Chapter 14 In which an unsuspected passion reveals itself #2
Marigold nodded sombrely. “Stupid bat. Yet his sacrifice was effective, I’ll give him that.”
“Dacian is compos mentis?”
“He remembers enough to be chafing against his imprisonment.” Marigold paused, and Judith could see she was reluctant to speak. “Yvette says they have moved him to a different cell, and they are training him with other soldiers.”
“What?”
Marigold winced. “It might be a good sign. Maybe they intend him to serve a conscription as punishment instead?”
Judith stared frowningly at the wall. “I don’t like it.
” She ought to be glad, as it indicated that the Custos at least didn’t intend to execute him.
They might even rescind the punishment of Lethe and Obruo if he was to be useful to them, but she was filled with disquiet.
Did they have a particular use for Dacian?
Was there some other purpose for his capture that she did not yet understand? Or were they simply short of men?
“We must force a visit on Drumpellier,” she said firmly. “Yet I am still not certain who killed the soldier. I did make an interesting discovery, but I don’t know if I ought to share it with the captain.”
She told Marigold about the secret passageway, adding her theory that Sgt Finlay might have known about it and found his way back to the mainland under the causeway. And yet someone had intercepted him and dispatched him swiftly, leaving his body to be found by Cador the next morning.
“Or,” said Marigold thoughtfully, “perhaps Finlay was killed in the castle, and dragged through the passage.”
Judith sighed. “Yes, but that means it is even more likely that the killer is someone in the castle.” She frowned.
One of the twins? She was determined to question them both, together, and sniff out what they were hiding.
If she could haul one of them before Drumpellier, all to the good.
He would accept the idea of their guilt.
Not that she would accuse an innocent man, but if it could just give her an excuse to return to Dacian’s side…
No, she told herself firmly. She must find the real culprit and deliver them to justice.
Then she could in good conscience ask the same for Dacian.
Outside, dawn teased at the horizon. Thoughtfully, Judith selected a soft, black woollen shawl from her valise, so that Marigold would be more comfortable in her new secret compartment in the wardrobe.
Intriguingly, the Captain’s Room clearly made provision for a vampiri residence; the previous Lanyons must have been Musors too.
Marigold retired sleepily, with one last injunction for Judith to be careful with smugglers and murderers lurking about. Judith waited another hour before quietly making her way to Robert’s room, reluctant to disturb him but anxious to discuss the matter.
She tapped on the door a few times before his sleepy voice bade her enter. She consoled herself with the thought that once Ltn Greene returned to the castle, he could administer some of his Healing. For now, they needed to talk, before the servants started prowling around.
She swept in and Robert blinked at her in astonishment. Ignoring his huff of protest, she pulled the curtains back, though it was still dim outside.
“I see you found your way back.” She turned and tossed him a blanket from the end of his bed, so he could tuck it around his shoulders. She almost offered to tuck it herself, but then recalled that he didn’t want to be her son and was barely condescending to be her relative.
“What are you doing here?” he struggled to sit, ignoring the blanket. “This is my room! It is vastly inappropriate that you storm in here like a…like a mother!”
Judith took an involuntary step back. Her heart winced inside her, like a pillow being deflated by an axe. “I apologise,” she said stiffly. “I can meet you later in the breakfast room, if you like.”
He glared at the blanket accusingly, then sighed as she turned to go. “Wait. What is it? Has something happened?”
Folding her hands tightly in front of her, she recounted Marigold’s sobering news about Wooten and Dacian’s change of cell. Robert sank back against the pillows, frowning.
“So you see,” she concluded awkwardly, “as soon as I have spoken to Miss Onslow, I must set out for Pendennis. I came to ask if you could take charge of the castle in my absence.”
Robert blinked. “Me?”
“Why not?”
He cleared his throat and tried to cover up his confusion. “Oh, just that I’ll have to fight Mrs Ulrich for that position.”
“Well, I dare not leave her unsupervised.”
“That fisherman seemed convinced of her innocence.”
Judith gave a wry smile. “Yes, but I suspect he may be less than objective on the matter.”
There was a pause, and the tension seemed to lessen a little. Robert sat up, theatrically rubbing sleep from his eyes, giving her a rather furtive look. “Actually…I got a bit lost on the way back to my room last night, and I bumped into someone else in the northern corridor.”
“Oh?”
With a hint of reluctance, he said: “Miss Onslow.”
Judith tipped her head, intrigued. “Did she see you?”
“Yes.” His cheeks reddened slightly. “When I heard her footsteps, I cast myself as part of the scenery—some pretty green wallpaper—but she noticed something was off and brushed her hand against me.”
Judith contemplated this tableau. “Oh dear. She must have been startled when you appeared.”
“A little. She took it remarkably well.” The spots of colour in his face deepened, and Judith wondered if Miss Onslow had taken advantage of him, pressed against the wallpaper.
She raised her brows, and Robert looked away, fiddling with his blankets.
But she was glad he had chosen to confide this much in her, perhaps as a peace offering.
“And did she explain why she was wandering about?” The northern corridor, Judith recalled, was the one that the Crimson Lady was said to frequent.
“She claimed she was fetching some warm milk, and she asked me to accompany her to the kitchen.” Robert hesitated again. “She did seem nervous.”
“Hm,” said Judith. “A little improper for you both to be wandering around together after dark without a chaperone. Perhaps she was simply aware of the delicacy of her situation.”
There was a flash of something eager in Robert’s eyes, then he gave a shrug of nonchalance.
“Well, I don’t know if we were entirely alone.
I heard footsteps behind us.” He paused.
“Or perhaps they were in front of us. There was no carpet, and I could hear the floorboards creaking. Yet I couldn’t see anyone when I looked around.
It might have been one of those sneaky footmen. ”
Judith leaned forward with interest. “Or the Crimson Lady making another appearance! Did Miss Onslow say anything about it?”
“No, she hurried us on to the kitchen, but she did look rather unnerved. It almost felt, at one point, as if something brushed against me.” He shivered. “It felt like a ghostly touch, and it made the hairs on the back of my hand stand up.”
Judith sat back sceptically. “A door must have opened further down the hall. It would be easy to become over-imaginative in the dark, after our little adventure below.”
Robert looked unconvinced. “Perhaps. It really felt as if someone else was there.”
“Well,” said Judith dryly, “a ghost was scarcely a sufficient chaperone. I hope you did not dawdle so late at night with an unmarried lady.”
Robert’s jaw tightened. “I am well aware of the rules of gentility, and that I would be an unacceptable suitor.”
He was referring to his illegitimacy, and his childhood as a son of a blacksmith.
Judith lifted her chin crossly, for she knew that there was some truth in his words, as much as it irked her.
“No person of true nobility would turn you away simply for the circumstances of your birth,” she said sharply.
“Besides, you are a gentleman’s son, whether you like it or not.
I would be happy to claim you as my own too, and then you would have no trouble wooing any lady, least of all Miss Onslow.
” She caught herself. “Though, of course, you are posing as my nephew for now,” she added.
“And Miss Onslow obviously enjoys your company.”
Robert chewed on his lip. “Hm. And yet.”
“And yet?”
“I can’t help but feel she was hiding something last night.” He met Judith’s eyes. “You should ask her yourself, with your Gift. It would have been too easy for her to lie to me.”
Especially if Miss Onslow was wielding her charms, with those wide brown eyes and generous mouth. Judith nodded slowly. “Very well. I will seek her out this morning.”
Robert tried, and failed, to sound nonchalant. “I could accompany you.”
“Certainly. She might confide in you more than me, in the end.”
At his scowl, she cleared her throat and hastily left the room before she was tempted to give him advice on how to woo a young woman, which no doubt would be poorly received.
Judith left Robert to dress and went down to the breakfast room.
It was a lovely, sunny room facing the rolling hills of Cornwall.
The tide was in again, covering the causeway with a swathe of blue, and the clouds from the previous evening had now cleared.
She repressed another stab of anxiety as to what Dacian might be undergoing at the moment and sat down to a cold plate of bacon and eggs.
The fat had congealed. She sighed. They needed to install some sort of Travelling charm to transport food from the bowels of the kitchen to the far reaches of the castle, before it froze over in the draughty passageways.
Nonetheless, despite its temperature, the breakfast was nourishing, and she realised she was quite hungry after her night’s adventures. Miss Onslow arrived shortly afterwards, which gave Judith the opportunity to question her immediately.
First, she dismissed Trebellow from his post by the door.
She did not want the butler to know that Robert had been roaming around at night too.
Indeed, it seemed like half the castle’s occupants had been roaming around.
In a residence this large, she wouldn’t know if the twins or Mrs Ulrich had been skulking around in a different wing to her own perambulations.
“Miss Onslow,” she began without preamble, “Robert tells me that he met you in the corridors late last night.”
The young woman looked up, startled. Then she quickly smoothed her expression. “Yes, I was fetching some milk.” Her voice clanged unpleasantly. Then her brows twitched, as some unwelcome thought occurred to her. “Er, that is, um…”
Judith watched her with interest. “Yes?”
Miss Onslow swallowed. “I cannot tell you the reason I was in the corridor, I am sorry.”
“Can it be,” said Judith slowly, “that you know I am a Truth Discernor?”
Miss Onslow bit her lip as she realised the bind she was in. “Er…yes?”
Judith, abandoning the eggs, sat back and folded her hands on the table. “Who told you?”
“Probably the same person who told you about my Gift.” Miss Onslow busied herself with slathering a piece of bread with butter, avoiding her gaze.
“Captain Drumpellier.” Judith tilted her head. “What I cannot fathom is why he would tell you this.”
Miss Onslow munched on her bread with a studied air of unconcern and did not answer.
“I insist that you be frank with me, Miss Onslow.” Judith leaned forward.
“This is my castle now, and I want to know what goes on under its roof. Is Captain Drumpellier courting you?” She paused.
“But that would not explain why you were creeping around at night. I am afraid that if you do not tell me, I will assume the worst, which in this case is that you were somehow involved in Sgt Finlay’s demise. ”
Miss Onslow straightened, almost choking on her mouthful. She coughed and spluttered, then took a long gulp of cold tea. Then she looked across at Judith.
“Fine,” she said resolutely. “I’ll tell you. But you must tell the captain that you coerced the matter out of me.”
“What matter?” Robert’s voice came from the door. “How are you coercing Miss Onslow, Judith?”
Judith turned, pleased that he was back to using her name, though amused to see that he was wearing one of the duke’s jackets, hanging a little large on his more slender frame. She raised a brow, for it also looked like his boots had been Illused to hug his calves, in the style of a gentleman.
“I am just asking a few pointed questions, my dear. Miss Onslow was just about to explain herself.”
Robert seated himself with an apologetic smile. Miss Onslow sighed, putting down her teacup with an air of resignation.
“Very well,” she said. “If you must know, I am a spy for the Crown.”