My Earl the Spy

by Audrey Harrison

  “It’s up to you, but you know full well how they are about their women being untouched.”

  Joshua pulled Milly to her feet. She flinched, expecting another blow, but it didn’t come. “You, Miss High and Mighty are my ticket out of this mess. I’m swapping you for a pardon. Your Lord Grinstead will be given the choice: your life or my freedom. Easy as that.”

  Milly was flung onto a pile of what turned out to be empty hessian sacks. “You stay here quiet, and you’ll be safe. If you cause a noise, I won’t hesitate to bring one of your brothers to join you. Do you understand?”

  Milly nodded, mute.

  “Good. There’ll be someone watching this door day and night. If you’re no trouble I might feed you. Maybe but maybe not; we’ll see.”

  Joshua and the second man walked out of the door and locked it. Milly sank back on the sacking, touching her face tenderly. She could taste blood, and her cheek felt sore; there would probably be a bruise but, as the way she looked was definitely the least of her worries, she let her head fall back on the rough material. She could not think straight, but one thought would not go away; it was unlikely she would get out of this unscathed, if at all. Staring at the closed door, she knew the next few hours or days were going to be the most testing of her life.

  *

  The door opened, and Milly sat up quickly. During the night she had arranged the sacking into a more comfortable arrangement, even using one as a blanket. The cloak she had been given protected her from most of the roughness of the material, and it had enabled her to get some sleep, even though she still felt weary on being woken.

  She looked in alarm at the door, expecting to see Joshua, but it was the second man who walked in with a tray in his hands. “Here you go, Miss Holland. It’s not fine fare, but it should fill a hole.”

  “Thank you,” Milly said quietly. “What should I do about…?” her cheeks had flushed at needing to raise the issue for the second time in two days, both times with men.

  The man smiled in sympathy. “This cupboard contains everything you need, and if you leave the door open, the door acts as a screen.”

  “How long will I be here?” Milly asked.

  “It depends what your Lord intends to do.”

  “He dislikes Mr Shambles.”

  “Aye, there’s not many who do like him.”

  “Then why?” Milly asked in confusion. “Why would he get co-operation from everyone if they did not respect him?”

  “Money, usually. Don’t ask too many questions. None of us can afford to be your friend, Miss Holland, for all our sakes.” The words were said gently, but there was a warning.

  “I hate being so helpless,” Milly admitted.

  “Just don’t antagonise him, and you’ll be fine.”

  “Am I allowed to ask your name?”

  “Everyone calls me Mack. Now eat your food; it’ll taste even worse cold.”

  “Thank you, Mack.”

  Milly stood and stretched her stiff muscles. She was not used to such inactivity and spending too many hours in a carriage and then an uncomfortable night did not bode well for the days to come. She looked at the food on the tray; Mack had been correct; it was anything but fine fare. A slice of pie with thick, dry-looking pastry lay on its side. A few unappetising biscuits completed the offered food, and a jug of small beer was the only drink on the tray.

  Having been so long without food ̶ only once on the journey had food been obtained, and that had been eaten in the carriage ̶ Milly was ready to eat almost anything. Taking small bites and washing the stale food down with the now much appreciated drink, Milly did indeed fill a hole.

  When she had finished, she felt less drained and walked backwards and forwards across the small floor of the locked room. She hated being so helpless and unable to change anything about her current situation, but the risk for her family was enough of a deterrent to prevent her from doing anything rash. She was not about to underestimate Joshua Shambles’ determination to seek vengeance. She would have to wait for the moment. Doing nothing was not a perfect solution, but there was little else she could do.

  *

  Milly had suffered three days of staring at the same walls, walking around the small confined room and eating dried, tasteless food, washed down with small beer, vital to help swallow the dry morsels. She had never liked the taste of small beer, but she was positively grateful for it now.

  Mack had been the one to visit each time food was delivered. She had tried to delay him by asking questions and, although he was in some respects kindly to her, he never loitered above a minute or two. Milly craved contact with someone; she was desperately hoping her family were safe, and that Joshua would get what he wanted without her ever needing to see him again.

  In the hours of silence Milly thought of Henry, wondering what he was doing, hoping he was safe and, more often than not, hoping he could forgive her pushing him away. She ached to see him again but was terrified he would risk his safety in searching for her. She presumed there would be some agreement being worked out for Joshua’s pardon.

  The morning of the fourth day, the door burst open, and Joshua stormed into the room. “I knew that damned Earl wouldn’t be a gentleman and do things the easy way! Get up! We’re leaving.”

  Milly was unceremoniously dragged to her feet and pushed forcefully through the door.

  “What’s happening?” she asked, partly relieved to be leaving the room behind, partly fearful of what was going to happen with Joshua in such a foul mood.

  “You need to be moved somewhere more secure,” Joshua snarled. “Now keep quiet, or there’ll be more bruises!”

  Milly instinctively touched her cheek which was less tender than it had been but was obviously bruised. She received a look of warning from Mack that stopped her from asking any other questions.

  She was dragged through the warehouse, her feet tripping regularly. She was shocked at how stiff she was and how it was causing her to struggle to walk at speed even after such a short confinement. Joshua cursed at every stumble and gripped her harder until she could hardly feel anything but the sharp pain in her arms where his fingers dug deeply into her flesh.

  They reached the large doorway, and a carriage that had seen better days was waiting. Milly was lifted roughly and thrown into the open doorway of the carriage. She landed on the floor with a groan but soon scrambled onto the seat as Joshua and Mack followed her inside.

  The carriage set-off before Mack had time to close the door, and a curse from the quiet man rang out as he reached for the swinging door.

  “I’m sure there’s no need for quite so much rush,” he muttered to Joshua.

  “Wait until it’s your neck in the noose, and then we’ll see how fast you move!” Joshua snapped in return.

  “They’ll hardly hand me a reward for my part in all this,” Mack said with a nod towards Milly. “I signed up for getting people into the country, not kidnapping ladies.”

  “Well things changed because of them, not me.” Joshua’s tone was mulish; he never accepted responsibility for anything that happened; the situations he found himself in were never his fault if there was someone else to blame. “Why he couldn’t just agree to my terms! This could all be over now!”

  “And let a commoner get one over on an aristocrat? What foolish ideas you have sometimes!” Mack almost laughed at the young man. “We are in this mess because the toffs always get what they think they’re entitled to.”

  “So the quicker we can bring them down the better.”

  “Only you’ll have to do it even more carefully. If they pardon you, you’ll be watched like a hawk,” Mack pointed out.

  “There’s plenty others to take my place.”

  “And me?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll put you in touch with those who’d appreciate your skills. There’s a gap in the organisation since that fiasco in Dorset,” Joshua said, referring to the night that Milly had thought her cousins had been killed. “To lose so many men tha
t night and in the days after has been a blow. You’ll receive a faster promotion.”

  “That’s good.”

  Milly was surprised that Joshua had spoken so openly in front of her and could only come to one depressing conclusion as to the reason for it. She was seen as expendable, so it did not matter what she heard; she was not going to survive long enough to tell anyone. She wondered if Joshua did not believe he would receive a pardon; surely he would not go to so much trouble if he did not?

  The thought was unwelcome for one so constrained in what she could do, but the overriding thought that Milly had was that she would never see Henry again, and they had parted on such poor terms. How she wanted to be able to right the ill-feeling between them, but it was too late.

  They rode through the dock areas. Milly was able to look out of the window and, although the areas were busy with activity, there were signs of squalor that she had not known existed. Children were barefoot and shoddily clothed. Some actually looked as if they were living in the gutter. They were dirty beyond anything she had ever seen, and her heart twisted at the bleak expressions on their faces.

  Men were at work everywhere; she glimpsed ships being unloaded and loaded, warehouses being filled with produce for onward journeys into the capital and beyond. The work looked dirty and hard; clothes were filthy and torn in some cases. The men swore and shouted, making the whole area explode with noise as the constant movement of boxes, barrels and crates was combined with the cacophony of voices.

  It was part fascinating, part disturbing. The only women that Milly saw were one or two loitering in the area of the occasional ale house they passed. From the garish clothing they wore, Milly was under no doubt that they would start work later in the day when the main harbour-related work had ended.

  Milly shrank back in her seat; she might be eight and twenty, but she knew this landscape would swallow her without a trace even if there was the opportunity to escape. This was not an area that would provide her with the freedom she longed for. It seemed as if she were moving further into the bowels of hell, and the possibility of returning to her old life seemed less and less likely.

  The carriage came to a stop at the edge of a building where work was going on; it was no surprise that the ever busy docks were constantly expanding. The fact that they had stopped in an area that was not yet fully developed made the area less busy than a working dock and, when Milly alighted from the carriage, she was led into a building that was only partly built.

  Behind one door a set of stone stairs was revealed, which Milly was roughly led down and then dragged into a room which contained a door that could be locked. This was a far different prospect than her previous prison, and Milly shuddered at the thought of being locked inside this dank cell.

  The walls were made of stone, the doorway being hewed out of solid stone. The cellar was necessary to take the weight of the tall building that was emerging, stretching its tall, dark walls towards the sky. The only light was provided by a small opening at the top of the outside wall, but nothing could be seen of the outside. A table and two chairs set in the middle with a hard bunk along one side and a hole in the floor in one corner all indicated that any previous use was likely to have been as a holding cell of some sort. Whether it was the intention, after the building was finished, that some poor souls would be held before being transported, there was no way to know. However it was to be used it was clear there would be nothing of a pleasant nature connected to the room.

  Milly tried to talk herself into having courage to face a stay in this prison, but she knew she was visibly trembling. Joshua looked at her and smiled. “Not so confident now, eh? Let’s see what you’re like after a night spent with the rats.”

  “Please, could I have a candle?” Milly asked her voice shaking at the thought of the darkness that would descend when daylight faded.

  “Ha! Not a chance! Mack she’s all yours to sort out. I’ve got business to see to that I should have done at the beginning of all this.”

  Joshua and Mack left the cell, locking the door behind them. Milly stood in the centre of the room, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, trying to talk herself into being brave; something that seemed an unlikely occurrence in her present situation.

  Mack found Milly in the same position when he entered the room half an hour later and sighed to himself. The poor girl was probably terrified, but she had not broken down. He could see the struggle she was having with herself, and he cursed to himself; there were too many times that innocent people were hurt in all of this, and he was sick of being witness to it.

  “See here, there’s candles, matches, and blankets. I’ll bring food and drink later. Try not to worry.”

  “I don’t wish to sound overly dramatic, but I’m struggling with trying not to be overcome at the thought of spending the night with goodness knows how many rats!”

  Mack smiled slightly. “I’ll see what I can do to help.”

  Milly forced herself to move and set up a bed of sorts. This room felt different than the previous one; it was far damper and had a permanent chill; she was certain the night was going to be long and hard.

  The day dragged for Milly. She had not realised what comfort the first room had been in comparison to the one she now occupied. The cold seemed to seep into her bones as the day wore on. Only when the light became too dim did she light a candle, frightened of using too many in case there was a limited supply.

  Mack returned, as promised, with another young man who Milly had never seen before. She sat quietly on the bunk as Mack issued instructions to the younger man who was carrying in a number of items. Mack placed a tray of food and drink on the table and then indicated that he should be left alone with Milly. The door closed firmly as the helper exited, and Milly turned her gaze onto Mack.

  “Joshua will probably skin me alive if he finds out I’ve been so soft with you, but I couldn’t have you dying of a chill on my conscience,” Mack said in his quiet, lilting voice.

  “I appreciate all your kindnesses,” Milly assured him.

  “But I’ve not been overly kind and set you free have I? Don’t overestimate my good deed.”

  “Candles are a huge help,” Milly reasoned.

  “This board, I’ll put over the petty,” Mack said.

  “Petty?” Milly asked, being unfamiliar with the term.

  “It’s the place to do your business. We call it petty where I come from,” Mack explained. He moved a large, heavy piece of wood until it covered the hole in the corner. “Rats would come up that way.”

  Milly shuddered. “What about the hole acting as a window?”

  “I’ve brought this; that should put them off coming in that way,” Mack explained, dragging a wrought iron brazier near the wall. “I’ll bring some wood and a bit of coal so you can have a fire; it won’t be ideal, there isn’t a draught to pull the smoke up through the hole, but it might work and help keep the rats at bay as well as providing a bit of heat.”

  “Thank you.”

  Mack nodded and left the room before returning with the promised fuel for the fire. He made a small fire in the brazier and, although there was a lot of smoke to start with, he hoped that it would settle down. “I’ll check you in a short while; I don’t want the smoke causing you to choke to death.”

  “No. I suppose at the moment I’m still useful to Joshua.” Milly had stopped using Joshua’s title and family name, she did not think he deserved the respect.

  “Yes, you are, and I hope for all our sakes he gets a pardon soon.”

  “What will happen if he doesn’t?”

  “He’ll become more desperate than he is now, and that isn’t good for anyone.”

  Mack left Milly to eat her chunk of bread and slices of ham. There was quite a bit of smoke, but it was not unbearable; Milly suspected the opening had been used as a chimney previously as there was a blackening of the wall where Mack had placed the brazier. So, even though the warehouse was not completed, the prison had been used;
Milly shuddered at the thought.

  The door opened, and Mack entered carrying more fuel. “Everything well?” he asked, collecting the tray.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “Try and sleep; you could be here for some time.”

  Milly lit another candle when she lost the light outside. The brazier provided a lot of light, but, just for the first night, she needed the extra comfort the candle would bring. If Mack’s prediction was correct, she would need to conserve the candles, firewood and small pieces of coal. She stayed awake until she could not keep her eyes open any longer. She had no idea of the time but knew it must be the early hours of the morning. Not wanting the fire to die down when it was more likely that rats were active ̶ out exploring the area to see what food they could forage before the world became busy with people once more ̶ had kept Milly awake far beyond what she would have normally been.

  Finally unable to resist sleep any longer, she wrapped herself in the musty smelling blankets and fell into a deeper sleep than she had expected on her arrival in her new prison.

  *

  Noise and movement startled Milly into wakefulness with her expecting to be faced with rats with large boots on, but it did not take too long to realise that it was human noise that had disturbed her slumber so forcefully.

  It took Milly a few seconds before she blinked into consciousness to take in the scene. Joshua and another man were dragging a tethered form into the room. They were kicking the object as they pulled it along.

  As soon as the form had been dragged far enough into the room, Joshua stood up, breathing deeply. He turned to Milly. “Your rescuer has failed, Miss Holland. I’m going to have to decide what to do with you both now. It’s an interesting quandary I’m faced with; I doubt I’ll get a pardon now, but I need to work out which of you will get me off these shores and which of you I should feed to the fishes, because I certainly won’t need you both!”

  Milly looked in horror at Joshua, which seemed to delight him. He aimed one last kick at the still form on the floor before leaving the cell. Milly let out a breath of relief; Joshua had been so concerned with inflicting pain and gloating he had not noticed the remains of the fire or the candles.