"Lee Edgar - Plot 03 - Plot For A King" - читать интересную книгу автора (Edgar Lee)

She looked at Andrew. ‘What was that about?’
‘That was my captor. He obviously thinks I’m bedding some town wench.’
‘Oh,’ she said, blushing.
He got up, closed the door the sergeant had left open and climbed back into bed in the darkness
and pulled the sheet up to his chin. It sure was cold outside that bed.
Samantha’s arm went across him and she wriggled until she lay close up. ‘Now we’ve got more
room, haven’t we?’
He shook his head in the darkness, put his arms gently around her small body and, soon, she
was fast asleep. Oh to be young again.
Andrew could not sleep. It was not just the presence of this sweet, innocent girl resting
peacefully beside him, it was the responsibility he had taken on by promising to take her with him.
But what other chance did she have? He finally convinced himself that neither of them had any
chance but to stick together and make the best of it.



Tuesday 13th February 1649

In the morning, the men saddled the horses in the frosty air and the snow had a crust on it
which crunched under their feet as they walked towards Sergeant Briggs.
 He looked around as they approached, a wide grin on his face. ‘Well, well. And what do we have
here?’
His men were very much under the weather from the night’s drinking, but it didn’t seem to have
affected the jolly sergeant one iota.
‘Sarah and I have decided to marry,’ Andrew lied.
They had spent an hour before breakfast ensuring their stories matched because, if it became
known that she was the daughter of an infamous Royalist, they were in real trouble. For the time
being, she was to be plain Sarah Wright, using his mother’s maiden name.
‘Look, young man,’ said the Sergeant conspiratorially. ‘If I was to marry every girl I bedded, I’d
soon be like Solomon.’
Andrew tried to smile and look innocent while the terrified Samantha cuddled up to his arm. He
was not any sort of expert in female make-up but had done his best with hair and dress to make
her look older and more like the man-hunting tart she was pretending to be. The Sergeant did not
object to her presence, so she climbed up behind Andrew on the horse though it produced great
hilarity for many a mile as they headed southwards along the Great North Road.


RACHEL sat up in bed. She had not felt well and had laid in which was most unlike her and now
she felt ill. She had slept badly due to worry and Mark had arranged to stay at home so that he
was on hand. Her hands went to her expanded belly, which felt strange so she pulled the cord and
Mark appeared.
‘So, you’re awake. Have you slept at all?’
She shook her head. ‘No. I’m so worried. Andrew should be back by now. I know something’s
happened to him.’
‘Your family sixth sense playing games again? Well, give him a chance. We’ve had a little snow
here so it could be much worse in Scotland. Our Andrew’s probably snowbound at an inn
somewhere, tucked up in bed with some wench.’
‘Don’t joke, Mark. He’s only twenty and far too young for that sort of thing. Anyway, there’s Mary
Beth to consider.’
‘Ah, so there is. I’d forgotten about all the interest she shows in him. How she flirts with him and