Lords of Retribution (Lords of Avalon series) (17 page)

“No, though she tried
. Wenna will not talk to Zenny either.”

Trevan proceeded to tell his brother far more than he would have had he been sober
.

“She will come around, Trevan
. You did nothing wrong. You are correct. She was engaged to another man when you visited Miss Dinham. If Father were still here, he would remind you that when you are the Duke, or the son of a Duke, you do not visit such establishments, nor do you pay for your pleasure. There are those who will always pay to know your secrets.”

“I realize that now.” Trevan nodded
. “If I can just get Wenna to come to her senses, it will not ever happen again. Though right now she is
as teazy as an adder
. I still love her, Tremayne.”

Tremayne nodded
. “
Ayce
, you always have. She is your destiny. You have always known you would marry her. Come. Let me get you to your bed, brother. The situation will work itself out.”

Tremayne helped his brother
from his chair.

It was late in the afternoon when Trevan received a letter from Harry. He had met with his Estate Manager earlier and was still in his study pouring over the never-ending paperwork that it seemed plagued a Duke. He read the letter three times. He dismissed his secretary for the day after instructing him what he needed him to take care of in his absence.

He had to go to London
immediately. “Diggory! Tremayne!” Trevan leaned out the study door and shouted.

Tremayne entered the study first
. “What is it? Have you killed the vicar?” His green-gold eyes sparkled mischievously.

“No,” Trevan shook his head
. “Unfortunately, that will have to wait for a week or two. There is trouble. I must meet Harry and the others in London. The Brown Coats have taken a child and unless we original members of the Avalon Society bring what they want to the Jasmine Star in London, they will kill her. They claim to have infiltrated all of our homes by way of servants. They threaten to kill our women, children and family members if we do not meet their demands. I need you to be in charge here while I go to London. It appears the child is of Fitzlewis and the recently widowed Lady Marston from four years ago, though he did not know a babe resulted from their union before her marriage to Marston.

Tremayne frowned,
“These Brown Coats have threatened our women and children, our families? Of course, you can count on me to stay at Menadue. I will write letters at once to summon more family and friends to join us here. You must take at least thirty with you. Stop in Devon and collect Lord Glaston’s family, our brother Tristan, cousin Julyan and their men. That will give you over forty,” Tremayne said.

“That’s exactly what I planned to do,
Tremayne. May I remind you, I am no longer foxed. I do not need you to advise me.” Trevan grinned as he rolled his eyes.

Tremayne laughed.
“I’ll try to remember that,
brether
.”

Diggory, the b
utler, was a large and muscular man in his fifties. What hair he had left was on the lower portion of his head and was as white as snow. “Your Grace?”

“I’m traveling to
Devon and then on to London. I need supplies for about forty persons. We’ll need a wagon or two.”

“When are you leaving, Your Grace?”

“When can the supplies, wagons and horses be ready?”

“Were you wanting to leave today, Your Grace?”
Diggory asked calmly.

“Yes.
As soon as can be.”

Diggory thought for a moment
. “Will three hours be sufficient?”

“
Yes, it will have to do. Have Thompson pack my clothes. I will need traveling and London attire.” Trevan rose and left his study.

“Who is it?” Wenna asked.

“Trevan.”

“Oh.” Wenna wished now she had bathed already. She hoped Trevan would come to her. She hadn’t felt well upon rising and returned to her bed for several hours more. Currently she was waiting for a tub to be brought up. She was certain she looked a fright. She was still in her gown and wrapper with her hair a tumble down her back. She opened the door.

“I must speak with you,
Wenna. I must go to London. I’m leaving within the hour,” Trevan said softly.

“Why are you going to London?”
Wenna tried not to sound alarmed at the news.

“The Brown Coats have kidnapped a three year old child, the daughter of my friend, Owen.”

“The Earl of Fitzlewis? I did not know he had a daughter, or that he was even married. He generally only brings his sister to Cornwall when he visits.”

“Um, it’s a complicated story
. I shall tell you the entirety of it upon my return. Since I am limited on time, I would prefer to talk to you about
our
situation. Before I leave, I want to know where we stand, Wenna.”

“Ah, so you can visit the houses of ill-repute while you are in London in case you are a free man?” Wenna regretted the words the instant they came from her mouth
. Why had she said such a thing? Was it her damned pride? Was it because she still ached inside at the thought of Trevan being intimate with another woman? A prostitute at that. She watched Trevan’s gaze harden. “I – Trevan…”

Trevan cut off her
attempt at an apology, “I do not have time for silly arguments, Wenna. The women, children and families of the Avalon Society Members have been threatened. The Brown Coats have been infiltrating the homes of our members through servants. Harry, myself, and some of the other founding members are to bring some of the Glastonbury finds to exchange for Owen’s daughter.” He didn’t want to say it, but he did, “We believe they intend to kill the senior members of the Avalon Society when we deliver what they want.” He watched her carefully and saw her eyes grow wide with fear.

“You must not go!”
Wenna commanded.

“I have to, Wenna
. Tremayne is staying here at Menadue. My men and I will stop in Devon at Eveleigh Park to collect Harry and Lyons family, Tristan, Julyan and their men. We will number over forty. Harry and the others number twenty-one. I cannot tell anyone where I am staying. If you need to reach me, give your message to Tremayne. Do not leave the house, and for now, you should not trust the servants, with the exception of Diggory and Mrs. Moon.”

Wenna nodded.
“Be careful, Trevan,” she whispered softly. Tears stung her eyes.

“Where do we stand, Wenna?” Trevan implored
. “Are we still betrothed? I must know before I go.”

Trevan’s heart ached when he saw how sad his question made Wenna
. She began to cry. He had already noticed the deep, dark circles beneath her eyes. He wanted to hold her, to comfort her, but he could not allow himself to do so.

She shook her head
. “I still cannot think about that. I’m having a difficult t-time with this.” A sob escaped her.

“What of the vicar
? Are you still considering him?”

Wenna began sobbing
. Why was Trevan making things so difficult? “I – I don’t know what I am doing!” she spat angrily then sobbed harder.

Trevan stiffened then
. “I am obviously making things worse for you, Wenna, I will go. I will talk to you upon my return. If it is safe when I return to Menadue, you may return to Callywith.” Trevan turned and left the room. He didn’t intend to do it, but the door slammed shut behind him.

Once again, Wenna collapsed into tears.
What was wrong with her? Why could she not get through this? She loved Trevan, didn’t she?

..

Two days later Morva found Wenna and Senny in the tiny parlour. Wenna had stayed with her sister most of the time since Trevan’s departure.

“There you two are!” Morva smiled as she entered the room
. “Senny, Elowen was looking for you. She needs help with something in the morning parlour.”

Sen
ny smiled and rose. “I will go to her, Aunt Morva.” She paused to kiss Morva’s cheek and hurried from the room leaving Morva and Wenna alone. Morva followed Senny to the door. Instead of leaving the room, she closed the door and turned to face Wenna.

Wenna looked to Morva from where she sat on the window seat
.

“Wenna, you look miserable
. You’ve been moping around for days. You won’t talk to anyone. I was hoping you would come to me, but this has gone on long enough. If your dear mother were still with us, I am certain she would have spoken with you before now. I promised her when she became ill that I would always be there for you and your siblings. I intend to keep my promise. I think it’s time we talk.”

Wenna nodded
. Her eyes misted with tears. “Did Trevan tell you, Aunt Morva?”

“Yes, dear, he did.
” Morva came and sat beside Wenna. She patted her hand. “I know how hard it is to accept that Trevan was with another woman.”

Wenna nodded
. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “It’s all I can think about. I know I was engaged to John at the time, but now I realize I never loved John. I’ve always loved Trevan. I was hurt, ‘tis the only reason I agreed to marry John.”

“
I’m going to tell you something that I’ve only told but three of my children, Wenna. When Thomas and I married, his father was still the Duke. Shortly after Trevan was born, Thomas’s father passed suddenly, much like my dear Thomas did eighteen months ago. Up until that time, my husband devoted much time to me. When he took on the role of the duke, everything changed. It seemed the only time we ever spoke privately for any length of time was in the bedchamber.”

Morva continued with a sigh, “
Tremayne was born two years later, and I was kept very busy running this house, seeing to all of our people’s needs and raising my children. When Thomas’ duties started keeping him up later and he would have to rise earlier, he suggested I sleep in the lady’s chamber so I could get my rest. He said he was worried because I looked so tired.”

“At first I believed it was because
he loved me, but as time passed and he came to me less and less, I started to think he no longer loved or wanted me as he once did. I became quite jealous. Instead of talking to him and telling him how I felt, I distanced myself. I wanted him to hurt, to feel my loss. It didn’t quite work the way I wanted it to.”

Morva sighed, “
Two years passed with him being hurt and wondering why I had turned away from him and why I no longer loved him. During that time, he found solace in the arms of another woman for s short time. He did not love her. He was hurting and left wondering what he had done to drive me away.”

“
I learned then, when a man’s heart is broken, he loses a great deal. His manhood is threatened. He must prove to himself that he still has power and that he matters. I did not know of Thomas’ indiscretions until the woman showed up at the servant’s entrance with her newborn babe that resulted from her brief affair with my husband. She was poor, and ill. The birth had been difficult. I brought her into my house and cared for her until she died. The babe was Tristan…”

Wenna looked to
Morva in shock. “Tristan?”

Morva wiped a tear from her cheek
. “I named him. I cared for him as I would my own, for he
was
Thomas’s child. I love him as much as I love all the others. Upon the death of his natural mother, he became my son. I realized I had forced Thomas into the arms of another woman. He did neglect me, but it was never intentional on his part. I think you already know the Chynoweth men take their responsibilities very seriously.”

Wenna nodded slowly.

Morva took a deep breath and continued. “After the woman, her name was Mary, arrived with the babe, Thomas and I talked. We really talked. We didn’t argue. We realized we loved one another, had both been wrong and we worked to put things to rights as best we could. From that point forward we made certain that we told the other of our love and how much we meant to each other; even if circumstances kept us from spending time together.”

Morva smiled.
“Our relationship strengthened after that. In time, I forgot about him turning to another woman. I focused only on what we had. Before Thomas died, we told Trevan, Tremayne and Tristan of the nature of Tristan’s birth. He was treated just like my other sons here, at Menadue. The true nature of his birth, legally, would have prevented him from being accepted by society as a member of the family. Yet, we baptized him as ours, the vicar never even questioned his birth and wrote me in as his mother as with all my other children. The church records state he is my son. None hereabouts have ever questioned the circumstances of his birth. The way everything turned out was in Tristan’s favor.”

Morva added,
“It’s why Great Aunt Demelza and her husband William, Thomas’ uncle by marriage, chose Tristan to inherit his Viscountcy. Technically, it should have gone to Tremayne as the second son, but he waived the inheritance so Tristan might have it. They all wanted to make certain Tristan truly felt a part of this family.” Morva removed her handkerchief and wiped at her tears.