“I was worried about you.” Nicole’s face was full of concern as she looked at Gabriel. Then she turned to Pierre. “So, you went to the church?”
“Not yet, we—”
“Why not?”
Pierre opened her mouth to answer but couldn’t think what to say.
Gabriel helped her pull off her dripping wet jacket as he spoke to Nicole.
“We got delayed in the village,” he said, voice even.
Nicole’s eyes flicked between him and Pierre.
“And I’ve just been defending you to His Lordship,” she said. “He said you were an unreliable hippie, half there and half in outer space.”
Lord M would never say such a thing about her, would he? He was famous for his sharp tongue, but he always spoke his mind to people’s faces, never behind their backs. Nicole’s words, however, touched on Pierre’s worries about her job.
“Lord M asked us to–” Pierre started speaking but Gabriel spoke at the same time.
“It was my fault.” He hadn’t moved, but Pierre felt as though he’d come to stand protectively between her and Nicole. “I asked her to take me with her to see this man.”
Nicole moved closer and brushed a hand down his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me? I was worried, I called and called, but she never answered. I thought something had happened to you.” She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Careful. Don’t get wet,” he said gently as he stepped back and shook the rain out of his jacket before hanging it on the rack by the door.
“Can we talk?” She took his hand.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Just then, as Nicole turned, her eyes landed on Pierre. They were hard and unfriendly, just for an instant before she lifted her face up to Gabriel and the sweet expression was back in place. “It’s important.” Then she whispered something too low for Pierre to hear.
Gabriel nodded. “All right, I’m coming.”
She still held on to his arm and walked with him towards the stairs.
He looked over his shoulder at Pierre. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit.” He said as he went upstairs with Nicole.
Despite the house being warm, Pierre felt colder than ever. She went up to her room and started to strip off her wet clothes. Her phone was in her pocket, and as soon as her cold fingers brushed the screen, it came alive and, sure enough, there had been several missed calls from Nicole. She deleted them then found her contact list and put a call through to Laura.
“Hello you.” Laura’s bright voice came through.
“Where are you?” Pierre went into the bathroom.
“At the Casemates, where else?”
“It’s Sunday.” Pierre turned on the taps to fill the bath. Hot water gushed, foaming up when she added a generous measure of scented soap.
“I have a wedding gown to make, and we don’t have much time.”
“Do you know where I could get a piece of new white silk?”
Laura’s laughter came through as warm and strong as the water steaming up from the large bath. “You can get it from your local friendly wedding dress designer.”
“Really?”
“I have loads of small fabric samples. I’ll bring some home tonight.”
Tonight would be too late. “I’ll come to the Casemates in an hour if you don’t mind. I need it in time to get to the start of the Plough Festival.”
