“And it was not like that at all,” I say.

“No. Worse, thinking her uncle still a man of some honor, she swore she would do what she could to help the people of the bay and aid Nicolas in his cause, even if that meant standing against her own uncle. She swore that she would inform her father, and he would help her cause.”

“What did Lord Norrington do?” I ask carefully.

“Took her away. He’s holding her captive in the last place young Dr. Dupuis would ever look for her.”

“Where?”

“On the Temerity.”

30

First, I tell Nicolas that Emily has been taken captive, and that is enough to get us moving quickly out of the house as I relate the rest of the story. The Temerity is wrecked on the far side of Whitby—nearly a ten-mile distance. Can we walk that? Of course. But not as quickly as poor Lord Thomas wants us there.

We cannot risk the time or the exposure of finding a driver in High Thornesbury, the town at the foot of the hill. The only solution is one we both hate. We need to steal a horse from Lord Thorne’s stable. I would be much more comfortable with that if it were the eighteenth-century Lord Thorne. It is not, and we can hardly bring one of his horses through. No, we must steal from his grandfather, and while Lord Thomas assures us it is only borrowing, it feels like theft.

As this is Lord Thorne’s country estate, there are only a few horses in residence. We tell ourselves these are not his favorites—he wouldn’t leave a favorite to be tended by the hired help. No, these are working horses, and so we can only make a vow to return the gelding we borrow and, if we cannot return it, repay its worth, however terrible that might feel to say about a living creature. Emily is in danger, and so we stifle our discomfort and set out on the gelding, which we shall be sure to return.

We do not travel as quickly as Lord Thomas would like—he urged us to take two horses, or at least a younger and faster one—but we must minimize our transgression. In any event, we move faster than Lord Thomas, and that must be enough.

When we near the shoreline where we’ll find the Temerity, we stop near a spring and tie the horse there, with a promise to return. We do not dare let the gelding wander the moors. He is unlikely to be accustomed to such freedom.

We are at the top of the cliff overlooking the shore. It is barely past dawn, or so I presume by the quantity of light, but the closer we get to the water, the less we see of the sun or anything else. Marine fog has rolled in, thick as smoke. While it helps to hide our approach, it also prevents us from knowing exactly where to find the wreck. Fortunately, Lord Thomas catches up and is able to guide us.