“Who?”
“Me.”
Ophelia suddenly appeared behind the gate guard. With her wrapped in a heavy cloak against the damp night air, all he could see was her face. That angelic face. Startled, he stood aside and indicated for her to enter.
“Please,” he said. “Come in.”
She swept in as Creston continued to stand in the doorway, realizing there was no one accompanying her. “Are you alone?” he asked, surprised.
“Aye,” she said. “Tell your guard that if anyone comes looking for me, he has not seen me. Please. It is important.”
The guard heard her. With a nod of understanding, he headed back for the gatehouse as Creston stood there with the door still open. He wasn’t at all comfortable having her in his home without a chaperone.
“Why are you alone?” he asked. “You know that you should not be here without an escort.”
She nodded her head. “I know,” she said. “But I cannot have my grandfather or mother hear what I am about to tell you. Please, Sir Creston. It is very important.”
Be on your guard, Cres.
That was the advice from Ming Tang.
He fully intended to take it, now more than ever.
“I do not understand,” he said. “How did you come here without your mother or grandfather knowing?”
Ophelia had a sense of urgency about her. “Because I waited until they were asleep and climbed from the window,” she said. “But I share a chamber with my mother, so if she awakens and finds me missing, she will come straight to you. We must hurry.”
“I think you need to leave.”
There was panic in her expression. “Nay,” she begged softly. “Please. This will only take a minute, but what I tell you will change the course of your life, I swear it.”
She seemed sincere, but he was very hesitant. If this was another situation that had been manipulated by her grandfather, he wanted no part of it. Perhaps the old man wanted for her to be discovered, alone, with her betrothed. He could impose all sorts of demands on him and on Royston for compromising the lady before they were married. He hated to be so suspicious, but Ming Tang and Cruz had him thinking of self-protection.
He left the entry door open.
“Very well,” he said. “Why are you here?”
“I have come with a message and a request.”
“Who is the message from? And who is the request from?”
“Both from me,” she said. “Sir Creston, I simply cannot let my grandfather do this to you.”
“Do what to me?”
Ophelia took a deep breath, and he could see that she was blinking back tears. “First, may I ask a question?” she said.
“I told you that you do not need my permission. What is it?”
“Is there a nunnery nearby?”
He wasn’t sure why she was asking. “There are a couple,” he said. “St. Katherine’s is about a day’s ride to the east. Why do you ask?”
“Because I would like to know if you will take me there,” she said. “I cannot marry you.”
He didn’t say anything. Either she was being completely honest, or she was a master at her craft. He wasn’t sure which. Even if he hadn’t had the conversation earlier with Ming Tang and Cruz, he still would have been guarded in this situation. Creston had made it his life’s work to study, and combat, psychological torture and other things involving coercion and manipulation, so he had learned to be cautious in any critical situation.
Like this one.
