Lords of Honor (83 page)

“What is going on, Micah?”

“Lyon, as you
remain
dressed will
you escort the ladies into the small parlour at the end of the hall
.
I will change and be there directly
.
Before Micah could duck back into his
chamber
, Harry’s mother and sister exited their chambers.

“Rowena, are you well
?
What is going on here?” Har
r
y’s mother, Jane Bellingham rushed toward them
.
Lyon’s mother and sister came out next
.

Micah backed up, forcing Libby to as well
.

“Micah?” Libby
looked at him
questioningly
as he turned to face her
.

He k
issed his wife quickly
.
He
laid his hands on he
r shoulders
.
“
Don’t worry, Libby
.
Everything is as it should be
.
Let me dress
and I’ll explain everything when we are in the parlour, sweetheart.” He reached for his trousers and slid into them
.
He w
r
iggled into his shirt
and
coat
.
He
sat
on the edge of the bed
to
pull on his boots
.
He helped Libby into her wrapper
.
Hand in hand, they joined the
others in the parlour
.
Charlie
and Tristan
remained on watch in the hallway
.

..

“Crowhurst
, t
his needs to come to an en
d
.
Immediately
!
The Avalon S
ociety must be brought to their knees
.
The Duke of
Penrose has a far reaching arm
and Glaston apparently has some influence with the
Crown
that we were previously unaware of
.
Penrose, Glaston, Wincanton, Amesbury, Wyldhurst and Fitzlewis are the founding members
.
They have learned far too much about us, and our order is now in extreme danger
.
I want them gone
.
Dead
!
Tonight
!
The Avalon Society will flounder without them
and be of no threat to any of us then
.
Do you understand me?”
The man in authority’s eyes
glowed
with anger.

“Y-yes, my Lord
.
I will take care of it
.
At once,
”
Lord Crowhurst lowered his eyes and tried to sound convincing
.

“Mr. Davitt?”

“Yes, my Lord?”
Percy
Davitt gave the man a
calm
nod.

“I want you to come with me
.
You told me when I arrived you had information I might be interested in
?”
The tall gentleman motioned for Davitt to follow him
.

“Yes, my Lord
.
I did
.
I do have information for you.”
Davitt limped
out of the room
behind the Supreme Grand Knight of the Brown Order
.

“Well, father,” the man who called himself Mr. Crow
turned
to Lord Crowhurst, “whatever will you do?”

“You might be of my loins, Godfrey, but you will not call me
father
.
The devil take it, I have no idea where the Avalon Society is holing up
.
It’s damn near impossible to find them tonight
!”
Crowhurst puffed
up angrily
.
He kicked the leg of a nearby table
.
“We are sunk you and I.”

“Well, father, we thought that might be the case
.
You are sunk
.
H
owever, I am not
.
S
ince it is mainly you
r
ill-planning and carelessness which
has led the King’s men and the Avalon Society to our door so to speak, the Order has decided to ah, get rid of the trail.”

Lord Crowhurst turned slowly
.
He saw his bastar
d son holding a pistol
.
It
aimed
at
his heart
.
His eyes grew wide
.
“Here now, son
.
You wouldn’t kill you
r
sire, would you
?”
He visibly trembled
as he
saw
the menacing glint in his bastard’s eyes.

Crow squeezed the trigger
.

As Crowhurst crumpled to the floor, Mr. Crow said, “
Yes, I
believe I just did
,
father
.”

Crow stepped over the man’s body and moved aside the picture hanging over the mantle
.
He opened the safe and withdrew two large stacks of notes
and several letters
.
He carefully put them in a pocket inside his coat
.

Crow joined Davitt and the supreme members of the
O
rder outside
.
“There are
no more trail
s
for the King’s men
or the Avalon Society
to follow
where Crowhurst is concerned
.”
Crow smiled
coolly
.
After taking out the Avalon Society’s chief members tonight, he and Davitt would be surely be lifted into the upper spheres of the Knights of the Grand Order
.
The Order
would remain unaware that
he and Davitt plann
ed
their strategy for days
.
Their attack would
appear
effortless and quite ingenious for
what would appear
a spur of the moment decision
.
They were certain their ingenuity would be rewarded with well-paying posts in one of the auxiliary organizations supported by the Order. He and Davitt were weary of scratching out their livings
.
They both preferred a more permanent and lucrative arrangement
.

“Good work, Crow
.
You are to go with Davitt
.
I can spare only
three
Knights
.
Davitt
believes he knows where Glaston and the others are
.
We cannot send a large crowd into a house in
a quiet neighborhood in
London
.
It would draw too much attention
.
We’ve
received
quite enough
attention
already
thanks to your sire
, Crow
.
Seventeen
dead men in brown coats found along the Salisbury road
.
Thirty found in various locations in Somerset and Cornwall before that
.
Nine rotting
in gaol in the last two months
.”
The man shook his graying head ruefully
.

Crow looked to Percy Davitt
.
He s
miled as he gave hi
s
partner
a
small
nod
.

“Wychcombe House
.
It
is a
huge
,
old
Elizabethan
manse
.
It’s in an older
, quiet
er
part of town
.
And none pay it any notice for Lord Chilcompton
, Wincanton’s grandfather,
rarely gets out any more
.
It was brought to my attention that a large party recently arrived at the house
.
Let’s go have a look, shall we
,
Mr.
Crow
?” Percy Davitt said as he
pull
ed
dark gloves onto his hands.

“
Certainly
, Mr. Davitt
.
Good work, sir.
”

Percy Davitt gave Mr. Crow a chilling, almost diabolical smile
.
“Thank you, Mr. Crow
.
Shall we?”

Newt
was dressed tonight as
an old
,
opium addicted sea captain
, one Captain Josiah Smith
.
The
C
apt
a
in
frequented the Jasmine Star
for
the last several days
.
The
coarse
whiskers glued to
Newt’s
face itched
.
He longed to pull them off
.
Two hours and s
till no sign of Mr. Crow
!
Where was the blackguard?
He allowed the pipe to hang limply in his hand as he lounged back against the cushion
.
He peered from beneath the brim of his hat
.
O
ne of the men he knew to be a henchman of Crow’s took the cushion across from him.

“Are you awake, Captain
?”

“What
?
Oh, yes.” Newt felt the distinct change in energy around him
.
He f
elt the warning chills
.
They crept like prickly needles along his shoulders and down his spine
.
He focused and saw the aura around the man s
itting across from him
.
The energy wavered and melded into
dark
,
shifting shades of gr
a
y, black and a putrid green color
.
The man definitely had ill intentions
.

“You said the Plymouth
Lady
was the name of your ship, Captain?”

“Um, yes,
I did, sir.
”

“
I find that quite odd,
Captain
.
I just learned the Plymouth Lady
pulled out yesterday and is
not in London harbor presently
.
Would y
ou care to explain that
?”
The man
produced a pistol from inside his coat and
leveled
it at
Newt.

Newt’s
free hand was
already in his pocket,
clutching his
own
pistol
.
H
e
squeezed
the trigger.
Crow’s henchman
fell face down
and lifeless
upon the cushion
.

“No
,
I do not
care to explain
.
I
never
explain anything.
”
Newt
said as he
jumped to his feet.

The opium den came alive
with activity
.
T
hree or four lost souls
remained
immersed in their
opium
oblivion
despite the chaos erupting around them
.
Three of Crow’s men charged toward
Newt
from the other side of the room
.
Pendarves and Carlyon
rose
from the cushions they lounged upon
, their weapons drawn
.
They
were
disguised
this night
as sailors.

Having heard the shot,
Elveston entered through the back door
.
He fired
upon one
of
the men about to jump Newt
.
Another slumped over,
falling face-down upon the floor,
a
large
knife protruding from his back
.
Cleve Griffith, Lord Templeton
,
stood behind him
near the
front
entrance
.