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“Money,” Carlton said as he struggled to a sitting position, still holding the cool cloth on his head. He blinked and seemed to be coming to himself. “Why else?”
“You should not move so quickly,” John said, but Carlton was a stubborn man.
“Give me a moment,” he said, sitting up right. “Tie up that traitorous wench. I will guard her until your return. You need to go after them, sir. I don’t know how long I was out, but they have some time on you, no doubt.”
“I don’t even know which way they are headed,” Sir John lamented.
“South,” Carlton told him. “Towards the sea. They spoke of meeting a ship at Halcroft Landing.”
A ship, John thought? They would never take his mother on a ship. Not if Toussaint planned on exchanging her for the Sancy. He thought of the poor stable hands who lay bleeding on the straw, worried his mother would meet a similar fate. His blood ran cold with fear. He should have killed Toussaint while he had the chance.
Carlton struggled to stand, and Ashbrooke admonished him to be still. “No. Help me up,” Carlton said, and Sir John did so. Carlton took a brief moment to steady himself and then the two men went in search of Madeline. They were in the stable, so the woman had no immediate means of escape. On foot she was easy enough to capture. No matter that she pled innocence, John trusted Carlton’s word. He ignored her pleading as he bound her hands, with the promise to send for the magistrate once he had found his mother.
John left Carlton to watch her. Then, he went back to the stable. He checked the stable lads, one more time but they were beyond help. He said a prayer for their immortal souls, saddled a fresh mount, and went to find his mother. There would be time enough later to take care of the dead. They were not going anywhere, and if one hair was harmed on his mother’s head, he would be adding to their company.
* * *
32
Lady Charlotte was terrified.If they took her out of the country, how would her brother find her?What about the ransom, she wondered? Her quick mind was planning. They needed to stall, somehow. She whispered this to Collette who nodded, and then the older woman stumbled, crying out. She sat down hard in a heap of petticoats on the ground.
“Oh, Henri. I am an old woman,” she said. “If you will not have mercy for your family, at least have a bit of human decency.”
“Get up,” he urged.
“I cannot,” she said. “You will not remove me, Henri. You will have to shoot me where I sit.”
One of the men pulled out a gun, primed and ready, and Charlotte screamed, but Henri stopped him.
“I thought you did not care if she lived or died,” said the man.
“I don’t,” Henri agreed, “But I do not yet have the diamond. I have to wait for my fool cousin to bring it.”
John was coming, Charlotte realized. Her heart leapt even in her terror. She worried that only John against the three men was an unfair fight, and surely these villains would not fight fairly. Now, more than ever, she needed some way to buy time. She could not leave England.
“You seem quite certain that John will help you.” Charlotte spat.
“He will,” Henri said. “For hisMaman. And then, after he saves her. He will realize that he could not save his fiancé.” Henri laughed horribly. “Keegain will lose his sister, and the earl will ruin John for his part in this. With any luck my cousin will rot in an English prison. That is if he is not hanged.”
“No!” Charlotte cried. “I will not let you do that. You are despicable.”
Henri laughed. “You will do nothing, my little plum. You will be safely away in France.” He dragged a finger down her face. “Well, maybe not so safe,” he said smacking his lips. Charlotte shuddered in disgust.
Henri urged them forward. Bellowing at his henchmen to hurry. It was full dark outside; the time of night when all sane people had found their beds, but Henri was not sane, Charlotte thought. She stumbled over the rocky ground. Charlotte looked to Collette, concerned, but it seemed the elder woman fared better than Charlotte herself. Henri towed his aunt toward the cliffs that over looked the sea, but the other brigands were nearly dragging Charlotte.What did they plan to do?Charlotte’s fear spiked.Would they throw her from the cliff?Charlotte pulled away from her captors, hoping to run, but they held her fast.
The salty sea air which had always been a balm to her soul was now an assault on Charlotte’s senses. The wind was brisk, whipping her stained skirts around her as they reached the high point. The moon glittered reflected in the water below. The drop was dizzying. Charlotte had never fancied herself afraid of heights, but the combination of the dark and the sharp precipice unnerved her.
“Henri,” said Collette gently as if to coax him back from the cliff. “Please, let us go back. Let us rest. We will wait for Jean. Shall I sing to you, likema Mamansang to me?”
For a moment, Collette’s sympathetic words seemed to effect Henri. Charlotte wondered if he would truly let them go, but almost as soon as the light came, it left him again. “I am not a child, Aunt!” he yelled. “I left my childhood on another shore. Do you not remember what it was like?” He demanded. “Always waiting and watching? Look!”
He grasped Charlotte’s arm in his greedy fingers. “Look!” he demanded, turning her roughly towards the sea. Charlotte was not sure what he wished her to observe, but she stared out towards the horizon.
The night was dark and the wind that rose up off of the sea was cold. She struggled to see anything in the mist. “I see nothing but the dark,” she said at last.
“Yes,” Henri called. “In the dark. They always come in the dark.”
“Henri,” said Collette. “Let us go back.”
