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ELLY BONNER SAT rigid with fright as she stared at the boxes her Jack was piling upon their cavern table. She knew now where he had been and what he had been doing. He had gone shopping in York!
Half of her wanted to scold and half of her longed to go through the treasures he had set before her.
“Bless ye, Jack, what’s this ye be bringing down around m’poor head?”
“Jest wait, Elly!” He grinned like a boy. “‘tis fit fer the queen ye be.”
“Oh Jack, so many things…how? We done spent the last of our ready more than a week ago.” She knew, but she hoped otherwise.
“Aw now, Elly love. Don’t take on like a shrew. ‘Tis fer ye, all of it, fer ye. Ready-made they be, but I swear, one day ye’ll be wearing those that ain’t.”
“Oh Jack…” she exclaimed. He was like a big child pleased with himself, wanting her to get excited and enjoy the presents
he had brought her, but how could she when she knew how they had been come by?
“Aw now Elly, don’t be pushing a basket full of questions at me. Jest hold em up and look at ‘em…” He pulled out a pretty green muslin and added, “This one I chose to go with yer pretty eyes.”
“Jack, oh Jack, ‘tis grand. Oh, that grand…but…”
He pulled yet another gown, “And this, Elly…with this pretty straw bonnet…” he scrambled to show her more. “And these boots…and these slippers…and look at the grand trunk we’ll be using when we sail. ‘Tis the two of us from here on out and never mind how, we’ll make it all right in the end.”
She knew what Jack had suffered growing up. She knew his own father was the one that had left the scar across his neck, put there with a knife and how he had finally lost all control and had turned on his father and beat him to death. She knew all that he was, and she loved him, for he was none of those things with her.
He was full of excitement and told her, “Tomorrow, I’ll be bringing the cob and wagon and we’ll head for Bristol and get on a ship headed for that new land ye love so much.”
“But Jack…how?”
“Aw Elly, ye don’t need to know.”
“But I do.”
“I only took a quarter of m’share…jest enough to see us through this. Jest enough to get us established…”
She gasped, “Oh no, Jack darlin’ ye used the gold?”
“Lordy girl, they didn’t give me these things coz of m’fine face.” He shrugged. “I know someone. He gave me a fair exchange for the gold…so that I could get what we needed.”
“If they catch this person, he will lead them to you,” she said her hand at his cheek.
“No, they won’t because we’ll be gone and that will be that.”
“What if that awful man finds out…?”
“He won’t. I made the chest look untouched, I did. I ain’t so dimwitted as some might think.”
“Of course, you are not,” she reassured him.
“He doesn’t know where we are hiding. And we’ll be gone before he realizes it. Soon, all we’ll have to do is get the wagon close, load up what we need and off we will go. What more we need, we’ll buy in the new land…” he reached for her hand. “Now come, Elly girl, come see what else I got ‘ere. There is even a new set of clothes for me, so ye can walk beside me proud.”
She consented because she loved him, felt for him--wanted him to have what he needed. Besides that, the boxes set before her, for a young woman who had never had much more than uniforms and rags were too great a temptation to ignore.
It wasn’t long before the two were dancing about their wares like children at a festival.
* * *
The duke saw Mandy settled in the library of the viscount’s manor house with a tray of refreshments. She then watched as a set of servants lined up to his command and were sent off on various errands.
One to fetch her dear nanny, for which she was tremendously grateful. Her nanny had retired the year before and lived in a cottage that she and her brother had bestowed upon her. She hadn’t visited with her since Ned’s trouble began and she dearly wanted to dive into her arms.
