Captive Surrender (6 page)

How all of this related
to French spies he had no idea, but he couldn’t leave his mission
without having more facts to take to Sir Hugo, his boss in the War
Office.

Not for the first time
that evening, his attention turned to the rather intriguing family
at Cragdale Manor. He couldn’t stand the thought of any of the
sister’s dying unexpectedly, or even the young lad, Robbie, for
that matter. The thought of Prudence, or any of the Freestone
ladies, being subjected to marriage to the redoubtable Levant
filled Stephen with a disgust that was so strong that he wanted to
punch something, or, rather, someone. Unfortunately though, he had
no way of providing assistance to Prudence without telling her who
he was, and that he was friend not foe. If he did that, he would
then be placing his own life at risk, and all of the meticulous
work he had done over the last several months would be in jeopardy.
However, he couldn’t exactly sit back and do nothing, and watch
Levant bully and manipulate Prudence or her sisters up the
aisle.

Ignoring the loud
growling in his stomach, he quickly changed into dry clothes and
threw himself down on the bed. He tucked his hands behind his head
and stared up at the ceiling while he tried to come up with an
adequate solution that would enable him to keep Prudence in her
home, well away from Levant, while trying to find out if the man
was linked to French spies, all the while trying to keep himself
alive and able to carry out the jobs that Levant wanted him to
do.

Robbie cast a furtive
glance around the upper hallway. The sound of Eloisa and Madeline
chatting as they cleared away the dinner pots assured him that
everyone was busy. He had just watched Prudence and Maggie head
outside to bring in more firewood and they would be at least twenty
minutes, and Georgiana was busy in mother’s room.

With his heart thumping
heavily in his throat, he eased the door open before him just
enough so that he could slither into the room. Without making a
sound, he tiptoed over to the end of the bed and frowned down at
the box at his knees. Beside a chest of drawers, a bureau and a
chair, as well as the bed, there was very little in the room except
for the blanket box at his feet. If he was Prudence, he would have
put the gun in the blanket box. With his ears tuned to the sound of
anyone coming up the stairs, Robbie quickly lifted the lid and
rifled through the blankets and sheets. He didn’t have to go too
far into the box before his hands landed on the cool, smooth
surface of the gun. A wild thrill of excitement swept through him
as he lifted the heavy weight out of the box.

He stared reverently down
at the shiny object for several long moments while he absorbed the
feel of its heavy weight in his small hands. He wanted to point it
and pull the trigger so much, but he knew that he couldn’t. He had
no idea if it was loaded, but didn’t know how to check. He daren’t
just pull the trigger anyway; Prudence would have his hide if he
shot her bed. Still, he couldn’t resist lifting it like he had seen
farmer Jones do once, and peered down the long barrel while he
squinted with one eye. His finger itched to pull the trigger, just
once, and hovered uncertainly over the small curve of metal for
several moments. A sudden trill of laughter downstairs broke his
excitement. It was louder than he had expected and he jerked in
alarm at the thought of the trouble he would be in if Prudence
caught him in her room, let alone holding the gun she had warned
him not to touch.

He took a moment to stare
down at the wicked looking object before he gently placed it back
on the soft quilt on which it had been sitting. He gave it one
final stroke before tucking it in with a clean white sheet. The
quiet thud of the blanket box lid closing echoed around the room
and he quickly spun on his heel and hurried into his own bedroom.
He had just thrown himself down on his bed when Georgiana appeared
in his doorway.

“
Are you
going to do some reading tonight, Robbie? Prudence says you
ought.”

“
I suppose
so, if I must.” He dodged the hand that Georgiana swung at the back
of his neck and raced her down the stairs. Although he settled down
to read to her, his thoughts were very firmly locked on the gun
carefully tucked away in Prudence’s room and he began to think very
carefully about how he could get hold of some shot.

The following day,
Prudence sighed and studied the darkness outside. She didn’t need
to look at the clock on the mantle to know that Robbie was late
home, again. Her temper surged. She had given him explicit
instructions to be home before nightfall, and had only agreed to
allow him to go fishing on the understanding that he promise to be
home before it got too dark to see where he was walking. Had he
gone to Dinnington for some reason?

Prudence shook her head
and tried to quell her fear. She hated the thought of Robbie even
being close enough to pass the main gates at Dinnington Hall. If he
had gone onto the land, she had no doubt that Levant would take
great pleasure in returning her brother and taking the opportunity
to issue another smarmy threat, or offer for her hand, or
house.

“
What are you
doing?” She turned at the sight of Eloisa’s reflection in the
window and watched her sister put her boots on.

“
I am going
to go out to see if I can find him. He may have stayed at that
Craig Brown’s house and forgotten the time. You know what he can be
like.”

“
I am going
to go,” Prudence replied quietly. She hated the thought of anyone
having to go outside but, if anyone had to, she would much rather
it be her than Eloisa. She briefly contemplated taking the gun with
her but immediately dismissed the notion. The last thing she wanted
was to have to drag that heavy weight around with her wherever she
went. Her thoughts turned to the man in the shadows outside and,
although she knew who he had been, she also knew that he was one of
Levant’s henchmen. Did he have Robbie? Was that what, or rather
who, he had been after when he had been lurking outside
yesterday?

“
We will both
go,” Eloisa declared firmly. She drew her shawl tighter around her
shoulders and had no sooner reached the door than was aware that
Prudence was beside her.

“
Lock the
door behind us, Maddie, and don’t open it to anyone except for us.”
She was aware of the nervous tension in the room behind her as she
closed the door, but Prudence didn’t have the time or patience
right now to deal with their delicate sensibilities. Her temper
boiled as she stalked, tense and silent, beside Eloisa down the
driveway.

Ten minutes later, they
caught sight of the huge stone pillars that marked the entrance to
the long driveway. Prudence felt her stomach tighten with dread.
She hated to even step on the property let alone go all the way up
to the main house. The large rambling structure lay in the valley
beyond like a cobra waiting to strike those unfortunate souls who
dared venture too close. She shuddered against a particularly
strong gust of wind and walked a little faster, all the while
muttering dire threats toward her brother of what she would do when
she got a hold of him.

“
Do you think
he is up at the main house?”

“
I have no
idea, Eloisa. I am not going to go and knock on the door
though.”

“
He likes to
loiter at the old woodman’s cottage in the woods.” Eloisa nodded
toward the dense woodland that lay to the right of the entrance
gates.

“
I know,”
Prudence sighed. “I cannot see him staying there after dark,
though.” She paused and studied the road that led to the village
for several long moments.

The crunch of twigs and
dried leaves nearby was enough to make both women gasp and hurry to
the sheltered protection of the shadows. Prudence was aware of the
tight grip of Eloisa’s icy fingers on her arm and was glad of her
presence beside her. Her own heart thumped in her ears and she
glanced around them with wide, horrified eyes as she tried to
establish what, or rather who, was nearby.

“
I am warning
you now, lad, that if I catch you on this land again, I am going to
take you in to face the master. He is going to mighty cross when he
hears that you have been trespassing on his land again. The last
thing you want is to get yourself, or your sisters, into any
trouble,” Stephen growled. He held the boy’s shirt tightly in his
clenched fist and had to struggle to contain the urge not to shake
some sense into the young boy.

“
I was just
looking for Will,” Robbie gasped. He was forced to walk on tiptoes
because the hold the man had on him was practically lifting him off
the ground. He was still trembling from the fright that the
stranger had given him when he had suddenly appeared out of nowhere
and swooped down on him. Robbie hadn’t even had the chance to utter
a squeak before he had been captured in the man’s ruthless hold and
marched toward the gates.

“
I am sorry,
sir, but I just wanted to see my friend.”

“
Will is no
friend of yours, lad, and you are a fool if you think that he is.”
Stephen knew that Will had been instructed to encourage the lad to
come onto the property by Levant, who was intent on getting him to
join the staff at Dinnington in order to be able to establish some
sort of link he could use as leverage to get his hands on the
Cragdale property. As far as Stephen was concerned, it was up to
him to make sure that Levant never stood a chance.

“
I am not
telling you again,” Stephen snarled. He yanked the boy to a halt at
the side of the road that led to the village and Cragdale. Silence
enveloped them as they stood in the darkness. Despite the gloom,
Stephen could see the rampant fear in the boy’s eyes and knew that
he was finally getting through to the boy. He glowered down at
Robbie for emphasis and lowered his voice to a husky growl. “If I
catch you here again, you are going to have to face the
consequences and I can assure you that they are going to be dire.”
He yanked the young boy up until his small round face was inches
from his own. Stephen could feel the hot breath on his cheek and
saw tears pool in the boy’s horrified eyes. “This is no game. Stay
away from Dinnington or face the consequences.” He shoved the boy
away and pointed toward home. “Get out of here now. If I ever see
you here again, you had better run and make it quick because I will
be right behind you.”

He hadn’t finished
speaking before the boy had taken to his heels and disappeared in
the direction of home. Stephen listened to the rapid thuds of the
boy’s feet on the ground for several moments before he raked one
large hand through his hair and swore. The last thing he had
expected was for the curious boy to turn up in Dinnington’s kitchen
gardens. He was only glad that he had been the one to find him and
not Humphrey, or Will. As it was, he had been left with no choice
but to instil some fear into the young boy and, hopefully, make
Dinnington a scary place for the lad to be.

Stephen had no idea what
was going on right now, but was fairly certain that something was
afoot. There was a heightened tension within the house and lots of
whispered conversations between Levant and his man of business.
Sometime in the early hours of the morning, Stephen had managed to
get an opportunity to search the man’s papers in his study and had
learned that Levant had recently received a ridiculously large sum
of money from someone listed only as A. There had been two large
payments to Levant since, along with details of several low
payments Levant had made for various properties, all within the
county of Cornwall. He knew that Levant had practically stolen the
land and properties from their owners, but how? With
menaces?

It was evident that
Levant was either working for someone who was giving him money to
purchase the land and houses, or was doing some work for someone
and earning himself a significant regular income. He had not been
able to find anything out about the unknown A and, as far as he was
aware, none of the French spies the Star Elite were after had an A
in either their surnames or first names. Still, Stephen had a gut
feeling that everything was linked in some way. Until he could
prove that Levant wasn’t a killer, he couldn’t allow Prudence, or
her siblings, anywhere near Dinnington.

He disappeared through
the trees, and was so lost in thought that he didn’t bother to stop
and look back. If he had, he would have seen two shadowy figures
leave the sheltered protection of the trees on the edge of the
woods and hurry after Robbie.

Several minutes later, he
stopped at the sound of loud protests coming from someone through
the trees. He melted back into the shadows, and
listened.

“
Please, I
have said that I will sell you the house, but I don’t have the
deeds. They belong to my brother, see? I cannot sell you his half.
I need him to sign the paperwork over to me.”

“
Your brother
was here only yesterday, he could have signed it then.”

Stephen crept quietly
forward until he could see a stout man on his knees, practically
begging Levant to listen.

“
He wouldn’t
sign them. The stupid man said the property had to remain in the
family but I argued with him. I begged and pleaded, but he wouldn’t
sign. I am going to go and visit him at his house tomorrow and
force him to sign the papers. I can, if you just give me two more
days.”