Andressa was having difficulty focusing on his question because his hand, so big and warm, was holding on to hers. Her heart was beating firmly against her rib cage, thrilled by his touch.
“Then the king, the bishop, and the Mother Abbess will retire to her private solar for the feast,” she said. “It will only be for special guests, this feast. The Mother Abbess has never opened the feast to all those at St. Blitha, so they will dine in her solar.”
“Maxton,” William said. He’d been listening to everything and a thought had just occurred to him. “How do you intend to catch the nuns in the act? As it is, they are guiltless women until you can prove they tried to poison the king. How do you intend to do that?”
It was an excellent question and everyone looked to Maxton for the answer. He glanced up at his friends, seeing their curiosity, before finally looking at William.
“Simple,” he said. “You will be attending this mass, will you not?”
William nodded. “Much like the de Lohr brothers and Gart, the king knows me on sight, also. I will be attending the mass along with them.”
“And I will assume you will be attending the feast.”
“I’ve not been invited, but I’m sure I can find my way to the table.”
Maxton released Andressa’s hand and stood up, facing William. “Then that final step will be up to you,” he said. “It is you who will ask the Mother Abbess to drink from the king’s wine. If she refuses, it will be because she does not want to drink poisoned wine. She will be the only one, along with her cohorts, who know it is poisoned and when she refuses to drink it, you will ask her why. Press her. As far as I am concerned, a refusal is as good as a confession.”
William liked that answer. In the end, he would be the one arresting the king’s assassins and look like a hero. Anything that brought him glory in the end was well received.
“Excellent,” he said. “And Lothar shall know it is I who foiled his plot.Perfect. And you will be nearby to arrest the other nuns?”
“When Andressa points them out, we will move on them as soon as you move on the Mother Abbess.”
“Wait,” Andressa spoke up before they became too excited over the idea that the nuns wouldn’t resist their arrest. “The Mother Abbess has a staff that she carries with her, always. As I told Maxton, it has a blade at the end of it, a very big blade, and she is not afraid to use it. You must treat her as you would treat any other killer– she would show no hesitation in using her blade against you.”
William smiled faintly at her concern. “My lady, I have been a knight longer than you have been alive,” he said. “I believe I candefend myself against your Mother Abbess. Besides, Sean and Kevin and Cullen will be in the solar with me because they will be accompanying the king. They can assist me in apprehending the Mother Abbess. But where will her minions be?”
Andressa shook her head. “That is something I do not know,” she said honestly. “I will have to locate them and point them out to your men. Last year, they joined the Mother Abbess for the feast, but the year before, they did not. Therefore, I do not know if they plan to join the feast this year.”
William considered that. “Then we must have eyes on them at all times,” he said. “But let me make this clear, young woman– you are to have no involvement in apprehending these women. I am perfectly happy to use you as a spy, but not as a martyr. You will go about your duties as usual. You will help my men identify the nuns involved in this plot, and nothing more. Is that clear?”
Andressa nodded solemnly. “It is, my lord,” she said. “And I am grateful.”
William grinned at her. “You are doing quite enough, and it is we who are grateful,” he said. “In fact, I told Maxton that you would be rewarded when this is all over. Has he told you that?”
Andressa shook her head. “Nay, my lord,” she said, looking to Maxton in surprise. “A reward?”
Maxton could see that she was puzzled by the thought. He ended up crouching down beside her again. “You are helping us save the country,” he said softly. “Without you, we would still be fumbling around in the dark, trying to figure this all out. Don’t you understand? You have made everything possible and you deserve as great a reward as we can give you.”
A reward. Andressa had never even considered such a thing and, even now, she simply couldn’t comprehend what he was saying.
“I…I do not even know what I would ask for,” she said. “I do not do this to be rewarded.”
Maxton smiled. “That is why we are eager to reward you,” he said. “You are doing this because it is the right thing to do, not because you will gain something from it. Is there anything you can think of? Anything at all.”
She considered his question very carefully. “Would… would a new pair of shoes be too much?”
William chuckled and Maxton did, too, at her sweet and simple request. “You would not want something more?” he asked. “Say the word and I shall ride to Chalford Hill Castle, remove your aunt, and restore your inheritance. The Marshal shall supply the army and no man, or woman, can stand against it.”
Her eyes widened. “You… you would do that?”
“Aye, I would do that. For what you have done, every man in this room would do that.”
She stared at him a moment longer before tears began to fill her eyes. “It is too much,” she whispered. “That is far too much to ask.”
“Nonsense,” William said firmly. “If that is what you wish, consider it done. When the Mother Abbess has been arrested, you will have seen your last day at that abbey. Won’t she, Maxton?”
Maxton had a smile playing on his lips. “I would say so,” he replied, feeling the least bit self-conscious because he suspected what most in the room were thinking– there was more than simple chivalry involved in his declaration. “The day after the feast, I will muster an army and ride to Gloucester. Your aunt will be arrested for stealing your inheritance and you may assume your rightful place as the heiress to the Culverhay fortune.”
