Honor Reclaimed (All About Honor) (34 page)

The ladies quickly changed Eirian
into a dry gown and got her back into bed while the men stayed with John as he
dressed and prepared to go in search of his child.
 
He would stay only long enough to speak with Eirian and for
the doctor to arrive and further sedate her.

Thomas and Galen would accompany him
to Usk.
 
He would force the truth
out of Sir William because in his heart of hearts he knew that he was behind
the abduction.
 
He had never
forgiven John for the death of his son and would go to any extreme to seek
revenge.
 
John was willing to go to
any extreme to make him confess and reveal the truth.
 
He did not think Sir William would condone the death of an
innocent child.
 
In his own strange
and convoluted way, he had not been over cruel when he abducted Elle.
 
He had used her, and allowed his sons
to use her, for a purpose, but he would not allow them to cause her additional
unnecessary pain or degradation.
 
He prayed that he had not hardened in the years since then as he saw his
fortune crumble around him.
 
John’s
uncle and Andrew’s father had succeeded in bankrupting him.
 
His son Jacob, who had been charged by
his father to return Elle without further damage, but who had raped her again
and then sold her into prostitution, was found with his throat slit.
 
Although John did not know for sure, he
suspected that it was not a coincidence.
 
He felt sure that Sir William must have known as well.
 
John just hoped he had enough humanity
left not to take it out on an innocent child.

Eirian came slowly to her
senses.
 
When she awakened John was
at her side.
 
“John, I am so
sorry.
 
I did not mean to add to
your burden.
 
I just could not
stand the pain anymore.
 
I am
better now.
 
Please tell me your
plan.”

Eirian was showing the first signs
of life in weeks.
 
She had some
slight color to her cheeks and an inkling of interest in life.

John did share his plan and he could
see that in doing so he encouraged her to have a seed of hope that she would
one day regain her child, or at least gain some knowledge of what happened to
her.
 
Just knowing, even if it were
the worst of news would help her to deal with going on with her life.
 
It was the not knowing that was more
than she would stand.
 

Aislinn and Gwen would take turns
watching over her.
 
Someone would
remain with her at all times both day and night and someone would be posted
outside her door every night so that she did not wander off again when her
attendant slept with her at night.

Eirian tried to assure everyone that
it would not be necessary to watch over her all the time, but the memory of her
standing so close to death would not allow them to take any chances.
 
Eirian was ashamed, but she accepted
their care with as much grace as she could muster.

She continued to be restless, pacing
and worrying, but it was with a more acceptable level.
 
She took greater pains with her
appearance, bathing and dressing each morning and allowing Aislinn and Gwen to
assist Joan in dressing her hair and occasionally apply a little rogue to add
color to her pale face.

John was not only anxious to
retrieve his daughter, but he was anxious to complete his mission and get home
to watch over Eirian.
 
If he
returned with Sarah, he knew that Eirian would gain a full recovery.
 
If he did not, he only hoped that
knowing what happened to her would be of some comfort to his wife.

It was decided that they would
arrive at Usk incognito.
 
They
wanted to catch Sir William unawares, before he had a chance to send Sarah into
hiding if she was indeed his captive.
 

They registered at the inn with
false names and let it be known that they were there on business as agents for
a large plantation owner from Virginia, seeking to improve his stock with the
well-known excellence of stock from Sir William’s estate.
 
The thoroughbred horses he raised were
among the best breeding stock in all of the British Isles.
 
His cattle were the same.
 
Sir William had worked hard trying to
rebuild his fortune, and a sale of this size could be his financial
salvation.
 
They were certain that
it would be enough of a temptation to gain them an audience with the old man.

John had trouble controlling his
breathing as he awaited admittance to the manor the next morning.
 
He was taken back to see a black wreath
hung on the front door indicating that someone in the family had recently
passed away.
 
John hoped that the
lure of a hefty profit would be enough to entice the old man to see him despite
the fact that they were in mourning.
 

The door was
answered by a rather shabbily dressed servant
.
 
John stepped forward and spoke for the group, “We have come
to speak to Sir William on a matter of business.
 
I can see that the family is in mourning and I hesitate to
intrude, but time is of essence and I must presume to intrude.
 
Please make our presence known to your
master.
 
We need to speak to Sir
William as soon as possible.”

“I am afraid sir that your request
is impossible”, the man informed John and his party.

“Excuse me my good man, it is not up
to you to determine weather or not your master wishes to see me.
 
You will take our request to him
immediately.”
 
John was having
trouble containing
himself
.

“You are correct sir, it is not up
to me, but God, the ruler of all things, deemed it impossible when he took my
master home two nights hence.
 
If
you would care to meet with his heir, my new master, after a decent period of
mourning, I will be glad to make your presence known.
 
I refuse to intrude on his mourning at this time.”
 
Even dressed as shabbily as he was,
this servant was obviously a man of pride.

Upon learning of the death of his
nemesis, John, not being prepared, literally staggered backwards from the shock
and disappointment.
 
He wanted to
argue and to beg if necessary, but Thomas stepped forward and put a restraining
hand on John’s arm.
 
“We offer our
deepest sympathies.
 
We will await
a response at the inn in the village until Friday.
 
Please inform Sir William’s heir that it would be in his
best interest if he can find it in his ability to spare us some time.
 
Our client is a man of almost unlimited
means and he is set on improving his breeding stock.
 
He would prefer to purchase it from your master, but we do
have other options.
 
Will you give
him this message?”

“Of course sir, I am sure you will
hear from him before that time”.
 
The thread bare condition of the man’s livery and the almost bare entry
hall spoke to the dire financial straits that the late Sir William had found
himself in.

John slumped against Thomas after
the door closed in their faces.
 
He
had built himself up to such a state in anticipation of at long last retrieving
his child.
 
Even a slight delay in
their plans was almost overwhelming.
 
“John, do not loose hope.
 
If she is here we will find her.
 
Let us return to the inn before we draw undo attention and spoil all of
our chances to recover her.”

John knew Thomas was right and he
quickly pulled himself together.
 
They did not notice the lone man watching them from the window as they
remounted and turned to retrace their path.
 

Sir David, oldest living son of Sir
William, realized that something about these uninvited intruders sparked a
memory.
 
He knew he had seen these
men before, but he was having trouble placing where.
 
It would come to him he was sure.
 
When the footman delivered their message he almost forgot
his suspicion in his greed to retrieve some profit from his newly inherited,
greatly indebted estate.
 
He would
wait a day, perhaps two to respond to their request for an audience.
 
He did not want to appear too anxious
and spoil his chance at a good profit.

John, Thomas, and Galen went out of
their way to befriend the people of the village.
 
They were free with their offers to buy drinks for the
locals hoping to loosen some tongues with liquor and perhaps gain some piece of
valuable information.

It did not take long to find out
that all four of Sir William’s sons had disappeared for several days about five
weeks previous.
 
It was unusual
that they would all be gone at one time especially with Sir William in such
fragile health and not expected to live much longer.
 
They could find no one who actually saw them return, and
there was, however, no mention of them returning with a child in tow.
 
It was promising to say the least, but
it was not full proof evidence.
 

The waiting was almost unbearable
for John.
 
He wanted to march back
to the manor and beat the truth out of Sir David who he now understood was the
new lord of the manor.
 
He
regretted that he was too late to seek his revenge on the evil old man.
 
He gladly would have hung for the
pleasure of putting an end to his worthless existence.
 
God, with his perverse sense of humor,
denied him that pleasure.
 
Lord he
wanted this over.

The messenger finally arrived late
in the afternoon of the second day.
 
They were requested to return to the manor the following morning to
inspect the stock and to see if they could come to a mutually profitable
conclusion.
 

They arrived at the appointed time,
hoping not to appear unusually anxious and alert Sir David before they could
confront him with their accusations.

They were quickly shown to Sir
David’s office where he was immediately aware that his first impression was
correct, “How can I be of service to you gentlemen this morning.”
 
He knew these men and it would come to
him soon who they were, “I was told that you were interested in possibly
purchasing some of my finest breeding stock, but I believe that you are here on
other business.
 
Will you make your
true identities known to me now or do I have to wait until it eventually comes
to me, which it will shortly.”
 
He
was a man of average intelligence, but he was shrewd.

“Let me present myself.
 
I am John Lewis, of Llanthony
Priory.
 
This is my cousin Sir Thomas
Lewis, of the Vann, and my brother in-law Sir Galen Lewis, of Severn
Manor.
 
We are here to retrieve my
daughter who you and your brother’s abducted some six weeks hence.”
 
John could not believe how calmly he
was able to state his demands.

The men saw first fear, then greed,
light
Sir David’s eyes.
 
“I could waste both of our times and deny that I know what
you are talking about, but I will not.
 
I assume that you are not here to buy stock, for which I am terribly
disappointed.
 
I was counting on
the profit of that sale to recoup my fortunes.
 
Perhaps not all is lost.
 
I think we can make a deal that will benefit us both.”
 
Greed won out.

“I will pay you well for the return
of my child.”
 
John assured him.

“You must first agree not to pursue
legal action against my family for abducting her.
 
After that we may come to an agreement on the ransom.” Sir
David demanded.

At this point John would have agreed
to anything, “Agreed.
 
State the
amount of your ransom and it will be paid.”
 
John was willing to bankrupt himself if necessary.

“Five thousand pounds, upfront”, Sir
David countered.

“Done.
 
I will sign a note this instance, but first show me my
child”, John demanded.

“That is impossible.
 
She is not here.”
 
Sir David could feel the beads of sweat
gathering on his forehead.
 
He was
afraid he had over played his hand.

“Then you can contact me when she
is.” John tried to hide his overwhelming disappointment.

“It is not that easy.
 
If you will pay me two thousand upfront
I will tell you where you can find her.
 
Surely you did not think we would be so foolish as to hide
her here did you?”
 
A little bead
of sweat trickled down his cheek.