Chapter 486 What the Town Knew

Chapter 485: What the Town Knew

It did not take long after that for the meeting to conclude, for the chief matters had already been assigned to those who would oversee them.

Once the meeting had ended, Ursula, Jim, and Baldwin retired to Baldwin’s home. They made their way to his bedchamber, for below stairs the townspeople slept—those whose own houses had been destroyed by the storm, and who had nowhere else to go. Baldwin closed the door carefully behind them, and the three of them stood in the dim light of a single candle, their voices kept low.

"I don’t like this," Ursula said at once, her arms folded tightly across her chest. "I don’t like it one bit."

Baldwin lowered himself into a rocking chair in the corner of the room, the old wood creaking beneath his weight.

"What about it don’t ye like?" he asked, his voice that same husky whisper.

"All of it," Ursula replied. "We shouldn’t be trusting them. Nobles is the reason we’re in this state. Nobles is the reason our lives is the way they are now. And now we’re meant to open our doors and welcome them in like they was long-lost kin?"

Jim had moved to the window, where he stood staring out into the darkness. He said nothing.

Baldwin rocked slowly, his eyes half-closed.

"Ye’re right," he said. "The nobles is the reason this town is the way it is. I won’t argue that. But that don’t mean the princess is like every other noble what’s come through this town."

Ursula scoffed.

"Let me say this, then. Just because Her Highness saved a child don’t mean we should all start loving her. For all we know, it were a performance, and she’s got some ulterior motive we ain’t seen yet."

Baldwin sighed, then glanced towards Jim.

"Do ye think the same?" he asked.

Jim did not answer at once. He continued to stare through the window, his reflection faint in the dark glass, before at last he turned away from it.

"After the introductions," he said slowly, "I’m beginning to understand something. About the nobles themselves, I mean."

"What d’ye mean by that?" Ursula asked him.

"Duke Aurelgrave, for instance," Jim said. "There ain’t a soul what don’t know of him. He’s well known for his kindness—even in a small town like ours, we know his name. And there ain’t a soul what don’t know he’s the Queen’s nephew. But from what I’ve seen of the Duke, he behaves nothing like his aunt. And though he looks kind, I’m quite certain he’s ruthless."

He paused, then added:

"Surely ye remember Isaac? The man what came to the town and had us go pick the nobles up when they arrived? Ye’ve not realised he were sent by Duke Aurelgrave?"

Baldwin nodded slowly, for he had pieced that together also.

"Go on," he said to Jim.

"I suspect there’s more than meets the eye where His Grace is concerned," Jim continued. "But the same could be said of Duke Thorncrest."

He drew a breath, and then went on.

"I must be honest with ye both. I dislike Highmoor for what they done to me family."

Everyone in the room knew precisely what Jim meant, for they all bore similar stories.

"The present Duke of Highmoor, though," Jim continued, "ain’t the one what harmed me or mine. And that brings me to another matter. Highmoor is a place what don’t take kindly to outsiders, nor does it go out of its way to embrace them."

"What’re ye getting at?" Ursula asked him.

"Duke Thorncrest is friendly," Jim said. "Too friendly, I must say, for a man from Highmoor."

"Just because Highmoor ain’t usually accepting don’t mean everyone there must be the same," Ursula replied, with a shake of her head.

"I know that," Jim told her. "But there’s something about the Duke I can’t quite place. Like he ain’t who he says he is."

"Are ye saying," Baldwin spoke up, "ye fear the Duke is faking the whole of it?"

"What d’ye think?" Jim asked him. "Ye’re the one what reads people like a book."

Baldwin rocked a moment longer before he answered.

"I think His Grace is himself," he said at length. "But he carries a secret too."

Jim and Ursula stared at him, and Baldwin sighed.

"What I mean by His Grace being himself is that he’s genuine in who he is," Baldwin told them. "Friendly, aye. Welcoming and open, aye. But do I think there’s something more? Aye, I do. And in that respect, the talk of His Grace not being himself... perhaps there’s some claim to it. Though if I’m being honest, we’ve all only had the one conversation with each other. So I can’t say for certain."

He paused, then added, with a tilt of his head, his gaze upon Jim:

"But that ain’t the main trouble, is it?"

"We know I ain’t as perceptive as the two of ye," Ursula said wearily. "So speak to me plain, if ye please. Straight to the point. Who’s Jim got a quarrel with?"

"It ain’t a quarrel, as such," Jim said. "But surely ye’ve both heard of Blackmere?"

Baldwin nodded. "Everyone knows the name. But most ain’t been there. At one time I thought it a myth, for how would a pirate be bestowed a dukedom?"

"That’s true enough, but that ain’t the trouble," Jim said. "Do none of ye recall Marilyn? She said she were going to join some others to escape this town and go there, in hopes of finding us greener pastures. We never heard from her again."

"I don’t recall Marilyn saying she were going to Blackmere," Ursula pointed out.

"It were a last-minute decision," Baldwin said. "She’d planned on somewhere else, but then decided at the last moment to go to Blackmere."

Jim nodded at that.

"Marilyn never did tell me why she wanted to go there. She just up and left. But I do remember she said she’d send word back, especially if she found it favourable. Because after all, the one place what disliked the Crown even more than Gallowshill..."

"...is Blackmere," Ursula completed.

Jim nodded again.

"I must beg yer pardon, both of ye," he said quietly. "But if there’s any way to know more about me..."

He paused and swallowed thickly before speaking again.

"If there’s a way to know about me wife... I’ll do anything to be close to these nobles."

Baldwin and Ursula were silent at his words a while. The truth was, Jim and Marilyn had never spoken their vows to one another, but to the townspeople they had long been counted a married couple.