Lords of Honor (68 page)

“In light of the servant situation, no mention must be made where we are
truly
going
in earshot of the staff
.
The servants shall be told
we are moving our party to Shevington Chase in Wiltshire for a time
, ladies
.
And we are taking no servants with us
.
It is
the
best
way to ensure
all of our safety,” Micah stressed.

The ladies remained eerily quiet.
They simply nodded
.

“Very good
.
Tomorrow we’ll
try to get some
work
done
on the scrolls
and
Secretum Domini
if at all possible
.
Wednesday we leave for London
.
Today we’re playing cards. Y
ou in, Harry?” Micah raised a brow
in challenge
.

“Certainly
.
Be prepared to lose, gentlemen
.”
Harry rubbed his hands together
, flashed them a grin,
and pulled up a chair.

“Harry, I already won Abbey Grange,
Eveleigh
Park, and you
r
London House
.
You don’t have anything left to
wager
,” Lyon complained.

Harry
flashed
Rowena
a devilish grin
.
He r
aised a teasing brow at her.

“Don’t you dare, Harry
!
It will be the last thing you ever do.”
Rowena’s eyes narrowed
.
She shook a warning finger at him.

Sophia and Libby giggled
.

Rowena
continued to
scowl at her husband.

“
I
am out of the game, gentlmen
.”
Harry
sighed and
threw in his cards
.
“Micah, you’ll have to move out tomorrow
.
Lyon owns all my houses, and I now own Horethorne Hall.”

“Fine
.
Charlie, hand over
the key to Swandown Manor
.
I ne
ed to move in tomorrow
.
You are
taking your sisters
,
I hope
.
Where are you going to live?”

“I won Shevington Chase
, remember
.
And no, I’m not taking my sisters
.
You’re stuck with the both of them
and my
m
other too
.
I’ve a roof over my head still
, in Wiltshire, and a view of Stonehenge
.
And no women will be allowed
to call
.
Oh, present company excluded, of course.
” Charlie paused to give the ladies a small nod.
“
But you ladies may only visit
for a day or two at most, perhaps one
time
a year
.
Y
ou may not live there
.
Ever
!”
Charlie smiled broadly at the
m
.

Libby giggled for she was used to Charlie’s humor
.
Sophia and Rowena eyed him warily
.

“Humph.” Rowena rolled her eyes.

“
Fine
.”
Harry rose
.
“N
one of us are homeless
.”
He grinned
.

“I think we’ve learned today, l
adies, that our husbands should not be allowed into the gaming hells,” Rowena said
crisply
.

“Or we’ll be penniless as well as homeless,” Libby offered with a sigh.

“I don’t know, my husband won three new houses today, I might survive it
.”
Sophia grinned
in amusement
.

“That’s my
Lady!
”
Lyon winked at her
.

Everyone laughed.

“Libby, are you ready for your walk downstairs?” Lyon rose from his chair
.

“Yes
.”
She hated to leave Micah
.
But she felt so much better after bathing
.
She needed the exercise
.

Everyone rose
.

Micah remained in
his
bed
frowning
.
“Can’t I come down too?”

“No, n
ot until you are completely healed, Micah
.”
Sophia said sternly
.
“Owen and Gabriel will come up to keep you company.
”

“
Owen will be moving into your chamber before tonight since Lyon is back
.
Lachlan and Cleve will take night watch in the hallway tonight
.”
Harry continued, “
That way you won’t have to have someone
sitting
in
this
room at night – as long as you promise not to tear your stitches
by, ah, over exerting yourself
.”

Micah grinned
.
“I have no complaint with that information
.”

Libby bent and kissed Micah before she made her first journey downstairs in a
lmost a
week.

“Hurry back, Libby
.”
Micah eased himself down on the bed to take a quick nap.

Owen left the library and headed toward the stairs
.
He
would
sit with Micah for an hour
or two
until Libby went back upstairs.

His thoughts were still on the letter he
posted
to Grace
Sterling
, Lady Marston, that morning
.
The missive
proved
difficult to write
.
In the end he opted for short and to the point.

Lady Marston,

I received some alarming news last evening
.
I do not know if it is true
.
I must
know
you if you and your daughter are safe
at you
r
home in Devon
.
Please respond at once
.
Send for me immediately if you and your daughter are in danger.

Yours,

Fitzlewis

Owen
stopped when Harry stepped out of the parlour and motioned for him
.

“Owen
.
I was just coming to
locate
you
.
You’ve a visitor
.
Lady Marston is here to see
you
.”

Owen paused to take a deep breath
.
She could not have received his letter and traveled to Somerset
this quickly
.
This probably meant her daughter,
his
daughter
, was being held by the Brown Coats
.
He hadn
’
t seen Grace in four years
.
He exhaled more loudly than he intended
.
He s
tepped inside the parlour to see Lady
Glaston
conversing
with Lady Marst
on
.
“Lady Marston
.”
His voice sounded
much softer than he
wished
it to
.

Owen noted her widow’s weeds
.
I
f memory served
,
Lord Marston died
of an ague
some
eight months ago
.
Grace turned
to face him
.
He felt a stab of pain near his heart
.
She was still beautiful
, e
ven more so than he remembered.

H
er golden brown hair gleamed
like
sunshine
.
Grace’s
classic
and delicate fac
ial features
and large brown eyes
still caused his blood to race in his veins
.
Owen
was
not prepared
for her beauty
.
He
certainly
was
not expecting t
o see
dark shadows beneath her eyes
,
nor
a dark purple and green bruise on her cheek
.
She looked pale
, p
erhaps a little thinner
.
She was s
till beautiful despite that.

“Lord Fitzlewis!”
Grace stood immediately.

Lady Glaston rose and walked past him
.
“Your tea will be served momentarily
, Lord Fitzlewis
.”

Owen nodded
to her
then
returned
his attention
to
Grace
.

“What has happened, Grace?” He did not
intend
to address her
by
the familiar
.
It just happened.

“Owen
!
I do not understand what is going on
.
The day before yesterday six men forced their way into my home and took my baby
.
My little Alice!” Grace choked back a sob. “They said I should find you and give you this letter
.
I went to Roseland
yesterday
and Tompkins told me I could find you here
.”
She removed a folded piece of foolscap from her reticule
.
She h
anded i
t to him
.
“What does this mean
?
What is this about
?
Will I ever see her again, Owen?”

Owen
broke the
blank
seal and
opened the letter.

Fitzlewis,

If you want your daughter
back
,
you must make certain we receive all of the scrolls found in Glastonbury, the Sapphire
and the Holy cruets brought to Glastonbury by Joseph of Arimathea
.
They must be delivered on
Tuesday next
, b
y noon
to the
Jasmine Star in Limehouse
.
You,
Glaston
, Amesbury, Wincanton
,
Wyldhurst
and the Duke of Penrose
must bring them
; t
he Superior members of the Avalon Society
.
If you do this, the child will be returned to her mother
.
If you do not,
Lady Alice
and
ten other women and children dear to Avalon Society members will disappear
. F
orever.

The Grand Knight
s
of the Brown Order

“I’ll get
Alice
back, Grace
.
My comrades and I
are already working on how
.
This is the second time since last evening that someone has referred to your daughter, Lady Alice, as being
my daughter
.”
Owen held up the letter
.
“
I want to know the truth
.
Is Alice mine or Marston’s?”

Grace faltered
.
She wanted to lie
.
She knew Owen still hated her
.
She could see
the coldness
in his eyes
.
But, she owed him the truth, though she tried frantically to tell him all those years ago
.
If she told him the truth, then she would be free
o
f the guilt
and t
he regret.