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A moment later, the stone tablet thudded into place and the little light shining from the garden was cut off.
“Monsieur?” Dewhurst said, indicating with his arm that Laurent should lead. Laurent released Honoria’s hand and started walking. The passage was narrow and did not have any forks, so all he had to do was follow it under the garden and into the Temple.
“This will lead us into the dungeons?” Honoria asked.
“Yes,” Laurent said. “You can feel it sloping down now. We will emerge into one of the cells.”
“What about prisoners in the cells?” Ernestine asked.
“All of our information suggests the only prisoners being kept at the Temple are the royal family, and they are on the upper floors of the Tower, not this medieval dungeon,” Dewhurst said.
“The dungeons are in very bad shape,” Laurent informed them. “Artois refurbished much of the Temple, but he had no interest in repairing the towers or these dungeons. When I was here last, they leaked and some of the walls had begun to crumble.” He whispered, as did all of them, though it was unlikely anyone would have heard them under so much rock. The passage sloped steadily downward, causing him to lean back to keep his balance and slow his descent.
“Who built the passage?” Honoria whispered.
“I don’t know. Artois and I used to speculate it was a prisoner trying to escape because it opens into one of the cells. But it might have been the Knights Templar, who devised such an escape in case of siege or attack.” He paused and held the torch up. “We’ve reached the dungeons.” Laurent handed the torch to Dewhurst and knelt before the wall.
“This doesn’t look promising,” Dewhurst muttered. “Looks like someone has walled up the exit.”
Laurent bent and felt along the side of the wall.
“Is there a mechanism to open it?” Ernestine asked. She’d spent enough time at Versailles to be familiar with secret passages and the hidden devices that opened their doors.
“I just have to find it.” He hadn’t been down here for years, but he knew it was to the right and just under a protruding piece of rock. He ran a hand along the wall, but all of it seemed to protrude. Finally, his hand touched an opening. He reached inside with one finger and pulled the small metal lever back. With a creak, the wall parted from its seams.
Unfortunately, it didn’t swing open as it had the last time Laurent had been down here. He stood and grasped the lip, pulling it open farther as the door creaked in protest. Finally, he had it open enough that even Dewhurst might pass through. He wiped his brow and took a breath.
“That’s probably the hardest you’ve ever worked, isn’t it Monsieur le Marquis?” Dewhurst said.
Laurent made a rude gesture.
He led the small party into the dungeon, his booted foot landing in a puddle of cold water. “Watch the water on the floor,” he murmured, warning them of it. As he remembered, the passage opened into a cell in the back of the dungeon. It was cold and dark but for the light of the torch, and the only sound was the plop, plop of water.
“Now what?” Honoria asked.
“Now we wait,” Dewhurst said. He extinguished the torch and set it next to the passage doorway. “The guards should be changing right about now. At the next change, we make our move. I’ll light the torch periodically and check my watch.”
Honoria sighed. “That’s hours from now.”
Dewhurst chuckled. “Whoever said the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel was full of excitement never worked for the man. I spend half my life waiting.”
The group of four spread out in the dungeon cell, the men pacing or sitting on the ground, while the ladies perched on seats carved from the stone. At one time a cot might have been provided to the prisoner and a bucket of water, but none of those basic comforts remained.
Laurent hadn’t slept the night before, so he used the time to close his eyes. Leaning his head back against the wall, he rested and tried not to think about the long journey ahead of him with two royal children to protect.
After a while Honoria came to sit beside him. He could feel her shivering, and he wrapped an arm around her. “Are you frightened or merely cold?”
“Both,” she replied. “The longer we wait, the more frightened I become.”
He squeezed her. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I won’t let you fall.”
She put her head on his shoulder. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Don’t sacrifice yourself for me, Laurent. We are all here to save the princess and the dauphin. They are our first priority. If something should go wrong—”
“It won’t.”
“But if it should, leave all of us behind and save the children.”
When he didn’t speak, she poked him in the ribs and looked him in the eye. “Promise me.”
