“Pardon?”
“Manhood.” He sighed. “She was telling the truth. She even described that tattoo on his ankle. I’m sorry, Penelope. Madame LaVoie was Chev’s lover.”
“Madame LaVoie...” The little French widow couldn’t have been Chev’s jailor, could she?
“She says Chev was a traitor, Pen. And she says she has proof. Do you know what that means? You and Thaddeus—the whole family including myself—we’d all be ruined!”
Well, now Thomas’s actions made sense. “How did you meet Madame LaVoie?”
“Anthony introduced us when she came to live with the vicar. And then I found out about the smuggling and I told them both to go to the devil but—”
Penelope grabbed Thomas by his shoulders. “When? When did she come to live with the vicar?”
“December, of course.”
Penelope pushed Thomas away.
What if Madame LaVoie had been Chev’s jailor? What if she’d been waiting for him to return all along?
Penelope stumbled backward.
She’d just told the vicar that the banns were not to be posted. And she’d told Madame LaVoie she should come to the competition because she’d planned a big surprise.
“Dear God.” She took a deep breath. “Thaddeus! Thaddeus!”
Thaddeus’s feet thundered on the stair.
“Where is he?” she asked Thaddeus. “The captain?”
“I don’t know,” Thaddeus replied. “I left him by Ithwick Castle’s ruins. He said he’d return straight away, but he hasn’t.”
Penelope lurched for the door.
“Where are you going?” Thomas caught her.
“I have to find Chev.”
“Penelope!” Thomas shook her. “Have you lost your mind? Chev is dead.”
“He isn’t! Cheverley is alive—and she’s here, which means he’s in danger—just let me go.”
“Ican’tlet you go out there,” Thomas said. “Not tonight.”
“Why not tonight?”
“Because she’s out there waiting for the ship to signal—the smugglers are to deliver the first freed French captain tonight.”
“Listen to me!” She fisted her hands in Thomas’s shirt. “If you aren’t on Anthony’s side, be on mine. Where will she wait for the signal?”
“The tunnels, of course.”
“Show me, show me now.”
Chapter Nineteen
CHEVERLEY OPENED HISeyes to darkness and the damp stench of cave. He was trussed and laying on his side in the dirt. His arms were bound at his back by the elbows. His ankles had been strapped together.
He calmed his rapid heartbeat by deliberately slowing his breath.
