The Final Sacrament by James Forrester

Author:James Forrester [Forrester, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Mystery
ISBN: 9780755388097
Google: AawzAgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 12981254
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2012-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

45

Helen Oudry entered the room and closed the door. She looked at Sarah Cowie, who was waiting there, lying on one of the mattresses. “Is Joan still in the house?”

“She has been in there for over an hour.”

“She had better come back soon. Clarenceux has just come home and he seems to have a curly-haired young man with him, a new stable boy.”

Sarah drew her knees up in front of her. “Christ be told, I am looking forward to the day when we can leave London.” She scratched one of her knees. “All the time I am hungry—hungry and thirsty. I worry about someone finding the body of the woman who owns this house and the constables coming here. I worry about hearing Clarenceux on the stairs when I am in his study trying to read his damned books. I worry about not sleeping and, at the end of it all, being hanged. Or worse, not knowing how my daughters fare—fearing they will be murdered by the countess. Would that I could wipe Father Buckman and her away entirely. It would leave the kingdom a cleaner place.”

“It is not for much longer. The place we wanted near Cecil House is paid for. I have just seen Buckman. He wants you and Joan to move there tomorrow.”

“And you?” Sarah looked up at the woman whom she realized had become a friend through their days together.

“He wants me to remain, to continue spying on Clarenceux. In case he says anything that affects our plan.”

“I’ll miss you,” said Sarah. “Joan is a difficult woman at the best of times. You at least have preserved your humanity.”

“Have I?” said Helen, kneeling down on the mattress. “I look at Joan and see a woman who would cut someone’s throat as readily as tell them what to do, thinking only of her Jenifer. The truth is that I wish I could be like her. It would make me feel so much stronger.”

“You’ll never be like her. She was living the criminal life even before she met the countess. You were caught stealing a sheep; me, three pewter plates, a candlestick, and a salt cellar. Ann, a couple of blankets and a ewer. We three stumbled into crime. She embraced it, willingly.”

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