Lords of Honor (27 page)

“An urgent message
arrived for you
from Trevan,” she told Harry.

“What is it about?”

“I did not read it, Harry
.
It
was addressed to you and Micah!
”

Libby guessed her to be
the new
Lady Glaston.

“Micah
!”

Libby
noted
the
happy
smile
s exchanged between Lady Glaston and
Micah
.

“Rowena
!”
Micah
called to her
.

“It’s so good to see you
.
I’ve missed you terribly
, Micah
.”

Micah hugged
Lady Glaston
.
“I’ve missed you too
.
Rowena, this is Lady Elizabeth, rather Libby
.
And Libby, this is Lady Glaston;
Rowena to us.”

“Oh
,
my dear
, Libby
,
I am so happy to see you
are
well
.
We were all so worried about you.”

“I am well, thanks to Micah and Lord Elveston, and all the others who have come to our aid.”

“Let me take you upstairs
.
I’m certain you w
ould you like
to bathe
and
change before dinner
.
”

“Yes, t
hat would be wonderful.”

“Rowena, Libby
is to be put into the Lady’s chamber next to mine
.
I wrote to Mrs. Clarke to have it ready
.
Libby and I shall be married as soon as can
be
arrange
d
.”

Micah held his breath
.
If Rowena was surprised, she did not show it
.
She said nothing
.
She merely smiled
at them both
.

“Of course, come up with me Libby
.
Simmonds will lead us to your chamber
.”
Rowena took Libby by the hand and led her into the house.
Libby
glanced
over her shoulder
, seeking
Micah
.
He
offered
her a bright smile as
Rowena
led
her
away.

She was impressed by the large
entry
hall
of Horethorne Hall
.
The entry felt
warm and
welcoming,
no doubt
due to the
high
ly
polished original Elizabethan paneling
.
The
focal point, the
grand stair
,
was immense with intricately carved banister
s
and raili
ngs
.
On the outside wall, at the first landing was
a tall narrow stained glass window
.
The lowering sun lit the brilliant colors of
garnet
,
sapphire
,
emerald
,
citrine
and a myriad of other shades and colors
.
The scene on the window
depicted
a
n armored
Knight on a white destrier
gazing
up
ward
at a shining
castle
rising
on a hill above
him
. The pen
n
ant he held
showed
a menacing red dragon
upon a white background
.

Once upstairs,
Simmonds, the butler
,
led them past
the entrance to a long gallery and a small parlour
and took them down
a hallway leading to bedchambers
.
They walked the entirety of the long hall
way
which ended in a sitting area situated before a large floor to ceiling window
.
Simmonds motioned them to one of two very large, ornately carved doors.

“Your rooms, my Lady
.”
He opened the door and allowed the ladies entrance
.

The Lady’s
apartments
were large
and spacious
.
There was a sitting room, a bedroom which appeared to be connected to the Lord’s chamber
, a
nd
connecting
dressing room
s
.

Rowena
smiled at Libby.
“Micah wrote to me that
h
e recently
refurnished
these rooms
.
It is lovely, don’t you think?”

“Yes
,
I do
.”
The colors were soft, muted and antique shades of gold, blue,
garnet
and a golden green
.
“It is very rel
axing
.”
The furniture was dark
and the carpets
were
of
deep
, muted
colors
.
T
he draper
ies
on the three windows in the bedchamber
were
a light
golden
fawn
color
.
The walls were
papered in
a soft, muted
pale
blue
silk
.
  
 

“I should hang these up,” Libby said as she peered in her small bag, “or I
shall look a fright at dinner
.
I do not have a
proper
dinner gown
.
These were all we could get so quickly in Salisbury.”

“I’ll give this garnet
gown
to Martha
for you to wear ton
ig
ht
.
I daresay you shall look stunning in such a color,
Libby
.
Simmonds told me earlier,
Martha
is to be your maid
.
She
will
get the creases out
.
I think you would probably like to save the
silvery bl
ue for your wedding, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes
.”
Libby said cheerfully
.
Knowing she and Micah would marry soon made her heart race with anticipation
.

When Martha came in Libby
handed over her
soiled clothing; her petticoats, corset, stockings chemises and the
ruined
blue gown she
was
kidnapped in
.

“More gowns are being made
.
They are to be delivered here, but I
do not know when they will
arrive
,
”
Libby explained.

“No worries, ma’am
.
I’ll get these laundered and back to you as quickly as I can
.
Did you want me to take the gown you have on now
,
as well?”

“
Yes, you can take it after I bathe.
”

“Very good, ma’am
.
You’re bath is being prepared in the dressi
ng room
.
It should be ready shortly
.
I’ll be in to assist you
.
”

“Thank you, Martha
.”
Libby smiled
.

“Dinner shall be
served
in an hour, Libby
.
Would you like me to have something brought up to tide you over
?
Some tea, perhaps?”

“Tea would be lovely, Rowena, may I call you by your
given
name?”

“Of course, Libby
.
Micah is our dear friend, and now you shall be too
!
I’ll have your tea waiting for you
in the sitting room
when you get out of the bath.”

“Thank you.”

Micah almost didn’t recognize his wife-to-be when she entered the
drawing room
with Rowena
.
Dressed in
a simple but elegant
garnet silk
gown which
Mrs. Bingington altered to fit Libby
’s figure
perfectly, her sable hair
arranged in an elegant coiffure;
he admitted
his lady
looked
dazzling
.
The
deep
garnet
color
complimented
her
lovely
complexion
.
It empha
sized the redness of her lips and the creaminess of her skin
.
It enhanced the sapphire blue of her eyes
.
The décolleté
dipped
low enough to expose the
uppermost
swell of her lovely breasts.

He left his conversation
with Harry
to join Libby
.
“I trust you found your room
s
to your liking?”

“Yes
.”
She smiled
up at him,
noting the
approv
al contained in his
silvery eyes
.
“The Lady’s apartments are beautiful, I love them
.”

“
Good.” He nodded
.
He leaned closer to her. “
You look
beautiful
, Libby,” Micah whispered
against
her ear.

She beamed
.
“Thank you
, Micah
.”

He noted a few tendrils of her heavy hair were already straining to fall from the hair pins
.
He couldn’t wait to shake out th
ose
pins and brush her hair later.

With Libby on his
arm
Micah led his guests into dinner
.

Micah
wore
fresh
cloth
ing
for the first time since he
found Libby
at the White Hart
.
He kept to his usual
color of
black
in his choice of
coat and trousers
, but wore a waistcoat of fine silver silk
tonight
.
His shirt and cravat were
pristine
white
.
His weeks of travel
had
caught up
with
him
.
Micah felt
weary
.
He w
ished dinner was over so
they
could
retire to their rooms and he could
hold Libby in his arms again
and sleep
.
Mayhap kiss her, touch her
.
He longed to do more
, but alas he could not
.

The gentlemen
conversed
briefly
before the ladies came down for dinner
.
They would meet
early the next morning to get their
plan in place
.
They knew the Brown Coats would come
.
The news received from Trevan Chynoweth, the Duke of Penrose in
Cornwall was not
encouraging
.
The Chynoweth family seat
, Menadue, was
currently being watched by
over twenty
Bro
wn Coats
.
Trevan
waited
for his numerous relatives to descend on
Menadue
wh
en he wrote the letter
.
Trevan was in possession of the scroll these men were probably after
.
The one Percy Davitt
referred to
in Glastonbury
as
the Jesus the Younger scroll.