“He is in jail awaiting trial,” Stephen sighed. He could see no reason not to tell them. “Unfortunately, we don’t know how much Will was involved.” He saw Robbie turn to stare at him but kept his gaze locked on Prudence.
“We?” Eloisa murmured expectantly.
“Rufus and me.”
“Oh, he is working with you?”
Stephen’s lips twisted wryly. He had seen the looks that Rufus had given Eloisa, and could fully appreciate the man’s attraction to Prudence’s sister given how swiftly he himself had fallen for Prudence. “He is the local magistrate. It makes my job considerably easier to have him work alongside me rather than getting offended that I am stepping on his toes.”
“How long do you think it will be before Levant is stopped?” She hated to ask if Levant could be stopped and knew that if anyone could ensure that the odious creature ended up in jail, it was Stephen.
“We are working on it, but I simply don’t have the answer to that question right now. As soon as we can establish just how illegal his activities are, and gather sufficient evidence for the courts, we will ensure that he is removed from Dinnington and put before a judge. Unfortunately, it takes time and a lot of investigative work. My colleagues at the Star Elite have been working on it for several months now, and I have been investigating the activities around Dinnington for the last few weeks. That’s all I can say.”
He glanced up at the ceiling when the now familiar rhythmic thumps started up.
Eloisa sighed and pushed back from the table. “I’ll go.”
The reluctance in her voice suddenly made Stephen angry. The burden the woman upstairs put on her children was shameful, and he wondered again where in the hell the men in the extended family were, and why they had allowed the young family to continue to look after their mother.
He pushed away from the chair and nodded toward the door. “Prudence, could I have a word with you for a moment please?”
Prudence felt her stomach dip to her toes. The solemnity on his face unnerved her and she wondered what had raised his ire so quickly. Was it because her mother had started banging again? Or was he angry because she had asked how quickly he could stop Levant? Did he think that she was trying to pressure him into working more quickly?
She had to confess that she had never heard of the Star Elite before, but then none of the family gossiped with the locals since mother’s illness, and they couldn’t afford even the cheapest of the broadsheets. All frivolities, including the daily news, had been abandoned not long after their father had left. She left the kitchen to the sound of Georgiana, Maggie, Madeline and Robbie clearing the pots away and followed Stephen into the library.
It was a room that had been used a lot and showed alarming signs of advanced decay. The woodwork gleamed from having been polished regularly, but the rest of the room was furnished with items that should have been thrown out years ago. Stephen winced as he sat in a chair that squeaked alarmingly under his weight. He immediately leaned forward to prop his elbows on his knees rather than sit back and embarrass himself if it failed to hold his weight. He watched Prudence sit on the chaise beside him and moved to sit beside her.
“I want you to allow me to send for a doctor to take a look at your mother,” he sighed and gently picked her hand up in his.
Over the course of day he had done everything he could to try to ease any anxieties she may have that their love making had been a one-off. He had every intention of making sure that it happened as often as time, and circumstances, allowed. However, that also meant that he was going to become a permanent part of the family and with that came certain rights, like having a say on the day to day running of the house, and the intimate affairs of the family such as Agatha’s illness.
He sighed when Prudence shook her head. “No, I don’t think it is a good idea.”
“Look, you cannot ignore the fact that she is ill and needs help. At least get a doctor to take a look at her so you know what is wrong with her.”
“I know what is wrong with her. The madness is plain to see,” Prudence sighed and removed her hands from his before she rose and moved toward the warmth of the fireplace. Once there, she wrapped her arms around herself in a picture of vulnerability that didn’t fail to move him. He followed her and drew her into his arms. She didn’t pull away and merely stood compliant in his arms while she stared blankly into the flames.
“You need to allow a doctor to take a look at her so that we know if there is any medication that can help her. I have to confess that I have no experience of anyone like your mother, and don’t know of what is available by way of medication. I am not suggesting for one second that she goes away anywhere, but she may be able to have some powders or something that will make her feel better, and her episodes a lot less frequent. If not, then at least we know. The best we can do then is make her comfortable but at least we will know she won’t get better. Right now, nobody knows anything, and that disturbs me greatly.”
“I know, but you don’t understand,” Prudence sighed, feeling tears beginning to build. She wasn’t sure what to make of the entire day, or the last week, really and struggled to focus on anything while he held her so tightly.
“Then make me understand, Prudence. You are not alone in this. I don’t want you to shoulder this burden by yourself, not while I am here.”
“What then?” Prudence gasped and pulled back so she could look up at him. “When your work with the Star Elite is done, what then?” She tried her hardest not to weep and wail that he would leave and not look back. She would be devastated that she had lost someone so precious, who held her heart. She couldn’t bear the thought of the darkened days ahead, but couldn’t form the words to explain to him, to ask him what she needed to know.
“I am not just going to walk out, Prudence,” Stephen replied softly. “I won’t simply say, ‘thanks for everything’, pack my bags and then leave. God, is that what you think I would do?” He bent down to look into her eyes and cursed at the truth written there. “I am not that kind of man, Prudence. I am not your father.”
“I know you are not my father, but you have work that takes you to all four corners of the country. You work in the darkness, and will undoubtedly be taken far away on your next mission. Even if you could get back here, what then? How long would you be able to stay before you would be off again?” Prudence knew she was in no position to put a list of demands on him. They had shared a bed. That didn’t give her the right to lay claim to him or his future. Her heart wept for the pain that lay before her but, even with the knowledge that she would have to say goodbye to him at some point in the future, she couldn’t regret what they had shared.
“When my father left and essentially abandoned us, my uncle Bernard, my father’s brother, was humiliated. He called by and tried to get my mother to promise never to speak of my father’s betrayal to anyone but she refused. In the end, he agreed to pay a stipend to her in recompense for the money my father took with him when he left. Rather than leave the family destitute, he has paid a monthly allowance to my mother that paves the way for the family to at least be able to live together.”
“It’s barely enough though, Prudence. He has hardly done you any favours,” Stephen snorted. He wished he could get a moment alone with her uncle; he would give the man a piece of his mind that wouldn’t leave him for some considerable time.
“I know, but with what we can grow, and Maggie and Eloisa’s shawls that we sell at the market, it is enough for us to eek our way. I cannot afford a doctor and, even if I could, the nearest one is in the village.”
“You don’t go to the village because?” He lifted his brows and knew instinctively what she was going to say.
“Because we don’t want the villagers to know that mother is mad. I don’t know if my uncle could, or would, get to hear of it. Although he lives some twenty miles away, he does occasionally drop by unannounced. So far, we have managed to stave off his curiosity by telling him that mother has been ill, is out,
or asleep. He doesn’t stay for more than an hour and calls by once a year, if that. Whether he is checking to see if she is still alive or not, I am not entirely sure, but I think he wants us off his hands.”
Stephen sighed and felt as though someone had just lit a candle to help guide his way. “If he got wind that your mother was mad, or the doctor felt your mother was a risk to herself, or any of her children, he could contact your uncle and inform him of her condition.”
“Our stipend would stop and we would be unable to live here.”
“You wouldn’t be cast out though. If he didn’t want the gossips to work and sully the family name by talking about your father’s scandalous behaviour, then he won’t want the scandal of casting his nieces and nephew out into the cold.”
“I know, but he could pressure us to marry and none of us want to.” Her words fell like pebbles between them and Stephen felt a chasm open up between them that he refused to be prevented from crossing.
“Not everyone is like your father, Prudence. Most men love their families, and even extended families, and work to provide for them. Whatever went wrong with your father, I have no doubt that his actions were down to nothing other than his own selfishness. The man was nothing more than a cad; a cad who didn’t deserve the family God gave him and was destined to face the ending he did. That shouldn’t reflect badly on you and while I completely understand your reluctance to engage a doctor’s services for your mother, I don’t want you to discount the notion completely.”
Although Prudence nodded, she couldn’t see that she would ever change her mind on this. The threat their uncle posed to her family was far too real, even with Stephen in the house.
Stephen could see the doubt in her eyes and mentally searched for a way to reassure her. “I can promise you hear and now, Prudence, that you need not worry that your uncle will cast you out into the street. It won’t happen. Cragdale is your home and will remain that way.”
“It belongs to Uncle Bernard. When my father passed, his entitlements, including this house and lands, were passed to Bernard.”
“It is usually the way, unfortunately,” Stephen sighed, and made a mental note to get the direction of this uncle so that he could pay a visit to the man as soon as the threat from Levant was lifted. He couldn’t help but wonder just how much Levant knew about the circumstances surrounding Cragdale Manor, and the people in it. If the man ever got wind of Agatha’s mental illness, or the fact that the house was actually owned by their uncle, he would not hesitate to sign a deal to purchase the house, and lands, for as little as he could get away with.
“Tell me where he lives,” Stephen demanded huskily. For the first time in a long time he felt the weight of pressure settle firmly on his shoulders. Not only did he still have to question Humphrey, who still languished in Rufus’ cellar, but he had to visit Bernard and keep the family safe while trying to investigate Levant.
“You cannot go and see him, Stephen. If he gets wind that you are here, he is going to force us out.” Her desperate fingers clutched the front of his shirt. “Please don’t go and see him. Please. You will only force things, and it will bode ill on the entire family.”
It unnerved him to see her so desperately fearful, and he couldn’t stand her desperation a second longer. “I am not going to call the man out, Prudence. I am going to offer for Cragdale.”
“Pardon?” Prudence gulped. Had he just said he was going to purchase Cragdale?
“I said that I am going to purchase the house and get rid of your uncle once and for all. What did you think this afternoon is all about?”
“This afternoon?” Her cheeks coloured at the remembered intimacies, and she studied him hesitantly.
He decided to spare her blushes and drew her tighter into his arms. “If I just wanted your body, I wouldn’t have been so openly affectionate in front of your siblings. However, they need to understand that there is more than just friendship between us. They need to get used to seeing the affection that lies between us, because I have every intention of being as openly affectionate with you as any man can be toward the woman he loves.” His mouth swallowed her gasp, and he took several moments to reinforce his statement with a very thorough kiss.
He had no doubt that the feelings he had for her were bordering on love, but were they the real thing? He was fairly certain that they were. He wanted to protect her. He desperately needed to know that she was safe. The passion that flared before him had the ability to make him hard in a matter of seconds, even before he touched her or kissed her. Her fiery independence, her willingness to accept and try new things, was everything he could ever have expected to find in his future wife. It wasn’t lost to him that despite their intimacies she didn’t expect anything from him. She fully expected to watch him walk away once his job was done. It irked him a little, and poked at his temper in a way that made him want to curse fluidly and shake her until she understood. He did love her, a lot.
“Love? You love me?” She whispered in a voice that shook with a mixture of shock and raw emotion.
“I know it is early days, Prudence, and I don’t expect you to feel the same just yet, but I sincerely hope that one day you will,” he sighed. The least she deserved was complete honesty. “I want you to give some thought to my purchasing this house for the family so that we can all live here. Although I work for the Star Elite, and my job does take me away for a few weeks at a time, other men I work with have married and make their relationships work. One of my friends, Jonathan Arbinger, lives with his wife and family further along the coastline. He has ultimate responsibility for working with the magistrate there to protect that stretch of coastline from smugglers and French spies. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to put the same arrangement in place here, and work alongside Rufus. While a couple of men have left to spend more time with their families, more and more men are joining the unit, and they are able to do a lot of the undercover work which requires them to live their lives like bats; only getting up in the night.”
Prudence smiled at that, but didn’t quite know what to say. Her heart sang at his words. She tried to stem the tide of tears, but they flowed anyway and trickled down her cheeks to drip slowly off her chin. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and felt an undying love begin to blossom deep within her heart. As soft and gentle as a rose, the petals of hope began to unfurl to reveal the inner beauty that warmed her to her soul. Peace began to grow and calm her shattered senses.
At the sight of her tears, he swept her off her feet and settled her onto his lap. The chair beside the fire creaked alarmingly under their combined weight, but neither of them paid any attention to it.
“I love you too,” she whispered with a watery smile, and meant it. As he had done earlier, she swallowed his gasp and caught his stunned look of surprise moments before she drew his head toward hers. She copied his actions from earlier that afternoon, and tried to convey with her mouth the strength, and depth, of the emotions she struggled to put words to. His answering groan was all she needed to hear to be confident that she had it right, and she melted into his arms with a sigh of contentment.
Whatever else the future held in store for them, she had no doubt that they would weather it together. He was completely different to the weak willed and extremely selfish man who had been her father. She knew without doubt that Stephen was someone who would move heaven and earth to protect those he loved. He fought for king and country, with little expectation from life than a good wage and warm bed for the night. She felt strangely honoured to be a part of his life, and deeply touched that he wanted to spend his life with her, in spite of her family, her greedy uncle, her insane mother and a sinister neighbour.
She could only hope that she could live up to his expectations.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Later that night, Stephen sat in the cellars at Rufus’ house and watched as Humphrey was pushed roughly into the chair on the opposite side of the small, square table. Rufus stood beside the door, happy t
o hand the interview over to Stephen. Marcus and Harry, Stephen’s colleagues from the Star Elite, had arrived at the house earlier that evening. They now stood, silent and watchful, at the back wall, their gazes trained steadily on the local thug.
Tension hovered in the air. Stephen used it to his advantage and, rather than talk, sat back to allow silence to grow to uncomfortable proportions. When the heavy man began to squirm in his seat, Stephen suddenly leaned forward, and smothered a smile when Humphrey nervously jumped back in his chair as far as his bonds would allow.
“So, Humphrey, how did you do it?” Stephen stared hard into the man’s eyes. Wariness was replaced with confusion before a crafty look entered Humphrey’s gaze.
“I don’t know what you mean,” the large man snorted sourly.
“I saw you drag Simpson, still begging and pleading for his life, off into the woods. It is strange that hours later, he turned up dead.”
“I don’t know nothing,” Humphrey repeated dully.
“I think that you had better explain why Simpson was pleading for his life then, because I saw that the man was clearly terrified. I heard Levant issue you with instructions to deal with him.” Stephen’s voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
Humphrey remained mutinously silent. His eyes turned from Stephen to Rufus, before slowly travelling on to Marcus and Harry. His face was alive with curiosity, but he remained stoically silent and glared down at the table top.
“We know that you strangled him,” Rufus sighed. He hated the fact that the man was still in the house. Although he had agreed to leave Humphrey in the cellars for Stephen to interview, the man had taken to banging on the wall as soon as it grew dark, and continued to do so for hours at a time. The sooner that Stephen could conduct his interview so Rufus could send him to Bodmin for trial, the better. “There were marks around the man’s neck. Why leave him at Cragdale beach?”
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