Chapter 28
Agnes set the Faerie Queen down on the breakfast table. Jonathan Thornton leaned over and picked it up.
‘Spenser,’ he said. ‘Not my taste in poetry, I’m afraid.’
‘Nor mine,’ Agnes said. ‘But James — Lord Elmhurst — gave it to me.’ She looked at Daniel, steeling herself. ‘Daniel, I need to talk to you.’
Daniel looked up from buttering a slab of bread. ‘What about?’
‘James.’ She tapped the book. ‘I should have told you something last night — it is about something James did.’
Daniel glanced around the table at his brother and Jonathan and his wife. The younger members of the Thornton family had already eaten, to judge by the scattered platters. ‘You are among friends here, Agnes.’
‘There is something hidden at Charvaley. Something that Tobias Ashby wants.’
‘You mean the King’s gold?’ Jonathan inquired.
She stared at him. ‘How did you know about that?’
Jonathan looked at Daniel, who glared back at him. ‘Oh dear, I appear to have spoken out of turn,’ he said.
Agnes rose to her feet, her eyes only for Daniel.
He had known all along about the gold. Everything — their meeting, his concern for her, his willingness to take her to Charvaley — became clear.
It had been about the gold, not any concern for her well-being — or the children.
For a brief heartbeat, she considered hitting him, or at least taking the book and leaving the room.
‘That was what it was always about, wasn’t it? All that talk about revenge on Tobias Ashby was nothing but a ruse,’ she said at last, forcing the words between tight, angry lips.
Daniel coloured and shook his head. ‘No, you’re wrong. It was always about Ashby. The gold was just a convenience.’
‘And I was just a convenience?’
Daniel cleared his throat and made a pretence of smearing honey on his bread. She forced her anger down. James had trusted her with his secret; now she had to trust this man.
She looked around the table. ‘So you all know?’
Kit leaned forward. ‘I have no idea what you are talking about, Mistress Fletcher, but it sounds most intriguing.’ He glanced at Daniel. ‘You can deal with my brother later. Evidently, his conduct may have been less than gentlemanly. In the meantime, you can confide in us.’
Kate Thornton looked at Daniel. ‘I think you owe Agnes an explanation.’
Daniel toyed with the buttered bread, as honey dripped down the sides onto his hand.
‘I hold a commission from the King to recover a consignment of gold Unites stolen by the Earl in July. Elmhurst went to his grave without disclosing where he had hidden the coin. They told me in Bruges that Agnes may know something about its location.’ He set the bread down and looked at Agnes.
‘Agnes, I confess to seeking you out for that reason, but everything that happened since then … ’
Hot, stinging tears of humiliation sprang to her eyes. ‘I don’t think I can ever trust you again.’
Daniel winced as if she had hit him. Agnes held him in her hot angry gaze, glad that she had turned him away last night, whatever it had cost her.
‘Trust is a valuable commodity and easily betrayed.’ Kate Thornton’s tone was icy.
She glanced from Agnes to Daniel. ‘But from what I have come to know of the two of you in the past two weeks, whatever perfidious motives Daniel may have had in seeking you out in London, Agnes, I think what lies between you now is a true friendship. Don’t throw it away. ’
‘I want to know more about this gold,’ Kit interrupted the awkward silence that followed Kate’s speech.
Agnes hesitated, tapping her fingers on the cover of the book. She had come this far; she may as well throw in her lot with these men.
She held up the leather-bound book. ‘Last night I discovered James’s last letter to me. It’s a coded message.’
Jonathan leaned forward, his elbow on the table.
Kit sat back, his arms crossed, a frown creasing his brow.
Daniel tilted his head to one side, a mannerism she had noted from their time together.
All three of them had lived in the shadows, and what she needed now were men capable of facing Tobias Ashby.
‘Tobias asked me about the gold in London, which means he hadn’t found it before James’s death.
I denied all knowledge of it, but I will tell you what I do know.
In July some men came late one night with four leather satchels and deposited them in the library.
James said I was the only one he trusted, and I held the lantern as they brought the satchels inside. ’
Jonathan narrowed his eyes. ‘Did you see what was in the satchels?’
‘No, and neither did I see what James did with them. They were gone from the library the next morning. I could tell they were heavy from the way the men carried the satchels but I didn’t see the contents.’
Daniel nodded. ‘Four hundred gold Unites, freshly minted in the Tower and sent north to support the quelling of the uprising.’
Kit gave a low whistle, his sharp gaze catching Jonathan Thornton’s eyes.
Agnes set the book down, laying her palm flat on its cover.
‘I couldn’t bring myself to look at this book — until last night, and that’s when I found James’s letter.
If I’ve read the code correctly I think he has hidden the gold somewhere in the children’s nursery at Charvaley.
I have lain awake half the night trying to think where it could be hidden.
I can only think that there must be a secret chamber I don’t know about. ’
Jonathan sat back in his chair and for a long moment, the only sounds in the room were the gentle hiss as a log settled on the fire and the patter of the rain on the windows.
‘James Ashby’s gold could be the difference of months if not years to the King’s return,’ he said at last. ‘Why do you think the hiding place is in the children’s nursery? ’
Agnes opened the book and demonstrated the code.
‘The children guard that which they seek.’ Jonathan frowned. ‘The children’s nursery? Why there?’
‘It’s an old house, older even than this one,’ Agnes said. ‘There would be hiding places that were long forgotten. What if James had stumbled on this one when he was a child in that same nursery? He had no brothers or sisters who survived infancy. No one to know except him.’
‘If we could retrieve the gold … ’ Jonathan Thornton mused aloud. ‘Kit, what say you?
Kit nodded. ‘It’s not a task for one man.’
‘No!’ Kate pushed her chair away and rose to her feet, colour high on her cheekbones. ‘Don’t even think it. You made me a promise, Jonathan Thornton.’
Jonathan rose to meet her, taking her hands in his.
‘I made you a promise never to take up arms again,’ he said, ‘and I have honoured that promise, Kate, but if the recovery of this gold can facilitate the restoration of the King, would you have me walk away? This is a different case, it’s not the same as openly taking up arms and riding into battle. ’
‘A fine distinction, Jonathan!’ Kate shook off his hands and strode over to the window, where she stood with her arms wrapped around herself. She turned back to look at her husband, her face once more composed.
‘I know I cannot stop you, Jon,’ she said after a long moment, ‘and God knows we have suffered long enough under the rule of Parliament. Go, if you must, but come back to me.’
Daniel looked at his brother. ‘Kit? Your wife is not here, what would she say?’
Kit’s mouth quirked and he glanced at Kate. ‘Probably much the same as Kate, but I am weary of jumping at shadows and skulking behind hedgerows in Hampshire. I want … I need the King’s forgiveness.’
Agnes saw no humour in Kit’s face, just a terrible sadness, and she realised what Daniel’s freedom had cost his brother.
Kate gestured at Agnes. ‘You do realise that the only way to this gold is through this woman. Would you endanger her life for a few gold coins?’
Kit shook his head. ‘Kate’s right, Jon. It is not just about us. Daniel and I know better than anyone what Tobias Ashby is capable of.’
Agnes looked from one to the other.
‘Thank you for your concern, Lady Thornton, but the choice is mine,’ she said. ‘Not only does he have the lives of two innocent children in his hands, but Tobias Ashby betrayed James.’
‘How?’ Kit asked.
‘He came to James with stories of unrest in the Army. He persuaded him that in the event of an uprising, he could bring all his troops and more besides. James believed him and committed to joining Booth’s uprising in Chester. He was taken on his way to join Booth — by his cousin.’
Kit scowled. ‘He was a fool and now he is a dead fool.’
‘I tried to warn him,’ Agnes said, ‘but he believed his cousin’s blandishments. Tobias Ashby wants only the Elmhurst title and estates,’ she paused, ‘and the gold.’ She picked up the book. ‘Now I have what he wants and the power to knock on his door and demand admittance.’
‘What are you proposing, Agnes?’ Jonathan asked.
She swallowed. ‘If you are willing to help me, I can gain entry into the castle. With one of you posing as my manservant, I could buy some time to find the hiding place. You could take the gold and I … ’ she tailed off.
In the dead hours of the night, the plan had seemed so simple, now it seemed childish.
‘You want the children,’ Kate said.
Agnes nodded.
Kate looked at her husband. ‘Well?’
‘With one of us inside Charvaley, it could be done in a single night,’ Jonathan said.
‘Ashby knows me,’ Kit said.
‘And you would not pass as a manservant,’ Agnes said, looking at Jonathan.
Jonathan straightened. ‘I would have you know that I once enjoyed a formidable reputation as a master of disguise.’
‘She’s right,’ Kate said. ‘Not you, Jon.’
‘It’s my commission,’ Daniel said. ‘I was only a boy when Ashby last saw me, I doubt he would remember me.’ He glanced at Agnes, ‘And I owe it to Agnes to keep her safe.’
‘Very well,’ Kate said. ‘Agnes, with Daniel inside Charvaley and these two outside, I entrust these men with your life.’
Agnes drew a sharp breath. ‘The truth is I fear for the children more than my own life.’
Kate crossed to her and took her in her arms. ‘Agnes, if there is any danger, please promise me you won’t throw your life away for gold.’
Agnes stepped back and met Kate’s clear, grey eyes. ‘Never for gold, but I would for the children.’
Kate nodded. ‘I understand.’ She looked around at the three men. ‘I presume you will wish to leave as soon as possible? I think these two need to talk.’ She ushered her husband and Kit out of the room, leaving Agnes alone with Daniel.
Agnes crossed her arms and glared at him. ‘Well? Was it always about the gold?’
He returned her gaze. ‘I said what I had to say, Agnes. When I left the Lowlands, it seemed a simple proposition to endear myself to you, get into Charvaley, and make good my escape — with the gold. Then I met you.’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘How can I believe anything you told me is true?’
He shook his head. ‘Everything I have told you about myself is the truth, Agnes.’
‘It’s what you didn’t tell me,’ she said. ‘You didn’t trust me.’
‘I didn’t know you,’ he protested, ‘but I do know you now, Agnes and I —’ He swallowed. ‘I owe you my life.’
Agnes stared at him. ‘Your life?’
‘Yes, my life. Marsh fever can kill but because of you, I didn’t die.
If I were indeed a knight of old, I would kneel at your feet and pledge my life in your service, but as you well know I am a former slave and a privateer and any such gentlemanly notions were long since beaten out of me, so you will just have to learn to trust me. ’
He swept her a lowly bow and turned away.
At the door, he glanced back to look at her.
‘You are wrong about one thing, Agnes. This is no longer about the gold or Tobias Ashby Whatever your feelings for me, you have my word that I will do whatever is within my power to give you back your son,’ he said. ‘Whatever it takes.’