Captive Surrender (23 page)

“
When my
father left and essentially abandoned us, my uncle Bernard, my
father’s brother, was humiliated. He called by and tried to get my
mother to promise never to speak of my father’s betrayal to anyone
but she refused. In the end, he agreed to pay a stipend to her in
recompense for the money my father took with him when he left.
Rather than leave the family destitute, he has paid a monthly
allowance to my mother that paves the way for the family to at
least be able to live together.”

“
It’s barely
enough though, Prudence. He has hardly done you any favours,”
Stephen snorted. He wished he could get a moment alone with her
uncle; he would give the man a piece of his mind that wouldn’t
leave him for some considerable time.

“
I know, but
with what we can grow, and Maggie and Eloisa’s shawls that we sell
at the market, it is enough for us to eek our way. I cannot afford
a doctor and, even if I could, the nearest one is in the
village.”

“
You don’t go
to the village because?” He lifted his brows and knew instinctively
what she was going to say.

“
Because we
don’t want the villagers to know that mother is mad. I don’t know
if my uncle could, or would, get to hear of it. Although he lives
some twenty miles away, he does occasionally drop by unannounced.
So far, we have managed to stave off his curiosity by telling him
that mother has been ill, is out, or asleep. He doesn’t stay for
more than an hour and calls by once a year, if that. Whether he is
checking to see if she is still alive or not, I am not entirely
sure, but I think he wants us off his hands.”

Stephen sighed and felt
as though someone had just lit a candle to help guide his way. “If
he got wind that your mother was mad, or the doctor felt your
mother was a risk to herself, or any of her children, he could
contact your uncle and inform him of her condition.”

“
Our stipend
would stop and we would be unable to live here.”

“
You wouldn’t
be cast out though. If he didn’t want the gossips to work and sully
the family name by talking about your father’s scandalous
behaviour, then he won’t want the scandal of casting his nieces and
nephew out into the cold.”

“
I know, but
he could pressure us to marry and none of us want to.” Her words
fell like pebbles between them and Stephen felt a chasm open up
between them that he refused to be prevented from
crossing.

“
Not everyone
is like your father, Prudence. Most men love their families, and
even extended families, and work to provide for them. Whatever went
wrong with your father, I have no doubt that his actions were down
to nothing other than his own selfishness. The man was nothing more
than a cad; a cad who didn’t deserve the family God gave him and
was destined to face the ending he did. That shouldn’t reflect
badly on you and while I completely understand your reluctance to
engage a doctor’s services for your mother, I don’t want you to
discount the notion completely.”

Although Prudence nodded,
she couldn’t see that she would ever change her mind on this. The
threat their uncle posed to her family was far too real, even with
Stephen in the house.

Stephen could see the
doubt in her eyes and mentally searched for a way to reassure her.
“I can promise you hear and now, Prudence, that you need not worry
that your uncle will cast you out into the street. It won’t happen.
Cragdale is your home and will remain that way.”

“
It belongs
to Uncle Bernard. When my father passed, his entitlements,
including this house and lands, were passed to Bernard.”

“
It is
usually the way, unfortunately,” Stephen sighed, and made a mental
note to get the direction of this uncle so that he could pay a
visit to the man as soon as the threat from Levant was lifted. He
couldn’t help but wonder just how much Levant knew about the
circumstances surrounding Cragdale Manor, and the people in it. If
the man ever got wind of Agatha’s mental illness, or the fact that
the house was actually owned by their uncle, he would not hesitate
to sign a deal to purchase the house, and lands, for as little as
he could get away with.

“
Tell me
where he lives,” Stephen demanded huskily. For the first time in a
long time he felt the weight of pressure settle firmly on his
shoulders. Not only did he still have to question Humphrey, who
still languished in Rufus’ cellar, but he had to visit Bernard and
keep the family safe while trying to investigate Levant.

“
You cannot
go and see him, Stephen. If he gets wind that you are here, he is
going to force us out.” Her desperate fingers clutched the front of
his shirt. “Please don’t go and see him. Please. You will only
force things, and it will bode ill on the entire
family.”

It unnerved him to see
her so desperately fearful, and he couldn’t stand her desperation a
second longer. “I am not going to call the man out, Prudence. I am
going to offer for Cragdale.”

“
Pardon?”
Prudence gulped. Had he just said he was going to purchase
Cragdale?

“
I said that
I am going to purchase the house and get rid of your uncle once and
for all. What did you think this afternoon is all
about?”

“
This
afternoon?” Her cheeks coloured at the remembered intimacies, and
she studied him hesitantly.

He decided to spare her
blushes and drew her tighter into his arms. “If I just wanted your
body, I wouldn’t have been so openly affectionate in front of your
siblings. However, they need to understand that there is more than
just friendship between us. They need to get used to seeing the
affection that lies between us, because I have every intention of
being as openly affectionate with you as any man can be toward the
woman he loves.” His mouth swallowed her gasp, and he took several
moments to reinforce his statement with a very thorough
kiss.

He had no doubt that the
feelings he had for her were bordering on love, but were they the
real thing? He was fairly certain that they were. He wanted to
protect her. He desperately needed to know that she was safe. The
passion that flared before him had the ability to make him hard in
a matter of seconds, even before he touched her or kissed her. Her
fiery independence, her willingness to accept and try new things,
was everything he could ever have expected to find in his future
wife. It wasn’t lost to him that despite their intimacies she
didn’t expect anything from him. She fully expected to watch him
walk away once his job was done. It irked him a little, and poked
at his temper in a way that made him want to curse fluidly and
shake her until she understood. He did love her, a lot.

“
Love? You
love me?” She whispered in a voice that shook with a mixture of
shock and raw emotion.

“
I know it is
early days, Prudence, and I don’t expect you to feel the same just
yet, but I sincerely hope that one day you will,” he sighed. The
least she deserved was complete honesty. “I want you to give some
thought to my purchasing this house for the family so that we can
all live here. Although I work for the Star Elite, and my job does
take me away for a few weeks at a time, other men I work with have
married and make their relationships work. One of my friends,
Jonathan Arbinger, lives with his wife and family further along the
coastline. He has ultimate responsibility for working with the
magistrate there to protect that stretch of coastline from
smugglers and French spies. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be
able to put the same arrangement in place here, and work alongside
Rufus. While a couple of men have left to spend more time with
their families, more and more men are joining the unit, and they
are able to do a lot of the undercover work which requires them to
live their lives like bats; only getting up in the
night.”

Prudence smiled at that,
but didn’t quite know what to say. Her heart sang at his words. She
tried to stem the tide of tears, but they flowed anyway and
trickled down her cheeks to drip slowly off her chin. She swallowed
past the lump in her throat and felt an undying love begin to
blossom deep within her heart. As soft and gentle as a rose, the
petals of hope began to unfurl to reveal the inner beauty that
warmed her to her soul. Peace began to grow and calm her shattered
senses.

At the sight of her
tears, he swept her off her feet and settled her onto his lap. The
chair beside the fire creaked alarmingly under their combined
weight, but neither of them paid any attention to it.

“
I love you
too,” she whispered with a watery smile, and meant it. As he had
done earlier, she swallowed his gasp and caught his stunned look of
surprise moments before she drew his head toward hers. She copied
his actions from earlier that afternoon, and tried to convey with
her mouth the strength, and depth, of the emotions she struggled to
put words to. His answering groan was all she needed to hear to be
confident that she had it right, and she melted into his arms with
a sigh of contentment.

Whatever else the future
held in store for them, she had no doubt that they would weather it
together. He was completely different to the weak willed and
extremely selfish man who had been her father. She knew without
doubt that Stephen was someone who would move heaven and earth to
protect those he loved. He fought for king and country, with little
expectation from life than a good wage and warm bed for the night.
She felt strangely honoured to be a part of his life, and deeply
touched that he wanted to spend his life with her, in spite of her
family, her greedy uncle, her insane mother and a sinister
neighbour.

She could only hope that
she could live up to his expectations.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Later that night, Stephen
sat in the cellars at Rufus’ house and watched as Humphrey was
pushed roughly into the chair on the opposite side of the small,
square table. Rufus stood beside the door, happy to hand the
interview over to Stephen. Marcus and Harry, Stephen’s colleagues
from the Star Elite, had arrived at the house earlier that evening.
They now stood, silent and watchful, at the back wall, their gazes
trained steadily on the local thug.

Tension hovered in the
air. Stephen used it to his advantage and, rather than talk, sat
back to allow silence to grow to uncomfortable proportions. When
the heavy man began to squirm in his seat, Stephen suddenly leaned
forward, and smothered a smile when Humphrey nervously jumped back
in his chair as far as his bonds would allow.

“
So,
Humphrey, how did you do it?” Stephen stared hard into the man’s
eyes. Wariness was replaced with confusion before a crafty look
entered Humphrey’s gaze.

“
I don’t know
what you mean,” the large man snorted sourly.

“
I saw you
drag Simpson, still begging and pleading for his life, off into the
woods. It is strange that hours later, he turned up
dead.”

“
I don’t know
nothing,” Humphrey repeated dully.

“
I think that
you had better explain why Simpson was pleading for his life then,
because I saw that the man was clearly terrified. I heard Levant
issue you with instructions to deal with him.” Stephen’s voice
dropped to a deadly whisper.

Humphrey remained
mutinously silent. His eyes turned from Stephen to Rufus, before
slowly travelling on to Marcus and Harry. His face was alive with
curiosity, but he remained stoically silent and glared down at the
table top.

“
We know that
you strangled him,” Rufus sighed. He hated the fact that the man
was still in the house. Although he had agreed to leave Humphrey in
the cellars for Stephen to interview, the man had taken to banging
on the wall as soon as it grew dark, and continued to do so for
hours at a time. The sooner that Stephen could conduct his
interview so Rufus could send him to Bodmin for trial, the better.
“There were marks around the man’s neck. Why leave him at Cragdale
beach?”

“
It was a
warning to Prudence,” Stephen sighed. “They were hoping that the
finger of suspicion would fall upon Prudence, and you would make
life difficult for her while you investigated a murder. Gossip can
do a lot of damage. It wouldn’t take long for Levant’s nasty
whispers to be spread far and wide, and damage Prudence’s
reputation beyond redemption. The family would be cast out of the
neighbourhood, and that would leave Cragdale Manor free for
purchase.” Stephen’s tone was matter of fact, but held a lethal
tone that made even Humphrey shift warily.

“
Unfortunately Humphrey, I saw you leave the body on the
beach. Nobody knows yet that Simpson is missing, so nobody is
around to report him dead. I will ensure that the finger of blame
points solely in your direction.”

“
It is your
word against mine,” Humphrey replied weakly to which Stephen
smiled.

“
But I am a
far more credible witness.”

“
You have
worked for Levant too,” the large man whined. “Why should anyone
listen to you?” His gaze flew around the room, as though he
expected Levant to pop up and defend him.

“
Because I
work for His Majesty’s government, and have been investigating
Levant,” Stephen looked directly into Humphrey’s eyes, “and his
employees for the last several months. Simpson isn’t the only man
you have murdered. You and I both know it, so I suggest that you
make life a little easier on yourself and start to co-operate.”
Stephen’s tone was as cold and hard as the look in his eye as he
stared hard at the convict.