Lords of Honor

by K. R. Richards

  What Micah wouldn’t do for this; for a lifetime with Libby.

  ..

  “Harry, your mother and brother, George, are at Eveleigh Park with Caroline. You must cease worrying about Tristan Chynoweth being there. He and his men are guarding your family. Your mother and George will make certain things don’t go too far between Tristan and Caroline.”

  “Rowena, my love, you know I worry about Caroline. She is young yet, and Tristan is no innocent. Quite far from it, as I’ve told you before.”

  “Harry, if Caroline falls in love with Tristan, and he her, what can you do about it?”

  Harry grimaced. “We must change the subject. I can’t think about them falling in love, Rowena.”

  “Very well, Harry. I will change the subject. Poor Sophia!” Rowena shook her head. “No wonder she could not come down to dinner. She must be devastated. She so wanted to make things right between Lyon and herself, and now this.”

  “Rowena, you shouldn’t concern yourself with the business of others, I’ve told you many times,” Harry whispered into her ear as his fingers traveled slowly down the naked front of her.

  “It was Sophia who came to Libby and me for help. She is all alone, Harry! How can you be so cold?”

  “I’m not exactly cold at the moment, my love. I’m rather warm, actually.” He looked downward to where Rowena’s hand caressed his cock. He emphasized the word purposely, “And hard.”

  Rowena rolled her eyes and clucked her tongue. “How rude of Lord Elveston to listen to our private conversation and pretend he was asleep. I knew he would tell you what we talked about. We were only trying to give Sophia some advice to help her.”

  The corners of Harry’s mouth turned up. He could not laugh at his wife. It would anger her. And though she was quite lovely when angry, he preferred her panting with passion beneath him. And beneath him is where she would find herself within minutes if her hand continued to pleasure him the way she was at present. Of course she knew that. All too well!

  “I will ease your worry, love. Lyon feared making advances to his wife after their ordeal. In the beginning, if you recall, my love, as Newt told us, she did not want to be anywhere near Lyon. Lyon does care for Sophia. He intends to make amends in that situation. So, you’ve nothing to worry about, Rowena. They will find their way, on their own!” He arched a meaningful brow at her.

  “Good, Harry. I am glad to hear it. Now, I should like to ease your worries. For you have many I fear, with all of this Brown Coat business coming to us again.” Rowena bent down. She took him in her mouth and smiled as a groan of pure pleasure escaped her husband’s lips. His fingers threaded through his Angel’s golden curls while he arched beneath her. She brought him to the edge.

  Then Harry took her over it.

  ..

  Downstairs in the library, Jack Drayton, the Earl of Elveston, and Lachlan Douglas, the Earl of Gryfe, grinned at one another while they kept watch. The house was quiet save for the muffled sounds coming from the bedchambers of their newly wedded colleagues above stairs.

  “All three of them at once.” Jack shook his head. He flashed Lachlan a wide grin.

  “Fortunate men they are, all three of them. Not all marriages are like theirs. I must marry, and sooner than later. My father wishes to see the Douglases have proper heirs,” Lachlan said with a grimace. “I have just this night changed my strategy for finding a wife. I want a beautiful Lady who enjoys the marriage bed, like Harry, Micah and now Lyon have found. I will search for a passionate wife starting now. And lovely, of course, like their ladies. What do I truly care of good breeding and dowry? My father thinks it matters not what the wife looks like so long as she is wealthy and blue-blooded. I disagree. For if I marry one of the chits he suggests, I would have to find a dozen mistresses to compensate. No,” Lachlan shook his head, “’tis a passionate and lovely wife I’ll be finding.”

  Lachlan and Jack laughed out loud when it seemed that all three of the trysts upstairs culminated at once in a series of grunts, groans, moans and soft feminine exclamations.

  “They’ll sleep for awhile. Let’s make the rounds while it’s quiet enough to hear, Lachlan.” Jack suggested with a chuckle.

  Lachlan nodded, still grinning. “Good idea, Jack.”

  ..

  It was one when Micah slid from Libby’s embrace and his bed. He dressed silently in all black clothing and stepped into the hall. Owen, Jack, Newt and Charlie awaited him. All were dressed in dark clothing. Armed with an abundance of knives and pistols they quietly crept down the stairs and toward the kitchens.

  Wyldhurst followed them. He would remain at the Kitchen entrance to see them back in after their hunt.

  Micah and his party were hunting Brown Coats. They knew their enemies came back on Horethorne Hall’s grounds with the nightfall. They were certain Brown Coats waited in the darkness, no doubt to wage another attack upon the household later.

  After exiting the kitchen they stayed close to the various outbuildings and themselves kept to the deep shadows. There was a new moon this night. The grounds were dark and gloomy.

  Micah and Owen stayed together moving silently through the obsidian gloom through the back garden. Their colleagues made their way around the side and toward the front of the house.

  Micah motioned for Owen to stop and pointed to the outline of three men standing beyond the hedge at the edge of the garden. He pointed for Owen to go to the right, while Micah went to the left.

  An alarm rose from the front of the house at that moment. The Brown Coats behind the hedge sprang to attention.

  Micah came up behind the first man easily. He dispatched him with a slice to the throat. Owen’s man noticed him and the two now grappled on the ground. Micah hurried toward the pair. His opponent pinned Owen. Micah saw the glint of a knife raised above him.

  Micah leapt toward them, grabbed the man’s hair and lifted his head back.

  Owen finished him with his own knife.

  The third man rushed Micah. Micah simply let one of his knives fly. It caught the man in the eye. He fell backward with a thud onto the ground and lay still. Micah paused to lean over and remove his knife.

  Owen regarded Micah with curiosity.

  “It’s one of my favorites,” Micah shrugged. “It’s hard to find a perfectly balanced knife.”

  The sound of horses’ hooves pounding on the ground came from beyond the grounds of Horethorne Hall. Even though they could not yet see them, they knew. Brown Coat reinforcements were coming.

  “Damn!” Micah hissed. “Another attack!”

  “Back to the house!” Owen commanded. They stayed in the cover of shadow as they ran. They met with the rest of their party in the midst of the garden.

  “Jesu, there’s another twenty or more coming!” Newt spat as the five of them made their way toward the kitchen.

  “We got three,” Owen said.

  “We got seven, four of them were Newt’s,” Charlie grinned as he slapped Newt on the back.

  “Get in, now!” Wyldhurst motioned them in as he held the kitchen door wide open.

  Once they entered, Wyldhurst slammed the door and threw the bolt. He picked up his rifle. “Alert the others. I’ll stay right here and pick them off as they come.”

  “You’re not having all the fun, Luc! I’m with you.” Newt grinned at Wyldhurst, opened a window and lifted his rifle.

  Chapter Twelve

  Micah met Harry and Lyon in the hallway. “Owen and I got three, Newt and his men got seven. There’s about twenty more coming from the south on horseback.”

  He opened his bedchamber door to find Libby already dressed and in the process of lacing her half boots.

  “Get the ladies in the safe room, Micah,” Harry ordered. “Keep watch over them, the same as last night.”

  Micah nodded. He reached for Libby’s hand as she came to his side. “Come on, sweetheart, into the safe room.”

  “Rowena! Sophia!” Harry called loudly.

  Sophia joi
ned Rowena, her face pale and her eyes wide. Harry ushered them into Micah’s bedchamber.

  Micah made certain the pistols and knives were still on the table where he put them earlier in the evening. Rowena and Sophia entered the priest hole. Rowena lit the candles in the candelabra.

  Libby turned toward Micah to give him a quick kiss. Suddenly Micah shoved her away from him and against the wall. He raised his pistol. Libby pushed the bookcase closed. She turned back toward Micah just as the boom of gunfire reverberated through the room. She jerked her head quickly toward her husband and saw blood staining the lower side of Micah’s shirt as he fell back against the wall. She saw his eyes close as he slid down and crumpled into a limp heap on the floor. Libby scrambled to reach him.

  She turned toward the doorway as she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She saw a large man wearing a brown coat and hat lowering his pistol and heading toward her.

  “Micah!” She bent over her husband. His eyes were barely open. There was so much blood. “Micah!” She knelt beside him. She screamed, “Owen help, please! Micah’s hurt!” She reached for Micah’s pistol which lay beside him. Her arm was jerked roughly back. She was yanked to her feet before she could grasp the weapon. Micah struggled to push himself up from the floor. The man in the brown coat brought down the butt of his pistol against Micah’s head. Libby screamed again as loudly as she could. She clawed, pushed, and scratched to try and break the man’s hold and get back to Micah. She was roughly pulled, then dragged from the room as she screamed Micah’s name, over and over.

  Libby thought she heard Rowena’s and Sophia’s voices as the Brown Coat drug her down the hall. The only sounds coming from below were gunfire. She doubted Owen and the others could hear her. She tried everything she could think of to slow the man’s progress. “Owen, help Micah, he’s hurt!” she screamed as loudly as she could manage before she felt a blow to her head and everything went black. Her last thought was that Micah must live. Archangel Michael, Please help Micah! He must live!

  Lyon was bent over Micah. “He lives! But he’s lost a lot of blood.”

  “Thank God.” Harry breathed as he entered the room.

  “How could you let them take Libby? No one could save her? You just let them take her away?” Rowena asked her husband angrily. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “They used her as a shield, Rowena.” Harry hugged his wife to him. “Shh, my love. They warned they would kill her if we followed. Owen and Newt waited until they were far enough away. They are tracking them. They will get her back.”

  At least Harry hoped they would find Libby. The Brown Coats pulled back completely and were gone within minutes of them taking Libby from Horethorne Hall. He believed their intention was to get in and take one of the women to hold to obtain the scrolls as ransom.

  “She saved me and Sophia. She was on her way into the safe room when Micah was shot. She pushed the bookcase back into place. When we heard her screams leave the room we came out with our pistols, but they were gone.” Rowena wiped her eyes. “We need to get Micah to his bed and get a doctor here quickly.”

  Sophia still knelt next to Micah as she held Lyon’s blood-soaked cravat to his side. “He’s bleeding too much…” she said tearfully as she looked to her husband.

  Harry nodded and stepped into the hallway. He bellowed down to Charlie to send a servant for a doctor.

  “I’ve already sent for one,” Charlie called back up.

  Wyldhurst and Lachlan lifted Micah onto his bed. Harry went downstairs. Together he and Charlie would try to find out where the Brown Coats entered Horethorne Hall. Guards were placed once again at all the doors, on every side of the house.

  Rowena and Sophia removed Micah’s shirt. Lyon escorted Sophia to the kitchens to get the supplies she needed to tend Micah until the surgeon’s arrival.

  “The bullet went through,” Wyldhurst said as Lachlan Douglas lifted Micah’s body far enough so he could examine his wounds. “Let’s hope none of his major organs were damaged.”

  Micah stirred.

  “Micah?” Rowena sniffed. She rushed to him. She took his hand in hers as she bent over him. “Micah?”

  “Rowena, where is Libby?” Micah’s voice was weak.

  “She – she,” Rowena began to sob. She held a towel tighter to his side as if she could stop his bleeding by her own will. Unsure of what to say, she looked to Lord Wyldhurst.

  Micah’s hands came up and grabbed Rowena’s arms. “Where is Libby? Rowena tell me, please.”

  “They took her, Micah. Owen and Newt are following them. They’ll get her back.” Wyldhurst told him calmly.

  Micah struggled to sit up. The movement caused his wound to gush more blood.

  “Micah! You must be still. You are hurt, man. Every time you move you lose more blood. You’ve lost far too much already.” Lachlan Douglas moved to help Wyldhurst hold him down. He turned to Rowena, “We need brandy or laudanum to keep him quiet. Don’t leave the room. You are to stay with us, Lady Glaston. Just yell down to Lyon from the door.”

  Micah still struggled, “I have to find Libby! Let me go. I have to find her!”

  “I cannot let you go, mon ami. You would be dead in twenty minutes from loss of blood. Owen and Newt are following them. You cannot go find your wife. You need to be stitched so you can heal. We do not yet know how seriously you are wounded, Micah. You will have to trust Libby’s brother to find her.”

  “Don’t you understand? If something happens to Libby, I might as well die. I can’t live through this again, Luc, I can’t lose her. I have to find her. They will hurt her. Maybe kill her.”

  Wyldhurst and Lachlan were still struggling with Micah when Rowena returned from the hallway.

  “Micah Wychcombe!” Rowena scolded. “Owen and Newt will find Libby! You best be still, or Libby will return to find you dead. Do you wish for Libby to suffer long years of grief as you did after your Lucy and your babe died? Stop this at once! You are currently bleeding to death. Be still, Micah! Think of Libby. Live for Libby. And me, please.”

  Micah stilled. His eyes closed. A tear slid from the corner of one eye. “I don’t want Libby to hurt…” his voice trailed off.

  “He’s unconscious again.” Wyldhurst spoke to Lachlan, “There needs to be more than Owen and Newt searching for her.”

  “We’re down three men with Micah wounded and Fitzlewis and Newt following the Brown Coats who took Lady Elizabeth,” Lachlan shook his head. “I wonder how they are faring in Cornwall. We could use some of the Cornish contingent about now.”

  “Last I heard, they have it the same as we do,” Wyldhurst shook his head and stepped back when Lyon and Sophia returned with a tray bearing things the ladies needed to tend Micah.

  Sophia and Rowena ministered to Micah while they awaited the arrival of the doctor.

  The surgeon, Doctor Fuller, arrived quickly. He was optimistic that the wound was clean and that the bullet went through. It would be a matter of time before they knew if any organs were damaged, and if he bled from somewhere inside his body. The doctor stitched his wounds. He left laudanum, poultices and teas for fever which he cautioned was sure to come.

  “If he’s going to live, he will be better in three or four days. If vital organs were damaged, he could die within the week, even tonight. At this point, even a fever can take him. I’ve never seen a wound like this one that didn’t bring fever with it. He will be weak. He’s lost a lot of blood. He needs nourishment to help him keep his strength. It will have to be forced down him.”

  Harry came to step behind a teary-eyed Rowena. He rested his hands on her shoulders.

  Lyon hugged a somber Sophia to him.

  “Keep him quiet so he doesn’t re-open the wounds. He can’t afford to lose anymore blood. I’ll call again in the morning. If you need me before then send for me. I will come straight away. I have cared for the Wychcombe family for years.”

  Wyldhurst and Lachlan stayed with Rowena and Sophia long enough to get some
laudanum down Micah. Lyon offered to stay with the ladies while Harry and the others took care of business.

  After they met, Lachlan joined Lyon in Micah’s chamber. They discovered the Brown Coats broke a small window in the service area of the ground floor. They came up the back servant’s stairs. They carried Libby down the same stairs and killed the guard at the door leading from the small servants’ parlor to make their escape. The deceased man, a Mr. Hobbs, was a manservant of longstanding at Horethorne Hall. It appeared they specifically came for either Libby, or one of the women.

  Harry was truly concerned. They were outnumbered. Their wives were in danger. Libby was taken. Micah could be gravely wounded. They was no choice but to let Owen and Newt trail Libby’s abductors while the rest of them remained dug in at Horethorne Hall.

  At half past two that afternoon ten Cornishmen led by Gabriel Chynoweth, the Earl of St. Mabyn, and cousin to the Duke of Penrose, arrived at Horethorne Hall.

  “What news do you have, Gabriel?” Harry asked. It would have to be important for Trevan to send Gabriel and ten of his men to them.

  “We wiped the Brown Coats out at Menadue by sending parties out at night to hunt them. We killed twenty, took seven prisoners. Trevan has amassed a small army of our relatives. When I left our ranks numbered forty five. Twenty more are expected by today. The Brown Coats have not re-formed. In fact, it appears they left Cornwall, altogether. Our guess is there might have been twenty left to flee. My cousin feared they would concentrate on you here at Templecombe. I have brought ten of our men with me. Pendarves and Carlyon were dispatched to London, to await Lyon’s arrival. Trevan can send a dozen more men whenever you need them. I need to speak with you privately, Harry.”