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“If Guy comes . . .”

Her words were cut short by Roger, who had circled around his worktable to engulf her in a hug. She squeezed the old man back. Although they’d only spent a few days together, they’d become close nonetheless. She would miss him.

“I will tell him.”

Eric the Earl had already suggested the best route for them to take to Licheford, which Roger could share with Guy if he did indeed return in the morn.

Oh, please let him return.

Every time she thought of those men on horseback, staring at her . . . at Guy.

Why had they not taken her if de Chabannes had indeed betrayed them?

Where was Guy at this moment?

It was the answer to that last question that worried her most. For if the worst had happened, he might not even be in Noreham’s dungeon. Nay, he might be on his way to London to await the king’s displeasure . . .

Sabine shivered.

When she finally made eye contact with Roger, the girdler attempted a smile, though it was the same fixed expression he’d had a couple of days ago, when they’d discussed the room upstairs that had been intended for his children, the ones he and his wife had never had. He’d tried to convince her it was just as well he’d never had children. That his happy marriage and the joy his belts gave people had been enough.

But it was a smile filled with regret and edged with a lie that no one believed.

Least of all Sabine.

* * *

“Gone?”

Surely he hadn’t heard the girdler correctly.

“To Licheford.”

Guy froze.

“She told me everything,” the man continued.

A chill ran through him, not unlike the one that had finally alerted him to Noreham’s true purpose.

He quirked his brow, waiting for Roger to explain. When the man didn’t start speaking immediately, he said, “I told her to wait until morn.” Impatience gave his voice a hard edge.

“I convinced her it wasn’t wise.”

Guy’s eyes narrowed. “’Tis not a journey I’d have her make without me.”

“She’s well protected. I ensured it.”

Roger had always looked so soft around Sabine, but his face had reverted back to the hard, leery look he’d had that first day they’d wandered into this shop. This was a man who’d faced down trouble many times.

“So you’ve not been accused of treason, then?” Roger pressed.

Guy did not begrudge his knowledge of their plans, but neither did he wish to speak freely with a man he hardly knew. This was Sabine’s confidant. Not his.

“I am here, am I not?”

That earned him another hard look, this one deserved.

“Who did you send with her?”