I wink at them, then hold my finger to my lips and offer them two copper coins. Their eyes brighten at this unexpected largesse. They snatch the coins from me with red, raw fingers and nod their acceptance of our bargain. Their loyalty thus purchased, I make my way to the door that will lead me to Duval’s secrets.
It opens onto another short hallway between the kitchens and the dining hall. Perfect. I slip into the hallway, hide myself among the shadows, and inch along the wall toward the dining room.
Duval is just returning to his seat. Beast looks up and grimaces. “Catch that wench’s eye and order more wine, will you? She is too awed by my pretty face to heed my call, and Lord Dandy here will not do it.”
“Most likely because she’ll try to follow him back to his bedchamber,” Duval mutters.
Ignoring Duval’s jab, de Lornay leans across the table. “Are you really going to flaunt this girl before the entire court? Your bloodlines are far too well known for such a deception.”
Duval snorts. “I am hoping they will hear cousin and think mistress.”
“They would if it were anyone but you,” de Lornay scoffs. “You may as well be a monk with as few women as you take to your bed.”
Beast tilts his head to the side. "What is truly going on? Politics is your mistress, not some rustic from the country, no matter how charming she may be.”
I blush in the darkness, glad there is no one to see.
“And therein lies the rub,” Duval says. “No one will believe us, as I tried hard to explain to the abbess of St. Mortain.”
My limbs go rigid with shock as he exposes my true identity to the others. He must hold them in even greater regard than I thought. Or my safety in less.
Beast gapes at him. “That girl is from the convent of St. Mortain?”
Duval grimaces into his goblet. “One of Death’s handmaidens, my friend.”
Beast whistles. “Has she been set on you?”
“She says no, as does her abbess. But the girl is about as trusting as the French regent, so I have my doubts.”
Mayhap he is not as foolish as I think.
Duval refills his goblet and recounts the story of how he was ensnared in the reverend mother’s trap. when he is done, Beast throws back his great, ugly head and laughs, frightening the serving maid even more.
Duval stares morosely into the dregs of his cup. “It is not funny.”
“Oh, but it is,” de Lornay says. “The master of more plots than a whore has lovers has been neatly caught in someone else’s.”
Duval waits patiently for his friends’ mirth to pass. In truth, he is handling it much better than I would. I would have clouted them both by now.
“If you’ve quite finished . . .” he says.
“Sorry,” Beast murmurs, wiping his eyes with his massive fist. "What will you do?”
“Lie as convincingly as I can and pray she doesn’t kill someone important.”
This glum reply sets off Beast’s laughter anew until Duval has to reach out and kick him to get him to shut up. “You’re scaring the other patrons,” he mutters. “Now, tell me what news you bring from england, since I was not able to hear it from Runnion.”
“Runnion truly did not reach you? what happened to him?” de Lornay asks.
Duval jerks his head up toward the ceiling and my room.
Beast’s eyes widen. “She happened to Runnion? But I thought the convent served Brittany?”
“It does, or so I believe. But there has been a breakdown in our communications, which is why they’ve saddled me with this green stripling of a novitiate.”
De Lornay leans forward, his face aflush with curiosity. “Have you bedded her yet?”
Beast’s face takes on a rapt look. “They say to lie with a handmaiden of Death is the sweetest end imaginable.”
“They do?” Duval looks momentarily surprised. which is nothing to how I feel at this announcement. No one at the convent has thought to mention this to me.
De Lornay shakes his head. “That is but a rumor,” he says with great authority.
The other two turn to look at him.
He shrugs. “I didn’t realize she was from the convent until the next morning, when the corrupt commander was found dead.”
Although it is small of me, I cannot help but wonder who he has lain with. Sybella? Or one of the older initiates?
"Enough.” Duval holds up his hand. “I would have your news from the english king.”
Beast’s face grows somber. “He would not speak to us himself,” he says.
“Or so his chancellor claimed,” de Lornay adds. "We could never be sure which it was.”
"Either way, official channels were closed to us.”
"What about unofficial channels?”
“Ah, that is where we learned much, and most of it contradictory.” There is a long moment of silence, then Beast speaks. “The english king is considering an offer from the French regent. She will pay him an annual pension if he will not stand in the way of France invading Brittany.”
Duval strikes the table with his fist, making us all jump. "Even after all the aid we gave him in his struggle for the crown?”
Beast nods. "Even after.”
“There is some good news,” de Lornay offers.
“It would have to be very good to counter that,” Duval says.
"Well, for one, the French regent is reluctant to pay the fifty thousand crowns the king is asking for. But more important, the english king let it be known that he would put aside the negotiations and lend us aid if we would give him the four Breton cities the French still hold.”
Duval lifts his goblet and studies it. "Everyone has a price, it seems.” He falls silent a moment, then shakes his head. “I fear the age of kingdoms and duchies is coming to an end. France is eating its way through europe like a beggar at a banquet.” He leans back and fixes his companions with a considering gaze. “The French regent is doing her best to outfox our every attempt to join with our allies. The question is, is she simply being cautious and anticipating our moves? Or does she have specific knowledge of our plans?”
Beast and de Lornay exchange a look. “I thought we were the only ones who knew our plans, outside of the Privy Council.”
"Exactly,” Duval says, "Which is what makes it such a burning question. If someone is feeding our secrets to the French, it is one of Anne’s closest advisors. And now we must wonder if that traitor is the same one who called this estate meeting or if there is a second traitor we must deal with.”