"No! That was never part of the deal. I'll not let you get within range of the Fleming's knife!"
To Justin's surprise, he got some unexpected support now from Luke. "I'd have misgivings about that, too," the deputy confessed. "The risk is too great, Nell. There has to be another way."
"There is not," Jonas said flatly. "Nell can lure him out into the open. This may be our only chance. Nell understands that and is willing to take the risk."
Nell had been secretly hoping that Justin or Luke could come up with another plan, one that would keep her far away from the Fleming and his well-honed blade. But her pride prevented her from backing out, and when Jonas looked toward her for confirmation, she nodded slowly. "I do not see what choice we have."
Neither did the men. Justin was not yet ready to acknowledge that, though. "Why does Nell have to be the one to meet him? What if we could find someone else to play the role of Bella? Jonas, do you not know a youth small enough to pass for a woman?"
"I might, but you're forgetting how wary the Fleming is. Nora is to accompany Nell to Smithfield. So unless you can suggest a way to fool Nora, too, with this substitute Bella, I say we have to go with the genuine article."
Justin's silence was a concession of defeat. Luke turned sideways and hit him on the arm. "We'll stay closer to the lass than her own shadow," he vowed. "Between us and Jonas, I daresay we could keep her safe from the Devil himself!"
Justin reached across the table and caught hold of Nell's hand. "Are you sure you want to do this, lass?"
"Yes," she lied, "very sure."
"We'd best start making plans, then," Luke pointed out, "for Friday is just a day away. That hellspawn would pick the horse market. Half of London is likely to be there. Where exactly are you to meet him, Nell?"
"By the horse pool, Whilst the races are being run. He'll be leading a bay gelding and I'm to pretend I want to buy…" Nell stopped, for she'd caught the look of dismay that flashed between Justin and Luke. "What is it? I've a right to know!"
"You do," Justin agreed, "and we'll keep nothing from you. That crafty whoreson is as slick as a greased pig and about as hard to corner. The crowds will have thinned out by then, with most people watching the races. And there he'll be at the horse pool, holding the reins of a fast horse, ready to bolt if he sees anything at all suspicious. Damn him to Hell and back!"
Nell bit her lower lip. "Will you be able to get close enough to seize him?"
"If we cannot," Justin said, "we're not letting you anywhere near the horse pool."
Luke nodded, his eyes meeting Justin's across the table. They had one day and two nights to come up with a strategy to outwit a man who'd so far seemed blessed with the Devil's own luck, or once again, he'd slip through their snare.
~~
Justin awoke with a start. The room was unfamiliar and it took him a moment to remember where he was. Beside him, Claudine slept peacefully, her hair cascading over them both like a sable mantle. This was the first full night they'd had together, all Claudine's doing. She'd fabricated an excuse to explain her absence to the queen, then engaged a room in a secluded riverside inn on the outskirts of London. With their trap for the Fleming to be sprung on the morrow, Justin had tried to beg off. But she had persisted and when she confided that she wanted to be able to fall asleep in his arms at least once, he could think only of how much he wanted that, too.
Although he'd taken care not to disturb Claudine, when he lay back, her eyes opened, dark and drowsy. Stifling a yawn, she snuggled closer. "You're having a very restless night, love."
"Sorry," he murmured, kissing the corner of her mouth. "It probably would have been better for us to do this on another night. For certes, you'd have gotten more sleep."
"I'm not complaining. But it would have been easier if we'd been able to spend the night at your cottage. Will that friend of yours be staying with you much longer?"
"That depends," he said, "on what happens tomorrow."
She rolled over in his arms, looking up searchingly into his face. "What was it you said the other day, Justin — that my curiosity would put a cat to shame? And you were right. I am too inquisitive for my own good, I love to discover secrets, and I like to gossip. Whereas you, my darling, are as closemouthed as a clam!"
"I'm not as bad as all that," he protested, and she reached up, tracing the curve of his mouth with the tip of her finger.
"Oh, indeed you are. There is much I would like to know about you. Where you were born. If you have brothers or sisters. How you got this scar on your shoulder. Your favorite food, your favorite color. Why you are so evasive about your past. But I have never asked you — not once — how you came to be the queen's man or what you've been doing on her behalf. Have I?"
"No… you have not."
"Nor am I going to ask now. But I know you are involved in something dangerous. Justin, I fear for you. I cannot help myself, I do."
He'd never had someone to worry about him before, and his arms tightened, drawing her into a more intimate embrace. "On the morrow," he said, "we are going to catch a killer. I cannot tell you more than that, Claudine, not yet. But the danger will not be all that great, at least not for me."
"I hope you are telling me the truth," she said, and never had he heard her sound so serious. "But if you will not be at risk tomorrow, what is stealing your sleep tonight?
Whom are you fretting about, if not yourself?"
"A woman."
"A woman?" she echoed. "Justin de Quincy, are you cheating on me so soon? You're not supposed to develop a roving eye until much later in the love affair!"
"You need not worry, lass. Whatever the game, I always abide by the rules."
His heart was not in his banter, though, and it showed. Turning her head, she kissed his chest. "I ought not to have been teasing you," she said contritely, "not when you're so troubled. Tell me about this woman, love. Why are you afraid for her?"
"She is a friend," he said softly, "who wanted to help us trap a killer. But to do that, she must be the bait. And if harm comes to her, Claudine, I'll never forgive myself."
16
LONDON
March 1193
March had been indistinguishable so far from February, the days cold and damp more often than not. But there was a sudden shift in the weather on the 12th. Bright sunlight and much milder temperatures offered the winter-battered Londoners a beguiling hint of coming spring. They knew it would not last, for March was the most untrustworthy of months. And so they flocked outside to make the most of this brief respite, large numbers deciding to take in the Friday horse fair at Smithfield, just north of the city walls — thus providing even greater cover for the Fleming.
Nell had another reason to rue the unseasonably balmy weather. Any man bundled up in a hooded cloak would be all too conspicuous today, sure to attract Gilbert's ever-suspicious eye. She was thankful, therefore, that Justin and Luke had come up with another disguise. Pray God that it worked!
She was grateful that at least she was spared the need to make conversation, for she and Nora had walked in silence for most of the way. Now that their deal had been struck, Nora was utterly single minded, brisk and businesslike. Nell had begun to wonder if the Fleming's whore had seen her as prey from the very first. She had talked freely of her unhappy home life, after all. Long ere they had that candid talk over eel pie, had Nora concluded it might be profitable to befriend her? The bored young wife of a respectable merchant might well be a promising target for extortion. That would explain why Nora had responded so warmly to her overtures; usually friendships did not flower so