“Again, finding all of the pictures will make that question a moot point,” Lance said.
“It is already moot. I am saying it is. Her brother, now deceased, may not have been ignorant, however.” He described the invasion of her house two times now, and let them read Rebecca’s letter.
“As you can see,” he concluded. “We now have a line that leads to the men who executed the theft. Find them, and we will find the rest of the pictures.”
Silence. Lance and Ives sipped their drinks.
“My plan is simple. First we need to get the girl back. I will leave a letter at the Four Swans to arrange that, and bring the pictures. You two will lay in wait at the inn, and follow whoever comes for the letter back to their lair. Once the girl is safe, we will pay a call on them, and retrieve the rest of the collection.”
Ives set his glass down, rose, and strolled to the window, deep in thought. “Where is the lady now?”
“Right here. In the garden, I think.”
“It is best if we know for certain where she is from now on. It was wise to confine her here.”
“I did not confine her. I brought her here to protect her.”
“Whatever your reasons, the move was prudent.”
Gareth did not care for the expression on Ives’s face. Normally one saw that scowl beneath a white wig in a courtroom when he served as the Crown’s prosecutor.
“He thinks you may have interpreted your evidence incorrectly, Gareth,” Lance said, his gaze also on Ives. “I confess that I wonder too. The lady may not be so innocent. She is at the heart of everything you have told us. Do not pretend you have not seen that.”
“It may appear so at first telling, but her role has been unintentional on all points. You can trust my judgment on that, or you can ride back to London. I do not need to spend my time protecting her from the two of you as well as the others.”
“If the rest of the pictures are not found—”
“Then you are to keep her name out of it entirely, Ives. Let suspicion fall on me, if that is how it must be.”
Ives and Lance exchanged long looks.
Ives did not press the point further. “Let us say we learn where the rest of the art is hidden. Do you think to ride up to the door and ask for it?”
“Why not?”
“We should ignore what that letter said, and bring the magistrate.”
“If we inform him, he will want to bring fifty men with him. Word of that will travel ahead of us, and we may end up with nothing.”
Ives rubbed his brow. “We do not want fifty, but it might be wise to have more than three.” He looked to Lance for agreement.
Lance shrugged. “I’ve five pistols with me. I am expecting immediate surrender if we are well armed.”
Ives sighed. “Let us have the lady join us so she can write the letter.”
***
Gareth found Eva in the garden. She sat on an old bench near the rebuilt section of wall. Her sketchbook lay on her lap, unopened.
“They have arrived?” she asked, not shifting her gaze from where she stared down the garden to a small orchard at its back. Blossoms had formed on the fruit trees. A few more warm days, and there would be a haze of white and pink back there.
“They are waiting in the library. We need you to write the letter to be left at the inn.”
She did not respond, or look at him. He waited.
“Did neither one of them question those copies I made?” she asked.
“No. They know your character as I do.”
