Dedicated to Blondeducky77; a great reviewer who is really keeping me going! Reviews are so few...HINT.... :)

The Plan in Action...


She was alone, and talking quietly to herself. We peeped out, and assessed the situation. With hair a strangely similar colour to mine, but darker skin, she wore a dress not unlike to my new apparel. She was complaining about the Duchess, and the lack of rescue.

"...When will they come? Soon, I tell her, they'll be here soon ma'am...hurry up, slow down, fetch this, and sew that...grumpy old witch..."

Byrne was out from the bush, me only a moment behind, and had a hand over her mouth in a moment. We dragged her behind the bush again, and I talked urgently in her ear as Byrne restrained her.

"Miss, I'm Jack Westenra, and this is Lieutenant Nathaniel Byrne, we're from H.M.S. Dominion, here to rescue you and the Duchess, please calm down, we won't hurt you...That's it, atta girl, there's a good girl, it's alright..."

She calmed, and her face had lit up in fierce joy. Byrne hesitantly took his hand from her mouth, but there was no need to fear, she whispered urgently to us the second she was released. "You swear? Thank God! It's been ages; we'd almost given up hope." I nodded.

"Yes, the Lieutenant will fill you in on the way. Quick now, I need your name, and how to get to the Duchess' rooms. Anything that might be helpful." She was clearly an intelligent girl, and I warmed to her as she swiftly told me her name, Emily Terrence, and directions. She also told me everything useful she could think of in under five minutes. Considerably better informed, I sighed gratefully.

"Thank you, Emily. I'll see you back at the ship in a few days time. Go with the Lieutenant, you can trust him entirely, and do exactly as he says, understand?" She nodded, and asked me to give the duchess a necklace, previously hidden beneath her dress, saying it would help the lady trust me. Bidding Byrne a nod of farewell, I stepped out from behind the bush; veil raised and fan out, and casually sauntered towards the house.

I reached the house with no problems. A few of the other servants bid me a demure 'Buenos dias, senorita...' but none seemed inclined to further conversation.

Inside, I passed a guard, who gave me no more than a cursory glance, and ascended the servants stairs (easily found, since the interior of most Spanish houses are similar) to the second floor. I found myself in a wide corridor, with five doors to choose from. I held my breath. Would my luck save me? I had no idea, and there was no indication which door would lead me to the Duchess. I had to reach her, and explain the situation- there was no way I could continue the charade without her prescence.

I had intended, at first, merely to follow her around for the first few hours, but Byrne had pointed out the problems with this plan, and it had been abandoned, the Duchess would have to know at least part of the truth.

Luckily, a serving girl appeared, looking frightened, from the other end of the corridor. I asked her what was wrong. She hurried up to me and confided that she had made her mistress angry by dropping a silk dress upon the floor, where it had been stained. I soothed her, and asked her where my mistress was now. She replied in her room, and pointed at the furthest door to my right. She smiled timidly at me, and I smiled back, and shooed her off, hurrying to the door.

Tapping on the door, I entered as she called for me to do so. At first, she didn't understand, and then I lowered my veil and began to talk fast again, handing her the necklace. "Please, my dear Duchess, do sit down, my dramatic appearance seems madness, don't it just? I am sorry, but please, don't scream, or make a noise, as I'll probably be ruined if I am discovered. Yes, it's me, Lady Evelyn."

xxx

To the lady's credit, she did no more than pale slightly and sit down a little heavier than usual. Then her curiosity returned.

"Evelyn? Evelyn! What on earth are you, you of all people, doing here?"

I sat down next to her, and whispered the whole tale (glossing over much of it, especially the weevils) to her. To my delight, she reacted exactly as I had hoped she would, and grinned in mischievous glee. She became almost girlish, despite her forty plus years.

"My dear girl, you are incredible! And here to rescue us! How wonderful, my dear. And you look so well. Of course I shall help, in any way I can." She kept her word, and between us, we survived pleasantly, if with some near escapes, until we were called the next day, to see Mayor Todales in his study.

"Madame," he began in Spanish, "You will be glad to know that tomorrow, you will board the English ship 'Dominion' in exchange for 6500 guineas. We regret to inform you that your maid, Senorita Terrence, must remain two days longer, as insurance that all the money is received satisfactorily. You will please pack your belongings ready for transportation at nine tomorrow morning."

I had to pretend to be terribly afraid, and near tears, so I missed any undertones, but the Duchess thanked her rude captor coldly, and then swept us both up to her room quickly. We packed all but a small but nice purse of hers, with a lining that could be interfered with for messages, and talked then of my adventure. The kindly woman also offered me an alibi for my father, proposing to say I had stayed with her for some months, in her small country house in Italy, which I accepted, and I wrote a letter for her to send to my father and brothers.

She was a friend to me, and I could not wait for her to return to the Dominion and be safe. Soon enough, she was, and when she left, there were tears on both sides. I was even allowed the privilege of walking down to the harbour (under close guard) to send her off. I saw Byrne briefly, at one stage, and he winked and melted quickly back into the crowd- I took it to mean that the girl was safe and he'd meet me asap at the village.

What I hadn't expected, was for Captain Wendon with Marshe's secretary, to be at the Quayside to meet the Duchess. He greeted her pleasantly, and I from twenty metres away, saw him arrange for her luggage to be stowed in the boat. He looked up and saw me, and speaking to the Spanish guard, began to walk towards me, the secretary translating hurriedly.

"Miss Terrence." He greeted me, and I offered him my hand. He, without a moment's hesitation, took it and brought it to his lips. "Sir."

"I am Captain Wendon, of the Dominion. I want to apologize for the delay, and hope we'll have you on board in a matter of days." I saw him mouth 'one at most' at me, while I bobbed a curtsey. "Thank you, sir. I hope so too. Don't worry about me, sir, I'm well enough for a few more days. What's that over there, sir?" I checked out that those boxes contained what I thought they did. "That's the ransom money, Miss Terrence. I must bid you adieu, for the time being, and I will send for you soon."

I gave him my hand again, and this time he pressed two keys into it as he released it. I quickly concealed them in the folds of my skirt and pretended to blush. The secretary continued to translate to the suspicious guard, as I bid them goodbye, and stepped back. When they left, I felt very alone. The keys were obviously to the money boxes. I had seven leather bags to fill and hide. I had to know where the treasure went. Watching carefully, I was told to walk back to the Mayor's house. Demurely, I did so, and not very surprisingly, the Mayor and the money did too.

I had thought that the Mayor would take it to his house to check it over. Byrne had thought he might put it somewhere else within the city-fort, but I suspected the Mayor wanted to check it (and deduct some of it) before it got that far. At the most it would be accessible to me for one night. When we reached the house, the guards walked me inside, and then let me go. There was no reason to watch me.

I had shown no more intelligence than Emily, who although bright, stagnated as a ladies maid, and could not escape through any of the doors- they were all guarded. However, the roof tops were emphatically not guarded. The gold and I separated, it went into the Mayor's study, and I went past the study and into a nearby room, the library. I left the door open so I could see what was going on. There seemed to be an argument- two of the three guards left, one to stand guard under the window, I gathered, the other to get something 'al frescati'- I didn't recognise the word. The last one stood outside the door, on guard in front of the lock I so desperately wanted to see.

I had about five minutes before one of the soldiers returned, to get a look at the lock on the door. I sighed. Earlier in the mission I had been the seducer, with the Spanish women, now it was time to be seduced. A little.

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