A horse ride later, they reached the barn. Slapping the horse away, Hugh looked around. In the distance, they could hear the Candlemas celebrations and the singing.
‘It’s all clear,’ he said.
‘Are you worried for others?’
‘I only want to make sure it’s safe.’
Inside the barn, Alice spied the pile of wool and hay, the large church candle and the lone torch hanging on the wall.
Alice looked at the restored barn so full of possibilities. She had been excited at starting it with Mitchell and his family, and now in one moment it would be gone.
‘Sad to see it go?’ Hugh asked.
‘Happy that it was started. I have no doubt that Mitchell will build it again and continue with our business. Mary and Elizabeth both know of my intentions here—they’ll see to it.’
‘I wish I could protect you from all this.’
She brushed the front of his tunic as she looked around again. ‘And that is why I fell in love with you.’
‘Because the best plan I had was to burn down your future dreams of dominating the wool market?’
She shook her head vehemently. ‘No, because you’re always looking out for others. Your father, William...me.’
He pulled her into his arms, and she squeezed until she could barely breathe. She felt the tender kiss he brushed against her hair. Felt love and warmth and comfort as he bowed his head and laid his cheek to her temple.
‘I like us better this way,’ he whispered.
Joy soared through her. Together, they had made it.
‘As a couple of wrens? Me, too.’
Epilogue
‘I’m pleased we can have a few private words together,’ King Edward said as the door of his chamber at the Tower of London closed behind them.
‘I’m at your service.’ Eldric walked further into the room, noting the fact that there were no guards or attendants visible. ‘Are there more questions you have, sire?’
With the door closed, no sound from the hallways and joined chambers reached them, though he knew there were many conversations going on.
Eldric had very thoroughly given his account of the fire at Swaffham that had taken a large barn with many supplies and the lives of Hugh of Shoebury and Alice of Swaffham.
It had all run perfectly to plan. Alice and Hugh had started the fire. The burning building, so far from town, hadn’t been noticed until it was mostly flames. No person or animal had been hurt.
Chaos in the town had ensued, and it had taken hours before people realised Hugh and Alice were missing. Eldric knew they’d made it. The two saddled horses and another laden with provisions and coin had no longer been tied to the nearby tree.
They were safe, free, and he felt a surprising pang of envy at the life they were embarking on together.
In another two weeks, when he was far away from the King, Hugh would get a message to him. Then they would plan what to do with the Half-Thistle Seal he carried.
Until the King had ordered a private word with him, Eldric had felt confident that Edward believed all accounts of the fire. Alice’s sisters and their husbands, grieving, had been convincing when they had spoken of the flames, the confusion, and what and who they lost. Her father, struck blessedly silent by the King’s presence, had looked the part of a grief-stricken father. Mitchell had given an accurate account of the restoration project’s financial loss.
But it was the handing back of the costly hunting horn that had seemed to appease the King most. He’d clenched it in his hands as if grateful for its return.
Now, Eldric wasn’t so sure what the King believed. He was suspicious that the royal chambers were vacant. Edwardalwayshad attendants.
Edward swept past him to a table laden with food and drink, but he did not pour himself wine nor pick from the delicacies artfully arranged. Instead he sat, and indicated that Eldric was to sit across from him.
Adjusting the chair to accommodate him, Eldric kept his expression neutral. The King offered him the courtesy of sitting, but did not offer any refreshment. Either this was a short briefing over his duties, or the King was letting him know that he wasn’t worth the courtesy of a drink. If so, it might mean that Edward did not believe Hugh and Alice had died in the fire.
