Murder At Greenwich Palace (Shadow Cutpurses Tudor Thrillers Book 1) by Adele Jordan

Author:Adele Jordan [Jordan, Adele]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2024-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

“Gwynnie, curb your tongue.”

“Ma!” Gwynnie stepped into the room to look around the small space. On every surface, something glittered. The jewels she had planted on Renard were now back in their chamber. There was a gold pendant on Gwynnie’s pillow, with a rich blue stone in the middle of an ornate cross, and pearls at either end of the struts. A hat pin had been stuck directly into the pillow, the ruby gleaming in the sunlight that shone through the window. The gold filigree around the ruby was shaped into a fleur-de-lis. Other jewels were laid out on the windowsill, where the tallow candle stood. “Would you look at what he has done?”

“I have eyes.” Emlyn went to close the door, but Gwynnie grabbed it and bent down to examine the lock.

Whoever had picked the lock to get into the room — presumably Renard himself or another man in Fitzroy’s employ — had not done as good a job as Gwynnie would have done. There were scratch marks around the lock in the wood, where they had repeatedly slipped with their choice of tool.

“What is his aim?” Emlyn strode across the room and reached for the stone sill, beneath which the other jewels were hidden. She tapped the stones, which were fortunately still in place.

“We know his aim!” Gwynnie snapped, closing the door and firmly jamming it in the frame. “He intends to make us look guilty. You were right, Ma. I am more valuable to him alive, so he can frame me —”

“Quiet!”

“I will not be quiet!”

“Look out of the window!” Emlyn grabbed Gwynnie’s shoulders and turned her around to face the window. Through the glass, Gwynnie could see two figures walking across the courtyard.

One was Pascal, speaking hurriedly and waving his hands. The other was Tombstone, shaking his head.

“They are coming this way,” Gwynnie murmured. “Well, just as Renard managed to make the jewels disappear, so can we.”

They each reached for the various jewels, gathering them together as quickly as they could. Emlyn reached for the stone slab, her hands fumbling, shifting it to the side. Gwynnie didn’t bother to bind the jewels neatly in linen this time. She just dropped them into the gap as quickly as she could. Collecting the jewels from the pillow, she turned to drop them in too, but suddenly found the ruby-studded hat pin missing from her grasp.

“What is it?” Emlyn asked as Gwynnie turned on the spot.

“I think I dropped one.”

Footsteps outside their chamber revealed they had no more time. Quietly, they replaced the stone in the windowsill. Gwynnie threw herself back on the bed, instantly regretting it for her bruised back complained at the sudden movement. Emlyn moved to their looking glass, adjusting what curls of her hair hung down from her coif, framing her face.

A sharp knock at the door made them both halt. They exchanged a look and Gwynnie nodded curtly. It would hardly be the first time they were searched with suspicion hanging over their heads.

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