Lords of Honor (85 page)

Gabriel
’s gaze bore into
her
s
for a long moment
.
“What I need to know from you, is what choice you
make
, Madame
.
If you attempt to call for help when I remove my hand from your mouth, my friend here, will slice your throat and gut you immediately
.
So you see, Madame, you have not two, but three choices.”

August
held up a wicked knife that
measured
about a foot long
.
He moved it to rest against her throat
.

Gabriel removed his hand
.

“What do you want to know
, St. Mabyn
?”

“Tell me about, Mr. Crow
.
Lord
Crowhurst
.
The Knights of the Brown Orde
r
.
Everything
you know.
”

“I can’t believe Harry went into such a dangerous situation without telling me.” Rowena wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief Micah gave her moments earlier.

“Rowena, you’ve known for some time now that Harry is in charge of the Avalon Society.
” Micah said calmly
.
“
We are trying to end this Brown Coat business as soon as can be, for
all our s
afety
, but especially for the safety of our wives and families
.
Harry is terribly concerned
for yours, and all of the women’s safety
.
When he found out you carried his child, he worried even more, Rowena
.
He did not want you to
distress yourself
in your condition
.
That is why he did not tell you,” Micah explained again
.

“We, none of us wanted any of you to worry, ladies
.
That is why we didn’t tell any of you.” Lyon said as he faced the perturbed ladies of the household
.
His wife, mother
and
sister, along with the ladies of Harry’s household,
and
Libby and Grace
all
glared
at him
.
Harry’s brother, George, stood behind them
.

“Perhaps you can all go back to bed and try to get some sleep?” Micah suggested
calmly
.

“Oh, I could not sleep
.
I’m
far
too
anxious
about
my husband’s safety
.
” Rowena shook her head
.
She wrung her hands together.

“I’ll make some tea.”
Libby
suggested
.

Micah nodded
.

“I’ll come with you.” Sophia offered.

“Take Tristan
or Charlie
with you
.
They’re
right outside the door
,
”
Micah instructed.

Libby nodded.

When Libby and Sophia reached the top of the stairs, they looked about
.
The
re was no sign of
Tristan
or Charlie
yet
.

“Micah said to take Tristan
or Charlie
,
”
Sophia said hesitantly.

“They were not in the
hallway
.
Perhaps they are making their rounds,” Libby offered
.

“It’s not far to the kitchen
.
The sooner we get Rowena calmed down, the s
ooner we can all go back to bed,
” Sophia
reasoned
.

Libby nodded, yet hesitated to go down.

They
both
peered
down the
shadowy
stairs as they heard a noise from somewhere beyond the
dark gloom
of the entry hall
.
The
y
could see nothing for the downstairs was
engulfed
in
shadow
ed gloom
.

“Tristan?” Libby called
.

“
Charlie
?” Sophia called down
.

“Yes?”

It was a short reply, but Libby and Sophia both breathed easier
and headed down the stairs
.

“Why do you suppose they are walking about down here in
t
he dark?” Sophia whispered as she
linked
her arm with Libby’s when
they entered the corridor beyond the entry hall
.

A horrible feeling came over Libby
.
She swore she could feel the yellow-haired man’s energy
.
Near her
!
She gasped
.
She pushed Sophia’s arm
from hers
.
“Go back upstairs, Sophia
.
Tell Micah and Lyon there is something terribly wrong
.
Run!”

Sophia turned and ran
.

Libby heard her friend cry out
.
She
turned
to see the dark form
of
a man
overtaking Sophia and wrestling
with
her in
dimness of the
ent
ry hall
beyond
.
Libby started to move in that direction to help
her
when something
hard came down
on top of her head
.

She felt the searing pain, felt her knees buckle and crumpled to the floor
.

Libby opened her eyes
.
Even in
the murky darkness
she could make out the pale yellow hair of the man who
knelt beside
her
.
She tried to sit up, but
was forced back down as his
hand
pushed
roughly against
her chest
.
Her head swam
.
She must have blacked out
.
For how long?
She started to scream – then
recalled the details
her nightmare
.
She realized
at that moment
, as she
began to take
in her surroundings
,
she
was in
the long gallery
.
He must have pulled her in there
.
In the darkness
the place
looked
and felt
very familiar to her
.
It was t
he place of Micah’s death in her dream
!
Fear paralyzed her
.
She felt her heart pounding
.
She could not call her husband to his death
.
Think
!
Think
!
Had Sophia made it upstairs
?
She remembered
hearing
Sophia
cry out and
seeing another man
wrestling with her
.
She d
oubted
Sophia made it past him
.

“Lady Wincanton
.
What a surprise
.
What, no scream
ing
?
I was rather counting on
you, you see
.
So your husband could rush into the
darkness
and
into
my
awaiting
knife
.”
Davitt held up his knife.

Though
Libby
feared he
intended to
cut her again, she
remained silent.

“I owe you a litt
le favor anyway
, Lady Wincanton
.
I promised you a good romp, and told you I would make you scream when last we met on Cadbury Hill
, remember
?
I’ll just have to make
good on my promise this time
.”

He
moved to
straddl
e
her
.
Long
,
hard fingers
captured both her wrists and held them above her head
with one hand
.
His legs
already
pinned hers
.
She recalled that he
seemed
injured and moved stiffly on Cadbury
.
Perhaps she could hurt him enough to get away.
But how
?
He held her arms and her legs were pinned.

His free hand moved to the fall of his trousers
.

No
!
God no!
S
he remembered two things
.
First she
call
ed
the Angel
,
Archangel Michael, I need your help now
!
Secondly, she remembered she could connect
with Gabriel Chynoweth
.
Gabriel
was with the others
.
Gabriel could warn Micah
.
Perhaps she could
even
warn Micah
with her mind
?

She closed her eyes and inside her mind, she screamed for Gabriel
.
Gabriel
!
Gabriel
!
Davitt is her
e
with
another man
.
They have me and Sophia
!
Gabriel, are you there
?
Please come
.
He intends to kill Micah!
Gabriel
!
You must warn Micah!
Quickly please
!
Gabriel
?

Micah, Percy Davitt is here in the Long Gallery
.
He means to kill you
!
Micah?

Gabriel climbed into the carriage
behind
his cousins
August and Arthur after
the men from Scotland Yard
and one of the King’s Advisors
took Madame Rosier away
.
They
received enough
information
to take down Crow and Crowhurst. Madame Rosier kept impeccable records
.
They had names of a couple of
men who
m she believed to be
Knights, but
were
not their leader
.
Madame Rosier swore she did not know
hi
s
identity
.

Gabriel
smiled
.
This was
nearly
finished
.
They still needed to find Davitt
.

Gabriel heard a woman call his name
.
He shook his head
.
It was nearly three in the morning
.
T
he streets
of London
were
nearly
empty
, as it was late in the season
and most of the ton were now
retired to their country houses
.
He peered out both windows anyway, just to make certain
.

He heard it again
.
This time
it was
louder
and
clearer
.
It was Libby
!
He closed his eyes
and entered the
in-between
.
Libby lay in darkness, the white of her nightrail stark against the dark gloom
.
He watched as
Percy
Davitt wrapped his fingers in Libby’s bodice and rent her
nightdress
in two
.
“Scream for your husband, Lady Wincanton!”