‘I came to take you with me.’
Hugh bit back a telling curse. Wanting no company, he’d purposefully kept quiet about his arrival. He’d wanted one night to wallow in self-pity upon being forced to return here. One night to drink as if copious amounts of ale in this hovel didn’t hold bitterness.
But that was not why he wanted to curse. It was because Eldric had been invited to a traditional dinner and he could bring a guest.
‘How long have you been here?’
‘Weeks.’
‘Weeks’ meant he had been here before the King had senthim. If Eldric was a spy, it didn’t have anything to do with him and Alice.
So perhaps it was true that he’d came on a detour. But no detour took that much time in a town the size of Swaffham.
‘Weeks’ meant something else. Friend or no, Eldric wasn’t on any mere detour. Even if it was futile, Edward had sent Hugh here on a mission to find the Half-Thistle Spy, and he didn’t like any interference. Eldric being here for weeks was definitely an interference.
Of course Eldric could have lied about his time spent here, and hadn’t, which should go in his favour. But there were too many coincidences that Hugh didn’t like.
He also didn’t like it that his flagon and his cup were empty.
‘The fare will be delicious at the mayor’s house,’ Eldric said.
The mayor’s house meant Alice. The one woman he shouldn’t see. Not in the state he was in. Notever.
Knowing his going could only be a trap, Hugh answered, ‘Why not?’
Chapter Five
‘Finally you’ve arrived!’ Elizabeth exclaimed as Alice was ushered into the receiving hall.
‘Not soon enough,’ Alice said, allowing the servants to remove her heavy cloak, hat and gloves.
‘As usual, the November wind is battering this house,’ Elizabeth said. ‘I had a dreadful time getting the children to bed, but at least it’s not raining.’
‘It’s starting to.’
‘All the guests haven’t arrived yet!’
‘They’ll come.’ Alice blew on her hands. ‘How’s the goose?’
Elizabeth let out a rough exhalation. ‘You knew about that?’
It was Martinmas—St Martin’s Day—and the start of the Christmas season. A busy day for farmers, whose livestock had to be slaughtered and dried for the coming months, a profitable one for beggars knocking on doors for alms, and a gluttonous day for feasting. Lots of food, and even more drink. And at her sister’s home Alice would gain invitations to others’ homes.
‘Esther hasn’t been able to talk of anything else for the last two days.’ Alice fluttered her hands in the air and widened her eyes. ‘“Elizabeth can’t find a St Martin’s Day goose! What will be done? Something has to be done!”’ She rubbed her hands to give them warmth. ‘This morning I had to order her to stay at home.’
‘OrderEsther?’ Elizabeth strolled into the parlour. ‘Who ever heard of such a thing?’
‘So true!’ Laughing, Alice followed her sister. ‘Luckily for us both, Bertrice had heard from three other sources that a goose had been delivered to the mayor’s kitchens.’
‘Bertrice? How is her ankle?’
‘Mending, much to Esther’s relief.’
‘They always were good friends.’
‘Hence the reason why the gossip of no goose for St Martin’s Day caused a scandal!’
Elizabeth shook her head ruefully. ‘Oh, I know it’s been years since you’ve been to a formal function, dear sister, but it’s not that I have a choice.’
