Her heart swelled at those words. She tried not to read too much into them, but it was hard. “Do you think that is what Mr. Jones wishes to do?”
“I don’t know, honestly. I wish I did. But we’ll make sure he can’t harm you at least. Or steal your papers to show as proof, if that is his plan.”
She dragged in a heavy breath. “Now I am very glad you invited us to stay at Longmead.”
“I am, too.” Taking her hand in his, he squeezed it hard before releasing it. “Veryglad.”
Once Heath had paid the ostler, they sent James off in the park drag and waited a while before they, too, left. Fortunately, their pursuer was nowhere to be seen once they reached the road to Bath. Still, they were all pretty grim until they had turned off on the road to Longmead.
When they stopped about an hour later so the boys could relieve themselves, Heath conferred with Tom and reported back to her that Tom had not seen anyone following them. That was quite reassuring.
This time, Kit and Evan decided to get in with the rest of them. They had apparently discovered that a cramped carriage was preferable to bugs and dust and the like.
As they rumbled down the road, Zack, who’d been chattering for a while about this and that to Maman in his very bad French, suddenly grew quiet.
He glued himself to the window, as if watching for his home, and stayed still for a while, quite a feat for the eleven-year-old. When he finally broke his silence, it was to say, in a fractured voice, “I miss Mother.”
Heath got a tortured expression on his face that made her want to leap across the carriage and soothe his hurt. Then he put his arm about Zack’s shoulders and squeezed. “I miss her, too, lad.”
“Yes, but you didn’t even come home after she died,” Zack said petulantly.
“I couldn’t,” Heath said. “The French wouldn’t let me. You know that. And I tried, believe me.”
Evan perked up. “What do you mean, you tried?”
When Heath looked bewildered, Giselle said, “He probably does not know about your attempt to escape with your friends.”
“You tried to escape?” Kit cried.
“Did you fight the French?” Zack asked excitedly.
“What happened?” Evan demanded. “Were you caught?”
Scowling, Heath crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes, we were caught. Someone told our captors about our plans before we could actually get away. So, after we broke out of the Citadel, the gendarmes surrounded our hiding place before we could get even a mile away from Verdun.”
“Who told?” Evan asked, clearly outraged.
“We never learned,” Heath said.
“Is it the ‘scoundrel’ trying to follow Miss Bernard?” Kit asked.
“Possibly.”
“We should find him and shoot him!” Zack cried.
Heath clearly fought a smile. “Do you even know how to shoot, lad?”
“He doesn’t, but I do,” Kit said hotly.
“No one should shoot anyone,” Giselle said disapprovingly. “I thought that in England the rule of law prevailed.”
That made the boys scowl at her. Then they returned their attention to their brother.
“How did you escape the Citadel?” Kit asked. “Did you fight your way out?”
“Hardly,” Heath said with a shake of his head. “Escapes must be done by stealth, lads, or the armed gendarmerie would have surrounded us at once and cut us down.”
“Or shot you,” Giselle said, with her heart in her throat. She had not heard this part of how they’d escaped. She was not sure she wanted to hear.