Read Online The Loyal Heart by Merry Farmer - Free Book Online

back to the hallway and searching for any sign of him. He was nowhere. She hadn’t even heard him leave. She pursed her lips with a frown and wondered where he could have gone.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    “Careful, you idiots, careful!” Buxton snapped at the guards who carried the Madonna and Child down the aisle in Derby Castle’s chapel. Crispin walked ahead of them, taking short backwards steps and glancing over his shoulder now and then as he lined them up with the pedestal that had been built to stand behind the altar. The altar itself had been shoved to the side, its brittle copy of the Bible falling off the far end. “I paid much too much to have that thing stolen and I’ll not have you louts dropping it!” Buxton walked behind the odd procession, hands on hips.
    “Mind the crack,” Crispin muttered, his patience for the process at an end.
    He looked over his shoulder as they reached the pedestal and turned back just in time to see one of the guards catch his foot in the crack made by the heavy altar. Eyes wide, he reached out his long arms as the Madonna fell towards him. He caught her shoulders and was wedged against the pedestal as the two guards fumbled their grip on her base. There was a loud chink and clunk. He grimaced at the weight pinning him but ignored the sound.
    “My lord.” His voice strained as the air was crushed from his lungs. “A little help?”
    Buxton strode around the guards to stand parallel to Crispin and his burden. “Oh, I don’t know.” He tilted his head to the same angle as the statue. “You look like you’re doing a fine job. Carry on, Crispy!”
    Crispin’s scowl was hidden by a grimace of pain as sweat broke out on his forehead. “Bring the base this way,” he ordered the guards and tried not to grunt as the full weight of the Madonna scraped up over his chest and hit his long nose. He steadied the statue as best he could, hearing the clunk again when it was vertical, and took a deep breath as it settled in place. He stepped away from the altar, dabbed his bleeding nose on the back of his sleeve, sniffed, and stopped dead.
    Aubrey had entered the chapel and leaned against the wall by the door. Her blue-green eyes sparkled with mirth and her pert mouth was curved in a grin. He pretended to ignore her, heart pounding, as he strode to Buxton’s side.
    “There, you see?” Buxton slapped him on the back, causing waves of pain to radiate across his bruised ribs. Buxton leaned in closer and glowered at the statue while saying, “Never trust a woman.”
    Crispin paled and willed Buxton not to turn and see Aubrey. He leaned forward to check the base of the statue for damage, drawing Buxton’s eyes with him. Buxton’s words meant more than he wanted them to. He hadn’t been able to shake the memory of Aubrey’s behavior the day Ethan escaped. The guards in the dungeon had reported that a woman had been involved, though they were tight-lipped about what that involvement was as they nursed their bruises.
    He frowned as he made a half-circle around the Madonna, stealing a glance at Aubrey while Buxton was directing the guards to move the altar back into place. She smiled at him and waved. He sent her a warning frown. Never trust a woman .
    “Stop fussing, Crispy, will you?” Buxton interrupted his thoughts. “We’ve got better things to do. We need to do something to really drive the point of Prince John’s generous gift home.” He stepped closer and hooked a hand over Crispin’s shoulder. Crispin lowered his eyes to stare at the fingers that dug into him. “Something public … but not too flashy. Something that will draw a lot of attention but … but will have an exclusive feel. We want rumors of grandeur without having to actually pay for it.” He ended by tickling his hand down Crispin’s back and turning to step off the chancel. When he saw Aubrey his cheerful grin burst into a sour sneer. “Oh what now?”
    Aubrey shrugged as she stepped away from the