I frown. “On his way?”
“Yes, I saw him. That is why I came down here. To urge you to hurry.”
Which he has been doing since I first met him.
Hurry, hurry, hurry. Do this. Don’t do that. Faster! Why do you hesitate?
That free-floating doubt finally solidifies. What is bothering me about all this? Not Emily. Lord Thomas.
LordThomas? Everyone says he is a good man. Nicolas may not have known him, but based on his reputation, he did not doubt his intentions.
Lord Thomas is a good man appalled by what his son is doing and trying to stop him. That story makes sense. Everyone agrees.
What if everyone is wrong?
I have been annoyed by Lord Thomas’s constant fretting and rushing, while feeling guilty for that. But what does his fretting and rushing do? Keeps us moving forward. Keeps us from stopping to think.
Every time we are in trouble, he is there to help, but—contrary young people that we are—we keep ignoring his advice. He says to go this way, and we go that way. He says do not run there or do that, and we do it anyway. And we are fine. We contradict his advice at almost every turn, and we escape.
What would have happened if we’d listened to him?
But he has helped, hasn’t he? He got us into Norrington’s study and told us about the safe. Gave us the combination. When the last number was wrong, we blamed the safe.
What if he’d intentionally given it wrong? Given us the first few numbers correctly so that when the last failed, I wouldn’t think Norrington had changed the combination—I’d think I’d made a mistake. That would keep me at the safe, working at it, long enough for Norrington to catch us.
Only we’d accidentally gotten it open anyway, and when we did, he flew into a panic.
Lord Norrington is coming! Forget the papers and run! No, don’t take those! What are you doing? Run into the kitchens! Don’t run onto the dance floor—that is madness. Fine, you are on the dance floor. Do not listen to my granddaughter. I have suddenly decided she cannot be trusted. Go out the front!
We went to Thorne Manor because we were certain we had not been followed. We’d seen no one. What if someonehadbeen there? Someone we could not see if he chose not to be seen? He claims he cannot keep up when we are on horseback, but he does seem to get from point to point easily when he wishes.
I turn to Lord Thomas and dip my chin. “You are correct, of course, sir. We are tarrying when your granddaughter’s life is at stake, and I apologize for that. We shall rescue her posthaste. If you would not mind watching for your son? We should not wish to run into him as we are making our escape.”
Lord Thomas nods. “Certainly. He is still on the road but clearly coming in this direction. I shall stand watch on deck and sound the alarm if I spot him. But you must move quickly.”
“We shall, sir.”
31
Lord Thomas disappears. I wait until I am certain he’s gone. Then I whisper to Nicolas.
“I do not trust him,” I say. “I did before, but I have begun to suspect he is playing us wrong.”
“As have I.”
My brows shoot up.
Nicolas lifts one shoulder. “I did not know the man personally, and while I cannot see or hear him, I have been thinking I ought to broach the matter with you, as it seemed he may be misleading us. His reputation is a fine one, but with men of nobility, sometimes the people they govern are eager to see more goodness than is deserved.”
He has a point. There are so many horrible landowners that even common decency can seem grounds for sainthood.
The question now is what to do. We believe we have walked into a trap, and yet Emily is still the unwitting bait. Do we dare presume her uncle will not harm her?
We are leaning together to whisper again when a board creaks overhead. Nicolas’s hand goes to his sword as we both look up. Another creak comes. I glance around. He motions for me to follow.
Nicolas opens a door with care and looks inside. The room is on the port side of the ship, meaning it is above the water. We need to physically pull ourselves inside so we don’t slide back out again on the tilted floor. Once we are in, Nicolas closes the door all but a crack.
The ladder creaks. Someone is coming down. I long to tug Nicolas back from the door so I can see, but I stifle the impulse and hold myself still.