So Worthy My Love (53 page)

“This way!” Justin whispered urgently and gestured down another narrow lane. “We'll lose them quicker if we go this way.”

The darkness deepened as the torch-lit area of the
kontor
was put well behind them. The five of them went like dark spirits in the night, silent shapes flitting through shadows, an occasional crunch of frozen slush the only sound to mark their passing. They dashed headlong through the twisting, winding streets of Lubeck, traversing through an endless maze that would end where only Justin knew. Elise made a gallant effort to match the longer strides of the men, but finally she could go no further. In a dark alley she took a few last faltering steps and sagged wearily against a rough stone wall as she gasped for breath. Nearby Justin stumbled to a halt and braced his hands on his knees as he fought to control his own labored breathing. Maxim went on a few steps to see what was at the end of the alley and then came back to lean against the wall beside Elise.

“What say you, Sir Kenneth?” He panted the hushed question as he peered through the darkness at one of the men. “Do you have a ken where we are?”

“That I do, my lord.” The knight responded in an equally breathless and subdued voice. “And I've a mind what you're thinking, and I do heartily agree. ‘Tis best we split up.”

“Then take Sherbourne and go. I'll need Justin to show me the way out of here. I'll see you later at the keep.”

Sir Kenneth stepped forward and, reaching out toward the other in friendship, clasped arms with
Maxim. “If there should be such a thing that one of us should not arrive at the castle, let it be known that I consider it an honor working with you. Good night to you.” He touched his fingers to his brow in a salute to Elise. “The pleasure has been mine, my lady. I wish you and Lord Seymour long life.”

“Thank you . . . for everything,” Elise murmured softly. As she watched the two men sprint from sight, she sighed forlornly, feeling as if she had made a blundering mess of everything.

Justin had been most attentive as he witnessed the farewell. Sir Kenneth's comments had much bemused him, and now he peered through the meager light at the couple, desiring an explanation.

Maxim gave the younger man no time to launch a barrage of questions, but took Elise's arm and led her further down the alley, leaving Justin staring after them with a perturbed frown.

“Why did you come?” Maxim whispered, propping a hand beside her head as she leaned back against the wall. “What made you don these clothes and sneak into the
kontor?
Had you no ken of the danger? Hilliard despises women, especially English women.”

Elise glanced toward Justin and then dropped her gaze, feeling foolish and ashamed. Her presence had endangered his life and those of his companions, and any explanation now seemed feeble. “I was worried about you. I wanted to assure myself that you were all right and no one was going to harm you.”

He leaned forward ever so slightly, and his voice was like a soft flutter against her ear. “My love, I
swear to you, your face was ever before me, and my one desire was to return to your arms and spend this night with you as your husband.” He straightened and, doffing his coat, handed the garment to her. “Hold this a moment, my love, and I will give you my shirt.”

Elise smoothed the lambskin admiringly beneath her hand, afraid to ask him why he had garbed himself the way that he did. “I almost didn't recognize you.”

A soft chuckle came through the shirt as Maxim pulled it over his head “Madam, I very nearly didn't recognize you.”

Maxim tossed an inquisitive glance down the alley toward Justin. Sensing the younger man's curiosity, he stepped around to block his view of Elise as she doffed the cloak. Shivering from the cold, she drew the shirt quickly over her head and breathed in the clean, manly scent of her husband as she settled it into place. Again she sought the warmth of the mantle, and only then did Maxim motion for Justin to join them.

“We must go,” he urged. “Hilliard will not rest until we are found.”

“But where can we go?” Elise asked. “We cannot go back to the Von Reijns'. ‘Twould mean danger to the family, and will Hilliard not search the inns and taverns for any strangers?” It was a poor night indeed to try and find a place to hide, she thought, shivering as a slight breeze wafted beneath the folds of the cloak.

A look of dawning lit Justin's countenance. “I know of a place where ‘tis safe for you to hide.” He
beckoned them to follow. “Come, I'll take you. No one will think of looking for you there.”

Maxim was not sure whether or not he trusted the sly grin the younger man wore, but he obeyed the directive, not willing to reject the plan ere it was made known.

The mists thickened as they neared the wharves, and the silence of the night gave way to the low creaking of lofty masts and ice-bound hulls protected by heavy beams at the waterline. The three approached the pier cautiously, glancing all about, then Justin encouraged them to hurry as he skittered along the icy quay in front of them. Enveloped in the shadow of night, he crouched beneath the largest vessel in the area and, with a grin, pointed upward to her name. It was Hilliard's
Grau Falke
!

I
T SEEMED A WORLD APART
from reality, one frozen by time and the elements, where ice-shrouded yards and masts bore no resemblance to earthly shapes, but took on ghostly forms and strange sculptures where the freezing spray and foam had been swept by the northern winds. A fine dusting of snow covered the deck of the four-masted carrack, treacherously masking a thick layer of ice. Rooted well beneath the planking, tall masts thrust upward into the belly of the night sky, losing their tops in a haze of flurries and murky darkness. Long, bearded icicles hung from the yards, spars, and standing rigging, and from those clinging to the latter came an incessant clicking as the crystals were stirred by the plucking fingers of passing breezes. The sound wafted through the silence like the frozen claws of some savage wintry beast a-prowl on the deck. Blending with the eerie melody, a distant and almost imperceptible grinding and popping drifted from the river where open water met the insidiously encroaching ice.

Maxim led the way carefully across the deck with Elise following close behind and Justin bringing up the rear. The slippery footing demanded caution,
for a wrong step could end in a bone-jarring fall. As if befriending them, the gentle gusts blew their cold breath across the surface, promising to sweep away all evidence of their passing. As they entered the companionway Maxim reached back a hand and took Elise's fingers within his grasp to lead her carefully through the darkness. But even as they exercised caution, the coldness of the interior made it unlikely that even a watchman was aboard.

They moved ahead in the darkness, but came to another abrupt halt when Maxim's head struck a tallow lantern hanging from the rafters. Muttering a derogatory comment about shipbuilders being abnormally short, he yanked the fixture down and, despite his discomfort, smiled in the dark as he heard Elise's soft voice close beside him.

“ ‘Tis obviously a singular problem, my lord,” she teased. “I've never been bothered by it myself.”

Reaching a finger inside the lantern, Maxim fished out a small tinderbox as he quipped, “Madam, I assure you I considered it fair reason to give up sailing the seas.”

He finally struck the wick alight, and the tiny flame sputtered in the breeze that wafted through the hall, then the small door was closed and the light grew stronger, touching their surroundings with its meager glow.

“You jest, of course,” Justin whispered in amused curiosity. “Sailing on a ship has been a dream of mine, but I would not join the Hansa to do it.”

“I spent a few years at sea,” Maxim remarked casually. “In fact, I even commanded a small galleon
for a space. Alas! Her majesty's navy was not for me.” He cocked his head to one side and gave a smile of gentle recall. “My parents enjoyed their life together. I intend to share as much of my time as possible with my wife.” His eyes warmly glowing, he glanced at Elise and found the sapphire orbs mirroring the tiny candle flame. More than that, they shone with a loving light of their own to fair bedazzle him.

Maxim raised the lantern as they progressed down the hall. Pausing beside a door on his left, he pushed it carefully open and entered what was soon judged to be a small galley set just forward of the master's cabin. All the accoutrements of a chef hung from a bar secured above a table. A huge, open-faced hearth, consisting of three walls and a flooring covered with brick, was located at the far end of the narrow space. A large kettle hung on a spit above the charred remains of several logs. Overhead, a grating of iron allowed a place for the smoke to escape, but was now covered with a hatch. On the interior of the hearth, on the wall nearest the main cabin, hung an iron door. When Maxim opened it and looked inside, he found the reverse of a similar portal securely fastened on the far side of the hearth wall.

They continued down the companionway toward the main cabin, and the door creaked slightly as Maxim pushed it open. Even without the aid of a lantern, the stern gallery windows would have allowed enough illumination from the snow-shrouded night to verify that the compartment was empty save for its rich appointments. To assure that no
leakage of light reached the world beyond the cabin, the pair of men made haste to pull the heavy velvet draperies across the windows.

Shivering, Elise glanced about at the luxury that abounded in the spacious compartment, but it was of little comfort. The cold had penetrated so deeply into the ship, it was like an icy tomb, bereft of even the smallest warmth.

“ ‘Twould seem Hilliard is not in the least fearful of anyone stealing from him,” Justin commented laconically.

“Aye,” Maxim agreed. “Should any dare, I've no doubt justice would be swiftly served by the burghers of Lubeck”

“ ‘Up on the yard, hang that
Schuft!'
they'd cry,” Justin sneered. “How I yearn to hear such a cry and see Hilliard swinging by the neck from a masthead.”

“He may someday, or better yet, have to face the axeman's blade,” Maxim replied in distant thought as he glanced toward the bunk. Rich furs promised an abundance of comfort, even from the cold, but the presence of the young man precluded any hope of the marriage vows being consummated.

“ ‘Tis obvious you're not working for Hilliard,” Justin stated, his curiosity desiring appeasement. “Are you a spy?”

“A spy for whom?” Maxim scoffed. “Please! Lend no gilding of the cavalier to what I did. I am a man without a country.”

Maxim shunned further questions as he searched the bulkhead, starboard of the door through which they had entered. Rich wood paneling covered the walls of the cabin save for a space perhaps an arm's-
span away from the portal. There, an iron skirt protected the flooring beneath a small black door set in brick. Lifting the latch, he opened the portal and found, as he suspected, that it opened into the interior of the galley hearth.

“Clever man, Hilliard He designed this ship to have a small private galley nearby to serve his own gluttonous appetite and has even provided a way for us to get warm while enjoying his fine accommodations.”

“Do you think you should light a fire?” Justin asked, fretting at the thought of discovery.

“W-we cannot s-stay here without one,” Elise stuttered through chattering teeth. “I'm f-freezing.”

“As long as we leave before daylight, I doubt there'll be anyone moving around the quay to notice,” Maxim replied. “I see no reason to be further discomforted.”

“I must leave you for a time,” Justin informed them, and became aware that the interest of the other man centered on him. “When Hilliard realizes you're the one who killed Gustave, you can expect this city to be turned upside down until you're found. I mean to return to
Tante
's house and pack up your chests so you can put Lubeck well behind you ere morningtide. If you tell me where your two friends can be found, I'll have them ready the sleigh and hold it at the edge of town until I can bring you your mounts and lead you through the city.”

Maxim braced his arms akimbo as he peered at the other closely. “Are you so trustworthy then?”

Justin drew himself up to full height and, with anger blazing in his eyes, laid a hand on the hilt of
his dagger. “I've played the fool and fop for the benefit of the Hansards for some time now,” he said through rage-whitened lips. “I've roamed this city in a dozen guises and tweaked the masters' beards a score and more times. I'll not stand here and have my honor questioned.”

“Calm yourself,” Maxim warned. “Anger has a way of making a fool of a man.”

“Have I served you so ill this eventide that you still doubt me?”

“You've served us all well,” the elder man admitted. “But you've much to learn of responsibilities . . .”

“Indeed?”
Justin fairly sizzled with outrage. “How so?”

“For example”—Maxim allowed himself to show a little irritation—“by bringing Elise into the communal hall when you knew it was dangerous for her. Be damned! Had anything happened to her I would have called you out . . .”

“Maxim, please listen,” Elise begged. “ ‘Twas my fault, truly. I followed him, and had he denied me, I'd have tried to enter on my own.”

“Aye, madam, but you'd never have gotten past the guard without a Hansa seal, which Justin undoubtedly has . . .”

“Which reminds me,” the youth interrupted, fixing Maxim with an attentive stare. “How did you manage to get in?”

The Marquess returned a stoic mien to the younger man. He could find no reason to tell, but then, with the deed well behind them, no harm could be done in appeasing the other's curiosity. “If you must know, I told the guard we were traders
from Novgorod and had been personally invited by Karr Hilliard himself. It helped considerably to show the man a document impressed with Hilliard's own seal.”