Cast Love Aside (5 page)

“Braedon first,” Magnus said. “Shine your
torch in before you go, and be careful. We can’t be certain of the
condition of the passageway.”

Braedon handed one of the torches he carried
to William. Stooping down, he thrust his head and chest through the
doorway, holding the torch out in front of himself.

“It's a gentle downward slope,” he reported.
“I see a lot of cobwebs, but the way looks clear.”

“Go on, then,” Magnus ordered. “Lilianne, you
and Alice follow Braedon.”

“Go after the women, Magnus,” William said.
“I'll stay behind for a moment or two, to neaten up the barrels.
And I'll spill one of these baskets of nuts on the floor, to
further obscure any trace of our passing.”

“Good idea.” Magnus stepped through the
doorway, his large form blotting out the light from the storage
room.

Lilianne was by now well down the passageway.
Braedon was correct; the low roof was draped with cobwebs hanging
from the wooden beams placed long ago to brace the roof and the
sides of the tunnel. The floor was clear, except for one spot where
rocks had fallen from the roof, cluttering the way.

“I had forgotten how low the ceiling is,”
Lilianne remarked. “Don't be afraid, Alice.”

“I am not afraid,” Alice responded. “This is
an exciting adventure.”

“Now that,” said Braedon with a laugh, “is
not a remark I'd expect to hear from a novice nun.”

“I was never a willing novice,” Alice told
him.

Braedon paused to assist Alice cross the
fallen rocks, using one hand while with the other hand he held the
torch high to shed as much light as possible on the scene. Lilianne
hiked up her woolen skirts and scrambled over the rough patch
without any help.

“Magnus,” Braedon called, “take care
here.”

“I see the problem.” Magnus had reached the
rock fall. He was bent almost double to avoid cracking his skull on
the ceiling, and Lilianne could only wonder at the apparent ease
with which he continued to carry her uncle.

“Go on ahead,” Magnus ordered. “I'll wait
here for William. He's not far behind.”

“Are you sure it’s William coming after us?”
Alice asked.

“Who else could it be?” Lilianne asked. “All
of Uncle Erland's people are still asleep.”

“I do hope so,” Alice said nervously.

“I thought you weren't afraid,” Lilianne
teased.

“I'm not,” Alice asserted. “I just want
William to be safe.”

“Well, well!” exclaimed Braedon,
straightening to his full height. “Look at this.”

The tunnel ended in a wide, high cave that
had been carved by the sea centuries in the past. A few chests and
baskets stood about on the sandy floor of the cave and the
burnt-out ashes of an old fire lay near a pool of brackish water
that showed green in the torchlight.

“It would appear,” said Magnus, looking
around as he reached the cave, “that the lords of Manoir Sainte
Inge once engaged in smuggling. And possibly still do,” he added
with a glance at one of the large chests.

“Actually,” Lilianne said, “I believe the
local folk did the smuggling, while the lords pretended not to
notice.”

“And took a portion of the smuggled goods as
payment for their silence?” Magnus suggested, smiling a little.

“Very likely,” Lilianne agreed, not at all
abashed by the idea. Smuggling was an old tradition with its own
code of honor. But her thoughts were on more recent business. “You
know, Magnus, after we came through that supposedly unused door so
easily, I have to wonder if some of Erland's mysterious visitors
use this cave as a secret way into the manor when they meet him. I
have occasionally noticed him in the kitchen, and once in the
storeroom when he had no reason to be there. I can't be positive,
of course. I know better than to question Erland about what he’s
doing. His temper is always short.”

“A charming man, from all I've heard and seen
of him,” Magnus said sarcastically. He shifted the inert man lying
over his shoulder, redistributing Erland's weight. “Let's not
dawdle here. We don't want to meet any of your uncle's associates.
They would most likely ask embarrassing questions.”

By this time William had joined them in the
cave. Lilianne did not fail to notice how Alice blushed when
William offered her his arm for support.

Lilianne could hear the surf crashing outside
the cave even before she saw the foaming waves and the pearly sheen
of the beach. Memory pierced her heart as she recalled her father
standing beside her to watch the sun set. Tears prickled at her
eyelids, but she refused to give way to the old grief.

She bent her head and stepped out of the
cave. Magnus grunted as he also stooped low to join her. Sudden
blackness loomed behind them when Braedon and William doused their
torches in response to Magnus's command. Then they were all
outside, blinking a little while their eyes adjusted to the dimming
light of a midsummer evening.

The tide was low, so the beach stretched
before them in a damp, silvery swathe. The full moon was lightly
veiled in mist and a short distance out to sea a bank of fog
lurked. Having grown up beside the water, Lilianne knew the fog
would move inland until Manoir Sainte Inge was muffled in it.

“We'd best hurry,” Magnus said quietly. “The
Daisy
is waiting out there and I mean to be safely aboard
ship while we can still find her.”

He started off across the dry upper part of
the beach. Directly below the manor, in a spot where it couldn't be
seen from above, a rowboat lay tucked into the tall grasses that
grew on the sand dunes. Braedon and William each caught a side of
the little craft to pull it out of the grass.

“You cannot expect to carry all of us in that
tiny thing!” Alice exclaimed.

“We didn’t expect to carry you and Lilianne
at all,” Magnus responded. “You may stay behind, if you'd rather
take your chances with Erland's men.”

“No.” Alice swallowed hard. “I will go with
you, Sir Magnus. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

“Stay out of the way until the boat is in the
water,” Magnus commanded. “You, too, Lilianne.”

Magnus dumped Erland into the bottom of the
rowboat. Then he and the other two men began to drag the boat
across the beach to the sea.

Lilianne lifted her skirts high, tucking the
folds of wool into her belt. She removed her cloak, tugged off her
shoes and stockings, and tossed everything into the rowboat on top
of Erland. Thus prepared, she caught the side of the boat to help
the men pull it along.

“Stand back,” Magnus ordered when he noticed
what she was doing.

“I grew up here by the sea,” she protested,
still digging her feet into the sand as she continued to haul on
the side of the boat. “I’m taller than most men, and as strong as
many. I know how to swim, and I can row, too, if you'll let
me.”

“Let her help, if she wants,” Braedon said.
“We don't have time to stand here arguing. The fog is moving in
fast.”

Magnus made no reply to Braedon's urgent
remarks, but neither did he refuse Lilianne's assistance, so she
kept pulling on the side of the rowboat until they reached the
water.

“We're almost deep enough to clear the
bottom,” Braedon said to her, his teeth flashing in a quick
smile.

Lilianne smiled back at him just as an
incoming wave caught the rowboat, lifting it high. The men held
fast, but Lilianne was distracted by Braedon. The wooden rail slid
along her palm and a splinter rammed into the base of her thumb.
Smothering a cry of pain, she let go of the boat.

William had left the boat, too. Striding back
up the beach he caught Alice in his arms and carried her across the
wet sand and into the water, to place her gently on the forward
bench. While Magnus and Braedon steadied the craft, William climbed
in and picked up an oar.

Lilianne was standing in swirling water up to
her knees, with her injured hand at her mouth when Magnus stepped
to her side and swept her off her feet. Forgetting her sore thumb
she clutched at him, wrapping both arms around his neck. She was so
close to him that she could see the bristly beginning of his dark
beard. She was intensely aware of his body warmth and of the clean,
masculine smell of him. A feeling of lightness and of feminine
delicacy pervaded her entire being while she lay cradled in his
embrace. For tall, sturdy Lilianne it was a lovely and unfamiliar
sensation, and it was over too soon.

Magnus lowered her into the bow of the
rowboat next to Alice. Then he grabbed the rail and vaulted over
the side. Braedon and William were already rowing, sitting together
on the aft bench with one man to an oar. With the lithe grace that
Lilianne had noticed earlier that evening, Magnus settled himself
on the bench directly in front of her to work the second pair of
oars. Seizing an oar in each of his big hands, he began to row.

In fascination Lilianne watched his hands
grasping the thick oars. With his back to her she was able to see
how his straining muscles pulled the fabric of his tunic tight
across his shoulders at every stroke he took. He was so large, and
so very strong. Remembering the strength of his arms supporting
her, she shivered.

“Put your cloak on again,” Alice said,
“before you catch a chill.”

“Here you are.” Braedon took one hand off his
oar to toss her bundled-up garments back to her.

“Keep your voices down, all of you,” Magnus
warned in a rough whisper. “Sound carries across water. I'd like
Erland's disappearance to remain a mystery for as long as
possible.”

“His men-at-arms have already noticed
something amiss,” Lilianne said, leaning forward to speak softly
into Magnus's ear. “I see lights on the manor walls and you are
right about voices carrying. I can hear men talking.”

“Yes, they’re all awake by now and wondering
what has happened.” Magnus turned his face toward Lilianne. “Thanks
to your quick thinking, they won't find us.”

His lips were so close to hers that by moving
an inch or so forward when he moved back while rowing, she could
have kissed him. If she were daring enough. But she wasn't quite
that adventurous. To cover her confusion at the realization of how
very much she wanted to kiss Magnus and to taste his response, she
spoke the first sensible thought that came into her mind.

“If they know of the passage and think to
investigate it, they'll see our footprints on the beach, and
they'll notice where the boat keel was dragged across the sand to
the water.”

“True,
if
they know about the passage.
Most likely, your uncle has kept it a secret. You saw how the
barrels were blocking the door. As for the beach, they can't see
much until dawn, and by that time the tide will be high. Then,
there’s the fog to reckon with. Even a man in the tower looking out
on the seaward side won't be able to see through the fog.” As if to
emphasize his words a wisp of fog drifted over the rowboat.

“Oh, no one ever goes to the tower,” Lilianne
said. “Not since my father died. You'd think Erland would keep
watchmen on duty there, but he doesn't.” Glancing toward the tall
structure that crowned the walls of Manoir Sainte Inge, she noticed
a thin line of something pale extending downward along the side of
the tower that faced the sea. It looked almost like a wide crack in
the stone or, perhaps, a heavy cord. She squinted, trying to see
better, but the odd effect vanished in the gathering mist and
Lilianne discounted what she had seen.

Magnus took another mighty stroke with the
oars, leaning backward as he pulled. “Lilianne,” he said, very
softly.

“Yes?” She kept her voice as low as his.

“Sit back, stay quiet, and let me row without
distraction.” He leaned forward, preparing to pull again.

“Do I distract you?” she asked in some
surprise, and waited for his reply until the rhythm of the stroke
brought him closer.

“You know you do.” His whisper was fierce. “I
have a ship to find, and with this fog coming in, it won't be easy.
Now, stop talking.”

Lilianne could see why locating the ship
wasn't going to be a simple task. The fog bank rolled right over
them, blotting out all trace of Manoir Sainte Inge, though the
voices of her uncle's men-at-arms still sounded remarkably
loud.

She pulled her second-best cloak around her
shoulders and sat back on the bench as Magnus had ordered. Alice
took her hand and the two of them stayed silent, gazing into the
thick, damp grayness.

Because it was June, daylight lingered until
late, and on clear evenings a soft glow suffused both land and sea.
Even foggy weather did not produce complete darkness. Still, the
fog through which they were passing was so thick that Lilianne was
soon confused as to which way they were heading. She began to fear
they would miss the ship they were supposed to be meeting and
Magnus and his friends would continue to row straight out into the
middle of the Narrow Sea that lay between France and England – or,
worse, they'd row back to land without knowing it and her uncle's
men would be waiting to capture them as soon as they reached the
shore.

She was distracted from her worry when Alice
groaned and made a sudden movement on the bench.

“What's wrong?” Lilianne asked, reaching to
draw her friend back to the middle of the bench. Alice fought her
off, leaning away from Lilianne so she could hang her head over the
side of the rowboat.

“I knew this would happen,” Alice gasped.
“Every time I venture onto the water, even just crossing a river by
ferry—”

“Keep quiet and sit still,” Magnus snapped.
“I'm trying to get our bearings and I have to do it by sound.”

“Alice can't help it,” Lilianne told him.
“She suffers from
mal de mer.
This is the first time she has
agreed to board a boat since she came to Manoir Sainte Inge.”