The Bone House

CHAPTER 32

I never meant to betray them,” insisted Lady Haven Fayth. “Believe me, I pray you.”

Wilhelmina regarded her doubtfully. There was much about the young woman to admire-her startling beauty, her quick and ready mind, her formidable strength of will-but there was also much about the russet-haired lady that invited distrust.

When Mina did not respond to this confidence, Lady Fayth continued. “Our circumstances were desperate, and worse. Poor Cosimo and my dear Uncle Henry were already dead-there was nothing whatever to be done for them-and we were slowly dying of thirst. When the Black Earl condescended to see us, he arrived bearing an offer of survival. Gramercy, I seized the opportunity forthwith, lest it prove a chimera.” She pressed Wilhelmina’s hand earnestly, willing her to accept the truth of what she was saying. “There was no time to explain, I was compelled to act at once.” She frowned, remembering that awful day. “Kit and Giles were no use-all full of affronted bravado and doomed honour-they were no use at all.”

“That much I do believe,” allowed Wilhelmina. “But why did Burleigh choose you? Why you and not Kit?”

“We had a glancing acquaintance,” replied Haven, and then went on to explain how she had met the earl previously when he had come looking for Sir Henry at Clarivaux. “It fell out that my father invited him to supper, and I dined with them.” She paused, her expression pleading. “In clearest hindsight, I see that he was seeking to draw my uncle into his nefarious schemes, but there was no hint of it then. Quite the contrary, indeed.”

“So, Burleigh shows up in Egypt and makes you an offer you cannot refuse, is that it?”

“But you do see, do you not?” replied Lady Fayth, as if obstinacy alone could persuade. “There was simply no point in all of us dying in that tomb. By remaining alive, I perceived that I might return to rescue the others. That, I most heartily assure you, was my sole hope and most fervent intent.”

“You meant to come back and free them?” said Wilhelmina dubiously. They were sitting in the Grand Imperial at a table in the rear of the house. It was the middle of the afternoon, the slow time of day; the serving staff were waiting on the few patrons, and Etzel was napping upstairs.

“It was my plan to return to the tomb as soon as I could slip away from the Black Earl’s knavish clutches.”

“Then why didn’t you? Why did you wait so long?”

“Burleigh’s men,” answered Haven readily. “The day after we left the tomb, His Lordship’s hired ruffians arrived in Karnak with the report that the two young gentlemen had died. The disease of the desert tomb had taken its dreadful toll, they said. I was devastated. .. inconsolable, of course.”

“Of course.”

“To be sure, I knew nothing else until I saw Kit sitting in this very coffeehouse not two evenings ago.” She gazed across the table at Wilhelmina, suitably contrite and forthright. “What is more, I can vouchsafe that Lord Burleigh was ignorant of any other outcome until he was apprised of their presence by his hirelings.”

Wilhelmina considered this. It was all plausible, and it fit with most of what she already knew. She was inclined to accept that, however self-serving, Lady Fayth was telling the truth-at least insofar as Kit and Giles were concerned. About her involvement with Burleigh, Mina still had doubts about the young woman’s sincerity.

“The Black Earl was not best pleased with his minions,” Haven continued. “They have been consigned to outer darkness with much weeping and gnashing of teeth-until such time as they can redeem themselves in His Lordship’s sight.”

“Then I suppose we all owe you a debt of gratitude, my lady,” ventured Wilhelmina.

“Pray, not so!” she objected. “Kit lost and poor Giles wounded-that is hardly a result worthy of commendation or merit.”

“It could have been much, much worse,” Wilhelmina conceded. “Thanks to your timely warning, they were able to get away. As to that,” she continued, “what was that package you gave Kit just before he fled the coffeehouse?”

“Package?”

“That little parcel…” Mina described a small square with her fingers. “What was that?”

“It was a book.”

“A book? That’s all?”

“Oh, not just any book, mind you,” Haven said, then lowered her voice. “It was the green book -that is to say, Uncle Henry’s private journal of his investigations into ley leaping.”

“By ley leaping, you mean-”

Haven nodded. “I believe you know well enough what I mean.”

“Do I?”

“Do you not?”

“I do.”

“I knew it!”

Lady Fayth took a sip of coffee and resumed her confession. “The Black Earl knows about the green book. He has read it, in fact…” She allowed herself a sly smile. “That is to say, he has read the portions I permitted him to read. Certain pages of Sir Henry’s book I thought best to keep to myself.” She finished her coffee and pushed her cup aside. “Do you have any idea where Kit has gone?”

“Across the river,” Mina hedged. “That’s what they’re saying. No doubt he’ll turn up again once Burleigh has gone.”

“Yes, well, we must hope and pray he remains out of sight. I do not expect the Black Earl will allow him to escape a third time.”

“It must have been a sight. What will Burleigh do now?”

“Resume his search for the map,” replied Haven. “What else can he do? It is clear that neither Cosimo nor Uncle Henry possessed the map; it was not passed on to Kit. So Cosimo’s portion remains to be found.”

The young woman stood and brushed her hands down the front of her dress. “I must go. His Lordship will be wondering what has become of me.” She smiled nicely. “Thank you for the coffee, and for your confidence. The knowledge that I have a secret ally in this fight-and mark you it is a most desperate fight-renews my faith and courage.” She took Wilhelmina’s hand. “May I call you my friend?”

Wilhelmina was taken aback by the question. “Of course.”

“Good. I like that. I have no other friend in which to confide,” she said. Then, still gripping Wilhelmina’s hand, added, “The burden of the quest is ours now. It falls to us to see it through-for better or worse.”

Lady Fayth took her leave, and Wilhelmina saw her to the coffeehouse door. “For better or worse,” echoed Wilhelmina, watching as her new ally sailed into the great market square. “We’re in it up to our eyeballs, girlfriend. Be true to me, and I will love you like a sister,” she said under her breath. “Betray me, and you will wish you’d never been born.”