Lords of Honor (7 page)

“
Mr. Wicket, t
his is an emergency
.
I need you to leave a message with the
in
nkeep
er
at the White Hart
immediately
for Lord Elveston
.
Tell him Lord Wincanton
left
town with the lady for her safety
.
If the inn
keep has not seen Lord Elveston;
send a message at once to
me at
Horethorne
Hall
in Templecombe, Somersetshire
.
Now repeat what I just told you.
”

The man did
as Micah bid
.

“Very good,
Mr.
Wicket,
sir
.
Please make haste
.
I
t is of the utmost importance
.”
Micah handed him another gold coin
.
“And unless it is Lord Elveston asking, you never saw us!”

“Yes,
my Lord
!
You can count on me
, sir
.”

Micah noted the man held two apples in his large hand
.
Lady Elizabeth
might be
hungry
.
It would be awhile before they reached Salisbury.
“Another coin for your apples, Mr. Wicket
?”
Micah flipped a coin to him.

“Aye, my Lord
.”
James Wicket hand
ed
the apples to Micah.

“Thank you, good day to you
,
Wicket
.”

Micah slipped the apples into the deep pocket in his coat and urged his horse forward once again.

“Where are we going?” Libby asked
hoarsely
.

“I think we need to
try to
get to Salisbury
tonight
.
It will be
safer for us there
.
We shall rest tonight
.
I will hire
a carriage tomorrow morning
and we will set out for
my home in Templecombe
.
I will send for your brother
once we arrive
.
Is he at Roseland Abbey?”

“Yes, Owen was
talking with
Charlie
in the drawing room
when
they took me
from the garden
.
What day is this?”

“Wednesday.”

“Wednesday
!
It was
Monday
when they took me
.
They drugged me
, w
ith a cloth they put over my mouth
.
I was
cutting flowers for the church
.
I remember waking
up
in a carr
iage several times
.
They
force
d
me to drink
laudanum
.
I tried to spit it out once and they poured more into my mouth
.
After
this morning
they did not give me anymore
.
They
said
a
Mr. Crow would not approve
.
Lord Wincanton, do you think they are still following us?”

“
Yes,
I
believe
they are
trying to catch up to us
.
But we
have made good use of our time
.
I may take a country
lane
several miles up
for I feel we are too exposed
on th
is main
road
.
Hiring a carriage
right now would slow us down too much
.
We need to lose them first
or gain a great amount of distance
.
They could easily catch up to us
in any conveyance
right now
.
Are you comfortable enough?”

“Yes
, o
f course
.”
Libby leaned heavily against Lord Wincanton’s chest
.
She
felt
fortunate
to be
away
from
those men
.
She was very thankful Lord Wincanton and Lord Elveston were in Andover at the White Hart. It was a miracle they were there
.

“Is Mr. Crow the man they were going to turn you over to?”

“It
’s
the only time I heard
his name mentioned
.
Yes,
I
believe
so,
”
Libby clung to Micah’s arm as her stomach lurched
.
 

“Do you know why they kidnapped you?”

“To hold me for ransom
.
I do
n’t know where this Mr. Crow planned to
tak
e
me
, other than to London
.
They said my brother could get them s
omething they wanted
.
It was a
scroll
,
or some
such thing
.
The
y
took me
because
Owen
is a prominent member of the Avalon Society
.
They said if he did not
get t
his scroll from the S
ociety
Mr. Crow
would sell me as a slave
or kill me
.
”

A Scroll
!
How many damned people on the outside knew about their find in Glastonbury
?
And who would be w
illing to harm or kill a young l
ady for it
?
None of the members present
at Glastonbury
would have talked about anything
major
that went on there
.
Davitt
?
Possible, it seemed from what he and Jack found out, Davitt, or rather, Mr. Jones
as he call
ed
himself
now
,
was
still
alive at least two and
a
half
weeks ago
in Newcastle
, b
ut barely able to walk
.
W
hy kidnap Lady Elizabeth
?
H
er brother Owen was not even in Glastonbury
with the society when they made their discoveries
.

Lady Elizabeth trembled
in his arms
.
“Are you cold, Lady Elizabeth?”

“A little
.
I must confess,
Lord Wincanton, I
feel ill.
”

“Take my cape lying in front of you
and wrap yourself in it
.
L
ean back against me
, there, that’s it
.
I’m certain you are exhausted after your ordeal
.
Is your stomach bothering you
?”
She
appeared to be
pale
r;
perhaps even a
little
green.

“Yes.
”
Libby nodded
.

“Let me know if you need me to stop.
”

Libby squirmed suddenly
.
“I do
.
I’m so sorry,
Lord Wincanton,
but I feel very ill.
”

Micah climbed down
.
Gently and carefully he
lifted
her down
.
He held her
steady
while she bent and
retched
.
He pulled her hair back with his free hand
.
Poor thing, it
appeared to be
mostly dry heaves
.
She needed water and
some clear
broth
.
He felt quite helpless, he could do naught but hold her and speak to her.

He lifted her back up
then s
wung up behind her
.
“Lean back against me, Lady Elizabeth
.
Hold on to my arm again
.
That’s it
.
Just tr
y to relax,
”
Micah spoke soothingly to her.

She did lean against him
.
“Do you know anything of this scroll they want?” she asked him
weakly
.

“
I know something of it
.”
Micah said no more about it.

“It must be very important if they would resort to kidnapping
someone
to get it.”

“Indeed
.
I think I’m beginning to understand how important it
truly
is right now.”

Libby fought the nausea
.
She did not want to slow them down
.
She wanted them to get away
from those men
.
Finally, her eyelids grew heavy
.
She
yawned
.
“It will be dark soon.”

“Yes
.
That country road is just up
ahead
about two miles
.
I think we’ll take that and fi
nd some shelter for the night
.
We won’t make Salisbury, I’m sorry to say
.
It looks like
a storm is brewing
in that direction
.
The sky is dark
with clouds
toward Salisbury
.
I can already smell
the rain
.
I’ll not risk having you take
a chi
ll
.
You are ill enough already.
”

“As long as you are with me, I do not care
where we go, Lord Wincanton,
”
she said groggily
.
“Thank you
f
or helping me.”

“You are welcome, Lady Elizabeth
.”

Her eyes widened
when her stomach twisted and lurched again
.
“Lord Wincanton, I must stop again
.
I – I’m so sorry.”

“Do not concern yourself, Lady Elizabeth.
”
Micah helped her down again
.
She was much weaker now
.
He supported her so she could walk
.
Again,
she
retched with very little coming up
.
He doubted her captors fed her
anything since she was taken on Monday
.
He helped her back i
nto
the saddle
after five or so minutes
.

“Lean back
, Lady Elizabeth.”

She did
.

He put one arm across her belly
.
“Let’s see if that might
ease your stomach some.”

She nodded weakly
.
The warmth of his arm across her
belly
did help
.
Soon her eyes closed
.

His arm tight around the sleeping Lady Elizabeth
,
Micah
realized that
her
reputation was
utterly
ruined if
the men took her
from Roseland
on
Monday
.
They were about to spend
the night
together unchaperoned
.
It would be up to him to sa
lvag
e her reputation
.
He would have to offer for her
.
He reached to touch the pocket holding the white feather
given him by Archangel Mich
a
el
.
Was this his destiny
?
Was Lady Elizabeth Darrington t
he answer to his prayer
?
Micah was aware of his attraction
to
Lady Elizabeth
for the last several years
.
He
only recently decided to act upon his feelings and
visit her in Devon
specifically
to
find out if
she
was attracted to
him
.
Was their meeting in Andover c
oincidence
?
Or
Divine
i
ntervention?