Adèle nodded. “He said when he was running with me that he didn’t want to hurt me, just take me to a different man. That it was his job.” She took a tense breath. “But he threw me on the ground, so he did hurt me.”
Céleste took Adèle’s hand. “He cannot hurt you again, Adèle. There are so many of us who will make certain of that.”
The door to their private room scraped open, the sudden sound startling them both. Aldric stepped inside, a bit damp from the rain outside. He carried boxes and parcels, tied together with twine.
“Tonton Aldric!” Adèle abandoned both her doll and her aunt and scrambled off the chair, rushing to Aldric. She threw her arms around his leg and held tight. “You were gone for too long.”
“I had a lot to do to get us ready to travel to my house.”
“Are we going there now?” she asked, looking up at him.
Céleste walked slowly toward them. She didn’t want to interrupt while Adèle was being comforted and reassured.
“We are going to start on our way,” Aldric said, “but we will need several days to get to my home.”
Adèle sighed a touch dramatically. “More journeying?”
“Yes,ma petite douce. But I have some new toys for you to play with while you are in the carriage.”
That lit her up quickly. “You do?”
Aldric nodded. “Go put away the toys you’ve taken out of the bag so we can be ready to depart.”
Adèle set eagerly to work.
Céleste stepped closer to him. Before she could speak, he did.
“I have procured a hired traveling carriage, as well as the services of a widow with a pristine reputation and a willingness to serve as chaperone for the remainder of our journey. Her name is Mrs. Sommers, and she is meeting us here in a quarter hour.” He was speaking very matter-of-factly and at too quick a clip for her to get a word in edgewise. “I’ve sent a messenger to Fairfield requesting that Niles and Penelope meet us at Norwood Manor. The proprietor of this inn is filling our basket with food enough for this first part of our journey and has recommended both an establishment at which to break our journey tonight and an inn along the way for changing horses.”
“Before we—”
“We should arrive at Norwood late in the evening three days from now. Niles and Penelope, if I’ve guessed correctly, will arrive within a day or two after that. Mrs. Sommers has agreed to remain at Norwood until then.”
“Aldric—”
He held his stack of boxes a little higher. “And there are a few things—”
“Aldric.”
“—for the—”
“Will you listen to me for one moment, Lord Aldric?”
That got his attention at last. “My apologies, Mlle Fortier.”
She shifted to English. “Don’t be snippy. I only spoke so formally because I didn’t know how else to get you to hear me.”
He lifted an eyebrow and gave a single dip of his head.
“Adèle told me while you were away that the man who attempted to kidnap her spoke to her.”
Aldric’s eyes darted to Adèle before returning to her.
“He told her it was his job to take her to someone else. His ‘job.’ It’s the same thing the man was shouting at L’Auberge du Chêne Vert. He said he had to do a job.”
“It was the same man.” Aldric set his stack of boxes and parcels down. “He’d been hired to take Adèle to someone else.”
“Likely to either the man who wrote the note we found in Adèle’s book or the one who wrote the letters to Jean-François,” Céleste said.
