vast lands outside of Derbyshire when he returns to power
.” She
trembled from head to toe
.

To her surprise Matlock
narrowed his eyes
in thought.
Pennington
studied her,
making her blood run cold
.
“You spoke to Prince John?”

“Yes.
”
She willed herself to stay strong
. “The prince is friends with Sir Crispin and Lady Aubrey. I have at
tended him on many occasions.”

“Did he say where
he would grant me land
?” Matlock went on, ignoring
Pennington’s growing ferocity
.

Joann
a shook her head. “Not to me
.”

Matlock
hissed, dropping his arms
.
“She’s lying. Roderick, do away with her.”

Joanna gasped and shrank away from
the creepy young man
.

Pennington raised a hand and Roderick stopped.
“The Prince deigned to speak to you?”
he asked. Roderick stepped back.

“Yes.” There was no point in telling the entire story. Let
them
think there was more to the relationship than there was.

“
What are you thinking, Arthur
?” Matlock
asked Pennington
.

Pennington arched an eyebrow
.
“I’m thinking, my dear Stephen, that an attractive
, clever
maid is far more likely to gain quick proximity to the k
ing than a provincial noble.”

Matlock’s
swagger
dissolved
into something much closer to fear
.
Joanna’s dread intensified.

“I am fully capable of completing Prince John’s mission,” Matlock growled.

“Oh I know,” Pennington dismissed him. “This is called insurance.”

Joanna panted, swallowing a scream. She wanted to run.

“My dear,” Pennington
cleared his throat and
addressed her with a smile, “where do your loyalties lie?”

Joanna’s hands and feet were numb. “My loyalties are with my master and mistress, Sir Crispin and Lady Aubrey.”

“No, you misunderstand me,” Pennington laughed. “If it should come to it, would you support King Richard on the throne or would you rather see John as our sovereign?”

She was in over her head. Way, over her head.
This whole thing was a bad idea.
“I am loyal to the rightful sovereign of England,” she choked.

“What a good little answer from a good little girl.” Pennington’s smile was
acid
. “Who do you like better?”

“Like?” Joanna swallowed. “It’s not for me to like or dislike. Richard is our king.
John is his brother and next in line for the throne.
”

“But you know Prince John
.
P
ersonally
,” Pennington finished for her.
He was toying with her and there was nothing she could do about it. “Richard hates England, you know,” he added. “He tried to sell London to finance his bloody crusade but he couldn’t find any buyers. Do you really want to remain loyal to a man who hates you and would sell you to the highest bidder?” He spoke as though he himself would
have a stake
in that auction.

“
Let me put this to you another way.” He took a breath and shifted his weight from one foot to another. “
Do you want to see your master and
his friend
exonerated at their trial?
Set free? Sent back to Derbyshire, all this just a bad memory?
”

Joanna
’s heart ached and her skin prickled
. “Yes.”

“What if I
destroy those letters and
agreed to speak in their favor?”

Her heart stopped. “Would you?”

“This is not part of the plan!” Matlock interrupted.

“Oh no, Stephen, this is the plan,” Pennington countered with a smile.

“I don’t understand.”
Joanna’s voice shook.

“How much do you love your master
s
?”
Pennington
asked her.

“Wit
h all my heart,” she answered.

“And how far would you go to protect and defend them?”

“To the ends of the earth.
”

“Would you die for them?”

“Yes.” She
knew the truth of her answer like she’d never known anything
before
.

“And would you kill for them?”

Her heart froze in her chest. “What do you mean?” she whispered.

Pennington
stared at her. “If the difference between freedom or death for your beloved Sir Crispin and
Lord John
meant the death of someone else, would you do it?”

Her hands shook. Her heart raced painfully in her chest. What would Toby have done? If Ethan’s life hung in the balance would he have res
orted to violence to save him?

She already knew the answer
. She met
Pennington’s
eyes. Nothing in their cold depths suggested he was anything but deadly serious with her. The games were over.

“Who do you want me to kill?” she murmured.

Pennington
smiled. “King Richard.”

Chapter
Thirteen

“What do you mean you’ve taken a job at the Tower?” Ethan railed as Joanna tried to push past him. The Stag Hunt’s courtyard was misty in the early morning. He had been lucky to spot Joanna trying to slip out in the first place.

“I was offered a position,” she explained
in a monotone
, walking past him
.
He followed.
“We need the money. I can’t rely on charity forever. And it will give me an opportunity to stay connected to
Aubrey and Crispin.”

She recited her list of reasons as though it was memorized.
She wouldn’t look him in the eye.
She’d done nothing but look him in the eye as she’d verbally flailed him
for
two
week
s
. Something had changed, and not for the better.

“Is this about yesterday?” he asked, face growing hot. “Because I’m sorry about that.
I meant
every word of
what I said, but I was clumsy.
It’s what I’ve wanted for so long.
” The
same twist of dread and deep longing that he’d carried since speaking to Pennington welled up. He stopped
Joanna
mid-stride down the foggy London street and forced her to face him. “It’s not too late. I know you’re angry, but think about it. We could be happy
, the way we were always meant to be
.
”

The familiar heat of fury replaced the dull look that had
haunted Joanna’s
eyes
. “You are a selfish prick who use
s
women
for your own ends
, Ethan Windale
.
You think with your
cock
, when you think at all.
I never should have trusted you. You ruined my life once and you’re trying to do it again. And if you think I’ll let you get in the way of Crispin and Aubrey living happily ever after as lord and lady of Windale then you are stupider than I thought.”

He would rather she had slapped him again.

“So that’s it?” He
followed as she
march
ed
on
. “You’re just going to walk off and spend all day at the Tower
because I was foolish enough to tell you I love you and want to build a life with you?”

“Go to hell!”

“What about
Madeline and the kids?
” He tried a new tactic.
“
Aren’t you going to be there for them?
”

“Madeline is doing much better,” she argued
without turning to face
him
.
She
dodged a baker setting loaves of bread on a table outside of his shop
.

H
e
cursed and
chased after her.
“Joanna,
leaving the safety of the inn and going to the Tower alone
is dangerous and foolish
.
”

“Your concern for my safety and wellbeing has been duly noted,” she growled, ignoring him and stomping on.

“If you think you need money then why not ask David and Rebecca if they have work at the inn for you.
David approached me about it. He only let you leave this morning because I told him to
.”

“Which is why I didn’t ask
him for help
,” she retorted.

He matched his stride to hers, checking the corners and shadows of the street for
anyone following them
. “You don’t have anything to prove, you know,” he
argued
.
“We all know you’re devoted to Crispin and Aubrey.”

She stopped in the middle of the street and swung to face him. “And just what do you
know about devotion
?” Her eyes blazed.

“I
am devoted to you
,” he
said
, leaning closer to her.

She laughed, cold as icicles. “Leave me alone, I can handle this myself.”

“
Maybe there’s a way to have Crispin and Jack pardoned and for me to
still have Windale,
”
he called after her.

She
glared
at him, wild emotion flickering across her face. He waited for her to
rage at
him, to put him down and call him names.
Too
soon her expression dampened to bitterness
then to the same dull mask as before
.
She shook her head and dodged around him.
“I don’t have time to stand here and resurrect the past
, Ethan. I have a job to do.”

The chill in her words
was the last straw
.
Something was horrifically wrong
, but not wrong enough to soothe his hurt
.

“Fine then!” he shouted after her as s
he charged on.
“Be a contrary bitch!”

His insult didn’t slow her steps at all.
More than anything he wanted to argue
with her
until she saw reason, to throw her over his shoulder and carry her back to the inn if he needed to.
He didn’t want to lose this
,
of all battles.
Instead he
continued to
follow her and
shout.

“You go and do what you say you have to do and I’ll do what I have to do!”

Anger warred in his chest with the sting of knowing how foolish he was. He wouldn’t let himself feel like a fool forever. If Joanna wouldn’t accept the gift he was giving her then he would use the means at his disposal to
force it on her.

Joanna
marched on
heedless of him
, hugging herself and rubbing her arms as the morning fog took its time dissipating. If she turned around she would see him
plodding after her
. He wasn’t trying to stay hidden. She didn’t turn.
His heart shriveled and sank in his chest.

As Joanna approached the Tower gate, Ethan held back. “
Don’t let her in,” he whispered.
“Don’t let her in.”

He held his breath, but after a too short exchange with one of the guards on duty the gate was opened a fraction and Joanna
slipped through
.

Ethan swore
and
ran his han
d through his cropped hair. It didn’t make sense. A
lady’s maid from Derby
shire
should not have be
e
n
given a job at the Tower
on such short notice
when Kin
g Richard was in residence
.

“Good morning to you, Sir Ethan.” The sultry voice of the widow from the hunt pulled his attention
away from the gate
.

“Oh. Good morning.” He nodded at the woman then turned to glare at the gate.

“Figured you’d get an early start while the king breaks his fast?” The widow swept to his side and slipped her arm into his.

“Something like that,” Ethan mumbled. The guards opened the gate, allowing the two of them to enter the Tower. “I have something of dire importance to tell the king
about some of his prisoners
.”

“How exciting,” the woman trilled. She hugged his arm. He barely registered the possessive gesture. He had old rivals to condemn.

“Excuse me.” He shook the widow off when she tried to steer him towards a cluster of chatting nobles. If she
was offended he didn’t notice.

The executioners platform still stood on the green between the gate and the White Tower.
Jack and
Crispin
would thank him for the quick death of the axe instead of the long, slow misery of living.

“Ethan!” He stopped cold at the sound of Aubrey’s cry. “Ethan Windale!”

Ethan spun to face the line of out-buildings against the Tower wall. It took him a few seconds of searching before he found Aubrey’s face pressed up against a small barred window.

“Ethan Windale, get over here this minute! What are you doing?”

A guilt far deeper than anything he’d ever known left Ethan motionless. He was plotting to have her husband killed, that’s what he was doing. He couldn’t let something as small as sentiment for an old flame get in the way of his mission. He turned away and took a few more steps towards the White Tower.

“Ethan, if you don’t get your worthless hide over here right now, I swear to God I’ll rip these bars apart and drag you up here myself!”

He stopped and let out a breath. Knowing Aubrey she would do just that.

Swallowing his anger, he changed directions and marched to the house where Aubrey was being held.
The door was unguarded, so he let himself in. The entry room was warm and quiet. A pair of sentries jumped to
their
feet when he entered.

“I’m here to see the Lady Aubrey,” Ethan announced,
miserable to the core
.

“Who are you?”

“A
friend
.”

The guards exchanged glances. “Pennington say anything about
friends like him
being allowed to see her?”

A chill passed down Ethan’s spine
at Pennington’s name.

The
guard
gave Ethan a suspicious look. “You got
the seal
?”

“What
-
”
Ethan
stopped himself
, pulse pounding harder.
“I’ve forgotten it.”

The sentries exchanged nervous glances. “What do we do now?” one murmured.

Ethan reached into his pocket and took out two coins. “How is this for
a seal
?”

The sentries gladly took the coins from Ethan’s hands. The second one bit his. “
Good enough for me.
Come on. I’ll show you.”

The man tucked the coin in his pocket and led Ethan up a narrow staircase to the second floor. The hall was dark, a single window at the end and tiny barred windows in each of the doors providing the only light. The sentry walked halfway down the hall to an unmarked door. He took out a set of keys and turned the lock.

“Morning, Countess,” he pushed the door open. “You got a visitor.”

Ethan stepped into the doorway.
His jaw dropped. The room was as finely decorated as any at the London estates he’d visited in the last week.
Aubrey
stood at the window, dressed like a princess with disheveled hair and patches of pink anger on her cheeks
.
She shoved away from the window as he entered and stormed towards him.

“What in God’s name
is Joanna
doing here?”
she accosted him.

Before he could answer she turned pale, clutching a hand to her stomach. She dashed to the side of the room and proceeded to be sick in a basin on her wash table.

“Are you alright?” Ethan rushed to her, all other thoughts disappearing from his mind but her wellbeing.

She reached a shaking hand for a goblet of water and took a drink. He took the goblet from her when she was finished and handed her a small towel from a peg beside the wash table.

“Aubrey, you’re ill.” He helped her sit on the curtained bed. “Let me fetch a healer.”

“I’m not ill,” Aubrey growled. “I just have a bad habit of being pregnant in times of crisis.”

Ethan blanched.
“Did Pennington-”

“No!” She shook her head and made a disgusted noise. “
For God’s sake, Ethan,
I’ve only been here for a
fortnight
. Do you think I would give in to that toad so quickly?
Or at all, for that matter.
”

Her words had more of an impact than her tone.
So Pennington’s hints about his plans for her were true after all.
He took a step
back
, lowering his voice. “
H
as
gone around the king’s back and made you an offer?
”

Aubrey flushed. “It’s none of your business.”

“He’s a powerful man,
Aubrey
.
He could make your life-
” The desire to convince her to consider the man vanished before he could finish his thought. It left his skin crawling.

Aubrey
stood and walked to a
marble
table under the room’s one small window. A chess board took up most of the surface, its pieces scattered halfway through a game.
She
flopped into one of the chairs and picked up a thin book to fan herself
.