Beloved Enemy Read Online Free PDF Page A

of
switchings that summer for neglecting her household duties, until John Redfern
had told his distraught wife to allow the child a few months of freedom. She
had a lifetime of duty ahead of her . . .
    A glimmer of light appeared above, and Ginny paused to catch
her bream. The basket seemed much heavier now, and the climb was steep. The
faint glow, she knew, came from a single tallow candle, and the light reassured
her not only of the journey's end but of the well-being of the fugitives.
    "Ginny?" It was barely a whisper.
    " Yes."
She climbed the last few steps and emerged into the small round chamber.
    Edmund struggled up from his pallet, his face even more ashen
than she had expected.
    " Are
you worse?" Ginny took the three paces necessary to reach him, panic
flickering in her eyes.
    " No,
no," he reassured her. " Better.
But what is happening? Peter and I have been desperate for news. They have
come?"
    "They have come," she affirmed it simply and turned
to the other man. Like the wounded Edmund he was unshaven, the long wavy hair
of the Cavalier unkempt.
    It had been ten days since Edmund Verney and Peter Ashley had
taken refuge in the priest ' s hole, following the example of a
dozen others in the preceding months. Last November, they had come with the
king to Carisbrooke Castle and for four months had played the role of king's
courtier, helping to maintain the myth that Charles I was no prisoner, simply a
king indulging his divine right to do as he pleased— a myth that Parliament had been prepared to indulge
until war had begun again on the mainland, and the likes of Alex Marshall had
been sent to the island to make manifest the king's imprisonment. There had
been skirmishes between the local Royalists and Parliament's reinforcements,
and Edmund, Ginny ' s hotheaded cousin, Who had never
learned to recognize trouble unless it came with t he force of a sledgehammer, had put aside the rol e of c ourtier and
ventured forth to wage battle against those whom he still considered to be
rebels. He had sent at least tw o to their
deaths in a scrap at Newport before the sword point had slipped through his
shoulder.
    There was no safety then in Carisbrooke for the wounded
murderer of Parliament ' s men. Colonel Hammond could not
afford to antagonize Parliament by providing protection, and the king, himself,
was powerless. Edmund, with Peter's help, by night and by stealth, had made the
journey fr om Newport to Alum Bay— n ot a long journey if one was n ot bleeding from a deep wound, and if one was not
being hunted. They had evaded the hunters to find spurious safety with a
nineteen-year-old widow who, day by day, awaited th e arrival of the occupying forces— a n
arrival that would put an end to her " safe " house and the runs she made in the s m all sailboat, ferrying fugitives across the Solent to
a pla ce where they could prepare themselves to fight another day.
    "Peter, I have brought enough food for several days;
there i s no knowing when I may be able to
return. There are a b out two-hundred men. The officers
have occupied house, and the men are setting up camp in the orchard Hardens . "
    "But what of you? '' Edmund demanded, wincing as sudden anxious movement sent pain shooting through
bandaged shoulder.
    "I am under house arrest." Ginny dropped to her
knees beside the pallet and began to unwrap the blood- s tiffened bandages. " The
colonel appears to have some stran g ely
c a valier notions about the propriety of
sending a recalcitr an t widowed minor to seek her
fortune." She gave Edmund her usual mischievous grin as she made her tone
light a n d teasing. " I am become, I am reliably informed,
a ward of Parliament. Is it not absurd?"
    Edmund managed a wan smile that did little to hide the pain
in his eyes as she eased the dressing from the ugly shoulder wound. Ginny
sniffed the torn, reddened skin carefully and then signed with relief. " It is still clean; there are no signs
of malignancy, thanks be, and it is healing