She nodded and hurried back to the infirmary tent, the bucket of water jostling back and forth at her side.
He smiled, wondering how long it would take her to show up at the forge with the drawing.
18
THERE!ELIZABETH THOUGHTwith satisfaction as she drew the final scroll on the drawing.Nowthatis a sword!
Not for the first time this afternoon, she felt a presence over her shoulder. “Are you done yet?”
She glanced up at a hovering Joanna. “Yes. What do you think?” she asked, handing it to her.
Joanna studied it for a moment before looking back at her in amazement. “It’s spectacular. You think Thom can do this?”
“If he can get the materials.”
Joanna waved off her concern. “I’ll procure whatever he needs.”
“It will be expensive,” Elizabeth warned.
Joanna just gave her a look. Jamie had become a very wealthy man in the past few years. The cost would not be a hardship, although it might be difficult for Jo to explain to her husband why she needed all that coin.
Elizabeth’s mouth twisted. Or maybe it wouldn’t be. Her sweet, uncomplicated, probably never told a lie in her life sister-in-law was proving a rather devious fellow conspirator.
She’d already agreed to cover for Elizabeth later when she went to find Thom at the forge and had even arranged a guard for her from among Jamie’s men—someone who she thought wouldn’t be prone to ask too many questions. The forge was just up the high street from the abbey, but she was taking no chances.
“Thank you again for helping with this, Elizabeth. James will be so surprised.”
Elizabeth couldn’t resist a wry smile. “He will indeed, especially if he learns who made it. I must admit, I’m rather surprised you were able to get Thom to agree to do it.”
“It wasn’t so hard,” Joanna said with a knowing smile. “I think he has cause to want to improve his relationship with James.”
Elizabeth pretended like she didn’t know what Joanna meant and folded the drawing into quarters before tucking it in the purse she wore attached to her girdle.
“Are you ready?” she asked, standing. “I want to return these to Brother Richard before I go.” She held up the quill, ink, and small knife that she used to cut the tip of the quill and make small corrections to the drawing.
They found the young monk in the scriptorium, and after thanking him, they were heading to the stables to meet the guardsman who would accompany Elizabeth to the forge when they saw Izzie and Randolph hurrying toward them.
“There you are!” Izzie said, her relief obvious. “The earl was waiting in the refectory for you when I came in from my walk around the gardens. I’ve been doing my best to keep him entertained, but we decided we better come look for you.”
In other words, her cousin had exhausted pleasantries and had run out of nonirritating things to say to Randolph. Although if Randolph’s expression was any indication, it might be too late.
“You didn’t forget, did you?” Randolph asked her.
Elizabeth looked at him blankly. “Forget?”
“We were supposed to go riding this afternoon. I was going to show you Samson’s Ribs in the park.”
Elizabeth cursed inwardly while pasting a smile on her face. He’d spoken to her about the strange rock formations yesterday. “Of course, I didn’t forget, it’s just that...”
As “I’m sneaking off to see another man” didn’t sound like a great excuse, she tried to think of an alternative explanation.
Joanna came to her rescue. “I’m afraid it’s my fault, my lord. I didn’t realize Elizabeth had other plans when I begged her to help me with an errand. I’m not feeling very well, and you see... well, it’s a private matter, I hope you understand.”
Randolph looked properly discomfited and vaguely panicked that she might try to explain. “Of course. We will do it another day.”
“But you’ve come all this way,” Elizabeth said, suddenly—belatedly—struck with a few pangs of guilt. Pangs that grew in number when she noticed the leather bag he carried, which, from the smell of fresh-baked bread, she suspected was stuffed with food. “Why don’t you take Izzie?”
It was hard to say who looked more horrified.
