"Or maybe they're trying to prove they can defeat the winter after all, given the beating they took in Russia. Whatever it is, we need be ready."
"We'll be there soon. Try to settle yourself. We'll go in, have a look at the way the land lies, so to speak, and decide what to do."
"And hope to Heaven that all the houses along the coastline aren't razed to the ground and everyone inside slaughtered, or worse," Parks said, spurring his horse even harder.
Will arrived home and shouted up the stairs to Elizabeth. All was silence. He stormed into the small parlor at the front and rang the bell until the wire snapped.
"Edgars, where's my wife?" he demanded of the butler.
"Upstairs, sir?"
"Get the rest of the servants together now. We need to find her."
Will and the household staff had searched every room in the house with increasing alarm by the time the two bedraggled men arrived on their winded horses.
"Will, what on earth is the matter?" Parks demanded as he shook out his hat and coat in the foyer.
"Elizabeth. She's gone."
"It's Christmas. She might have--" Monroe tried to suggest.
Will shook his head. "No, she would have told someone."
"None of the servants--"
"No. She's gone."
The two men were inclined to believe Will was overreacting at first. When a rattling and banging caused them to run into the drawing room to investigate, they began to believe his frantic assertions.
They saw the fallen embroidery hoop first with the aid of a candle Parks had snatched up. All of Will's instincts bristled. He stepped out into the swirling storm. A short time later he came back with his wife's bracelet and ring.
He held it out to them, his whole body trembling. "They've taken her!"
"Who? Why?" Parks demanded.
He hesitated only an instant before confessing, "Because she knows where the cave is." Then he was charging down the tree-lined avenue toward the beach, forcing his friends to run hard to keep up with him.
Parks grabbed one shoulder and swung him around to face him.
"Cave?" he asked in a deceptively quiet tone. "You never said—"
"I have my reasons."
"I should very much like to know what they are, sir."
"Please, Geoffrey, there isn't time! We need to go after them."
"But we have hardly anything with us except our swords and pistols. Even then I'm sure all our powder is damp."
"Everything we need will be in the cave," Will threw over his shoulder as he resumed his break-neck pace.
"But if Elizabeth knows about it, why did no one else ever find it?" Monroe demanded.
"I don't know."
"Is there an entrance on the beach?" Parks asked.
"Yes, one of them," Will revealed.
"Then we need to go in through the other way and try to take them by surprise. The last thing we need is an exchange of fire in an enclosed space."
Will nodded and veered off towards Joyce Hall. "Listen, Parks, I say-" he began as they started to trot anew.
"Save it for later. Or for your court martial, or trial for treason," Parks snapped. "Right now we need to concentrate on stopping those traitors and saving your innocent wife."
Chapter Thirty-four
Elizabeth had struggled all the way to the beach knowing that the longer she stalled the more likely it was that someone would realise she had been taken.
But she also knew she couldn't count on rescue. Will was on his way to Waterford, and their Christmas guests weren't due for quite some time.
Even if they did arrive in on the dot or early despite the teeming weather, they would have no reason to suspect anything was amiss. Only Vevina might guess about her disappearance and the cave. So she needed to buy some time.
She fought Fitzsimmons like a mad woman, scratching, biting, clawing, and doing anything to leave a trail which could be followed.
She was also hoping to force him into hitting her hard enough to have to drag her, and for her to least feign unconsciousness so she would not have to face what he was planning to do to her to force her to reveal the location of cave.
She wondered about him having come alone. Surely he was not so clever that he could manage plans for the invasion of Ireland all by himself?
He clung to her like a limpet as she struggled to break free. She was fairly sure he wouldn't kill her. Not yet. No, he was looking forward to making her suffer first.
Elizabeth trembled inwardly, but told herself she had to endure. For the sake of her unborn child and the love she bore Will, she would do anything to stay alive. He was not going to lose another wife and child to the war. Not if she could help it.