Lords of Honor (56 page)

“His real name was John Nunn
.
He
was knighted for his
brave
deeds
.
Hence, Sir John Nunn
.
He removed to Glastonbury
to live an obscure
,
normal life
and is currently the paramour of my wife’s aunt
.”
Harry grinned.

“Unbelievable
.
No wonder he shot that Brown Coat at such a distance that day
in the long gallery
at Stonedown
.
But how can he help us, Harry?”

“
Being a military man himself, Sir John
was
a friend of
William’s before he became
King
and
knows several of
his advisors
.
If this Crowhurst turns out to be our man, Sir John can find out just how close
he
is
to the King.”

Lyon nodded
.
“
Good idea
.
Keep me informed
.
Well, I best be off
.
Send messages to yo
ur house in London
.
One of us
will stop by once a day
to check in with your butler
.
I shall move around from member’s house to member’s house so I am not easy to pin down
.
Crow
shall think I am just staying
wherever I am when my high wears off
.
I want to know of Micah and Libby’s welfare
, g
ood or bad news.
”

Harry nodded
solemnly
.

“Take care of Sophia for me
.
If something should happen to me, she should go to Shevington Chase with my mother and sister
when they return there
.
If she does not carry my child, and she does not wish to remain with them, please settle her where she desires to call home, and make certain she can keep
the house
for life
.
I want her to be able to live comfortably
.
If she is with child, I ask that she stay with mother and Sarah
,
for they will help her through her pregnancy and with the babe
.
When she is recovered, and is ready to be on her own, you can set her up in a house of her own
,
if she so chooses
.
I keep the Amesbury account and my own
personal private account at the same bank
you use
.
You and Micah have access to
my personal account
if needs be
.
Just see my solicitor
.
After Sophia is taken care of, t
he rest should go to mother an
d
Sarah
and an heir if there
is
one
.”

“I will keep that in mind, Lyon
.
But you take care, and come back safe
.
As long as you remain sober and in contro
l, you’ll have your extra sense;
that warning feeling
that never fails to alert you
.
It
will
keep you safe
.
Pay attention to it
.
I expect to see you back here
in Templecombe within two weeks,
”
Harry told him.

Lyon nodded
.

Gabriel and Harry walked him outside.

Sophia watched her husband leave
with four other men
from the window of their bedchamber
.
She prayed for his safety and that he would come back to her
.
She
greatly anticipated
their life together.

“Sophia?” Rowena called from outside her door.

“Come in.”

Rowena saw the tear-stained face of her friend
.
She came to her and hugged her
.

“We will say a quick prayer
that
Archangel Michael
will
protect Lyon for you, Sophia, dear
.
We’ll have some breakfast
.
They think they know where Libby is
.
And you and I have a hard day ahead of us
.
Micah still burns with fever, and we have to try
to
keep it down while the men make their plans.”

“Yes, we must make certain Micah is well when Libby returns,” Sophia sniffed
.
She w
iped her tears away
.

..

Libby
remembered
being
drugged again
.
They forced laudanum down her
a
fter she tried to get away when first waking that morning
.
She
did not make
it
very
far. They
held
her
down
while they dosed her
with the laudanum
.
She could
barely
move her limbs
now
.
H
er head
felt rather foggy and there was a persist
e
nt,
dull
,
aching pain in her head
.
Her throat
felt
dry
.
She was thirsty
.
T
he
sound of
flapping fabric
caught her attention
.
Libby
r
ealized she was in
side
a tent of some sort
.
She saw the loose flap jerk wildly with the breeze
.
She o
pened her eyes enough to
peer
through the
one
opening
.
She was still on the flat hill
.
She closed her eyes
.
She t
ried to call for Micah
.

She saw him thrashing about
and
felt the heat of the burning fever
raging inside
him
.
She called out to him over and over
.
Micah, m
y love
.
Please wake
.
Please live
.
I need you Micah
.
I need you to live
.”

He did not answer
.
A tear slid from
the corner of
her eye
.
She could not even lift a hand to wipe it away.

Micah sat up. He
got his
foot on the floor before Sophia, Rowena and Owen got to him
.
“Libby needs me
.
She’s on the hill
.
I have to go
.”
He
regarded
Owen
.
“Why have you not gone for her
?
She’s hurt
.
She needs us!”

Owen held Micah down by the shoulders while Rowena stepped in
to
the hall
way
and called for help.

“Micah
!”
Owen shouted
.
“Calm down, man
.
We can’t get near the hill in broad daylight
.
We’re going tonight to get Libby
.
I’ll bring her back to you
.
She’ll be back
by
tomorrow
morning
.
I swear to you, Micah
,
I’ll
find her
.
I’ll
bring her back.
”

Micah stilled
.
He o
pened his eyes
wider, studying
Owen
.
“You
swear it
?”

“I
swear to you, Micah, I
will get Libby and bring her back
.”
Owen’s voice was thick with emotion
.
He didn’t want
to wait until nightfall, but
Harry’s logic was sound.
Waiting until dark
was the only real chance they had to get Libby
out safely
.

“I’ll sleep for awhile
.
And go with you
, t
o get Libby
.”
Micah closed his eyes
.
And saw Libby
.
She smiled at him
.
You need your rest, Micah
.
You must live
.
Sleep now.

“I will sleep, Libby
.
I will sleep
.
I love you, Libby,” he whispered.

Rowena
sniffed
and Sophia
wiped at the corner of her eye
as they
heard Micah
speaking
to Libby in his delirium
.
They
worked
in tandem
to apply cool water to Micah’s fevered skin
.

Sophia applied the poultice the doctor left that morning
.
“For all the good it will do with him thrashing about the way he does
.
He’s torn his stitches three times already,
”
s
he mumbled as she left his bedside to return some items to a tray holding medical supplies on a nearby table.

“Should I tie him
down
?” Wyldhurst
whispered
to
Lachlan
and
shrugged
.

“No
.
It would just make him
angr
ier
.
I
t would
certainly
make
me
angrier
,” Lachlan
answered
.
“Don’t mention it to the ladies
they might
like the idea of tying him down
.”

“Like
what?” Sophia asked as she returned to check the poultice.

“Oh, nothing
.”
Wyldhurst shrugged.

The Scotsman grinned
.
He s
hook his head.

Wyldhurst,
Lachlan
and Owen got some broth and tea down
Micah
.

Afterward,
Owen went into Micah’s study and
spent
two
hours watching Cadbury
hill from the telescope.

Harry let himself into
the safe room and
carefully
removed the G
reek scrolls from their earthenware jars
.
In their place he slid in
other
Gree
k scrolls he and Micah purchased in an Antiquarian Shop in
Paris some years back
.
They were interesting to read but historically unimportant
.
He brought the jars out with him
.
“Decoys
.”
He explained
.
“
In case we cannot execute our plan tonight
.
We’ll still have something to bargain with
tomorrow
.”

“What do you mean
,
we
.
You’re not going anywhere,
Harry.
” Owen said.

“
I am the
head of the Avalon Society
, therefore
I am going.”

“No
, w
e’ve already sent Lyon into danger in London
.
We don’t truly know if
we can get to
Libby, or if Micah will live
at this point
.
You will stay with your wife, and pick up the pieces of the other’s lives if we are met with further tragedy
.
As you said, you are our leader, and that is why you will remain
.
There is also the fact that o
nly you know the locations of
every
safe house
holding our
Society’s acquisitions
.”
Owen rose
.
He l
ooked at Harry
.
“It’s been decided
by the rest of the
original
members
present
, t
hat is that
.
Charlie and Gabriel have agreed to lead us in our mission tonight
.
They both are cool-headed in the midst of chaos
.
We will be fine.”