Chapter Twenty-Four
Seeing Malcolm bristle, hoping he didn’t go for his weapon, Serena quickly did as she was told.
“Are you a royalist, mademoiselle?” the Imperial soldier demanded.
“On the contrary,” she said, deciding she must lie believably, or she would never see her parents and brothers again. “My grandparents own the Renault winery in Saint-George-sur-Loire. We are well aware of how much our emperor has done for the vintners in Paris.”
After a few seconds, he said, “Very well, you may continue to the docks and enjoy the view.”
Malcolm started to climb back on the wagon.
“No,” the soldier said. “You must leave the wagon here.”
“Whyever for?” Serena asked.
“So you cannot pick up anything or anyone from the ships. For all we know, they’re smuggling in English spies as we speak.”
Glancing at Malcolm, who nodded, she said, “But who will tend our horse, or make sure our wagon doesn’t get stolen?”
They’d intended to leave Malcolm’s horse at the stables next to the dock for some other lucky traveler to purchase upon disembarking from a ship.
“I doubt it will need tending for an hour,” the soldier said. “And that’s all the time we’ll give you before you must return.”
“As for being stolen, we won’t let that happen,” the first soldier added. “We’ll even take a rest in the back to protect it.”
The man who spoke laughed at his own words. The other one watched them silently as Malcolm held out his hand to Serena. They walked away toward the ship and safety.
***
“Non, absolument, non!”Captain Lafère was adamant. “I will not takehim,” he said, gesturing to Malcolm while speaking to Serena.
The captain snapped the letter in his hand for emphasis. “Only you, just as Henri requested. That’s all I have room for anyway, and you had better jump on board quickly, mademoiselle, or I’ll fill up the space.”
“I won’t go without him,” she declared.
“That is up to you.” The man pinned her with a hard stare, and Malcolm knew she wouldn’t win this battle.
His gut told him from the moment they’d encountered the blockade this wasn’t going to work out the way they’d hoped. It would have been too easy, and the good lord knew he didn’t deserve an easy time of it.
“But we have money enough, don’t we?” Serena turned to him.
“We do have money, Captain,” Malcolm agreed, giving it another try even while sensing that wasn’t the issue.
Sure enough, the man shook his head.
“I don’t have the space. I have crates and barrels, and room for one old friend’s granddaughter. That’s all.”
Serena turned to him, a panicky look in her eyes.
