Read Online Face Down under the Wych Elm by Kathy Lynn Emerson - Free Book Online

end.
    Lady Appleton had said she would do all she could to help prove their innocence, but Constance did not dare hope for much. If Robert's widow had truly meant to come to their aid, she would not have waited so long to act on the request in Constance's letter.

Chapter 11
    Nick Baldwin did not like what he learned during the time Susanna spent with the prisoners. When Susanna and Jennet returned to the house and he heard Constance Crane's story, he made one more attempt to convince them not to meddle.
    "Jennet is right to be concerned,” he told Susanna. “While you were at the gaol, I talked to Richard Emery. He is assistant to John Glascock, clerk of assizes for Kent. There are four women being held on charges of witchcraft, the other two in the common cell since they are not gently born. Emery tells me at least one of the clergymen involved in questioning Constance has been trying to establish some connection among them all."
    "Is there a connection?"
    "If there is, it has not yet been discovered. One woman is from Boughton Monchelsea, the other from Bethersden."
    "Scarce neighbors of Mill Hall."
    "Nor friends, and yet there is a common thread. The widow of Boughton Monchelsea is accused of bewitching to death a child by means of enchantment and potion. The charge against her claims she was incited by the instigation of the devil."
    Susanna fixed on the word potion , as Nick expected she would. “She is a healer?"
    "So it seems. At the least, she administered the wrong cure and her patient died."
    "And the other woman?"
    "She is also known to deal in herbal cures."
    "As is Lucy Milborne."
    "If the justices wish to pursue it, even ‘intent to cure’ is punishable under the current law against witchcraft."
    "Punishable how?"
    "By a year in prison."
    He saw the consternation on her face, but beneath it was the stubbornness that both attracted him and made him fear for her safety. She accepted the risk that she might herself be accused of being a witch.
    "Should a second person afterward be killed or destroyed by charm or witchcraft, or even by a cure improperly administered, the witch is tried as a felon."
    "And hanged."
    "And hanged,” he agreed.
    "I cannot let innocent women die.” Susanna met his gaze, unflinching. “Nine full days remain before the Assizes begin. Time enough to journey to Mill Hall and discover for myself what transpired there."
    Nick was uncertain such a venture would help Constance Crane or her cousin but it would take Susanna way from Maidstone and those witch-hunting clergymen. As much as he'd wanted this time here with her, he suspected the shiretown was not the safest place for her just now. “Very well,” he said. “I will go with you."
    "No, Nick. I need you to stay in Maidstone. Arrange for food and drink and clean clothing to be sent to the prisoners. And bath water. All the female prisoners, not just Constance and Lucy. Also, I wish to know more about this chaplain, Adrian Ridley, sent by Hugo Garrard to help his cousins. Constance feels he has done naught but assist the authorities against them. I would know why."
    "You want me to strike up an acquaintance with this fellow?"
    "Will you?” Her eagerness both charmed him and filled him with dismay.
    Stepping close to her, he took her hands in his, dropping his voice too low for Jennet to hear his words. “I can deny you nothing, but I'd have been happier locking you in the bedchamber we shared last night and keeping you there until the Assizes are over."

Chapter 12
    Wednesday, July 2, 1567
    For Jennet the journey from Maidstone to Mill Hall was pure torture. She disliked travel on horseback in the best of conditions and this route, though it followed the straight course of an old Roman road, was rough, hard, and narrow. Dust rose in huge, choking clouds with every step their mounts took.
    "Better suited for sheep than people,” Lionel agreed in a cheerful voice. He delighted in annoying her, and since she rode on a pillion