Jack did not agree. Whether from chivalry or from wanting to make up for his earlier comments to Daniel about me, he swung himself with hands still bound together from the saddle, landing lightly on his feet. ‘Let Eva ride my horse. It is a fair walk back, and she will tire.’
He held his wrists expectantly to Daniel, who reached once more for his dagger and with one swipe sliced the ropes.
The tension that had been between the brothers when I’d overheard them in the stables was still there, and Jack avoided Daniel’s eyes and called to me instead. ‘Come Eva, let me help you to the saddle.’
But when I drew near the horse the hands that took my waist and lifted me were Daniel’s, sure and strong. He sat me sideways, which was terribly uncomfortable and hard on my one hip, but I held on as best I could and tried to look the part while Daniel took the horse’s bridle in his hand again and started walking.
To the merchant he said, ‘Where would you be bound, sir?’
‘For Lostwithiel.’ He explained he would be there by now except the theft had made him break his journey at St Non’s to sell some of his wares to have the means to live by. While the merchant told his story I saw Daniel slide a sideways glance accusingly at Jack, who kept his own gaze fixed with studied nonchalance upon the road ahead.
‘Fortunately,’ said the merchant, finishing his tale, ‘the landlord of the Cross & Oak is, like yourself, a man of understanding and compassion. He let me have my room for no more than my promise I would pay him, and now thanks to you I can make good upon that promise.’
He patted the bulge of the purse in his waistcoat again while the constable sent him an unimpressed look.
‘You’d do well to take care where you travel,’ the constable warned. ‘These are dangerous times here in Cornwall.’
‘Dangerous times all over, sir,’ was the merchant’s reply. With a nod of agreement he said, ‘Everywhere the countryside is verging on unrest, and every town is plagued with troubles. I’ve heard little these past months that does not touch upon the young Pretender’s plans for an invasion.’
The constable asked him, in a calculated tone, ‘And what do you perceive to be the people’s mood when they do speak of it?’
The merchant shrugged. ‘’Tis none of my affair, sir, for I’m neither Whig nor Tory and I take no part of politics.’
‘There are some here who take too great a part in it,’ the constable remarked, his eyes on Daniel.
Daniel didn’t bother looking round. He said, ‘There are some I can think of who would rather have a king who was not only born in England but can speak the English tongue.’
The constable’s eyes narrowed. ‘Such talk comes close to treason.’
‘Does it?’
‘Ay, and with your kinsman up before the Lords for just such an offence, I should be watching what I said if I were you.’
The merchant looked from one man to the other, settling on Daniel with surprise. ‘Your kinsman? Do you mean to say you are related to His Grace the Duke of Ormonde?’
Daniel nodded. ‘Distantly.’
That impressed the merchant. ‘A great man, the Duke of Ormonde. Very truly a great man, and I know several who did serve in his campaigns upon the Continent who feel the same. He brought us peace.’
Again a sound of rough amusement from the constable. ‘A peace that served his own needs more than ours. More than Queen Anne’s. He should be vilified, not honoured.’
‘With respect,’ the merchant said, ‘those accusations—’
‘—come from men of higher station than yourself and I,’ the constable reminded him. ‘From men who better stand to know the truth.’
Beside me, Daniel turned his head. ‘And has the truth become the property of those who can afford it?’
The dark eyes of the constable held Daniel’s with a challenge. ‘Do you think yourself an equal to the House of Lords?’
‘The House together? No, of course not. Man by man? That would depend,’ said Daniel evenly, ‘upon the lord.’
The constable smiled, but it wasn’t a smile of amusement. ‘Perhaps you’ll have the chance to test yourself against them sooner than you think.’
The merchant took that as a joke and laughed. ‘I see that we shall have a lively dinner conversation, sirs. ’Tis sure I do look forward to it.’
Still wearing that reptilian smile, the constable said, ‘Let us hope O’Cleary’s skills will stretch to feeding all of us.’
I caught the edge of Daniel’s own smile as he looked away again. ‘I shouldn’t worry,’ he replied. ‘When I left Fergal he was cooking food that would fair satisfy a sailor.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I would have paid a lot to see the constable eat salt beef, but I didn’t have the chance to. When we reached Trelowarth Daniel passed me solemnly to Fergal who in his turn made a show of fuss about my health and took me upstairs to my room, supposedly to rest.
He closed the door behind us quietly. ‘Never mind, I’ve had the story from the men who came before, but in your own words tell me what you saw and what was said.’
I told him, speaking low so we would not be overheard, and Fergal nodded once or twice and cursed Jack Butler’s rashness in that half-forgiving way reserved for family members who bring trouble in their wake. ‘You lock the door and stay in here until myself or Danny comes to fetch you.’ Giving my shoulder a pat of reassurance, he went out and waited briefly in the corridor until he’d heard me lock the door behind him.