Defiant Mistress

English Convent, Bruges, April 1666 "What do you mean--she's not here?" the Duke of Kilverdale's voice rose in angry disbelief. "Exactly what I said, your Grace,'the Abbess replied. "I am afraid your cousin is no longer here at the convent." The Duke's black eyebrows snapped together. "For the past seven years my mother has made generous contributions to your order," he said. "With the clear understanding that Athena would be free to live here peacefully under your protection. Why did you send her away?" "I did not send her away," the Abbess replied. "She chose to leave on an errand of mercy." "To go where?" 'Venice--" "What!"Kilverdale leapt to his feet. At six feet tall he towered over the seated Abbess. He was dressed in the height of fashion in silk brocade and a magnificent black periwig, but his costly garments could not disguise the underlying power in his lean body. Nor could the profusion of black curls, which framed his face and tumbled about his shoulders, soften the somewhat predatory appearance of his hawkish features. The Abbess considered him a dangerous man and a far from suitable visitor to her convent, but in the circumstances she could hardly refuse to speak with him. The Duke's mother and Athena's mother were sisters. Seven years ago the widowed Duchess of Kilverdale and her son had been living in exile in France. When Athena ran away from Samuel, she had made the perilous journey to France to beg for her aunt's protection. In early 1659 the Duchess had brought her niece to Bruges, to live as a guest within the English convent. A year later Charles II regained his throne. The Kilverdales had returned to England, but the Duchess had continued to give generous donations to the convent and the Duke had come to Bruges at irregular intervals to meet with his cousin. "Kindly allow me to finish," the Abbess said, before Kilverdale could say any more. She disliked his obvious intention to intimidate her in her own quarters. "Mrs Quenell left here of her own free will as, indeed, she first arrived here." Kilverdale raised a sardonic eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. The Abbess strove for patience and continued. "Several weeks ago the wife of one of the undersecretaries to the English Ambassador in Venice arrived in Bruges. The young woman was brought to us in great distress. We discovered she was urgently seeking to join her husband in Venice--apparently she had not been kindly treated by her husband's kinfolk in his absence. Mrs Quenell was much moved by her plight and offered to accompany her to Venice as her companion and guide--" "Guide?" Kilverdale exploded. "You allowed my cousin, who has not been outside the security of these walls for seven years, to go gallivanting across Europe with only a foolish wench for company--and you say she's a guide! Where were your wits, madam?" "They are accompanied by the manservant the young woman brought with her from England and Mrs Quenell's own maid. In addition, they are being escorted by a local gentleman of good family who is on his way to study at the university of Padua,'the Abbess snapped, out of all patience with her noble visitor. The Duke's muttered response was barely audible, but supremely uncomplimentary. "Your cousin is a woman of great resource and common sense and I have every confidence she will reach her destination unharmed and without difficulty," the Abbess retorted. "Don't forget she managed to make her way safely all the way from England to find your mother in France when she was only seventeen." "She cut off her hair, dyed it brown, and pretended to be a boy!" "A sensible precaution for a woman travelling alone. She came to no harm. She has often entertained me with the story of her journey." "Entertaining!" Kilverdale snorted scathingly. "Yes, and it is very entertaining for me to come to Flanders to tell her that her husThornton, Claire is the author of 'Defiant Mistress', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373294268 and ISBN 0373294263.