CHAPTER 2
The street is deserted. Further up, a carriage rattles by, and from the pub of the inn, they can hear groans.
“Walk to the front door,” Hastings commands. “I will handle all the talking.”
He follows them inside. They find themselves in a small vestibule with a window in one inner wall. Hastings knocks on it and an old woman appears. She grumbles under her breath and looks dissatisfied by the disturbance, but upon seeing the well-dressed visitors, she suddenly smiles warmly and bows politely.
“Before the woman can speak,” Hastings interrupts impatiently.
“We would like to stay here tonight. We will need two rooms and someone to fetch our luggage from the dock.”
“Of course, sir, very well,” the old woman replies. She claps her hands, and a servant runs down the hall. She orders him to prepare the rooms immediately. Then she turns back to the three strangers.
“You may have traveled far, are you hungry?”
“We are not hungry and would like to go to our rooms immediately, and... since my friend leaves early tomorrow morning, I will pay in advance for our lodging. My sister and I will stay here until breakfast tomorrow.”
D’Southy and his sister both look quickly at Hastings when he refers to Sylvia as his sister. They have already given up trying to understand what his plan is, but this development brings a look of fear to the young girl’s eyes.
Edward Hastings is aware of this, and he does not give the old woman a chance to see the frightened expressions on his fellow travelers’ faces. He speaks to her sternly once again.
“As I have already told you, I want to make arrangements immediately to have our belongings brought here from the dock.”
Once again, the old woman claps her hands, and when there is no immediate response, she walks to a door on the opposite wall and opens it. The noise from the pub can now be heard clearly.
With what she shouted to her husband, the woman returns hastily and apologizes for having made the distinguished visitors wait, but assures them that her husband will come immediately.
Moments later, the innkeeper appears and asks what he can do for them, his hands open in a gesture of surrender.
Hastings orders him to fetch their luggage from the dock and warns him of dire consequences if anything is lost. Then he places a handful of money in the innkeeper’s hand and gestures for Marcus and Sylvia to go up the stairs in the direction the servant had disappeared to prepare the rooms. The old woman hurries forward to show them the way. In the hallway on the first floor, she opens a door and steps back politely.
“This is the lady’s room,” she says apologetically.
“Thank you.” Hastings gestures for D’Southy and Sylvia to enter immediately. He follows them, but as he turns in the doorway, he suddenly faces the old woman. “We will not need your help anymore,” he says curtly.
She still wants to explain to him where the other room is, but the commanding look in Hastings’ eyes changes her mind, and she hurries down the stairs. Hastings closes the door behind him.
He steps forward slowly, and suddenly, he smiles. It is as if his whole body relaxes, and where he leans against the wardrobe, he looks like a man without a care in the world. A smile of satisfaction plays on his lips.
“You may sit,”
