Face Down under the Wych Elm (26 page)

"How did you get here?” she asked as the boat bumped against the shingle.

"We've been following the pinnace ever since she set sail from Newhithe. We arrived just after she left quayside. Fortunately for us, the road runs along the shore. When she dropped anchor at dusk, I sent Fulke to find a boat. We were on our way to rescue you when we heard the splash.” He paused and she heard the emotion in his voice when he continued. “That was a bad moment, Susanna. We feared we'd come too late."

Nick lifted Susanna out of the boat and carried her the short distance to where Fulke was waiting with the horses. One look at Susanna and Jennet had him scurrying to find something dry to wrap them in. In short order he'd produced a wool cloak and a fustian blanket.

"Take them back to Maidstone,” Nick ordered, “while we deal with those aboard the pinnace."

"We'll wait and go back together.” Susanna was shivering, but she did not want to leave. Not until this was over.

Nick did not argue, but he made a quick, efficient business of boarding the vessel and taking Hugo and Damascin into custody.

"They were so busy quarreling with each other,” he reported a short time later, after they'd brought the prisoners on shore, “that they never noticed us until it was too late."

The small clearing in which they'd gathered to organize the trip back to Maidstone was brightly lit with torches. Susanna took one look at Damascin's face and had to turn away. The woman was nearly incoherent with rage. She hurled invective at Hugo and tried to cast all the blame on him.

Once again, she misjudged her power over a man.

"Enough!” Hugo bellowed.

In the brief silence that followed, Lionel led Damascin away. This time, she was the one bound hand and foot with velvet ropes.

Hugo turned back to speak to Adrian Ridley as Simon urged him after her, toward the waiting horses. “I will make a full confession,” he vowed.

Ridley's somber expression did not change. “That may not be enough to help Lucy. ‘Intent to cure’ charges may still be made against her. And her faith is still a factor."

Hugo gave a short bark of laughter. “As one who was preparing himself to become a justice of the peace, I can tell you that you have naught to worry about. When the authorities hear from me how they were duped, they'll be too embarrassed to continue to harass one old woman.

As Hugo was marched off under guard, Ridley looked thoughtful. “He may be right. And the scandal of Mistress Damascin's trial and execution should overshadow all else."

"No doubt,” Susanna said in a dry voice, “Chediok Norden will write a pamphlet about it."

"Are you ready to go back now?” Nick asked when the two prisoners and their escort had ridden off toward Maidstone.

They had taken all but one of the torches with them, leaving the clearing dimly lit. Even so, Susanna could see that only two horses remained for five people. “We seem to be short of mounts."

"Since I do not imagine your opinion of travel by water has improved in the last few hours, I suggest you ride with me."

What she could manage on water after this experience remained to be seen, but for the present Susanna had to admit that she did prefer to remain on solid ground. Still wrapped in the borrowed cloak, she waited while Nick mounted, then allowed Fulke to lift her onto the saddle in front of him.

"I'd as soon go by boat.” Jennet declared when Fulke indicated she'd have to ride double with him.

"She's recovered from her ordeal,” Susanna murmured.

In the end, Jennet capitulated. Toby walked ahead with the torch to light the way. As they made their way back to the town, Nick gave Susanna a lively account of Norden's escape and their subsequent search of Damascin's chamber.

"But how did you know we had been taken aboard the pinnace?” Susanna interrupted. “I had forgotten myself that Hugo had hired a ship and arranged for it to come to Maidstone."

By the faint glimmer of torch and starlight, she caught the flash of Nick's teeth as he grinned. “You may have difficulty believing this part of the story. It was my mother who realized you must have been taken out on the Medway."

On top of all the other shocks of the day, this one left her speechless.

"She is well aware that this makes twice she has sent me after you to save your life,” Nick continued. “She seems, however, to have become resigned to her fate. In fact, I suspect she plans to go on looking out for your well-being while I am in Hamburg."

The prospect provoked both amusement and horror. As they rode on toward Maidstone, she gave Nick a quick, hard embrace. Little did he realize, she thought, that he might just have presented her with the final bit of incentive she'd been needing to brave the open sea once more.