He should have thought of that. “You’re right,” James told Eva. He turned to Pym. “Do you know anyone who would have alerted the earl?”
Pym’s eyes rounded. “No, Master James. All of us on your staff have cause to dislike him. We’re loyal.” He looked pointedly at Patsy.
Eva’s maid stiffened. “Well, we’re all loyal to Miss Eva,” she declared. “The earl treated us shabbily as well. We’ve no love for him.”
“But perhaps a little fear,” James reasoned.
“A healthy fear,” Eva insisted. “It must be someone in the village. That horrid Mrs. Greer, perhaps.”
James shook his head. “She would never presume to write to the earl directly. No one in the village would.”
Pym cleared his throat. “You have Mr. Priestly write the earl on a regular basis, sir.”
Priestly? He and his father had always been in the earl’s pay, but James had thought he chafed under it as much as James did. Did the secretary have more love for the earl than they’d thought?
“I doubt Priestly would go behind my back that way,” James said, “but I’ll speak to him in the morning. Between the two of us, we should be able to determine who’s passing word to the earl. In the meantime, see about those rooms, if you will.”
“I know just the ones,” Pym said. He motioned to Patsy, who suffered herself to follow. Eva and James brought up the rear.
They settled on a suite of rooms with a sitting room in the middle. James uncovered the settee so Eva could sit, while Pym and Patsy went about making the two beds and bringing in nightclothes.
“So, you’ve been dealing with the earl all your life,” Eva said as James came to sit beside her. “Any advice on how best to behave in his presence? I obviously didn’t manage it well, or I wouldn’t have been exiled here.”
He was suddenly very glad she’d ended up in Grace-by-the-Sea. “My father thought he had the way of it. Keep your head down, speak only of obedience, and hide.”
She shuddered. “Wretched way to live.”
“I agree. I spent my childhood watching him fawn and grovel and complaining bitterly to my mother when he thought no one would hear. I never understood his attitude.”
“So you decided to fight instead,” she said.
He wasn’t sure why he was telling the tale, but something urged him to continue. “I did indeed. My father took me to London after I graduated university. I went intending to show the earl this Howland wasn’t about to bow. But the earl was cordial, encouraging. He welcomed me as if I was his own son. I couldn’t understand it. All I could think was that Father must have done something terrible to be treated so badly.”
“I take it you learned otherwise,” she said.
He nodded. “Father’s health was already fading. The earl was grooming me to take his place. He wanted me to see what obedience might bring me. Thorgood was courting then, so I was even allowed to join him on his social rounds. We had known each other since we were lads. Many have remarked how much we resemble each other.”
Eva cocked his head. “Perhaps in coloring and physical features, but Thorgood doesn’t fight like you do.”
“He doesn’t fight in the same way I do,” James countered. “His is a quieter revolt. He is the heir, you see. He can only do so much without jeopardizing the reputation of the House of Howland. I understand. We’ve always gotten along well. I suppose it wasn’t surprising that we would both take a liking to the same lady.”
Her brows went up. “Oh, I can imagine how that went.”
“Not the way you suppose, at least at first,” James admitted. “Thorgood was very gracious when she showed a preference for me. The earl was not. His attitude went from benevolent to bullying overnight. He ordered me to stand down. She wasn’t meant for the son of a second son, you see.”
Eva shook her head. “I hope she had something to say to that.”
“She did.” Remembering didn’t hurt as much as it once had. “Her parents were of a similar mind. Better a husband who would one day be earl than a husband who might never amount to anything, especially when he was out of favor. Like me, she knew her duty.”
“Duty.” Eva sniffed. “It sounds as if she decided not to take a risk. Her heart cannot have been involved.”
“So I tried to tell myself.”
She cocked her head and studied him a moment, as if she saw more than he had let on. “So, I’m your comeuppance.”
He reared back. “What?”
She straightened with a nod, as if satisfied by her assessment. “The earl wanted me for Viscount Thorgood as well. You wished to steal a march on him. I wouldn’t blame you if it was true, but I’d like to know.”
“It’s not the same,” James protested. “I asked Thorgood about his intentions toward you. He doesn’t love you. You said you didn’t love him.”
“I don’t,” she agreed, “and I’m glad to hear I was right about his feelings as well. But you must admit, marrying me allowed you to stick your thumb in the earl’s eye.”
“You as well,” he said.
She smiled. “Quite right. Well, aren’t we a pair?” She schooled her face. “I’m sorry he treated you so poorly. That’s not how family should act.”
“Oh, he long ago disabused me of the notion we are family,” James assured her. “I’m a tool, to be used and discarded at his will. Thanks to you, no more.”
“No more, soon,” she amended. “First we must convince him his power is broken. We’ll deal with that tomorrow.”
Just then Patsy came out of the lady’s bedchamber and dropped a curtsey. “The bed is ready, Mrs. Howland.”
Eva rose. “That’s my cue to retire. Sleep well, James. Tomorrow we fight in the arena.”
She was as brave as the gladiators she intimated. “Good night, Eva,” he said, getting up as well. Once more his feelings gathered, demanded action. He bent and brushed his lips to hers.
And, for a moment, the world fell away, until there was only her.
He pulled back, legs a bit shaky. Her tremulous smile said she’d been as affected. He watched her walk unsteadily to her room. Only when the door closed did he wander into his, thinking.
~~~
Every inch of Eva was weary, but sleep refused to come. Patsy had helped her change for bed, dressing her in a fancy white lawn nightgown festooned with ribbons and lace.
“For your wedding night,” she’d said when Eva had asked about the gown.
Some wedding night. Then again, she and James hadn’t intended to pass the night together. But that kiss, and the one coming up from the village! How was she to forget them and pretend a marriage of convenience still satisfied?
She tossed to one side and then the other. Listened to the coals settle in the grate. This bedchamber was closer to the rear of the castle. Perhaps if she tried, she could hear the waves.
Instead, she heard the floor creak as someone crossed the sitting room. Eva sat up in bed. Surely the earl wasn’t still awake and spying on them. No, he’d send a servant. But even they must have retired by now. Their mysterious visitor wouldn’t attempt entry to the chamber story with so many people in residence. Then who could be about?
She slid from the bed, thrust her feet into her slippers, and hurried out of her room to the sitting room door. Cracking it open, she glanced left, right.
Just in time to see James disappearing down the stairs.
Why? Where was he going? He was still dressed in his wedding finery, so he hadn’t even attempted to go to bed. Once more fears poked at her. Just when she thought she had the ledger balanced, he did something to add to the debit column. Could she truly trust him?
She must, or this marriage stood no chance. But even if she gave him her trust, she didn’t have to sit idly by. She could help him in whatever he planned. She slipped out the door. At least the servants had left a few lamps burning in the night. Perhaps they too feared who might be prowling the corridors.
She reached the landing and peered cautiously down into the great hall. He had reached the bottom of the stairs and had turned for the kitchen. Was he hungry? She felt as if she wouldn’t eat for days after that feast.
She crept down the stairs after him, careful to keep to the edges to avoid any loose treads. When she reached the main floor, she slid around the corner to look down the short corridor that led toward the kitchen. Though the castle was of recent origin, the designer had taken pains to make this part of the building resembled a fortress, with rough stone walls and narrow windows that now showed the inky black of night. She might well have been on her way to the dungeon.
She took a hesitant step forward, and a hand came down on her shoulder. She gasped and jerked out of the grip.
Moving away from the wall, James put his finger to his lips, then tipped his head to the left. She followed him to the kitchen.
No lamps burned here, but there was a slight glow from a fire that had been banked in the massive hearth, and a little moonlight trickled in through the windows at the back of the room. She made out a long worktable down the center, the gleam of pots hanging along one wall.
He glanced around as if to make sure they were alone, then turned to her. “What are you doing, Eva?”
Eva put her hands on her hips. “What are you doing, James? The truth, now.”
His face offered her no clues as to his motives. “I’m simply making sure there’s nothing here the earl can use against us.”
She spread her hands. “In the kitchen?”
“In any part of the castle,” he insisted.
Eva dropped her hands. “It won’t wash.”
He sighed. “Very well. I’m trying to make sure our mysterious visitor hasn’t returned.” He moved to the hearth, took down one of the spills, and stuck it into the banked coals. The little splinter of wood flared.
“Surely no one would sneak into the castle with the earl in residence,” Eva protested. “You know something more, something you don’t want to tell me.”
He didn’t answer as he straightened, and, in the silence, she heard the tread of footsteps, coming closer.
He grabbed her hand and drew her over to the wall. A stout wooden door that might have been a pantry opened to reveal curving stairs leading down instead. He pulled her inside and shut the door. Then he stood still, face lit by the sputtering spill, as if listening. Eva listened too. The door was thick enough she could detect no movement through it.
He turned toward a lantern hanging from a hook on the wall and lit it with the spill before tossing down the wood and grinding it out with his heel. Pulling the lantern off the hook, he started down, and she followed him a couple of turnings, where there was no danger of being seen.
“Who was that?” Her whisper echoed off the stone walls. Eva clapped a hand over her mouth.
“I don’t know,” James murmured back. “It could have been Yeager or Pym, keeping an eye on things.”
“Why would you care if one of them saw you?” Eva asked.
“Because I don’t want anyone investigating what lies below.” He nodded down the stairs. “These lead to the caves Mrs. Tully told you about. I intend to check them. You can wait here if you like. It will be cold and damp, and you aren’t dressed for either.”
She glanced down at her nightgown. “What, no white lawn? I assure you, sir, it is all the rage in London.”
James shrugged out of his coat, juggling the lantern in the process. “If you’re certain you want to come, take this, and follow me.”
Hugging his coat close, she did.
James moved down the stairs, pausing every so often as if listening for noises above and below. Whoever had come into the kitchen hadn’t opened the door, for she heard no sound of extra footsteps on the stone. From below came only a soft, rhythmic slush, like the waves on the shore.
“Why do you want to check the caves?” Eva asked, voice once more reverberating.
“I’ll tell you when we reach the bottom,” he said.
Why was he delaying? It wasn’t as if anyone else could hear them.
Could they?
She swallowed and kept following. Ahead, an arched doorway looked out into blackness. James stepped down and lifted the lantern high.
Eva gazed around and up. And up. Everywhere she looked, light touched rock. Rock walls, damp and dark. Fallen rock on sandy soil, like teeth sticking up. Rock disappearing in front of her into darkness.
“It’s huge,” she said.
Her voice bounced around the space, the echoes crossing each other until it sounded as if the cave spoke back.
Eva grinned. “Ha, ha, ha,” she called.
The cave giggled.
“Don’t,” James said as she opened her mouth again. “If there’s anyone here, they already think we’re mad.”
She sobered, glancing around again. Was there someone else here? Would even breath echo? She held hers, listening. All she heard was that rhythmic noise, louder now. Where was it coming from?
“Is that the sound of the sea?” she asked, careful to keep her voice quieter now.
He nodded toward the darkness. “It comes in through an opening called the Dragon’s Maw in that direction. We should be nearing low tide now.”
Which meant the water would be coming in farther soon. She glanced around again. Were those rocks darker? Was that how high the water rose?
He swung the lantern one way and then another, sending light streaming across the space. Whatever he saw didn’t seem to please him, for he frowned.
“What are we looking for?” Eva asked.
“Evidence of occupation,” he said. He moved toward a circle of darker rock. As Eva followed him, he began kicking them apart, each movement as loud as a gunshot.
She stopped short of joining him, shuddering at the noise. “What are you doing? That looks like a fire circle. Doesn’t that mean someone has been here?”
“If they have,” he said, “I want nothing that might suggest as much to the earl.”
She couldn’t see the earl venturing down those stairs. But then again, perhaps he’d been the one to send someone into the castle to begin with. She tugged James’s coat closer, looking out toward the waves. They were visible now that he’d moved deeper into the cave, foam tinged white and lapping at the stone.
And there, drawn up against the sea, was a boat.
Eva cocked her head, studying it. She hadn’t sailed much, just a few times on the Thames with her father’s friends, who owned a yacht. This was smaller, as if it had been designed to hold only a sailor or two.
She nodded toward it. “Isn’t that more concerning?”
He followed her gaze and stiffened.
“Go back to the castle, Eva,” he said. “Now.”