Chapter 24 #3
Derrick heartily agreed, especially if a fire was perhaps going to be involved soon. He didn’t imagine Samantha would feel it, but he was dressed fashionably in tights and breeches. If he couldn’t put on jeans, he would settle for being warm.
He was invited to follow the two women and found himself slightly more grateful than he probably should have been that in spite of himself they had landed where they were supposed to. He could hardly bear to hope the rest of the trip would go as easily.
He jumped a little when he realized Mary was looking at him over her shoulder.
“You know, you look a little like Sir Richard Drummond,” she mused. “He’s in the Tower.”
“Yes,” Derrick managed. “We know.”
“I’ll just bet you do.” She lifted her eyebrows briefly, then led Samantha into the house.
He followed, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Oliver and Peter were still managing not to look as gobsmacked as he imagined they were feeling. Peter was pale and Oliver absolutely expressionless. Business as usual, thankfully.
Mary ushered them inside with great ceremony and continued to lead them through the kitchens and into the house. Derrick was slightly surprised to find Sir Thomas up and about, but perhaps the man had things to be doing.
“Ah, Thomas,” Mary said with a first-rate French accent that Derrick would imagine she hadn’t come by in the twenty-first century. “These are friends of mine from the continent, Derrick of Beaumont and his wife, Samantha.”
Derrick trotted out his best courtly manners, ones he also hadn’t polished in the twenty-first century. “Sir Thomas,” he said, inclining his head. “We appreciate your hospitality.”
Sir Thomas looked at him thoughtfully. “Lady Mary said yesterday that she thought you might be passing through London, so you are not unexpected. Your manor is near Beauvois?”
“It is,” Derrick agreed, because he wasn’t about to blow Mary’s story for him. “A mutual friend did me the favor of alerting Lady Mary to my plans.”
“In trade, are you?” Sir Thomas asked.
“Nothing to equal your business,” Derrick said, because Jamie had done his homework for him and he knew just exactly how much trade Thomas Mauntell did every year, importing expensive textiles and other high-end luxuries.
And then he realized what else Mary had said, something that hadn’t registered at the time.
Samantha was going to be posing as his wife?
“Our good Derrick has a keen eye for antiquities,” Mary said, drawing Samantha’s arm through hers, “which keeps his lady in pretty clothes and several maids to attend her.”
Thomas looked behind them, then frowned. “Yet you have come so far with so slim a retinue?”
Or words to that effect. Derrick wondered if it might be time to plead a headache or pinch Samantha so she would swoon and he could carry her off without having to say anything else.
“They were robbed,” Mary said, “and their serving girls and groom driven off. Not much for the remaining lads to do but loiter in the stables.”
“How terrible,” Sir Thomas said, clucking his tongue. “Mayhap other servants can be acquired for you, if you like. I’ll have one of my maids show you to your chamber now. We have ample room outside for your servants.”
“Thank you,” Derrick said, knowing he would hear about that last bit in great detail at some point in the future.
He thanked Mary for her help, thanked Lord Thomas profusely for his hospitality, then followed after the maidservant who showed them a surprisingly large room on the second floor.
It had a brick chimney, which he had expected, and a large canopied bed.
He let Samantha distract the girl whilst he pulled Oliver and Peter aside.
“I think we’ll attempt a tour of the Tower perhaps near noon,” he said quietly.
“Whatever you say,” Oliver said with a shiver.
“After getting lost this morning, I’m not taking any chances that things may have changed without some historian having made adequate note of it,” Derrick said grimly. “Keep yourselves safe, lads. Try not to brawl.”
The lads left in the company of the maidservant who spoke no French, which was handy given that Oliver and Peter apparently spoke no English.
The girl was suitably smitten with their full sets of teeth and skin free from pockmarks, so Derrick supposed they would get along well enough.
He closed the door, then turned, leaned back against it, and looked at Samantha.
“Well?”
“I’m terrified,” she said, sounding as if her throat were very dry.
“Your great-aunt has paved the way for us,” he offered.
“That’s what I’m terrified about,” she whispered fiercely. “She’s out of her mind!”
He locked the door, then crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. He smiled at her. “She is formidable.”
“Did you have any idea she would be here?”
“None,” he said, “though I’m grateful for it.”
“Did you know she was my great-aunt?” she asked suspiciously.
He bent his head and kissed her softly. “No. You, Miss Drummond, are a complete mystery to me.”
“Liar. I bet you checked my ACTs and my college grades.”
He laughed a little. “Had to have something to do to keep from biting my nails on the way to Ambleside, but I promise that’s the only thing I investigated. Your email and your family tree are perfectly safe. You do realize, though, that you’re related to several souls of various, ah, vintages.”
“I’m not sure I want to know.”
“Jamie will happily discuss your genealogy with you when we get home,” he said cheerfully. “Now, Mistress Samantha, would you rather have a predawn nap or something to eat?”
“I don’t think I can do either,” she said uneasily. “The dress is too big to lie down in and too tight to eat in. How long are we going to be here again?”
“Hopefully not too long,” he said. “I think I’ll try the Tower tour later with the lads, then we’ll see where the evening takes us.
If there’s a party here, I might be able to ask a few prying questions without having it come back to haunt us.
I can’t imagine that our good Sir Richard went to the Tower quietly.
Surely someone will be willing to gossip about it. ”
She shivered. “Will you think less of me if I confessed that I just lied? I’m terrified, but not for Granny Mary.”
He pulled her as close as he was able and wrapped his arms around her the best he could.
“Not to worry, Sam,” he said quietly. “We’ll be in and out of here as quickly as possible.”
“Have you done anything worse than this? With Jamie, I mean?”
He smiled. “Would it make you feel better if I said yes?”
“Only if it was much worse than this and you got out alive.”
“I think I can guarantee a happy ending. Would you care to hear a couple of infamous episodes?”
“Please.” She pulled back far enough to look up at him. “I can try to sit, if you want. But maybe not too close to the fire. This fabric was hideously expensive.”
He found a window seat made just for sitting and listening to tall tales, then joined her there and prepared to delight and astonish with things where he had truly feared might spell the end of his illustrious career as a time traveler.
He could only hope that their current adventure wouldn’t be the one he wouldn’t be alive to tell about when it was safely behind him.