Lords of Honor (30 page)

Newt sighed heavily,
“
As I told you moments ago
,
I
just
received a message from Cleve
.
Miss Hart
and her grandmother turned up at my house
yesterday
, becaus
e they saw Brown C
oats
watching
the
house
Lyon procured for them
.
She
and her Grandmother snuck out
with the help of the
two
guards I hired
for them
.
They have nowhere else to go
.
Lyon does not want her to see him until he is better
.
He does not want her to fear him
.
He is in the early sta
ges of his recovery
.
Lachlan
say
s
he’s an emotional mess
.
I need to find some
other
place where she will be safe.”

“Do you suppose Libby was
abducted
for
the same, or a similar reason
?
When d
id Lyon commit this atrocity?”
Owen asked.

“
This happened three
week
s
ago
.
I did not find out about
Miss Hart
until I realized something was not right with Lyon
and locked him up
.
He was very upset by his actions to the girl
.
O
nce
I
locked
him up
,
Lyon
begged
me to check on
the young lady for him
.
H
e
remained
terribly
worr
ied
about her well-being
.
Miss Hart was abducted about three weeks ago, well before Libby was taken
.
T
hey may have intended to do the same to
your sister, Owen,
if you did not give them the scrolls
.
T
hey
could
have
kidnapped her to use her
in the same manner
as they did Miss Hart
, t
o trap or lure
someone else
.
Another one of our members
?
Who can say?”
Newt frowned.

“We are in danger here
at
Horethorne Hall
as well
, for we know the Brown Coats will come at us again
.
And the Chynoweths are surrounded by Brown Coats at Menadue
.
Miss Sophia Hart will
just have to stay at your London House until Lyon is ready to make the trip
here,”
Harry said
matter-of-factly
.

“That’s what I would prefer
as well
.”
Newt nodded
.
“
Lyon needs prot
ection as well as Miss Hart
.
We
cannot spread ourselves
any thinner
.
I will instruct Cleve to inform
Lyon
that
Miss Hart
cannot
leave
my
house
for she is in grave danger
.
I believe
Lyon will accept that, for he is terribly concerned about her welfare
.
I am certain Miss Hart
will stay
.
The experience she suffered frightened her
a great deal
.
”

“Th
e
day
after your letter arrived at Abbey Grange, Micah
, I sent Sir John, Frances and my mother and sister to stay with my brother George at
Eveleigh
Park in
Devon
.
I also sent Lyon’s mother and sister as
well, knowing he was in London,
”
Harry informed them.

“What of the treasures?” Micah asked.

“The
Secretum Domini
, the sapphire, crystal cross and the ampullae came with us to Templecombe
.
They are in your safe
.
The rest are safely tucked
away
in a hidden room at the Grange that no one save
me
and Woollard know of
.
Not even Rowena knows
.
It has become something of a sore spot between us
, I must confess
.
I continue to remind her it is for her safety that I have not
revealed the location to her
.
”

Micah nodded
.
“We need to transfer
your treasures
to
my
personal
safe room,
w
here I keep the scrolls
.
We’ll do that later tonight after the servants have been dismissed.
”

Harry nodded.

“I
planned
to go to St. Mary’s
this morning
and secure the Vicar for my wedding
.
Now I shall have to send a letter to him
.
We still do not know if the
Brown Coats
are watching us
.
‘Tis best if we all remain here on the grounds
.
Libby and I shall be married in the chapel here at
Horethorne Hall
.
As soon as can be arranged,
”
Micah informed the party.

“What is your hurry, Micah?”
Harry asked with a
n amused
grin
.

“Yes, Micah what is your rush?”
Owen
asked in mo
ck innocence
.

“You know very well what it is,
Harry
.”
Micah
regarded
Owen,
“As do you.”

Owen grinned
.
“Forgive me my teasing, my soon to be brother
.
I should be praising you
.
Not many men I know could have shared such close quarters with a lovely woman as long as you
did
and her virtue remain intact
.
Though lucky for you, you did, for I would have kill
ed
you
otherwise
,
”
Owen arched a bow at him.

“Her virtue
may
not remain intact much longer if the wedding is not soon
.
I am only human after all!”
Micah said pointedly.

“Then send your letter to the Vicar, by all means.”
Owen waved his hand in the air.
He hid an amused smile behind his hand
.

The others grinned, yet dared not say anything, for Owen was Libby’s brother, and Micah soon to be her husband.

“I need to get back
to
translating the scrolls
.
Owen said he and Libby can help, they both know Greek
.
And I have three scrolls
.
Has Rowena finished transcribing the
Secretum Domini
?
”

“I fear she has not
.
We have been very busy
this month so far,
”
Harry answered.

“Busy
?”
Wyldhurst grinned
mischievously
.
“And
pray,
what were you doing
, Harry
?”

“Micah will understand, very soon
.”
Harry winked at Micah.

“Micah already understands, Harry
.
He’s just waiting so he can get busy
.”
Wyldhurst laughed.

“Stop
!
No more
!”
Owen held up his hands, “This is my little sister we are talking about here, and I cannot imagine my little sister doing any of that
.
I just can’t
.”
He shook his head.

Those who had sisters and daughters agreed with nods of their heads.

Wyldhurst just grinned
.
He was clearly amused.

Harry changed the subject, “Charlie,
I
assume your father remains in T
own
.
H
ave you sent your sisters and mother somewhere safe
?
They are not far from Roseland Abbey where Libby was taken
.”

“I sent them to my sister, Sunday’s, home in Kent
.
She and
Hammond
are happy to have them
.
They will help with little Marcus and Leo.
”

“Why Libby
?”
Micah asked
.
“Why did they take Libby
?
Owen was not
present in Glastonbury when the treasures were found
.
And who is doing this
?
Davitt
is not a gentleman of means
.
I don’t think he could afford
to pay for this huge unending force of manpower
either
.
He’s certainly not physically able to travel all of England to orchestrate all these attacks
.
It wo
u
ld take a great deal o
f planning
. F
rom everything J
ack and I learned
on our Northern journey
he was on death’s door until two weeks ago
.
The
re are
t
wenty
Brown Coats
in Cornwall
.
Ten follow
ed
us yesterday
.
Lyon
was
set up
and followed
.
They kidnapped
Miss Hart
.
And why Miss Hart
?
Why
Libby
?
They are not just after
the Avalon Society members
.
The most frightening thing is they
appear to
know
our weaknesses
, as
with Lyon
.
Possibly
even
this Nathan Hart.
”

“
Either Davitt was under orders
f
rom
someone else
in
London while
in Glastonbury, or he is in a
partner
ship
.
With
whom we
don’t know
.
This Mr. Crow
?
Most probable
, b
ecause we still have Brown Coats
in London,
at Templecombe, Salisbury, Andover and in Cornwall
.”
Harry stood and walked a
m
ong the library table
s and clusters of chairs where the Avalon society members lounged
.
His voice echoed in the large room
.
“There is no way
that
Percy
Davitt,
being
so
gravely wounded
,
could be controlling something of this magnitude
.
That t
here’s someone more important and high ranking involved, I’m sure of
.
We need to know i
s it Mr. Crow or someone even higher?
”

They all agreed.

Micah spoke,
“
W
e
must determine
who and why
.
Newt
,
send a letter to Cleve
.
He must question Miss
Sophia Hart about her father, and other family members
.
Is there someone who wants or inherited her father’s estate
?
We
need a thorough explanation of her circumstances
as well as her father’s
.
It would be helpful to know what type of scholar her father was
.
Why are they after
Lyon
?
Was it merely
to get information and he
seemed
an easy target or is it more personal
?
Lyon was wounded in Glastonbury
.
He also shot Percy Davitt, in the thigh
.
I put a knife in his shoulder
.
You got him in the shoulder, right, Wyldhurst?”