“I just need a little more time.”
“Five years of your life ought to be enough.”
She had accomplished a great deal in five years, but she chose not to say it.
Francois took her chin in his hand and leaned close. “You are keeping something from me, aren’t you?”
She met his gaze without blinking. It was difficult to keep anything from her twin, but she was determined not to tell him about going down the hidden passageway and finding the witches’ cabal. Jamie had goaded her into telling him most of it, and that had caused her enough grief. She did not need a second scathing lecture.
The fact that she had come away from the adventure unharmed would not appease Francois any more than it had Jamie. She needed Francois’s help with her plans. If he knew about this, he would be even less inclined to give it.
“You cannot keep a secret from me, so why attempt it?” Francois said. “Besides, I know the absolute worst about you, and I still love you. The best outweighs the worst by a thousand times.”
“I have nothing to tell.”
“Come,” he said, giving her his most charming smile, “confess to your brother.”
“Perhaps I will, if you will tell me about the woman who kept you from home the past three days.”
Francois gave her his cat’s smile. “A man must keep some secrets from his sister.”
She gave him a matching smile.And vice versa, brother dear.
Jamie was whistling to himself as he walked up the Strand to Linnet’s house when someone grabbed his arm from behind.
“Francois.” Jamie dropped the point of his dagger from the base of Francois’s throat and sheathed the blade. “Surprising a man like that could get you killed.”
Francois, to his credit, had not blinked an eye.
“All this about you having no serious intentions toward my sister is a lie, is it not?” Francois asked, his eyes drilling holes through Jamie.
Jamie was a brother, too, so he respected Francois’s right to ask the question. More, he felt a surge of sympathy for Francois’s having a sister like Linnet to keep watch over. Three of his sisters put together would never be as much trouble.
“I mean to make her my wife,” Jamie said. “You won’t tell her, will you?”
“Not a word, my friend,” Francois said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Not a word.”
“We need to talk,” Jamie said. “Let us find a public house where we can have a cup of ale.”
“You want me to give you advice on how to get around my hardheaded sister?” Francois said with a grin.
“Aye, and I need to tell you what happened to Linnet at Westminster three days ago.”
They turned down a narrow side street and stepped into the first tavern they found. It was dark and small, with rushes over a dirt floor and two unkempt customers asleep in the back corner. After getting their cups of ale, Jamie and Francois sat at a table next to the door where the air was not so sour.
“This could happen to no one else,” Francois said after Jamie told him about the witches’ cabal. Then he cursed in three languages Jamie could identify and one or two he could not.
Francois tilted his head back and emptied his cup, then signaled to the tavernkeeper. After the man refilled their cups, he raised his to Jamie.
“I love my sister with all my heart, but I pray to God she may become your trial soon.”
“I hope so,” Jamie said and clanked his cup against Francois’s. “You’re her twin. You understand her best. Am I right to deceive her as to my intentions?”
“For certain,” Francois said with an emphatic nod. “Linnet is as stubborn as the day is long. She won’t be pushed. You’ve a much better chance if she believes it is her idea.”
“So, we shall make a pact, then, behind her back,” Jamie said, raising his cup again.
Francois laughed as he touched his cup to Jamie’s. “How she would hate it, but ’tis for her own good.”
