Lords of Honor (63 page)

“See, Libby
, y
ou’ll be back to normal in no time
.”
Micah
winked
and smiled
at her
.
He wanted
Libby
to forget about being left with a scar
;
t
o n
ot worry about it
.
He was thankful she
lived
and was here
w
ith him now
.

“It is so large
.
It is all
I
saw
when I look
ed
in the mirror,
” Libby said softly
.
She frowned
.

“You’re just not used to seeing it, Pet
.
That’s why you notice it,” Owen tried to reassure his sister.

“
Libby
, o
nce the stitches are out and
it
begins healing,
the scar
will barely be visible
.
I won’t lie to you,
dear,
there will always be a small, thin
line
.
It will grow to be so light you
won’t even notice after a time
.”
Sophia took
Libby’s
hands in
to
hers
.
“It is noticeable now, but that is because it is fresh, and the stitches are still in
.
It is swollen
.
In three weeks you’ll feel much better about it
,
I promise
.
I will make certain you always have this cream to help it.”

Libby nodded
, and sighed
.
S
he
smiled
.
“Thank you, Sophia
.”
She accepted the kiss her husband placed against her temple
and
gazed
up at him happily
.
She realized her fears of being scarred were silly
.
She was safe
.
Micah was getting well
.
He loved her
.
That was
truly
all that mattered
.

Harry entered the room
.
“I’ve a letter for you, Sophia
.
It’s
f
rom Lyon
.”
He handed the missive to her.

Sophia smiled happily
.
She rose and took the letter
back
with her
to
bedchamber.

She set the jar of salve down and hastily opened the letter
.

My darling Sophia,

I
arrived
in London
safely
.
I miss you
terribly
and
anticipate
the day we are together again
.
I promise to be careful
.
I h
ope to see you
very
soon, my darling
.
Keep me posted on the condition of Micah and Libby
.
Harry will see I get your letters.

Yours
always
,

Lyon

Sophia smiled
.
She ca
ught a happy tear that rolled down her cheek
.
She said a quick prayer that God would protect her husband and bring him safely back to her
.

She tucked the letter in her pocket and returned to
Libby’s bedchamber to
sit with Micah and Libby.

Rowena
still
sat
with the pair
.
Harry and Matthias would
return
after a brief meeting
in the hallway
to start their watch.

It was
just
Mica
h and the l
adies.

“
You
appear to be very
happy, Sophia
.
I take it you received g
ood news in the letter
?” Rowena
asked
when she saw how cheerful Sophia was.

Sophia nodded
.
She
grinned
as she answered,
“Yes
.”
She removed it from her pocket and handed it to Rowena.

Rowena grinned when she read it
.
“You took our advice, I think.”

Sophia blushed then nodded
.

Rowena handed the letter to Libby.

Libby
grinned
while reading the letter
.
“
I’m so happy things are better for you
, Sophia
.”

Micah just looked at h
is wife
, the corners of his mouth turned up
.
His silvery eyes twinkled
with amusement
.

Libby
presented him with an innocent
shrug.

“Do you want me to
take a nap
so you can have your wom
e
n talk?” Micah teased them.

“No
.
We
women
shall not have
a private
conversation
ev
er again in the presence of men;
even ones we think are sleeping
.”
Rowena informed him
.
She snickered, “Especially not the ones we think are sleeping.”
             
Libby and Sophia laughed.

Micah smiled at them
.
“Lessons learned.”

Libby leaned against Micah
.
She y
awned
.

“Here
,
Libby,” Rowena rose and came to her
.
“Let me
help you
lie down
.
You can take a nap
.
You’ve done so well today, I think we’ll give you a little more than
just
broth
and bread
for dinner.”

Rowena eased Libby down and brought the covers over her
.

Micah eased himself down beside
Libby
.
“Carry on ladies
.
My Lady and I are taking a nap
.”
On his good side, he snuggled up to
Libby
, embraced her, and hugged her to him
.

For three days Lyon
visited
the
opium
den in Limehouse
.
He had yet to see Crow.

He
lay upon the large cushion, the opium
pipe
dangling in his hand
.
H
ours ago
he
dumped the opium out and replaced it with some mostly odorless tobacco to keep the pipe smoking
.

His hair was ruffled
messily
.
His clothes
were
the same he wo
re the day before when visiting
the den
.
He
took
a few sips of brandy
before coming and spilled some on himself so he would look and smell like he
remained
a drunk and an addict
.

“Lord Amesbury
.
I am surprised to see you here.”

It was
Crow
!
Finally.

“Don’t know why
, Mr. Crow
.
Where else would I be?”

“Well, we haven’t seen you for two weeks or more
.
We worried you might have met with some sort of accident.”

“No
accident. J
ust friends who can’t keep their noses in their own business,” Lyon offered
the man
a crooked grin.

“I heard you left Town recently.”

“Bastards locked me up.”

“
Indeed
?”

“I
slipped out
.”
Lyon made a menacing sort of
chuckling sound
.
“
I think they grew tired of my company
,
in truth.
T
hey
probably
allowed me to leave
.”

“And your new wife
?
I’d heard you married
?”

How
did Crow know he married Sophia
?
“Oh
?
Yes,
I vaguely remember that
.
I left her with Alloway
.
He seems to like her
much
more than I d
o; a
nd she, him
.
She certainly
does
not like
me
.”
He laughed.

Mr. Crow chuckled
.
“Why did you take the whore from me in the first place?”

Lyon felt the chill of warning
and
a rush of
crackling energy
along his shoulders
.
He k
new
at that moment
something wasn’t right
.
He needed to get out of there
.
“
Damn fine
whore, Crow
!
I hadn’t gotten off like that in a long while
.
All night long I was as hard as a rock
.
I’m guessing I fucked her for six hours straight.
” Lyon shrugged, “I g
uess I let her talk me into marriage
.
I don’t
honestly
remember
.
Next thing I
know
,
I’m in a church,
Alloway’s there
with the girl
and I’m
getting married
.
I kept telling
him she’s just a whore
.
And he told me she’s a lady and that I
must
marry her for what I did to her
.
She
was
a whore,
wasn’t she
?
Although
on
our wedding night she appeared more like a cold fish
.
She w
asn’t as good as that first night
.”
He shook his head and grimaced.

“Yes
.
She is
a whore
, and a very
high-priced one
.
I lost a lot of money on her when you took her
from me
.”

“Sorry about that, Crow
.”
Lyon reached into his coat
.
He r
emoved a wad of
notes
.
“
Will t
hat take care of it?”

“I believe so, Lord Amesbury
.
Can I get you another pipe?”

“No.
I’m m
eeting a couple
of
old
chums later
at my club
.
We’re hitting some of the hells
.
I
fe
el a stroke of luck might be with me
today
.
What time is it?”

“Five
o’clock.”

“Good
.
I have time to
bathe and
change
.
Have a good
evening
, Mr. Crow
.
See you soon.”

“I’m counting on it, Amesbury.”