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“And Simmons,” Nick said, nodding. Apparently, the children had grown to care for their biggest critic.
“He’s done nothing wrong,” Alyce said. “Just like Pip and Percy.”
Nick nodded, wiping a hand across his cheek. The movement reminded Lucy how young he was.
Lucy looked at each child. “Did any of you get a good look at all the people who met with Simmons?”
“Mistress Wakefield was the only lady,” Alyce said. “And we saw the other two men. You said one of them, Richard Whitby, was killed.”
“He had that walking stick,” Catherine said.
“But ye saw the other man?” Greer asked. “The one named Jasper Lintel.”
All three of them nodded. “He is tall and thin and has really bushy eyebrows,” Nick said.
“And he spoke with an Irish accent,” Alyce said.
Lucy glanced at Greer and then back to the children. “We need to get back into Whitehall so you can find him.”
*
It took anothernight and day to work out the costumes that Lucy said would blend in with the troop of actors Richard Whitby had employed for Twelfth Night before he died. Greer and Lucy had considered going to the troop itself to ask to blend in but worried they might give them away to Walsingham for a reward. And women were not permitted to act on stage unless they were part of a masque up at court.
Lucy had already been accused by the crown, and the town crier read out her description in the streets each day asking for the good people of London to turn in the traitor. If Greer and Lucy didn’t uncover the real assassin, at least three innocent people would be put to death, and the assassin might still strike the queen.
“Ye look tired,” Greer said as they dressed in their costumes at Norfolk’s house. Darkness had fallen, and the mystery plays would begin soon up at Whitehall for Twelfth Night. “Are the children keeping ye up?” he asked.
They had spent the last two nights at Norfolk’s empty townhouse, Lucy sharing a room with the girls and Greer with Nick.
“I keep expecting Walsingham to charge through the doors,” she said softly so the children wouldn’t hear. Alyce helped Catherine into a fluffy sheep costume. Nick worked to tie his ancient wrap around himself while balancing his shepherd’s crook over one arm.
“Set it down,” Alyce told him.
“Oh,” he said, and it dropped to the floor. The bang made Catherine jump and gasp. Alyce rolled her eyes.
The fact that the older girl no longer hid her face around him cheered Greer. Thanks to Lucy’s unconditional love, she didn’t seem too lost to shame. With the right guidance, Alyce might see herself worthy of moving about without hiding half her face all the time.
Greer caught Lucy’s hand and pulled her into the hallway. It was lit by the soft glow of a lit sconce. “I would have ye sleep with me tonight,” he said. Two nights without her next to him had left him cold and worried.
“If we survive tonight,” she said with a dark laugh.
“We will survive.” And he would take her and the children away from London if they couldn’t find Jasper Lintel and prove him the traitor. “I think we will both sleep easier next to one another.”
“First of all,” she said, clearing her throat slightly, “I would not set such an inappropriate example for the children.”
She inhaled and met his eyes. “And second…I’m not with your child.”
The information stopped his inhale. His stomach tightened, like a loss. “Ye know for certain?”
“Yes.” She looked down at the floorboards. “So you are free to go.”
Free to go?Daingead. Nothing could be further from the truth. He caught her arms. “I am not free to go.”
“Once your mission is complete,” she said, but kept her face down. “I know you must return to Edinburgh.”
“Lucy.” He waited, but she didn’t look up. He gently lifted her chin so that she met his gaze. “I do not live at the castle in Edinburgh. I live in a thatched cottage a mile from my mother. I care for her as best I can. I don’t own velvet and silk. I have a cow and a few goats and sheep.”
“And chickens,” she whispered, without looking away.
