The Eternal Shadow

Chapter 62

LXII

"Has Gisborne checked in?"

"No, he has not, and if you'd gone to the trouble of getting up earlier, you'd know that he isn't going to."

Vaisey froze. He'd not expected to find Winchester in his study in lieu of Gisborne's man. It put him off balance.

He quickly shrugged it off however, along with the cryptic comment and the criticism of his morning habits. "Ah Winchester, on good form today I see. Did you manage to get the wine stains out of your crotch?"

Winchester rolled his eyes, "I thank you for your concern regarding my attire, but I think you'll find you have more important matters to be concerned about."

'Hmmm, the fact that you're not dead for one' is what Vaisey was thinking as a re-run of yesterday evening's failed poisoning played through his mind. It was a disappointment that stung worse than any thorn in his side and a sleepless night of dwelling on the subject had done nothing to make him feel any better. He sighed dejectedly before bringing his attention back to the matter at hand.

"Are you going to get to the point?"

"All in good time my friend, but first you must bear with me as I tell you about the morning I've had..."

Vaisey regarded the lord with impatient weariness and as Winchester began to tell his tale, he wondered if it would really be so terrible to just strangle him here and now. Gisborne had often driven him to despair over the years, but at least he knew how to limit conversation to topics of relevance or keep his mouth shut altogether.

"...so as we noticed she was missed, we had to make enquiries."

This brought Vaisey out of his murderous thoughts immediately.

Missed? She? She is missing? Wait...

Vaisey's mind was quicker than Winchester's narrative and so he found himself in the surreal position of listening to him explain despite knowing exactly what was coming.

It didn't help with the shock though. Not one bit.

"...we found nothing at Locksley; no Gisborne, no servants... just a note for Cavendish..."

Vaisey slumped down in his seat and closed his eyes.

He can't have...

As the minutes passed and Winchester blathered on, the implications of this unexpected betrayal became clear and Vaisey's lips curled into a bitter grimace.

Of course he has.

Somehow he'd always known.

All that hard work trying to keep him on side.

All those speeches about unity and loyalty.

All. Those. Years.

For nought.

Better he had died.

Which he most certainly will when I catch up with him...

"Lord Cavendish and myself have organised a search party, though I am not sure what I will do once I find them - that he seduced her is bad enough, but marriage..."

Vaisey's eyes widened.

Oh Gisborne, you never were one to do things by halves...

Winchester's expression darkened considerably and his voice was tight with anger. How strange that for once in their lives, the two noblemen were united in a common cause: the desire to murder Gisborne. Neither of them saw it that way though. As Winchester wallowed in the bitterness that was the failure of his plan, Vaisey felt no sympathy for him. On the contrary, once he'd gotten over the initial sting of his lieutenant's betrayal, it was satisfying to think that in taking Francesca, Gisborne had at least scuppered Winchester's hopes - Prince John wouldn't want the girl now that Gisborne had been with her.