Belaset's Daughter - By Feona J Hamilton Page 0,29
windows with curtains to draw across them. A chest, covered in beautiful and complicated carving, and polished to a high shine, completed the furniture. Four lanterns, all with candles shining through the delicate tracery of their sides, gave a warm glow to the whole place. She stared, transfixed.
Master Bonami chuckled with pleasure at her astonishment, as he shut the door behind them.
"I don’t just carry goods between France and England, young master," he said. "Some of my trade takes me to other seas and other countries. In those countries, they know how to appreciate fine things too, even if their notion of them is different from ours. So I choose what I like from each country and surround myself with a mix of them all."
He strode across the cabin to the chest. Lifting the lid, he took out a flask and two glasses. He closed the chest again and crossed to the table, where he bent and placed the glasses on the top. Unstopping the flask, he poured some of the clear amber fluid it contained into each glass, then picked one up and held it out to her.
"Here’s one of the things which I enjoy from this country," he said. "Come and taste the finest cognac ever made."
Judith crossed to his side and took the proffered glass. Cautiously, she took a sip. The fiery liquid slid down her throat like a noiseless sigh. It chased away the damp chill which had permeated every part of her body during the journey, and she felt herself relaxing. She BOSON BOOKS
-57-
Belaset’s Daughter
gazed around, enjoying the vivid colours which surrounded her. Bonami waved her to the couch and she sank down on it and leant back against the pile of cushions. She could not resist taking one of them in her hands and admiring the beauty of the silk and the rich embroidery that covered it.
"So you
have a taste for fine things, too!" said Master Bonami, with a smile of understanding. "While you admire my beautiful things, I’ll make sure those lazy devils outside are making ready to leave, fog or no!"
He took off his hat with a flourish, revealing a mop of curls, and bowed to Judith, before turning on his heel to leave the cabin.
"A question, Master Bonami," said Judith, hastily.
He stopped and turned to look at her with raised eyebrows.
"What of my horse?" she said.
"Your horse has not been forgotten," he said. "Isaac will take it up the coast a little way and we will pick it up there, where the water is deeper and we can get closer to the shore.
You’ll be safer if we leave this area as soon as possible. We have one pair of ears in our care, but who knows who else was listening in the murk, when we met on shore?"
It was clear that Master Bonami and Isaac had thought of everything which could possibly lead to her discovery. Judith knew that there was only one way that her escape could have been planned and undertaken so smoothly these two men had done this sort of thing before. Probably more than once. Suddenly, she realised how odd it was that Brunetta should have been sitting in the doorway of her house on such a cold February day. Had Judith’s progress from the time of the ambush been known all the time? If de Montfort’s spies were operating in France, then it was probable that the King’s were, too especially since he himself was in France at this moment. She had been too tired, or too frightened and bewildered, to think clearly before this moment. She made a mental note to report everything to William Foville as soon as she reached him, as well as delivering the packet which she had worn around her neck ever since she had received it from the ’priest’ in Amiens.
Bonami had left the cabin and she could hear his voice roaring outside, as he shouted instructions to his crew. The words themselves were incomprehensible, but the authoritative tone was clear. Suddenly, there was a lurch and a heeling motion, as the ship turned and began to move away from its anchorage. A shout from another voice and the rush of bare feet on the deck followed the sudden movement. This was followed by the squeak of the capstan turning and the rattle of the anchor chain being hauled up. A sail rattled up the mast, and the ship heeled more as a gust of wind filled it.