The Faithful Heart by Merry Farmer Page A

fists balled. “Who does that woman think
she is?”
    Joanna narrowed her eyes at the door Lydia
had gone through. “You have a fight on your hands with that one.
I’ve seen the likes of her. They collect hearts and wear them like
a string of pearls.”
    “I can’t believe Jack would be that … that
stupid.” There was no getting around it. She loved him with all her
heart, but her dear Jack was an idiot.
    “He’s a man,” Joanna smirked. “Young or old,
high or low, they all think with their little head.”
    “Their little head?” She caught the reference
a moment too late. “Oh!” She flushed scarlet and dropped her arms
and her head. “Oh.”
    “You have to fight to keep him on the
straight and narrow, my lady.” Joanna took her arm and walked with
her from the sunny practice yard towards the shadier gardens at the
side of the castle. “You can’t let that witch put a spell on
him.”
    The pep talk had the opposite effect of what
Joanna intended. “I can’t compete with wiles like that,” Madeline
drooped. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
    Joanna laughed. “Start with the fact that he
loves you, not her.”
    “Does he?” She chewed her lip and stared down
at the rows of herbs they walked past.
    “Oh dear,” Joanna smirked. “You have been in
the convent too long if you can’t even recognize a man in love.”
She was sure Joanna didn’t mean to make her feel miserable. “Plus
you have a distinct advantage.”
    “I do?”
    “You’re going out to Kedleridge tonight.
You’ll have him all to yourself. Just you wait and see what happens
then.”
    She wasn’t sure she wanted to imagine.
    Joanna was about to go on but a rustle from
the bushes at the end of the garden and the clatter of gardening
tools being knocked over hushed them both. Joanna gripped
Madeline’s arm tighter and stepped forward to see what the noise
was and defend her if she had to. A grubby man in stained clothes
stumbled out from behind the bush.
    “Toby!” Joanna dropped her arm and rushed to
embrace the man. “Dear God, you smell awful!”
    “I know,” Toby lamented, hugging his sister
close, resting his head against the side of hers. He was near tears
and wiped his face with the sleeve of his dirty tunic when Joanna
held him at arm’s length. “I’ve been waiting for an hour for you to
come out somewhere where I could see you.” He glanced past her to
see Madeline. His bedraggled face split into a smile. “Sister Mary
Peter! I’d heard a rumor that you were back in Derby.”
    “Hello, Toby.” Madeline greeted him by taking
his hands in spite of how dirty they were. “It’s just Madeline
now.”
    “Oh, I see.” He nodded as if unsure whether
he should show her deference or not. His struggle was short-lived
and he turned back to Joanna, eyes frantic. “Are you or Lady Aubrey
planning on venturing out of Derby any time in the next few
days?”
    Joanna shrugged. “I don’t think so. There
isn’t time to go to Windale and back before the counsel.”
    “Good!” Toby breathed a sigh of relief.
“Whatever you do, don’t leave the city or go anywhere near the
forest.”
    “What? Why?”
    Toby pressed his lips together and sighed.
“Ethan would flay me alive if he knew I was telling you this, but
he has plans.”
    “Plans?” Joanna arched an eyebrow, hands on
her hips.
    Toby wrung his hands. “He thinks that if he
stops every carriage and caravan of nobles coming through the
forest on their way to and from this emergency council that
Huntingdon will lose face. He’s sent missive after missive to
London demanding that Huntingdon be removed as sheriff and be
stripped of his titles and lands.”
    “But why?” Madeline furrowed her brow.
    “Well, he has it in for Huntingdon, doesn’t
he, because old Buxton gave Windale to him.” He blinked as though
it were as obvious as the sun rising. “And he thinks that because
Huntingdon was appointed sheriff and earl by Prince John and not
King