A Stranger's Touch (13 page)

‘If I could bring you news that enabled you to catch the plotters before they can cause this harm, would you give me your word that Morwenna shall have a house of her own and money if you part with her?’

‘She would have all that and more in any case. I shall provide for her and our children should we have them. You need not betray your brother for her sake. I have given her my word and I do not break it lightly.’

‘Something might happen to you and your family might cast her out. Secure property and money to her now, while it is in your mind, and I will try to discover what they plot.’

‘Very well, if it will ease your mind.’ Rupert was thoughtful. ‘You may succeed where others have failed. You may always get word to me at my house in Westminster. Now come and eat breakfast with us and I shall give you my direction.’

‘Yes, I shall, for I should like to see Morwenna.’

‘To make certain she has not been forced into
a position of shame.’ Rupert smiled wryly. ‘She shall not lose by it, Jacques. I shall make her my wife in all but name.’

Jacques nodded, but the doubts remained in his eyes. Morwenna had given up so much for this man, though he seemed to think it nothing to lose reputation and family. He would speak to her, make certain she was happy, and then he would embark on the most dangerous work of his life. If Michael suspected him of spying, he would not hesitate to kill him.

Morwenna was returning to the inn when she saw the two men talking. Her heart jerked and then raced wildly. For a moment she wanted to turn and walk away so that they did not see her, then, as her brother turned his head and smiled, she knew it was too late. Lifting her head proudly, she walked to meet them.

‘Have you come looking for me?’

‘Why did you go off that way? You must have known I would help you when I returned. I would never have let Captain Bird force you into marriage.’

‘I suppose I lost my nerve,’ Morwenna admitted. ‘Forgive me for not waiting, Jacques. As
you see, all has turned out well. Rupert found me and I am quite safe.’

‘This is what you want—to be with him?’

‘Yes, of course. I was in some trouble and he rescued me, but if I had not wished to be with him I might have gone on alone. I had the chance this morning when he was out riding.’

‘I should have pursued you. A woman alone is prey to all kinds of rogues,’ Rupert said. ‘Your brother is to break his fast with us. He will take up his position as my steward next month, but we shall see him in London before that, I believe.’

‘You may count on it,’ Jacques said, his mouth set in a determined line.

Rupert walked into the inn ahead of them, leaving them to talk alone for a few moments while he ordered their food.

Jacques looked into her face. ‘Unless you would prefer to come with me, Morwenna? We could go to France or wherever you wish.’

‘I am where I want to be.’ Morwenna lifted her head, giving him a proud look. Her walk had cleared the doubts and she had come to terms with herself. ‘Can you forgive me and love me still as your sister despite what I am?’

‘Of course.’ Jacques smiled and reached for
her hand. ‘I love you, Morwenna, and always shall. I’ve warned that rogue to be good to you. If he fails, I shall thrash him or die in the attempt.’

Morwenna nodded, her lips trembling in a shaky laugh. ‘I know you would do what you thought right for my sake, but the last thing I desire is for you to fight over me, Jacques. I am here of my own free will. If we are honest, we both know that any chance I had of a good marriage vanished long ago.’

‘Yes, perhaps a marriage you would wish for, I dare say. Melford would never have come your way in the normal way of things, Morwenna. His family is too high for us.’

‘Fate threw us together. I know she is a fickle mistress, but I have decided to make the best of my life while I can. I love him, Jacques. I love him more than my life.’

‘You are not the first woman to be the mistress of such a man and some would think no shame to it,’ Jacques said. ‘I think he cares for you, as much as he knows how.’

‘Yes, I believe it. I think he does not know what love is, Jacques.’

‘Then you must teach him,’ her brother said and took her hand. ‘You have so much love to
give, Morwenna. Perhaps he may come to see that your birth matters less than what you are. In time he may marry you. It has happened before—important men have married their mistress years later when they have their heirs.’

‘I do not think it,’ she said and laughed. ‘Father married two women and was faithful to neither, though he mourned them deeply when they died. Are all men faithless, Jacques?’

‘If I loved, I should not be so,’ he said. ‘Yet a wife may seek consolation from property and status.’

‘Rupert would not see me starve. He will not desert me.’

‘Then I can leave you with him and do what I must.’

‘What must you do? I thought you were to work for Rupert?’

‘Aye, but I would earn my place. There is something I may be able to do for him and for all of us.’

Morwenna shivered as she saw the grim set of his mouth. ‘This concerns Michael, does it not?’

‘Our brother is set on his own death,’ Jacques told her. ‘He will listen to no one and he will not deviate, but I do not see why he should take
others down with him. He must be stopped from what he plans, Morwenna.’

‘Be careful, Jacques. If Michael thought you had betrayed him, you know what he would do.’

‘Yes, I know, but I cannot allow him to go unchecked. If he does he will bring us all down and, perhaps, even Rupert.’

‘Rupert?’ Her eyes widened. ‘Through association with me and you? Yes, I see.’

‘Nor can I condone what he does, Morwenna. I did not mind the smuggling but I think Michael and his fellow plotters plan something much worse. I heard him speak of a man called Guy Fawkes—a man who has agreed to undertake a dangerous mission.’

‘Do you know this man?’

‘No. I have not met him, but Michael seemed to think him very brave. I mean to discover more of this man and what it is that makes my brother have nightmares and call out in his sleep.’

Morwenna frowned. ‘I think he has become involved in something terrible without realising what he did and now he is in too deep to withdraw.’

‘Do not underestimate our brother. He hates King James with a passion and all those close
to him. Michael would bring back the old faith to England if he could and he is merciless. You did not see the way he treated Captain Bird. Though he lives, he will not dare to speak out against Michael again.’

‘I did not wish it so! Please be careful,’ Morwenna begged and shivered. ‘You frighten me, Jacques.’

‘Do not fear for me. Michael would never suspect one of us. The other men are too lazy to defy him; they take his orders and his money, but I have had enough of such work. I want honest employment and a chance to be happy.’

‘Yes, I know. It is what you should have done long since, Jacques.’ She smiled at him. ‘I know you stayed for me.’

‘I could not desert you, dear heart.’

Morwenna nodded, slipping her hand in his as they went into the inn to join Rupert for breakfast.

‘W
ill this content you?’ Rupert asked as he took her inside the house. It was a double-storey building with overhanging windows, built of red brick with timber boarding on the upper storey and dormer windows with leaded glass. ‘It is not huge, for there are but five bedrooms and the servants’ quarters, but I shall look for a larger one in time if we should have children.’

Morwenna looked about her at the large front parlour, which ran the length of the house. It had oak panels on the walls and a wooden floor covered here and there with bright rugs of an eastern design in patterns of red, gold and blue. The furniture was a mixture of good solid oak and the newer mahogany pieces with legs like sticks of barley sugar.

‘It is beautiful,’ she breathed. ‘I do not wish for larger, unless …’ Her heart leaped in her breast, for to talk of the children they might have was to give a kind of permanence to their relationship and she hardly dared to believe it.

‘This house is yours,’ Rupert told her with a smile. ‘You may change the furniture to your own choice if you wish. Some of the oak came from my own house, but the other is new. You will have an allowance for your own use and may do as you wish with it.’

Morwenna clapped her hands, her eyes lighting with pleasure. ‘I have never been able to do just as I wish with a house,’ she said and looked up at him. ‘You are too good to me, Rupert. I do not know if I deserve so much.’

‘You deserve more, much more,’ he said and bent his head to brush his lips over hers. ‘I have only just begun to spoil you, Morwenna. We shall go shopping this afternoon and buy your clothes and I shall have a present for you later.’

‘You are not leaving me so soon?’

Fear clutched at her as she saw him turn towards the door. They had been in London two days, staying at an inn, and he had gone out for the better part of each day, coming back to dine with her and take her to bed at night.

‘I have business that takes me from you,’ he said. ‘You will do well enough here. You have a housekeeper and a lackey to do your bidding. Once you know your way about London, you may take a sedan chair and visit the emporiums alone. Send your accounts to me, though once we have filled your clothes’ chests you must learn to live on your allowance.’

‘I am sure I could if you tell me what it is.’

‘For the moment the accounts will come to me. I want to spoil you and to show you where it is best to shop. There are many silk merchants in Cheapside but some are rogues and sell inferior goods.’

‘You will take me out this afternoon?’

‘Yes, and we shall go to a theatre this evening. I have arranged for a boat to take us across the river to Southwark. You will need a domino and a mask. No decent woman attends the theatre unmasked.’

‘Am I a decent woman?’

‘Of course you are,’ Rupert replied, looking annoyed. ‘You do not behave in a lewd manner and ogle the gallants. I am your protector, but ours is a discreet arrangement. You are not a whore to be passed from one man to another. I
do not wish rogues or rakes to look upon your beauty so you will go masked.’

‘Thank you.’ Morwenna’s heart caught at his mark of respect. Sometimes when he looked at her in the way he looked now, she felt that he loved her as she loved him—that she was special to him. ‘How long will you be gone?’

‘Perhaps three hours or so, perhaps more,’ Rupert said. ‘Surely you can find something to do here?’

‘Yes, of course. I want to rearrange things and I think I saw an embroidery frame.’

‘You will discover a chest with silks and all you need for your industry,’ he said and bent to kiss her softly on the lips. ‘We shall be together soon, my love. I shall not desert you, so do not fear it.’

Morwenna nodded, her throat tight. He called her his love, but was she really? He had told her he cared for her but she was not sure how much she meant to him. Rupert did not think of her as a whore though she was a kept woman, but so, too, were wives—at least those that brought little or no dowry with them.

What could she do to please Rupert? To give back a little of what he had given her?

Her mind sought for the one thing she could
give him other than her body and that was food. At least she could make sure that her cook prepared the dishes he liked best and did them well.

How often would he dine with her? She did not know, but suspected he was a busy man. He was wealthy and rich men had business to attend. Morwenna must become accustomed to seeing him leave her in the mornings, and perhaps he would leave their bed at night after he had loved her.

Had she been his wife, she would have had friends to entertain. Would Rupert bring his friends here or would he be ashamed of her?

The thoughts tortured her when she allowed them, but she was often able to banish them for hours at a time. They usually returned when Rupert left her, but this far she had managed to keep them from spoiling her happiness.

Pushing the doubt to the back of her mind, she looked about her. The furniture could be so much better placed, but was too heavy for her. The lackey Rupert had employed was a man of advancing years, but kindly and respectful, and still strong enough to make the changes she required.

She would summon him and make a start on ordering her new home as she liked it. It was
as she approached the door to call for help that she heard the knocker sound and hesitated. Who would call on her here? She had no friends in London.

‘Where is she? I demand to see her!’

Hearing a harsh voice she recognised, Morwenna drew back into the front parlour, her heart beating wildly. She would have had the lackey deny him, except that she knew Benson would be unable to keep out the force that was her brother Michael, especially when he was angry.

She moved to the window and stood looking out, trying to master her nerves. How had he found her so easily? What would he say to her?

‘So, there you are, Sister.’ Michael’s tone was accusing and furious. ‘I could not believe it when I saw him bring you here. Are you so lost to modesty that you would live here in his house openly?’

‘The house is mine,’ Morwenna said, turning to look at her brother. He was glaring at her, his eyes dark with temper. ‘I may have lost my modesty, but I have gained so much more.’

‘Had you waited I should have provided you with a dowry in time. Why do you imagine I have risked everything, if not for my family?’

‘I thought you did it for yourself, because you were angry that Father had left you nothing but the house. I asked you for nothing, Michael, and I ask for nothing now except that you should go away and leave me to live as I wish.’

‘I have no intention of allowing you to shame me,’ Michael raged at her. He reached for her wrist, his fingers closing about it, digging into her flesh so that she cried out in pain. ‘You are coming with me. My business is done here and I leave for France tomorrow.’

‘What do you mean your business is done?’

‘I have played my part. The rest is up to others. I am for France and the others will come with me if they choose. There is little left for us here. I have been well paid and we may start a new life amongst strangers who will know nothing of your disgrace.’

‘Let go of me, Michael,’ Morwenna said, lifting her head proudly. ‘I do not wish to go with you. I do not know what you have done, nor do I wish to know, but I was not involved and I have no intention of running away.’

She got no further for he struck her across the face, making her jerk back and cry out. The taste of blood was on her lips and she put her free hand up to her mouth, feeling the split.

‘Are you proud of yourself?’ she asked. ‘Have you forgotten I am your sister? Or are you so lost to decency that you would strike a woman and not regard it?’

‘You should not speak to me of decency,’ Michael said, giving her a look so fearful that she shrank away from him. ‘You are that rogue’s mistress. Do not try to deny it, because I know this is his house. I came here to confront him and saw you enter with him.’

‘You do not understand, Michael. I am committed to him and he cares for me. He has provided for all my needs.’

‘You stupid fool!’ Michael cursed and struck her again, making her scream out in fright as she saw the look he gave her. ‘I shall teach you to wish you had never seen his face, girl.’

Morwenna screamed again as the door opened and a man rushed in. She hoped it was Rupert, but instead it was Jacques. He threw himself at Michael and wrenched him away from her. The next moment they were exchanging blows, hitting each other in a way that spoke of anger and resentment that had little to do with her.

‘Leave her alone, damn you,’ Jacques grunted. ‘She has the right to live as she pleases.
You have done little enough for her. When you became a traitor you forfeited your right to tell any of us what to do.’

‘Damn you, whelp,’ Michael said and went for him with renewed fury. ‘Keep your snout out of my business or I’ll kill you.’

Perhaps because his anger lent him strength, Jacques landed a punch that sent his elder brother to his knees. He stood glowering down at him as Michael clutched at himself and a trickle of blood oozed from his mouth.

‘If you hurt her again, I shall kill you,’ Jacques said. ‘You deserve what’s coming to you, Michael—and I shall not lift a finger to save you when they discover what you’re up to.’

‘I’ll kill you now and save myself the trouble.’ Michael lifted his fist only to discover that Jacques was holding a knife with a wickedly long blade. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

‘Come near Morwenna again and I shall kill you. I could have done so any time these past two days.’

‘You’ve been following me?’

‘Yes, and not just now. I’ve followed you in the past. You are a fool, Michael. These men are dangerous traitors. They have used you and if anything goes wrong you will be the one that
hangs. Take my advice and leave the country now before the whole thing blows up in your face.’

‘Blows up?’ Michael looked stunned. ‘How much do you know?’

‘Perhaps more than you think, Brother. I know that the dangerous stuff you spoke of was gunpowder. There was enough to blow half of London apart in those caves.’

Michael stared at him for a moment, then his frown cleared. ‘You don’t know anything,’ he said and laughed, clearly relieved. ‘You are not as clever as you think yourself, Brother. Had you kept your mouth shut … but now I’ll make sure I’m not involved in the last bit of the plot. You will never guess where those barrels are to be placed very soon now. I’ll take your advice and leave at once. I was going anyway once I had her. I’ve told the men to bring my ship to Greenwich and then we’re for France and a new life.’

‘If I were you, I wouldn’t wait for the ship,’ Jacques said. ‘If I can discover what you’re up to, others will know more. I was not the only one following you.’

‘Thank you for the information, little whelp,’ Michael said nastily. ‘I’ll change my habits
and be away before your friends can stop me, but watch your back. One of these days you’ll find a knife in it.’ He turned his bitter gaze on Morwenna. ‘You will rue the day you took sides against me, girl. Your mother was a wanton bitch, for she lay with my father before she wed him and it seems you are of the same stock.’

He flung from the room, leaving silence behind him. Morwenna sat down in one of the chairs. Jacques came to her. He knelt by her side and took her hand, looking up at her as he took a square of white cloth from his coat pocket and dabbed at the side of her mouth.

‘This wants cold water and a salve,’ he said. ‘I should have killed him for what he did to you, Morwenna.’

‘It does not matter.’ She glanced round as her servant entered.

‘Are you hurt, mistress?’

‘Bring cold water and salves,’ Jacques told her. ‘Your mistress has been attacked. If that man comes again, deny him access.’

‘Mercy on us,’ the woman cried. ‘The wicked brute for attacking you. I’ll tend to your hurts, mistress.’

As she hurried away to fetch what was needed, Jacques stood up and walked over to
the window. ‘If they catch him, Michael will hang,’ he said. ‘They have gunpowder—more than I’ve ever seen, though God knows what use they mean to make of it, for I could not discover it.’

‘You must tell Rupert—’ She broke off as someone entered and then gave a glad cry as she saw him. ‘You are back so soon.’

‘I forgot something,’ Rupert said, frowning as he looked at her. ‘You are hurt. What has happened here?’

‘Michael came looking for you,’ Jacques told him. ‘He beat Morwenna and threatened her when she would not go with him. I told him that he should flee to France, for he is in trouble. He and his friends must be stopped, Rupert. They have a huge quantity of gunpowder and whatever it is they mean to do they intend to use it soon.’

‘This much we know,’ Rupert said. ‘You are not the only one who has been following your brother. He was allowed enough rope, for we hoped to find the other plotters. Now he will be arrested as soon as he is found again.’

‘Where do they mean to use so much gunpowder? It would be enough to blow half of the city apart.’

‘If I knew, I could not tell you,’ Rupert said with a frown. He turned as the servant entered with a bowl of water and salves. ‘Thank you, mistress. Leave them and go.’

‘Yes, my lord.’

The woman put down the pewter bowl, her linen and her pots and departed. Jacques moved forwards, but Rupert waved him back. He took a cloth, dipped it in the water and applied it to the cut on Morwenna’s mouth, frowning as she winced.

‘If I see Michael again, I shall kill him,’ he said coldly. ‘The man is a selfish brute and deserves no less.’

‘Let him be tried for his crimes,’ Morwenna said. ‘I would not have you do murder for my sake.’

‘Believe me, it would be merciful,’ Rupert replied grimly. ‘Have you any idea what they would do to him if he were taken and tried for treason? He will be tortured to reveal the names of his friends. If he meets death at the point of my sword, he should thank me.’

Morwenna gave a little sob, for the idea of her brother fighting her lover appalled her. ‘What of you? Michael is skilled with the use of swords
and other weapons. He might kill you. He has sworn it.’