IT WAS CONNECTED TO the mainland by a narrow causeway. But time and tide were slowly eroding the rocky stretch. Only the most intrepid of riders ventured across it now and none dared attempt it during a storm. Both horse and rider were far too likely to end up in the sea. Sheltered beneath a stand of trees, Xavier gazed in that direction, wistfully, it seemed to Jane. But as she drew nearer, she realized it was not the causeway that claimed his attention, but the sails of a small carrack, growing more distant by the minute as the winds bore it back across the channel toward Brittany. Xavier’s face wore such a look of longing, Jane’s footsteps faltered. Word on Faire Isle spread fast and she had already listened to much speculation regarding the two men Xavier had drunk with at the Passing Stranger. They surely must be members of his crew, coming to bring him word that the Miribelle had survived the storm. His ship was waiting for him. His men had returned on that carrack making its way across the channel.
