Surrender the Wind (34 page)

Flushed with insult, Darden stepped forward. His eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted. “How dare you walk into my house unannounced. What is the meaning of this?”

“I’ve come for my wife,” Seth told him. “Where is she?”

Darden stared back at Seth a moment and laughed. “Are you mad? She's not here, but buried in the churchyard.”

The desire to take Darden by the throat and shake the truth out of him surged through Seth, but he held back his hand. “She's alive and was seen with you in your coach after Ten Width was set afire.”

Darden turned to his guest. “It appears Mr. Braxton has played the fool. It is commonly known Yankees possess a gullible nature.”

“Fools are blind to the truth,” Seth exclaimed.

“It was not Juleah anyone saw. The woman in the coach was Miss Lovelace here. I do not have to answer to you, Braxton.” Darden put his hands on the table and glared at Seth with an insolence that was intolerable.

Miss Lovelace's eyes pooled with sympathy. “It is true that I sit and wait, while he has his ale, Mr. Braxton. The tavern is hardly a place for a woman to take her leisure. I can assure you, your wife is not here, nor has she ever been inside Edward's coach. That is a privilege left to me.”

For a moment, doubt flooded Seth and his heart sank to the soles of his feet. Determined, he shook it off and turned out the door.

Darden spread his hands outward. “Search every room and you’ll not find her.”

Seth glanced back over his shoulder. Unconcerned and bored, Darden sat back down and lifted his glass. “I could shoot you for coming into my house the way you did, and the law would say nothing. A man has that right. So, I suggest you leave before I take your life.”

Miss Lovelace took a gentle but desperate hold of Darden's arm. “Let him go, Edward. Obviously, he has not accepted his wife's death. Let him look, and when he has not found her, he shall be forced to accept the truth that she is dead and gone.”

Darden set his glass down. “She's right, Braxton. It may be the only way to be rid of you. Since I am a gentleman and we are no longer at war with one another, I’ll concede to her request.”

Seth stepped forward and faced his enemy. “Ah, but you are wrong. We are at war, you and I.”

Darden huffed and called for his manservant. “Escort the squire of Ten Width through the house, Habbinger.”

Habbinger looked confused. “May I ask why, sir?”

“He's in search of a ghost. Can you handle that?”

With a nod, Habbinger picked up a candle and led Seth upstairs. Seth called Juleah's name. He stood in the gloom and waited to hear her answer, but no reply came. From room to room, he searched for her. He found two bedchambers lit by candles in sconces. The beds were made, the rooms plain. A decorative tower graced the west wing, and when Seth climbed the winding stairs and pushed open an oaken door, he found a void space. Mice stirred and scurried off upon his sudden presence.

The cellar proved no different from the rest of the house. Dusty wine bottles sat in racks covered in cobwebs. A few ale casks sat on the dirt floor among a few old pieces of discarded furniture. The air within smelled of age, musty and damp, and cold as a tomb.

“There's no one here,” said Habbinger.

Seth did not like the tone of the servant's voice, for it smacked of mockery. “You don’t remember seeing any woman other than the one your master is presently entertaining?”

“No,” he replied. “Besides, the master is rarely at home. He's been away in London for several weeks with Miss Lovelace. There's been no one here save for myself. If you don’t mind me saying so, the house has been as quiet as a grave.”

Frowning at his words, Seth turned away and stood in the dark. He felt alone and defeated and wondered what he had done. His belief that Juleah lived slipped away. He had searched Crown Cove from top to bottom and there was no sign of her. Bonnecker's information was mere words and speculation. The old seadog could not identify the woman in the coach.

Seth's love for Juleah, and the unwillingness to let her go, had caused him to run from the king's law and play the fool in front of his nemesis. For all his efforts, he found a courtesan
at Crown Cove, who claimed to be the woman in Darden's coach while he paused at the tavern. Grief rose anew within his heart, pulsed through him like a raging current, and swept away all his hopes.

“You have my apology,” he said, facing Darden alone in the hall.

Darden smiled from one corner of his mouth. “Perhaps you should return to that rebellious country of yours and lick your wounds.”

With his teeth clenched, Seth strode out into the misty night. His heart ached and his soul reached for solace as he rode off at a slow pace. He uttered the words out loud to accept what he wanted to deny.

“She is gone.”

O
nce more, Seth reached the hilltop, then the gruesome gibbet. He rode past it with thunder in his heart, reached the precipice that loomed above the sea, reined in his horse, and stared out at the foamy tide that washed over the moonlit shore. Anguish weighed upon him and dragged him down in the saddle. The tranquil sea was peaceful no longer. Moonlight turned dull and grim, and the moors and cliffs appeared barren. Above him, the stars were no longer bright lights of heaven. They were swallowed by somber blackness dark as a tomb.

He turned the horse back to the road and paced him. His desire to leave Ten Width and return to Virginia was a certainty. But for the moment he needed a sanctuary, a hiding place, until he could steal away without Latterbuck nipping at his heels.

He entered his father-in-law's house, went up the stairs toward an unused room. He could not bear to return to Ten Width, to stay in the place he had shared with his wife, where he had held her in his arms and made love to her. Her scent would be on the pillow, the sense of her would permeate every inch of the room.

Quietly he shut the door behind him. Weary in body and mind, he slumped into the armchair drawn before a cold and blackened hearth and shut his eyes. Juleah was gone, and he was left behind to bear the years without her.
How long, Lord? How long?

He covered his face with his hands. Then the passion of tears poured out of him until he slept. He would accept whatever plans the Almighty had for him and take whatever bend in the road he would be led to tread.

The next morning, the din of galloping horses jolted him awake. He stood, strode to the window, and peered out. A coach and four rumbled down the drive.

The horses slowed and were brought to a standstill. A figure stepped down from the driver's perch, and then someone pounded with force upon the front door. Seth picked up his pistol and headed downstairs. The household stirred. Feet pattered over the floor above him.

A man dressed in a forest-green coat stood outside on the threshold. “Permit me, sir. Is Seth Braxton here? It is of the utmost importance.”

Seth eyed the stranger with caution. “Who asks?”

“I’m Sir Charles Kenley's gentleman servant. Sir Charles and Lady Kenley sit within his coach and wish to speak to the squire.”

Seth glanced at the coat of arms, of rearing steed and stag, mace and sword, upon the coach door. He hurried down the steps and approached the window. Sir Charles moved forward to reveal himself.

“We have come to warn you. Latterbuck is on his way here.”

Seth ordered himself to be calm.

“He thinks I am dead, Sir Charles.”

“Apparently not, lad. I was told Captain Darden came to see him this morning and informed Constable
Dunderhead
that you had barged into Crown Cove last night, raving mad, and insisted that you search his house for your late wife.”

“Indeed it is true. I had to see for myself, Sir Charles. I found nothing for my pains. Why would Latterbuck intrude upon you?”

“My lady and I were on our way to visit, after your sister had sent us word that the family was abiding at Henry Chase until such time Ten Width was livable again. We wished to come and extend our condolences. We understood the funeral was private.”

A muscle in Seth's cheek jerked, and he raised his hand out to her ladyship. “It was, sir. It was kind of you to travel so far, so won’t you come inside?”

Sir Charles shook his head. “You must understand, Seth. Latterbuck stopped us on the road, not more than three miles from here.”

“Near Ten Width.”

“Indeed, yes. He said he was headed there first. He dared to demand my lady disembark with me and to search my coach. The imbecile.”

Seth shifted on his feet and frowned. “I had guessed word would reach him soon enough that I had been to Crown Cove, but not this soon.”

He stepped away, with his fists clenched at his side. “I’ll face him. I am no coward. My mind is clearer. I’ll not run this time.”

At this, Sir Charles stepped firmly from his coach. “Indeed you will not face him, unless you like the feel of hemp about your throat. You must leave at once.”

Seth's heart galloped so hard that for a moment he could not utter a word. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Michael and Caroline standing in the doorway. Concern shadowed their faces.

Seth turned back to Sir Charles. “I am not sure where to go, Sir Charles. But go I shall.”

“I know of a ship headed for America.” With his expression going from worry to relief, Sir Charles pushed open the coach door.
“The Reliance
is a stout vessel and her captain an honorable man. He’ll see you safe to Virginia, for you can no longer stay in England.”

Virginia. Home.

Seth shook his head. “I don’t know what to say, Sir Charles, except to offer my thanks.”

“Say nothing except your farewells to your family. Let us waste no more time.”

With haste, Seth kissed his sister's cheek, wet with tears. He looked into her jade eyes, saw understanding, and then embraced her. After clasping Michael's hand, he hurried into the foyer brightened with morning light. He bid farewell to Sir Henry, and when he looked into his eyes, it occurred to him he might never see the old man again.

“We shall tell the children that you have been called away on an adventure, Seth. Write to us soon,” said Sir Henry. Seth thanked him.

After he kissed the cheek of his mother-in-law, he pulled on his hat and stepped out.

“Seth!” Caroline hurried to him and fell into his arms, tearful. “Seth, how I shall miss you! Please … be careful.”

He handed her back to her husband and climbed inside Sir Charles's chaise. The driver cracked his whip over the heads of the horses and set them at a canter. Louder grew the breath of wind across the moors, the beat of the horses mingling with the turn of coach wheels.

“Thank the Almighty for the lack of rain.” Sir Charles peered out at the open sky. “Otherwise the roads would be difficult.”

Seth, too, peered out. “Latterbuck's pursuit will be easier too.”

Sir Charles laid an assuring hand over Seth's shoulder. “My driver knows this route well. He’ll get you through. Steel your courage.”

“Courage I lack not, Sir Charles. It is the idea of leaving her. Not even the chance to visit her grave … and losing the chance to clear my name.”

“You mustn’t think of that. She’d want you to flee for your life, Seth.”

They had driven out as far as a mile when the coachman called back, “Riders in the rear, Sir Charles!”

“Let the horses loose,” Sir Charles ordered.

The canter picked up to a full gallop over the high road that led toward the Devonshire coast. Seth reached inside his coat, drew out his pistol, and set the barrel on the window frame.

“When we reach the shore, you’ll be let out,” Sir Charles said. “A skiff will be waiting to take you out to the ship. Tell them Sir Charles has sent you. I’ll delay Latterbuck if he should stop me. I wish you well.”

The coach rolled to a stop and Seth jumped out. With no time to speak his thanks or say farewell, he leapt over the crumbling Roman wall and went on a way before crouching
behind a hedgerow. With concern, he peeked over the edge and watched the horsemen surround the coach.

“Constable, fancy seeing you twice in one day,” he heard Sir Charles say.

Latterbuck's voice rose above the wind. “Didn’t you notice we were in pursuit?”

“My coachman is not attentive.”

Latterbuck moved closer to the window. “Why did he pause?”

“Must I explain to you of all my business? It is my stomach, sir. The roll of the coach, you see. You stopped us once already. I insist this is the last time!”

Latterbuck set his fist against his lips and stifled a belch. “I’ve been to Ten Width and found Seth Braxton is not there. No one at Henry Chase seems to have seen him. His family had nothing of significance to tell. I surmise he is in hiding.”

“I have no advice to give you, Constable,” Sir Charles said. “Good-bye.”

Seth waited with his breath heaving. Once he heard the coach roll off and the horses gallop on, he slipped away from the hedgerow and hurried down a steep embankment of trees that met the shore.

Through the fog, he spied a pair of men waiting beside a small rowboat. Silently, they motioned to him to climb in, then pushed off into the sea. He stared back at the land, and loneliness swept over him. The salty breeze caressed his face. The wind rose and rushed through the darkness as the skiff mounted and fell over the swells.