Colin had been willing to risk his life for her. He had retrieved her bracelet from the well, and she could do this one small favor for him. She could spy on Lord Claybrook to find out if he truly did have some dastardly plan.
Pretending to be interested in his stories was difficult, except when he mentioned her father, Duke Wilhelm. But her father had not been able to journey back to Hagenheim, as he was investigating reports of bandits attacking merchants along the north road to Hagenheim.
After describing his uncle’s castle and holdings west of Hagenheim, Claybrook leaned closer to her. “You would look lovely presiding over the Great Hall at Keiterhafen Castle with me.”
Margaretha raised her eyebrows, trying to look innocent and interested. “Has my father consented to our betrothal?”
A smile crept over his face. “No, but I think he will. If you wish it, that is.”
She couldn’t argue with that. If she wished to marry Lord Claybrook, her father would consent. And now she shivered at how close she had come to marrying this man. She had been thinking that she could stay near her family, and that Lord Claybrook had seemed like a kind person. If Colin had not warned her, would she have become his wife?
After the meal, Lord Claybrook addressed Margaretha’s mother. “I am tired from my long journey. If you do not object, I would like to retire to my chamber.”
“Of course. I pray you have a good night’s rest.” Her mother smiled at him.
“Gute Nacht,” Margaretha said.
“Gute Nacht,” he replied.
A few moments after he left, Margaretha told her mother, “I need to go to the garderobe.”
“Yes, Liebling.”
Margaretha entered the corridor, lit by torches in the wall sconces, and instead of turning right to go to the garderobe that she and her sisters used, she took off her slippers so her footsteps wouldn’t make any noise and turned left, hoping to follow Lord Claybrook.
Hearing someone inside the men’s garderobe, she hid herself around the bend in the wall and waited. When the person came out, she moved forward and caught a glimpse of Lord Claybrook’s back as he walked down the corridor toward the chamber where he slept.
Someone was coming toward her from behind. She was passing her younger brothers’ chamber, and she opened the door and slipped inside, leaving the door open a crack. She held her breath, waiting for the person to pass by. When he did, she saw it was one of Lord Claybrook’s guards.
He knocked on Claybrook’s door, which quickly opened. Margaretha crept out of her brothers’ chamber and tip-toed closer. She pressed her body against the wall in a particularly dark nook and listened.
“Tell Reginald I’ll speak with him an hour after sunrise in the apple orchard.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Margaretha hurried back to her brothers’ chamber and hid inside until the guard walked past. When his footsteps had faded, she darted out and hurried back to her own chamber on the other side of the castle.
Her heart was still pounding sickeningly against her ribs as she sank down on her bed. “I can hardly wait to tell Colin,” she whispered, “that I spied and eavesdropped on Lord Claybrook.” Her heart soared and she giggled.
Tomorrow morning she would be in the apple orchard, out of sight and perched high in the branches of her favorite climbing tree. She would find out what Claybrook could have to say to the captain of his guard in the apple orchard so early in the morning. Thus she would return Colin’s favor — and perhaps discover the truth about whether Lord Claybrook was a murderer.
Margaretha was awake and dressed before dawn. The only other people who were up were some of the servants — the cooks and kitchen maids and some of the guards. Margaretha moved quietly out the door, trying not to wake her sisters, who slept in the same chamber.
The dew on the grass wet her hem as she walked, and the air felt heavy in the dim gray light of morning. The birds seemed to sing quietly, as though afraid to wake the babies in their nests.
Margaretha wrapped her arms around herself against the chill air. Once in the orchard at the bottom of the small hill, she picked the tree that she had often climbed as a child. Soon she was sitting in the crook of a branch, halfway up, hidden by new leaves. She leaned back against the trunk, holding on to another branch, and settled in to wait.
She had rearranged herself several times on her uncomfortable perch before she finally heard someone coming. Peeking through the leaves, she saw Lord Claybrook’s guard captain entering the grove of apple trees and coming to stand almost directly below her. A few minutes later, Lord Claybrook himself came to stand under her tree. Little of them was visible besides the tops of their heads.
Her heart thumped hard against her chest as she tried not to move, not to even breathe too loudly. She must hear what they would say.
Lord Claybrook’s low voice said, “We need to act fast, before Duke Wilhelm and his son get back.”
Margaretha’s breath caught in her throat. What did he mean?
“My uncle’s guards should arrive late tonight.”