Shackles of Honor

by Marcia Lynn McClure

  “Mathias, come!” he shouted as they exited the dining hall. Immediately Cassidy could hear the comforting sound of the large padded feet approaching from her left. In moments, the dog was at her side—at her side, not Mason’s.

  “I-I do owe you yet another apology,” he began as they began ascending the stairs. “My behavior at Ashmore Heather last evening was unforgivable!”

  Last evening, Cassidy thought. Could it really be only twenty-four hours since Cassidy had worn the infamous red dress and succeeded in capturing Mason’s attention wholly, completely, and uncontrollably? Less than twenty-four hours since the horror of finding her room alive with spiders?

  “You owe me nothing,” Cassidy told him. “I, on the other hand, owe you everything. Had you not acted as you did, both at the Ashmores’ ball and as you did afterward when I was so devastated, I…” She could not finish and let her words simply cease.

  “I would not leave you if it were not imperative to solving this problem,” he said finally.

  “I know that. You are the most honorable man I have ever in my life encountered. I know you must have good reason.”

  “You’ll sleep in my chamber again this night,” he stated as they reached the top of the stairs.

  “Alone?” Cassidy asked. Her fear and anxieties were mounting, and she remembered the comforting feel of his arms about her as she had finally found peace in sleep the night before.

  “No,” he replied. She looked to him quickly. “Mathias will stay with you.”

  “Thank you,” was all she could say. He led her to his chamber, Mathias ever at her side, and opened the door for her, entering in after her.

  “Katie has laid out your things. You’ll be fine, Cassidy,” he said, but when she turned to look at him, there was an expression of uncertainty in his frown.

  “I am sorry I’ve brought with me such upheaval of every conceivable manner to your life,” she said.

  “Do not make to martyr yourself, Bliss. There is a growing realization in me that there has been something…something amiss for some time at Carlisle Manor. As I look back, it seems…you’ve only caused it to heighten, for some reason unknown to me. And it’s unfair to you. I cannot believe I brought you to my home under such duress to find only more of the same. In my pompous anger and desperation to win…my mind has not been as aware of things as it should’ve been.”

  Turning from him, for she could not look at him and say what she must, she said quietly, “I wish you would not go.”

  “You wish I would not go when, Bliss? Do you mean on the morrow when I ride to Haggarty? Or…do you mean now? Tonight?” he asked, his voice exuding the low, provocative intonation that was always Cassidy’s undoing. She said nothing, only continued to keep her back to him while she tried to cool the heated blush that rose instantly to her cheeks. “Did you enjoy spending last night in my arms?” His hands were at her shoulders as he eased her back against his powerful form. His breath was warm in her hair as he said, “Does it still seem so intolerable to you to spend every night there? Are you still as loath to have me as your lover as you were when first you saw me?”

  Instantly Cassidy’s mouth began to water for want of his kiss. Why was he torturing her so? Why did he choose this night, when her mind and body were tired and insecure, to tease in such a heartless manner? Then, lest she lose her strength to resist confessing her love for him, her obsession for him, she walked forward, pulling herself from his grasp.

  “You refuse to answer me then?” he asked rather gruffly. She could force no answer from her throat, and she feared if she tried, it would be only confession. At once she was in his arms as he reached out, turning her to face him, and pulled her to him tightly. “Your voice may silence itself to me, Bliss, but your kiss ever tells the truth of it.”

  His mouth took her own, warm and moist with the spice of passion. Instantly Cassidy surrendered to him, to the taste of pure enchantment. Her hands went to his face, cupping each side of his strong jaw, reveling in the rapturous knowledge that the muscle and bone of it worked so demandingly, so diligently, so skillfully to ensure that the kiss he rendered was no less than wholly thorough.

  When she dropped her hands to his shoulders, unable to quench her thirst for his kiss, his hands then held her face, holding her a breath away from him for a moment, his thumb caressing the mole just at the corner of her mouth as he breathlessly whispered, “Promise me that when I return from Haggarty…promise me that you’ll speak the words to me that your kiss now conveys. Promise me that the words will pass…between us, Cassidy.”

  Cassidy could not draw a good breath as she battled painfully within herself. He was asking for her confession of love. He was asking her to promise to reveal her heart to him fully when he returned. And though she feared to entertain the thought because of the possibility of being wrong and having her heart broken finally and forever, she knew he meant to do the same to her.

  “Yes,” her voice breathed. “I…I promise.”

  There was a smile on his lips briefly before he renewed their impassioned interchange. It was manifest that his thirst for her was as unquenchable as hers for him. His kiss became almost brutal for long moments. Cassidy gasped as one of his fingers clutched tightly at the shoulder of her dress a moment before slipping beneath the fabric and pushing the garment from her shoulder. His kiss lingered on the exposed curve of her shoulder before returning with frenzy to her mouth for one last, deeply exhaustive kiss.

  Breaking from her, his eyes searched hers for a moment before he spoke. “It must needs be that I leave you now…before we are both further undone,” he said, tugging her dress further from her shoulder meaningfully. “I despise the month remaining until I’ll no longer have to leave you…here…alone.” He turned and stormed furiously from the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Cassidy stood for long moments after he had left, staring at the door, unable to believe what had just transpired between them. A promise of confession! Passion only continued to mount each time it overtook them. Cassidy lay for hours in his bed, thinking on what he must be doing in her chamber, wondering how she would find sleep after having been so sent to bed.

  In the lateness of night she looked to Mathias, lying on the rug at the side of the bed sleeping peacefully. She smiled, knowing he was there to protect her. No harm would come to her with Mathias at her side, for Mason’s will lived in the dog, and Mason’s will was to protect her. She knew it.

  

  The air was gone from her lungs! She could not find more to fill them! The pillow was over her face! Her arms beat wildly at whoever stood over her, pressing the life from her body, depriving her of life-giving breath. She could hear the muffled sound of Mathias’s growl. Then he began to bark. She could neither draw breath nor escape. As her life began to end, she heard a man’s voice cursing the animal, and she knew in her soul that Mathias had begun to tear at her murderer’s body.

  The air rushing back into her lungs was painful. She opened her eyes to see a dark figure battling with Mathias! When the figure pulled a large knife from his waist and lunged at the dog, she tried to scream but did not have the breath to do so. Mathias’s yelp in the darkness told her the villain had wounded him, and he lay whining somewhere on the floor. The criminal dashed out the window and onto the balcony a moment before Mason burst into the room, shouting Cassidy’s name.

  Cassidy tried to answer him, tried to call for him, but her body still gasped for air. He was at her side in a moment, cradling her in his arms. “Are you well?” he asked over and over until she could finally answer him.

  “I am alive,” she choked as her breath returned. Instantly he stood and went to the nearby lamp, relighting it and shouting for Havroneck.

  “What has happened?” Devonna exclaimed in horror, rushing into the room, clad only in her nightdress.

  Mason knelt on the floor beside Mathias, who panted heavily and was bleeding onto the beautiful white rug that was ever his bed. “He is deeply wounde
d. Havroneck!” Mason shouted a moment before Havroneck entered the room, dressed in a nightshirt and holding a candle.

  “Someone tried to kill us! The dog and myself,” Cassidy gasped. Still her lungs ached from being deprived of air.

  “What devil’s work is about in this house?” Mason shouted as Havroneck knelt beside the dog. Mathias barked and snapped at Havroneck as he tried to inspect the wound. “Leave him to me. He is in pain, Blythe. Send someone for the doctor! Hurry.”

  “Yes, sir,” Havroneck agreed, rising and exiting the room. Never before had Cassidy heard Mason address Havroneck by his first name. How odd this triviality should strike her so vividly during this situation.

  “What happened? Who was in here? Did you see anyone?” Mason demanded.

  “Only a dark figure. But it was a man. His voice was deep as a man’s. He nearly smothered me with my own pillow! Then he ran out through the balcony after Mathias attacked him,” Cassidy exclaimed, burying her face in her hands.

  Mason rushed to the balcony, investigating it quickly. “He’s gone,” he announced. “Mother, I must away to Haggarty at once! This situation is far too dangerous now. Her life has been threatened! And I was unable to get to her, for the door to the chamber in which I slept would not open, and it took me several attempts to break it down.”

  “Yes, son. I’ll see to her…and the dog,” Devonna answered simply. The finality in Mason’s voice was unquestionable. Though Cassidy was near to panic at the thought of his leaving, she knew he must have good reason and that his reason must coincide with her safety.

  Striding to Cassidy, Mason took her chin in his hand and said, “You are breathing, yes?”

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “You will continue to breathe?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I go now, for there is not a moment to spare!” Mason stroked the dog’s head and whispered something to him. Then he was gone. Cassidy listened, and very soon the sound of drumming hooves carried Mason further and further away.

  Several minutes passed before Nobel and two other men in the service of Carlisle Manor appeared in the room. “Forgive us, milady,” Nobel addressed Devonna, “but the master has given us strict instruction not to leave you or Miss Shea alone and to attend to the dog.”

  “Nobel!” Havroneck shouted. Having dressed quickly, he entered the room. “Go for Dr. Pratt! At once.”

  Cassidy was astonished when Nobel folded his arms defiantly across his chest and shook his head. “I have my orders from Lord Carlisle himself. I’m to stay here with Lady Carlisle and Miss Shea. Fieves and Dalton are also to stay, so find someone else to go. Or…” he said rather hesitantly and yet commandingly, “go yourself, Blythe.”

  Cassidy did not miss the fury in Havroneck’s eyes. Never had she seen anyone question him before. Always the other servants did as he commanded them. Always. She was certain his pride was far more than vexed.

  “Very well,” Havroneck said. “I will go. But,” he addressed Nobel hatefully, “should any harm come to Lady Carlisle or Miss Shea, it will be your head that will be hunted, not mine!” With that, he angrily stormed away.

  “See to the dog, please, Dalton,” Lady Carlisle begged. “You’re so very good with animals, and Dr. Pratt will not be here for some time.”

  “Yes, milady,” Dalton agreed and instructed Fieves to help him carry the brave, wounded animal from the room.

  “He saved my life,” Cassidy sobbed once they had gone.

  Instantly Lady Carlisle lifted the quilts and slipped in beside Cassidy. “Well, dove…I for one am not going to be alone for the remainder of this night!”

  “Thank you, milady,” Cassidy said, smiling warmly at the woman.

  “Do not thank me for such a selfish act, darling,” Devonna cooed. But Cassidy knew Devonna meant to protect her to the greatest of her own ability with Mason gone.

  “I’ll stand outside in the hall, milady,” Nobel told them. “And Fieves will be at the balcony. Please, milady…Miss Shea…try to rest. Lord Carlisle will return by late evening.”

  Though Lady Carlisle eventually found rest in slumber, Cassidy could no more go to sleep than she could pull the stars from the sky. As the sun began to rise, she rose carefully and dressed, intending to find out how Mathias was faring.

  When she opened the door, Nobel turned and smiled. “Did you rest at all, miss?”

  “Not a wink, Nobel. How fares Mathias?” she asked.

  “Well enough, miss. Dalton has a way with animals. I cannot figure why Doctor Pratt has not arrived yet. Perhaps Havroneck met with some accident in trying to find him.”

  “Oh, Miss Cassidy!” Katie sobbed as she rushed to Cassidy. “How could I let this happen to you? How could I keep silent? Me? I’m supposed to be your friend!”

  Cassidy was undone. The unexpected outburst sent a chill down her spine.

  “Katie? Are you well? Let us go to my chamber and let Lady Carlisle rest,” Cassidy urged. Quietly she closed the door to Mason’s chamber where Devonna still slept.

  “Mr. Mason has set me to watch you, Miss Shea. I don’t think he…” Nobel began.

  “We will leave the door open and call for you, of course, if we need you, Nobel, and I’ll have Katie with me.”

  She took Katie’s arm and crossed the hall to the open doors of her own chamber. Again, a chill traveled the length of her body as she sensed a revelation was about to be made. She wanted to hear it yet in the same moment dreaded it.

  “Whatever were you going on about, Katie?” she asked, sitting down on the bed, which was in complete disarray from Mason’s sleep.

  “After all you and Mr. Mason have done for Tommy and me, how could I keep silent?” Katie raised her tear-stained and now panic-stricken face to Cassidy’s and took her hands tightly in her own. “But I was afraid for you! For you and myself! But now…only now do I realize…” She paused, a look of profound shame upon the features of her face. “No. I think I knew it all along. At least, a part of me did. It’s only now that I admit it to my conscience.”

  “What, Katie? What are you trying to tell me?” Cassidy was frantic. She knew that whatever information Katie secreted was of dire importance to her own life and Mason’s.

  “I-I…” the girl stammered, all remaining blush, and there was very little by now, draining from her face. “I…I think I know. It is Havroneck and perhaps Syndle who are trying to…who are causing these things to happen to you.”

  “What?” Cassidy gasped, yet somehow part of her was not shocked at the revelation. “What…what gives you cause to—”

  “There’s too much! Too many secrets! I…I…” Suddenly Katie drew in a deep breath and straightened courageously. “Come with me, miss. Will you? Just come with me. There…there is someone who will tell things better.”

  “I pause, in truth, Katie,” Cassidy whispered. “If you’ve kept something from me that you should not have…I pause in trusting you now.”

  Katie nodded. “I know. I know. And I fully understand, miss. But…but realize that I feared for my very life. For Tommy’s…just as you would’ve your Mason’s. Always I am loyal to you, Miss Cassidy. I’m your true friend, else I would not risk all that I do now to do right.”

  Cassidy inhaled deeply, fighting for the courage to place trust in her friend. She nodded and felt reassured as Katie smiled and tugged on her arm. Finally, having begged Nobel to leave Lady Shea in the care of Fieves and Dalton, Cassidy followed Katie, with Nobel armed and close at their heels.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The way was long and winding, and Cassidy wondered if they would ever come to the destination Katie intended. They spoke nothing until a small cottage came into view through the thick woods. Katie paused for a moment and said, “She is old, very aged. But her mind is as clear and right as it was in her youth.”

  “Who is she?” Cassidy asked in a whisper.

  “My maternal great-grandmother,” Katie answered.

  Katie said no more,
simply led Cassidy and Nobel to the door of the cottage and knocked quietly.

  “Who is there?” came an aged voice from within.

  “It’s me, Nanna. Katherine,” Katie responded.

  “Well, my love…come in, of course! Come in!” The woman’s voice was more than enthusiastic.

  Cassidy followed Katie into the small, pleasantly scented yet overly warmed room within the cottage. In one corner near the fire sat an ancient-looking woman in a rocking chair, a knitted coverlet over her lap and legs. Her hair was intensely white and quite sparse and her skin wrinkled like leather. The green of her emerald eyes blazed forth from their sockets, giving her a fairy-like, rather magical appearance. Instantly Katie went to the woman, kneeling at her side and hugging her affectionately.

  “Oh, Nanna! I didn’t know what else to do! I…I…Havroneck and Syndle…I’m sure they mean to…” Katie sobbed suddenly.

  The old woman smoothed the girl’s hair and looked up to Cassidy. “So you’ve come for the truth of it, have you?” she said to Cassidy.

  Cassidy was rather astonished at having the woman address her thus. “Katie assured me I should come,” was all she could say.

  The old woman nodded. “Enough is enough. Secrets are too many in that manor house. Those that are born there know their own. But there is more…more that is not known. I think all should be revealed now.”

  Cassidy felt great fear and trepidation rising in her bosom as the woman motioned for her to come sit near her. Slowly Cassidy obeyed the woman’s gesture and found herself nestled on a rug at the woman’s feet.

  “I begin it simply, my dear,” the woman began. “My name is Andromina Pearson. I married a man named John. We had several children, one being Rosemary…who married a man named Hubert Darcy. They had a daughter, Minna, named for me. Minna Darcy was my granddaughter. Do you know of Minna Darcy?”

  Cassidy’s mind swam in thick confusion. The name, Minna Darcy, she knew it. She knew it. She did. But from whence?

  “Minna Darcy worked at the manor when LaMont Carlisle was a youth,” the old woman added.