Page 145

“M’lady,” he greeted quietly. “I am sorry tae disturb yer sleep, but it seems we have a situation on our hands and I require yer counsel.”

Havilland had, indeed, been asleep, perhaps the first good sleep she’d had in weeks. But a message from a servant and the mention of Jamison’s name, had her rushing to do his bidding. She didn’t know why she should rush, only that he had summoned her and she was compelled to obey him.

“My lord?” she asked with concern. “How may I be of service?”

Jamison indicated one of the two chairs that was situated before the hearth. “Please, sit,” he said, sitting down once she took her seat. “As I said, I am sorry tae disturb ye. But this is important.”

Havilland was listening with some trepidation. “It must be,” she said. “What is it? What has happened?”

Jamison reflected on how he would approach the subject for a brief moment before answering her. He didn’t want to be harsh or abrupt, but he couldn’t dally. The woman needed a straight answer.

So did he.

“Have ye ever heard the name Evon?” he asked.

Havilland cocked her head, puzzled. “Evon?” she repeated. “Where did you hear that name?”

He kept his manner calm. “I will tell ye in a moment,” he said. “Can ye tell me if ye’ve heard it before?

She nodded without hesitation. “Aye,” she said. “Evon Preece is a neighbor.”

The name she mentioned caught his attention. “Preece?” he asked. “Lord Preece?”

Havilland nodded. “Aye,” she said. “Evon is his eldest son.”

The very neighbor she had mentioned earlier and had sworn the man wasn’t part of the group that had attacked Four Crosses. Jamison was struggling to sort it all out in his mind. “The son of the man ye said wasna part of the force that attacked us?” he clarified. “Ye know of no other Evon?”

“Nay. Should I?”

Jamison was putting the pieces of the puzzle together and the resulting picture was something he didn’t like, not in the least. “I dunna know,” he said. “I simply wanted tae know if ye had heard the name.”

Havilland nodded, but in the process, she also began to look at him strangely. “What has happened that you would ask such a question?” she asked. “What about Evon Preece?”

Jamison leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees.

He had eyes only for Havilland. “I will tell ye what I have discovered but first, I must know something more,” he said.

“I believe ye said that yer sister, Madeline, still spoke tae Preece’s children. Do ye know that for certain?”

Havilland was trying to figure out what he might be trying to tell her but it was all still a big mystery.

“I do not,” she said. “Madeline and I have not spoken of Lord Preece or his children in years. I do know that as a child, she was quite fond of Evon. She pretended she was going to marry him. Why are you asking, my lord? Will you please tell me what is wrong?”

Jamison had no choice but to tell her now.

He didn’t receive the impression that she was hiding anything or complicit with anything that her sister was doing.

Her answers had been open and instantaneous.

Therefore, he stuck to his original opinion that she was not in league with Madeline when it came to espionage or betrayal.

With that in mind, he knew she was in for a shock and tried to ease the blow.

“I was on the wall tonight, setting the posts before the night watch came on,” he said quietly.

“I was heading towards the kitchen yard when I saw Madeline. She was making her way tae the kitchen yard, also, and she dinna see me. As I watched from the wall, she sent the guards at the postern gate away and when they left, she slipped through the gate. I followed her, mostly because I was going tae berate her for leavin’ the safety o’ the fortress, but she led me down a path along the river.

She was moving swiftly, m’lady, as if she was in a rush, so I fell in behind her tae see what had her in such a hurry.

She never saw me, mind ye. As I watched from the trees, she met up with a man, tall and slender. I heard her call him Evon.”

Havilland was listening to him with wide, startled eyes. “Evon Preece!”

He lifted his big shoulders. “’Tis possible,” he said.

“I only heard her call him Evon. But… there is more. M’lady, as I listened, she told him much of what was happening at Four Crosses.

She told him about me, about the de Lohr men, and she told him that I suspect Scotsmen among the Welsh rebels.

Everything I have told ye and yer sisters, she told this young man.

She even told him that I will be resuming the patrols.

I would like tae think the young man is an ally, but something tells me he isna. ”

Havilland’s mouth was hanging open by this point, her expression full of outrage and fear and extreme disappointment. “Sweet Jesú ,” she finally breathed. “Are you sure you heard correctly?”

He nodded, sorrow in his features. “I am,” he said gently. “Ye mentioned this morning that ye thought there was a spy in yer midst. I… I think I have found her.”

Havilland’s hands flew to her mouth, so great her shock.

She closed her eyes against the horrible news he was telling her, her heart and mind reeling with disbelief.

She was inclined to accuse him of mishearing, of perhaps even lying, but she knew in her heart that he was being truthful.

He had no reason to lie about anything. Moreover, everything was coming to make a good deal of sense now– her sister’s behavior, her absences now and again that she refused to explain– things that had become before the de Lohr knights had even come to Four Crosses, but a pattern just the same.

She always knew that Madeline wanted to be in charge of the castle and her sister constantly challenged her, but for it to go this far…

Havilland was sickened. Tears popped to her eyes.

She could hardly believe it.

“Nay, Madeline, nay ,” she hissed, struggling not to weep. “How could she do this? How could she betray us?”

Jamison could see how upset she was. In a gesture of comfort, he put his hand on her arm. It was a gentle touch, but one that set his heart to racing. It was a struggle to stay on task.

“I dunna know,” he said softly. “But now isna the time tae ask why. Now is the time tae stop the bleeding she has created before it destroys Four Crosses. The young man she was with pressed her for information repeatedly so I can only assume he is with the Welsh rebels. There would be no other reason for him tae demand information from her. Now, this is where I need yer counsel, m’lady– I need tae know what yer wish is as far as yer sister.

We can put her in the vault and stop the leak or we can use her tae our advantage. ”

Havilland was overcome with everything, wiping at her eyes, trying to follow what he was saying. All she could think of was her sister and how the woman was trying to destroy them all. Damn her!

“To… to our advantage?” she repeated. “How?”

Jamison kept his hand on her arm, a comforting gesture.

The truth was that he simply wanted to touch her.

“By feeding her false information,” he said.

“It is me intention tae go tae Lioncross and inform the earl what we have discovered. I am going tae suggest that we use yer sister tae feed the rebels false information and set a trap for them. This may work out tae our advantage, m’lady, if we can end these attacks once and for all. ”

Havilland understood what he was saying and she couldn’t disagree. “But my sister?” she wanted to know, anxious. “What becomes of her when this is over? The earl will know she is a spy. Will he execute her?”

Jamison couldn’t answer for the earl but the truth was that execution was always the end for a spy.

He patted her arm. “I dunna know,” he said.

“She is a female and ’tis usual tae execute female spies, so I dunna know what will become of her.

All I know is that she is risking everyone’s life at Four Crosses, including yers and mine, and she must be stopped. Ye must understand that.”

Havilland was heartsick. She gazed at the man, watching the fire glisten off of his red hair and she was very much aware that his hand was still on her arm.

The simple human touch gave her a world of comfort.

She was the strong one, always the strong one, but sometimes she just didn’t want to be strong.

She wanted someone to hold her and tell her everything would be well, giving her comfort as she so often gave it to others.

Looking at Jamison, she wondered what it would be like to be comforted by him, to have his arms around her, to have him tell her that everything would be all right.

Her heart, a na?ve thing, longed for it.

She wondered if she would ever find out.

“I understand,” she said sadly. “But I feel… I feel as if, somehow, this is all my fault.”

He cocked his head, concerned. “Why?”

She lifted her shoulders, averting her gaze.

“Because I am the eldest,” she said simply.

“I command Four Crosses. Madeline does not much like that I do because she wants to be in charge. Since my father… since his illness began, she has challenged me repeatedly. She is always trying to countermand my orders or undermine me so, you see, this news you bring is not entirely surprising. I suppose I have been expecting something like this all along.”

He squeezed her arm. “Whatever Madeline has done is no reflection on ye,” he said. “Never forget– I have seen ye command and I have seen ye fight. Ye have a good head on yer shoulders, m’lady. And ye canna control the heart that covets.”

She found some comfort in his words and her eyes came up, fixing on him. He was a very wise man. But in the midst of this serious conversation, of her heartbreak, it seemed strange to her that he continued to address her so formally. She longed to hear her name from his lips.