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She pressed a hand to her heart. “This is disturbing news indeed, but you may rely upon me to keep your secret.” She turned to the children. “Do you know the story of the fairy queen?” And she proceeded to tell them of Titania and Oberon fromA Midsummer Night’s Dream,changing the tale so it was appropriate for young ears.
By the time the story had finished, the children were yawning and she had finished her coffee. Hastings and Dewhurst had entered during the tale, and now Hastings rose from his spot near the door. “We should all get some sleep.”
When Jean-Louis pointed toward his own bed in the loft above, Hastings shook his head. “We won’t turn you out of your own bed. We can sleep in the barn.”
“But surely you will not sleep in the barn,” Nicole said to Alex.
Alex patted her hand and rose. “I’ve slept in far less comfortable lodgings. And we will be gone early tomorrow. You’ll forgive us if we say our farewells tonight.”
The five of them made their way through the dark yard and into the barn, which smelled of animals and straw and oiled leather. Hastings carried a lamp with him, and he set it on a shelf as Dewhurst closed the barn door.
“That plan went to the devil and back,” Hastings said. “Do we even bother to make another or do you expect this clodpole to try and help again?” He pointed to Chevalier.
Chevalier straightened indignantly. Before the men could start punching each other, Alex stepped between them. “We make another plan, my lord. You and the abbé will continue as originally planned, and Tony, Citoyen Chevalier, and I will return to Paris.”
“And how do you think to do that?” Hastings asked. “The abbé and I will take the horses from the carriage and ride them to Le Havre. But even if we found another means of traveling, you can’t go in the carriage. It’s too conspicuous in a country on the hunt for escaping nobles. We are fortunate we weren’t stopped tonight.”
“We’ll walk,” Dewhurst said, “and look for a farmer with a cart who will take us closer to Paris.”
Alex sighed. She was no great walker, but Dewhurst’s suggestion was really the only option.
“And what about you?” Hastings asked, looking at Chevalier.
“I am capable of walking,” Chevalier said, head held as high as that of any king.
“Yes, but are you capable of keeping your mouth shut? Can you be trusted?”
Chevalier shrugged in the way the French often did. “I’ve proved myself enough tonight.”
Alex rolled her eyes, but Dewhurst barked out a laugh. “You almost got us killed. I vote we kill him and bury him in the field. He can fertilize Daudier’s crops.”
Hastings looked as though he might agree to this, but Alex shook her head. “We still need him.”
“We don’t need him,” Dewhurst said. “I know a way into the”—and then, as though remembering who was listening, he cleared his throat—“I know a way in.”
“Then go ahead and kill him,” she said, ignoring the way Chevalier’s eyes widened. She didn’t care whether he lived or not. Well, she didn’t caremuch. “But you’ll answer to the Pimpernel.”
Dewhurst gave Chevalier a menacing look. “Who wants first watch?”
Alex supposed that meant Chevalier would live. She felt no sense of relief. “I’ll take it. You and Hastings have been riding outside most of the night. Sleep.”
“I will sit with you,” the abbé said, his voice rather hoarse.
“No.” Alex shook her head gently. “You should rest. You have a long journey ahead of you. I’ve done this before, and it is no trouble for me.”
Hastings handed her his pistol before climbing the ladder to the hayloft and disappearing from sight.
“Go ahead. Sleep,” Alex told the abbé, and the older man followed Hastings.
Dewhurst looked from Alex to Chevalier. “Should I tie him?”
“You don’t think I can handle him if he tries to escape?”
Dewhurst opened his mouth, then thought better of whatever reply he might have made. The two of them had argued over her capabilities before, but she had hoped she’d gained some measure of his respect after all the time they’d worked together. Still, he was the younger son of a duke, and he’d been raised to view women as weak, frail things that must be protected, and she knew that upbringing was difficult for him to look beyond.
“Of course, you can,” Dewhurst said. “I thought I’d make it easier for you.”
“Go to sleep, Tony. I’ll wake you in four hours.” She glanced at Chevalier. “You might as well sleep too.”
