by Abigail Agar
Everett glanced at Nash, silently saying, Do you see this?
Edward jumped into the conversation. At eighteen, he wasn’t used to smoothing over awkward situations, but in this case, his attempt was necessary.
“Have you ever toured our seat, Your Grace? If you have interest, we could get some air and see the village. My uncle has business until early this evening. My cousin Henry is off doing whatever Henry does. We are left to our own devices.”
Everett graciously accepted the invitation, welcoming the end of teatime. He and Nash rose and followed the butler to the foyer. Edward whispered in his mother’s ear then followed behind.
“To the stables, gentlemen.”
It was a pleasant afternoon, with a soft breeze gently rustling the leaves on the trees that framed the long drive.
The Somerset village was small and surprisingly unkempt. Cows wandered the main street, depositing their droppings on a regular basis. The kitchen gardens were trampled, but from what, Everett could not say. Two roofs looked to be in disrepair. Everett and Nash swapped glances.
“Is it usual for the livestock to roam?” Everett asked.
Edward hesitated and looked straight ahead, moving his horse close to Everett before lowering his voice to answer, “The villagers like to keep their animals nearby. With enough eyes on them, they are kept alive.”
Nash wrinkled his brow. “Do you have a problem with wolves?”
Edward gave a small smile or a grimace; Nash couldn’t figure out which. “Something like that.”
Again, Everett and Nash glanced at one another. Something was wrong in Somerset. Everett knew Avery spent a lot of energy polishing his image in London, but to look here, he wasn’t doing the same.
“Let’s go up the hill. There is a good view of the property from there,” Edward said. Everett couldn’t help noticing the hesitancy in Edward’s voice. He seemed so unsure of himself.
When they made it to the highest spot on the Somerset estate, Everett and Nash were treated to a beautiful, lush, green land. A meadow of heather stretched to the left, obviously left unattended for quite some time. The lake ahead was calm and undisturbed. It was so quiet Everett could hear Nash’s breathing next to him.
“Edward, this is beautiful land. If I may ask, why is it left fallow? Surely, your livestock would thrive here. Your sheep would become fat and contented. And the crops you could grow. You could be the envy of other landowners with this flat, sunny expanse.”
Edward shook his head. “It is my uncle’s decision. I think the local people would be willing to put the land to use.” He shrugged.
Everett got the feeling Edward was biting his tongue. It wasn’t Everett’s place to question how Avery ran his estate.
“Shall we go to the lake and give the horses a rest and a drink?”
The horses were drinking from the lake and Edward, Everett, and Nash were sitting on the grass, faces to the sun.
“You have a sister I believe?” Everett said, more to make conversation than for any other reason.
Edward’s head swiveled to Everett, and his eyes showed fear. “Yes, I do. She is but fourteen and is tutored. She doesn’t spend much time out of doors.”
Nash leaned back until he was lying on the grass. “Ah, to be fourteen and have no worries except whether to go riding or raiding the kitchen. I remember those times fondly.”
“Unfortunately, Penelope’s childhood won’t be remembered by herself fondly. You will notice at the evening meal so I may as well tell you now. She was in a serious accident two days ago. She was unconscious for about 24 hours. It was just as well. She woke to a shock.
“The whole left side of her face was an open wound. After cleaning the wound and stitching up her face, it swelled and caused her great pain. The healer stopped the laudanum this morning. She had been on it too long. The healer was afraid she wouldn’t wake from it.
“Penelope is an exceptionally beautiful girl and will grow into a woman with unmatched beauty, except for her scar.”
Edward wanted to spit. “That accident, which was no accident, will plague her for the rest of her life.”
Everett looked both pained and confused. “What do you mean it was no accident?”
Edward hesitated. “I am not allowed to say. I’m so furious I can’t in good conscience pretend it didn’t happen. Not everything can be dismissed. Some things have lasting consequences that affect people. I have to speak of it, or I will explode.”
Everett and Nash sat motionless as Edward recounted the last three days then broadened his tale to include the last several years. They were shaken.
Edward held his emotion in check before it could spill out. “I am forbidden to talk about it, to mention anything that goes on around here. We, my mother, Penelope and me, are here because my uncle took us in after my father died. We face great consequences if we break the rules of the house. We have nowhere else to go.”
Nash had a look of sympathy and grief. He fought the tears in his eyes. Everett looked furious – like a caged animal that would be lethal when it was released.
He turned to Edward, and in the most fearsome voice Nash had ever heard from him, he demanded, “Who else in your house knows of this?”
Everett looked out on the lake. “Everyone. Some things can be hidden or whispered about. This is not one of them. Before the healer left, she had screamed the injustice of it to anyone who would listen.”
Everett nodded. “Good. Avery and I can have this conversation without you being compromised. We now have two incidents to talk with Avery about.”
Everett and Nash talked together in Nash’s bedchamber before going to meet Avery.
“Son, he’ll try to kick you out, but I won’t let him. I need you as a witness to this conversation. Do not speak unless he asks you a specific question and only answer after you’ve thought through the repercussions. You can always answer, ‘I’d rather not say,’ if you’re not sure what to say. Got it?”
Nash nodded. “I’m ready.”
Everett slapped him on the back. “Good man.”
Everett and Nash took seats. Avery eyed Nash, his displeasure obvious, but neither Everett nor Nash moved a muscle.
Avery brought them both drinks then sat behind his desk in a position of power.
“Your letter sounded urgent. I hope nothing is wrong. How may I help you?”
Everett leaned forward. “We’ve had a serious problem with our sheep being slaughtered over the past month. They have been gutted from below their necks to their tails in one long cut. Then their insides have been removed, or as much of their insides as possible have been removed with a knife.
“We found it disturbing that someone would kill sheep, but we also found it disturbing at the manner they were killed.”
Avery interrupted. “That’s terrible. I can understand why you are upset, but we know nothing about your sheep and can’t help you, I’m sorry to say.”
Everett leaned back in his chair. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, Avery. After two weeks of sheep slaughters, I ordered my men to watch the sheep at night. I had ten men out at night every night.
“It didn’t take long for the men to see Henry coming into the field. I told my men to wait until the man they found started gutting the sheep before they moved in. It was Henry cutting down the belly of a sheep. My men, ten witnesses, told him clearly never to come back. If he returns to my land, he does so at his own peril. The men will continue to watch the sheep, and they will be armed.”
Avery nodded. In a voice more appropriate for tea than for talk about gutting sheep, Avery said, “I understand. Who knows about this incident?”
Everett blinked. It took him a minute to figure out Avery wanted to know how his reputation would suffer. “Ten men and anyone else they’ve told.”
Avery took a drink, “And will you keep them quiet?”
Everett shook his head. “I don’t see how. My village is buzzing about what happened to Penelope. There aren’t very
many, save the deaf, who don’t know that story. The sheep story is just the jam that is spread on the bread.”
Avery slammed his palms against the top of his desk. This was the first time Everett had ever seen him lose his control. “The story you heard about Penelope is not true.”
Everett smiled. “Not true? How can you say it is not true without knowing the story I heard about Penelope? Every villager has spoken to someone here wondering if something that horrifying could be true. I don’t know how many of my villagers have approached your healer, but she can hardly get any healing done she gets approached so often.
“Keep your son off my land, Avery. I am banishing him from my land, and I mean to enforce it.”
Everett and Nash stood. Before leaving Avery’s study, Everett turned and said, “Something unexpected came up. We cannot accept your invitation to stay the night. After the evening meal, we will be on our way.”
Avery nodded. In a sarcastic voice, he said, “I think that’s best.”
In Nash’s bedchamber, Everett said, “Henry’s not right in the head. I’d call him the village idiot, but he’s worse. Pack everything and bring it to the stables. As soon as the meal is over, we ride.”
Everett and Nash skipped the drinks before dinner, and a footman knocked on Nash’s bedchamber door when the family made its way into the dining room.
They entered the dining room and everyone stood. The ladies curtsied, and the gentlemen bowed. They did the same and were shown to their seats.
Everett was seated next to Cecilia, and Nash saw them begin a cordial conversation. She looked like a lovely woman, he thought. She probably didn’t have many guests so entertaining them was novel.
Nash sat across from Penelope. She had bandages covering one side of her face wrapped under her chin and around the back of her head.
He didn’t look at her bandages long because his gaze landed on her warm brown eyes looking at him. Could a twenty-year-old make a connection with a fourteen-year-old? It wasn’t that kind of connection; he was sure of it. It was a two-people-in-the–world-are-on-the–same-hill connection. They stood on the hill. They looked out on the same thing. They agreed they liked what they saw. Brothers had it. Best friends had it. He had it – with her.
He knew it wasn’t from the sympathy of seeing her head bandaged. It was from the way she spoke to him with her eyes. She spoke volumes with the blink of an eye.
Nash was jolted out of his reverie by Henry’s uninviting, harsh whiny voice. Nash pictured him differently from what he saw in front of him. He looked . . . normal.
He leaned forward and repeated, “Nash?”
“I beg your pardon, Henry.”
“I said I’ve heard you have a problem with your sheep.”
Nash grinned. “No longer, Henry. But thank you for your concern.”
Henry sat up in his chair. “Oh? And how did you solve your problem?”
Nash breathed deep. He would have rolled his eyes if he could have gotten away with it. “The perpetrator was apprehended by our ten border guards. They have weapons and have been instructed to kill him if they ever see him again.”
Henry sat back in his chair. “I see.”
Avery broke into the conversation and spent most of the rest of the meal talking about the House of Lords and the London nightlife. Nash found it boring but was relieved he didn’t have to talk to Henry any longer. He cast his eyes into Penelope’s, and he knew she had the same feeling about him as he had about her. It felt like home.
After the meal was over, Nash approached Penelope. She curtsied, he bowed.
“Forgive me, Lady Penelope, but I wanted to introduce myself. I am Lord Nash Finch, your neighbour.”
Penelope cast her eyes down. “It is a pleasure to meet you, My Lord. I hope you have enjoyed visiting us.”
“Very much so. I know we have not met before, but I feel we have.” Nash shrugged. “I’ve heard that happens to people sometimes.”
“Penelope,” Henry said. “Enough of that. The Finch’s are leaving now.”
Penelope curtsied, “My Lord.”
Nash bowed, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Penelope.” He turned and left the house.
***
Henry didn’t know who wanted to be gone quicker, Finch or the Stantons. So they came about the sheep? He was caught and was sure his father would have something to say about that.
He got off easy. Banned from Finch’s lands. No problem. Henry would not go back to a place where they were waiting to kill him. And he knew they were waiting to kill him.
“Henry, in my study,” Avery said as he walked by him at a brisk pace.
Henry shut the door. “Father?”
Avery looked at Henry as if he was a boil on Avery’s leg. “Sit down.”
Henry sat, and Avery took no time starting in. “Why didn’t you tell me you were caught gutting the sheep? That came as a complete surprise during our meeting, and I had no response. Why are you gutting sheep on Finch’s property?”
“I didn’t think they’d come by. I thought they knew I wouldn’t be back once they caught me and that was the end of it.”
Avery stood and slapped his palm on his desk. “Why the hell are you doing it in the first place?”
Henry shrugged. “I enjoy it.”
Avery sat and blew out a breath to calm his nerves. “Look, Henry. Everett says everyone in both villages knows about the sheep but also knows about Penelope. According to Everett, the healer can’t get anything done, so many people enquire about Penelope.
“Do you have any idea how bad a screw-up that was? The animal thing is bad enough, but no one will tolerate your activities using humans.
“My reputation is at stake. I can’t defend that kind of action. I will never be able to defend that kind of action. Stop doing it, Henry. Stop it all, human or animal.
“There will be no dukedom left to inherit unless you stop. Promise me, right now. If I am stripped of my title and my lands, I will do to you what you have done to Penelope. Do you understand how serious this is?”
Henry rolled his eyes. “You are making much more of this than you should.”
Avery got out of his chair and circled around to Henry. He grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him up. “You don’t seem to understand what peril we are in. Stop. If you don’t stop, you will live in our dungeon. Is that serious enough for you?”
Henry nodded and kept his mouth shut.
“Don’t you ever, ever put me in the position you put me in with the sheep and Penelope ever again. Do you understand me, boy?”
Henry nodded and remained firm lipped.
Chapter 5
He approached Stanton and introduced himself. The man’s eyes lit up, fondly remembering Nash’s father? No, his image was too important. His reaction was for show. If he remembered the incident that had taken place shortly before he and his father arrived for his visit years ago catching Henry in the act of gutting sheep, he didn’t say anything. Although, he couldn’t possibly have forgotten, his face didn’t give anything away.
They talked amicably in front of Avery’s peers. Eventually, Nash steered the conversation to Penelope, and he asked Stanton about her. To his surprise, Stanton pointed her out across the ballroom. When Nash saw her, his old feelings for her rose up from the depths of his being. She had been too young for him when he originally met her, but he was drawn to her in a way one person is instantly connected with another. He would never forget her. It surprised him. Now quickly and forcefully, the connection returned. He had to meet her again.
My God, she was beautiful. He remembered her as an adolescent, just after her horrible incident, her scar. She was gorgeous then. But no comparison to now. From across the ballroom, Nash couldn’t see the scar very well, but he did notice those warm, soulful brown eyes that a man could tumble into.
She looked lovely. Her hourglass figure suited her well. Nash didn’t like girls who were top-heavy sticks. There should be more areas of a woman’s bod
y to feel besides her breasts. The style and colour of her gown suited her, and she showed just the right amount of flesh.
“Would you introduce us, Stanton?”
“I’m staying here for now, but her brother Edward is standing next to her and her mother, Cecilia. He’ll do the honours. Be warned. She has a small scar on her face, mostly hidden by her hair. I warn you because she doesn’t want anyone startled by it.”
“Thank you.” Nash bowed. “I’ll be on my way.”
