The High Sheriff of Huntingdon (10 page)

“Fortunately, he has yet t
o
show much interest in
me,”
Elspeth
murmured.
“I
imagine there’s
no hurry. If I’m lucky,
he’s
forgotten my
existence.”

“He’s
not
the
t
y
p
e
of
man to
f
o
r
g
et
a
t
h
i
n
g
.
Special
powers
, he has,” Hel
va said, nodding her
h
e
a
d
.
“He’ll come to
you
w
he
n
he’s ready.
And God
have mercy on your
soul.”

“Helva,
he’s
only
a
man.”

“T
hat’s
not
w
h
a
t
some
people
think.
His mother’s
a
witch that’s
for certain,
and
we all know
that
witches
cohabit with
the
devil.
He’s the
son
of Lucifer himself,
you mark my words.”

Elspeth was
determined
not
to let
Helva frighten
her.
“I
don’t
believe
in
devils.
Or witches,
for that
matter.”

“
You’re
a
foul
blasphemer, for all that
you were
a
holy
nun,”
Helva
accused
her.
“If there’s no
devil,
what use is God?
M
a
r
k
my words,
t
h
e
sheriff will teach
you
to
believe
in the devil.
You’ll
wish
you never doubted.
He’ll have
you
killed
in
your sleep,
that
he will, if he
finds you displease
him.
He’s
done
it before, and your
position
won’t
save
you.
H
a
v
e
a care
yourself, my
lady.”

A
little frisson of horror swept along Elspeth’s
backbone.
“What do
you
m
e
an
, he’s
done
it before?”

“Not so’s anyone
would
talk
about it.
But
there’ve
been
women,
women
who’ve
shared
his bed and
angered
him. Men
who’ve disagreed
with him.
Some
were
n
e
v
e
r
seen
again. Some of them w
ere
found
like
poor little
Jenna
just
yesterday morning.
Her
throat was
cut
from
ear
to
ear. That’s how he gets his
power.
Anyone opposes him, they
die.”

“You mean he creeps around
in the dark
and murders people? I f
ind
that hard
to
believe,” Elspeth
said firmly, wishing
she
weren’t
so gullible.

“He
doesn’t
n
e
ed to
soil
his
own hands.
There are people, there
are
powers that
do his
bidding,”
Helva
said
darkly.

“He’s
not
about to kill
me.
He could
have
just left me
in the
convent.”

“That’s as may be. If I
were
you, my lady, I wouldn’t be wa
st
i
n
g my time locked up here. I’d be planning
my
e
s
c
a
pe.
”

“
W
hat
would
your omniscient
master
say to
that?
Aren’t you
worried
about
waking
one
morning with your throat
cut?”

“I’d
h
a
t
e
to
s
e
e
a
poor innocent
like you at
the
mercy
of a
depraved
creature
like
the
sheriff,” Helva
announced
with
righteous indignation.

Elspeth
didn’t believe
her
for
a
moment.
In
the
past
three days
Helva
hadn’t shown the
least bit of concern
for
her
new
mistress.
“I
hardly think
escape
is possible.
I can’t
imagine
who
w
o
u
l
d
take
me
in.
The convent let
me g
o
quite willingly, m
y father would scarcely provide
me
shelter,
and it
sounds as if
the
sheriff
h
a
s
everyone too
terrified
to risk
offending him.
If I
try
t
o
run,
I’ll be
s
i
g
n
i
n
g
my own death warrant.
I
think
it
would
b
e
a
muc
h
better
i
d
e
a to see
whether
I c
ou
l
d
advance my
marria
g
e
.
Whether
I
l
ik
e
it
or
not,
I’m wed
in the
eyes
of
God and the Holy
Roman
Father,
and if
it’s
till
death do
us
part
then I’d like
to
do
what I can to
put off that
eventuality. Could you
s
e
n
d
word
to my
husband
that
I’d like
t
o
see
him?”