Chapter 20
In which the household pulls together
Three heads are better than one.
— from Lady Avely’s Guide to Guile and Peril
After Trebellow left, Judith hastily drunk the rest of her tea and stood by the captain’s desk. There were some useful maps on the wall, showing the stretch of ocean between England and France, and she was examining them when Trebellow returned with her housekeeper.
Judith turned. Mrs Ulrich wore her usual veneer of cool detachment, but Judith sensed some uneasiness in the way her fingers were clasped.
“Well,” said Judith, “I must be rather blunt now. Please forgive me for this reprimand.”
Both Mrs Ulrich and Trebellow remained deferential. Yet a faint miasma of innocence began wafting over the room.
Judith ignored the enchantment and continued.
“I’m afraid that the castle can no longer be used as a smuggler’s port.
Mrs Ulrich, I am aware that you have been guiding the boats in and keeping goods in the cellar.
I am also aware that local sentiments about smuggling are quite lax, and that perhaps you did not realise the wrong you were doing.
Quite apart from breaking the law, it is possible that in helping the smugglers you were also helping French spies take information in and out of England. ”
Abruptly, the weaving of innocence fell away. Mrs Ulrich’s eyes widened but she said nothing. Trebellow slid an anxious glance towards her.
“I will not turn you over,” said Judith. “I don’t believe you meant any real harm. However, now that the castle is properly inhabited, all such activities much cease.”
Mrs Ulrich gave a tiny, short nod of acquiescence. Then she added reluctantly, “Thank you for your reticence, ma’am.”
Trebellow gnawed on his lip nervously. Seeing it, Judith realised what still troubled him. He was worried that Mrs Ulrich had done the fatal deed, the poor dear.
“However, despite your untoward behaviour, Mrs Ulrich, I do not suspect you of Sgt Finlay’s death,” she pronounced. “I have every reason to believe in your innocence on this matter.”
Trebellow looked relieved. Mrs Ulrich nodded stiffly. “Of course I did not kill him,” she said, and her words rung true.
Judith smiled. She did not tell them of Cador’s evidence on the housekeeper’s behalf: let them think that she merely trusted both of them. And, in fact, she found that she did.
“Let us leave all of that in the past,” she said. “Right now, I require your help in a rather particular manner. It will require the use of your esteemable Gifts.”
Trebellow’s brows shot up. “You need us to frighten someone off?” he asked, with surprising acuteness.
“Well, yes,” admitted Judith, “and I need a place to hide a duke.”
Mrs Ulrich blinked.
Trebellow, however, straightened. “The Duke of Sargen needs our help, ma’am?”
“Indeed. At the present moment, he is bound and manacled under false pretences. If I manage to fetch him to the castle, I need a safe place for him to rest.”
Trebellow bristled. “Manacled? The wrasslin champion of 1792? That’s a crime, that is!”
“Yes,” agreed Judith. She added, “They won’t let him wrassle anymore, with his wrists bound.”
Trebellow’s eyes bulged. “Whatever you need us to do, ma’am, I will be happy to assist.”
Mrs Ulrich cleared her throat, slightly less enthusiastically. “What do you have in mind, ma’am?”
Judith leaned forward. “I need a hidey-hole, and a distraction. And I think you will be useful for both, Mrs Ulrich.”
After she had set her retainers to work, Judith sought out Robert.
She found him eventually in the library. She had avoided this room thus far, not wanting to intrude upon Miss Onslow’s domain, but now she stepped inside, looking around with interest. The library, after all, would be an important facility if Castle Lanyon became a school for Musors.
It was pleasingly large, and situated at the back of the castle, with windows overlooking the endless blue ocean towards France.
Bookshelves covered all the remaining walls to the ceiling (leaving space only for a hearth), with wooden ladders propped to reach the higher tomes.
An upper gallery, reached by a winding staircase on the eastern side showed yet another level.
Brown, blue, and green bindings glowed in orderly lines, as well as in neat piles on the floor.
Sturdy square tables were set in each corner of the room, giving it a sense of solid stability.
At one of these tables, Robert sat with his head bent next to Miss Onslow’s. The afternoon sun slanted through the window, casting a glow over them both. They looked up guiltily, rustling a map between them.
Robert stood, pushing the paper aside and leaning on his stick. “Sophia told me the news. She is showing me the route that Drumpellier might send the duke on to reach Austria.”
Judith noted his use of Miss Onslow’s Christian name with interest. It seemed that the young woman was allowing Robert some familiarity, her cheeks a faint pink as she also surged to her feet.
“Good,” said Judith kindly. “I want to have a look at those maps.” She eyed Miss Onslow. The girl was a spy: could she be trusted with the knowledge of Judith’s plans? Yes, she decided, for she had been the one to warn of Dacian’s fate.
Judith sat down at their table and gestured for the scroll. “Miss Onslow, do you know how far out into the Channel we might spot a ship?”
Miss Onslow sat down hurriedly and pushed the map across. “I am not a sailor. However, I do know that we can see further from the Tea Tower or the northern ramparts. Perhaps twenty miles?”
“What are you thinking?” asked Robert, leaving Miss Onslow’s side to look over Judith’s shoulder.
Distractedly, Judith noticed that he had abandoned the duke’s dark coat.
However, the waistcoat below, which she recalled as a plain oak colour, was now embroidered with wine-red flourishes, giving it an air of distinction and faint dandyism that Dacian wouldn’t ordinarily countenance.
She raised a brow. Was that Illusionary embroidery?
Was Robert trying to impress Miss Onslow again?
It would be interesting to hear Wooten’s pronouncements upon the matter.
Perhaps he might even approve of wine-red flourishes.
Judith bit her lip, and smoothed the map out.
It would be a gladdening relief to have Wooten safe again after his noble sacrifice.
“This all depends on a rather large contingency,” she said, “which is whether my children are on their way back from Sark or not. I have high hopes that they are not too far away, heading towards Devon.”
“In a ship?” asked Miss Onslow. “Why are your children sailing from Sark?” She had removed her cap, and her burnished hair glinted in the sunlight.
“Never mind that for now,” replied Judith. She didn’t want to mention all her business to a spy. “The crucial point is that they might be within Travel distance from Castle Lanyon—and my son is a Traveller.”
She looked up. They both stared at her, Robert with a measure of consternation.
Hurriedly, she continued, gesturing to the ocean outside.
“If we can find their ship, we can send a message with Marigold—she is my vampiri companion,” she explained to Miss Onslow.
“Marigold can fly out there with a sketch of the Blue Drawing Room, just like the one you send to English officers. Then Peregrine, my son, can visualise it and Travel here. He can help us rescue the duke, I’m sure of it. ”
Miss Onslow’s mouth dropped open. “What an audacious plan, marchioness!”
Robert, however, took a step backward. “I doubt that you’ll manage to find your son. His ship could be anywhere.”
“It will be tracking towards Devon.” Judith traced the path on the map with her finger. “We know where to look; it is just whether we can see that far.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Miss Onslow in excitement. “The baron’s telescope! That will increase our range!”
Judith smiled in approval. “What an excellent suggestion! Do you think you could ask him for the loan of it to the Tea Tower Room? Tell him that I will appropriate it tonight, as payment for his visit.”
Miss Onslow nodded and rushed from the room. Robert watched her go with a frown between his brows.
Judith stood and took the map over to a window. “We might even be able to spot the ship with our bare eyes, if we are lucky.”
Robert did not move. “What will your son say when he sees me?”
She turned, lowering the scroll. This was something she had not dwelt on, in all the extremis of the circumstances.
“I have no doubt he will be very pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said firmly, and told herself that this was true. Peregrine was a sanguine young man, happy to make friends with most. He would soon regard Robert as a friend, especially once he knew they were half-brothers.
“Have you told him about our relation?”
Her throat suddenly clammed up. “Ah, no. In fact, I have not.” She floundered at Robert’s closed expression. “Please forgive me! When I first discovered your existence, I was hurt and…angry, and I didn’t confide in my children. That was before I knew you so well.”
There was a taut silence. Robert folded his arms across his chest, suddenly hostile. “Well, I don’t think you should tell him now.”
Judith’s fingers tightened on the map. “Very well, if that is what you wish. You can simply be Mr Steer for the meanwhile.”
This didn’t seem to satisfy him, and he limped restlessly towards a far window, leaning on his stick. “Perhaps I should leave before he arrives.” He cast her a brooding look. “When I came to Castle Lanyon, I never expected to meet him too. I think I should leave.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Judith was suddenly cross. “We might need you! The duke needs you! You can’t run off now.”
His lips twisted. “I can’t run anywhere with this leg, curse it. I won’t be much good to you, anyway.”
“Nonsense,” she said sharply. “We may well need an Illusion or two. I haven’t told you yet what Mrs Ulrich plans to do. Please stay, Robert.”
He heaved a sigh. “All right. But allow me to say that your plan is completely mad, and criminal besides.”
“I am long past considerations of criminality,” she retorted, “when Drumpellier’s conduct has proven to be so base.”