Noble Hearts 03 - The Courageous Heart (22 page)

“It’s not li
ke that at all,” Ethan argued.

“You’ll never change!”

“I would help you if I could.”

“You can but you won’t!” she shouted back. “You’re too busy thinking of yourself. Oh, I knew it!” she wailed before he could protest. “I told Aubrey you couldn’t be trusted, and by God I was right
!
”

“You told Aubrey what?”
He stiffened and stood straighter.

“She
thought
you
could
help us, but you’ve only ever been willing to help yourself!”

“How can you say that?
” he bristled, face red with anger and passion.
“
Everything I’ve done since you showed up in London I’ve done for you! Do you think I wanted to cozy up with that murder
er
Richard again? Do you think I wanted to defend
Crispin
when he
stole everything I loved?”

Joanna saw red. She would have slapped Ethan again if her hand wasn’t already throbbing. “
Crispin is innocent! So are Jack and Aubrey! You should defend them because it’s the right thing to do!”

“They’ve never paid for their sins!” Ethan shouted. “I have paid tenfold! I want my home back and I want you with it!”

She balled her fists at her sides to stop herself from
violence
. “You never did care who you hurt
. Toby was a fool to love you the way he did.
”
So was she
.
He opened his mouth to protest, but she stopped him with,
“
If you won’t help me then
I’ll do what I have to do on my own. Just like I always have.”

“Joanna.”

She spun away from him,
heart in tatters
.

“Joanna,
stop! W
here are you going?”

She
refused to answer
. There were too many things
she had
to do
to bother with Ethan or her broken heart
.
There was only one person she could turn to now
.

Chapter
Twelve

Roderick leaned against the wall in the narrow space between two buildings across from The Stag Hunt, chewing on a
licorice root. His feet were propped against the opposite wall, suspending him in the shadows between the two buildings. The inn was bright
,
full of the noise of people eating and drinking. There was something poetic about the scene,
about
the
g
low of enough lanterns to torch the place. It reminded him of the fire at Kedleridge
, the screams, the blood
.
He licked his lips.

The inn door opened.
He
tensed
, reminiscing forgotten
. A drunk patron stumbled out into the dark street and meandered on his way.
He
relaxed
and went back
to staring at the building. He bided h
is time, weighing his options.

Matlock was furious with him for
failing to locate
his daughter
. Every day his bluster
got louder and more
abusive. The man was a fool.
Roderick bit hard on the licorice root and rolled his back against the wall behind him. If Matlock had any wits at all
the man
would have realized that he’d discovered Ethan’s hiding place
two
week
s
ago
. He’d
have realized Pennington
was playing him for his own ends
.
And he would have realized that the entire game was about to change
.

Roderick’s smile turned into a snarl.
He should thank the ignorant Derbyshire folk. They were the ones who had sent for his father.
Pennington could offer him a small fortune, but once Simon arrived
Roderick
would be working for
himself
.
It was a plot he couldn’t have planned better
if he’d tried
, and
Lady Madeline
was the perfect lure. His father, weak git that he was, would come running to spring Jack out of prison. Just as he’d gone running to have
his own son
thrown in
to
prison. It would be a pleasure to strangle the life out of the great Simon M
cFarland
.

A shadow skittered out of the y
ard beside the inn
, interrupting his musings
. Roderick
dropped the root he was chewing. He put his feet on the ground and strained to see if his eyes deceived him. The Derbywood Bandit pulled her cloak closer around her shoulders and dashed down the street.

He followed, eyes narrowed. Lady Madeline was far too ill to be larking about as the Bandit and Lady Aubrey was locked away in the Tower. That could only leave the maid Joanna underneath the Bandit mask. But where
did she think she was
going in the dark of night?

The maid’s
path took her
north, away from
streets that were full of commerce and
towards the stately residences of the newer section of town
. She was a rank amateur when it came to keeping out of sight. Roderick didn’t even bother to keep to the shadows as he followed her. He checked constantly for any sign of Ethan, but after several minutes decided the girl was on her own. All he had to do was follow a few yards behind her as she skittered on.

She paused and shifted into the
shelter of a doorway
near a crossroads
. Roderick chose a spot across the street and watched her. There wasn’t much to watch. She
glanced around, getting her bearings
.
His
patience
with the chase
grew thin. Still the maid did nothing.
He
ground his teeth and considered heading back to The Stag Hunt.

Then she moved. He took a breath and pushed away from the
doorway
, eyes locked on her.
She
rushed
on, up one street and then turning the corner. When he realized where she was heading Roderick’s mouth widened in a toothy grin. The maid was headed to Pennington’s
estate
.

He followed her until she was within feet of Pennington’s front gate
, then made his move
.

“What brings the Derbywood Bandit out on a night like this?”

His question made her jump and gasp as though she’d been hit with a dagger. She spun to face him.

“Roderick!” she panted.

His smile widened. “It’s always gratifying when a pretty girl remembers
my name
.”

Her eyes were wide with terror, just the way he liked them. Her face had lost all color and her chest heaved against the tight laces of the Bandit vest. He had half a mind to find a dark corner and enjoy her the way she deserved to be enjoyed. She would be a screamer.

“I … I’m here to see Pennington,” she told him with what she probably thought passed as courage.

He slid closer to her. She scrambled backwards until she hit the wall of Pennington’s estate. He closed the gap, watching fear shake her lithe body.

“Pennington?” He licked his lips. “You don’t say.”

The nearer he got the braver the maid tried to be. “I need to speak to him.”

Roderick’s grin curled into a smirk. “Now why would a sweet little maid like you need to speak to a villain like him?” He traced a finger along her cheek.

She flinched but spoke anyhow. “I’ve been told Pennington holds sway at the Tower, that he can save or damn people.”

“He can,” Roderick assured her. “I still don’t see what that has to do with you.”

“I need his help.
Can you take me to him?
”

Her words were barely more than a whisper. They were a delicious irony. He never would have pegged Sir Crispin’s maid as the kind to get wrapped up with Pennington, but desperation drove people to do strange things. Very strange things.

He planted his palms on the wall on either side of her head, leaning closer. He could feel her tremble as she turned her face away from him, squeezed her eyes shut.

“Alright then,” he murmured in her ear. “I’ll take you.”

“You’ll what?” She opened her eyes and faced him.

“To Pennington.”
He stood straight, dropping his arms. “He’s not here. I’ll take you to him
.” He gestured for her to come away from the wall. “I’m sure he’d love to hear you beg for help.”

Joanna pressed
her hand to her pounding heart
.
Whatever sense of triumph she was tempted to feel was crushed by the horror of what she was doing and who was helping her to do it. She followed Roderick away from Pennington’s estate and along the
road
heading south. She did her best to stay out of his arm’s reach, but that didn’t quell the sick feeling that he could break her
neck if he wanted to, or worse.

They followed the
street
all the way down to the river. When they reached a crowded intersection Joanna stopped and stared
. Where she expected the road to end
on the banks of the Thames
, instead it
went on
.
A
gated
tower
stretched across
either side of a
narrow
thoroughfare that
continued
out
over the water. The massive bridge was still under construction. Scaffolding and raw stone sat in piles on either side of the cobbled road. She blinked and forced herself to follow
Roderick as he
passed through the
gates
.

It was the most incredible thing
Joanna
had ever seen. A bridge that was also a city street. It didn’t feel like a bridge at all. Within a few steps the tall walls of buildings, homes and shops and if she wasn’t mistaken, a church further along, closed in around her.
Some arched over the bridge—
street entirely.
The river was just visible in the narrow spaces between some of the buildings. She’d never dreamed such things were possible.

She didn’t have a moment to enjoy it.
Roderick led her to
a tavern close to the center of the bridge. A sign depicting a fat monk with a tanka
rd of ale swung over the door.

“Here we are,” Roderick said. His swagger had lessened and he shot anxious looks up and down the bridge road as if it was the last place he wanted to be. His tension only fueled her own.

She took a deep breath and followed Roderick into the tavern
.
Its common room was as far from the coziness of The Stag Hunt
.
The walls seemed to close in on the small space. The chimney smoked and the air stank of old ale. Grizzled patrons watched her as she followed Roderick up a steep flight of stairs.

“Pennington is here?” It was amazing that she could find her voice
at all
with her heart pounding so hard.

“He owns the place,” Roderick explained as they crossed the narrow hall and took a second set of stairs to a higher floor. “
Probably owns the whole damn bridge.
Bloody rotten place to build a tavern if you ask me.
Against nature.
”

She didn’t argue with him. They reached the next floor. Roderick grabbed her arm.

“
What are you doing?
Get off of me! Let go!” she shouted before she could think better of it.

A door towards the end of the hall snapped open. Matlock stepped out into the hall. Joanna nearly fell over in her attempt to get away.

“What the devil?
” Matlock barked. His scowl slipped to surprise as he spotted Joanna.

“Found this one wandering near
Pennington’s
estate
,” Roderick reported, shoving her ahead towards Matlock.

“No!” Joanna cried as Matlock grabbed her and pulled her into the room.
“You tricked me!”

“Did not!” Roderick barked in
mock
protest.

“Where is my daughter?”
Matlock
demanded.

“Well look at
this
!” Pennington spoke from a table set for dinner
at
the side of the room. He leaned back in his chair and
took in the sight of Joanna in the Bandit disguise. “I must say that you cut a fine figure in Lady Aubrey’s outfit, my dear. Do you have a sword as well? I love a woman with a sword.”
He ran his finger over the white queen chess piece that sat on the table beside his plate.

Prickles of disgust slithered down Joanna’s back. She’d made a terrible mistake
leaving the inn
.
How Ethan would gloat! That thought brought her instant strength.

“
I’ve come to seek your help to free my master and mistress
” she
announced with ten times the courage she felt
.

“Never mind that,” Matlock growled
, shaking her
. “Where is my daughter?”

Pennington sighed, sending a tired look in Matlock’s direction
. He
stood, taking the chess piece with him.
“What kind of help were you looking for, my dear?”

Joanna shifted restlessly, racking her brains for any way she might sound like she knew what she was talking about. “I need you to speak on Crispin and Jack’s behalf.”

“Why should he when they’re guilty?” Matlock huffed, crossing his arms and staring down his nose at her.

She would not panic, not when so much was on the line. “Then … then I demand to see the evidence.”

“
To what
evidence
are you referring, my dear?”
Pennington
pretended ignorance.

Every
thing
about
Pennington, from his oily mustache to his turned-out toes, made Joanna writhe, but she wouldn’t back down
.
She wouldn’t give Ethan the satisfaction.
“
I demand to see the
letters he says he has that were written by
my master
,” she panted, shaking out of Matlock’s grip.

“
Oh, you
demand
, do you?
” Pennington
chuckled. To Joanna’s surprise he
crossed the room to a box sitting on a second table. He took out a pack of letters and brought them to her.
Matlock balked but Pennington silenced him with a glare.