Captive Surrender (7 page)

“
I gave you
two more weeks a month ago,” Levant declared coldly and roughly
pushed the man’s grasping hands off his breeches. He glanced at
Humphrey, his face impassive. “What do you think, Humphrey? Does he
deserve any more time?”

Humphrey slowly shook his
head. “It seems to me that he has had plenty of time. If his
brother wouldn’t sign the papers yesterday, why would he sign them
tomorrow?” He frowned at the logic behind that and wondered if he
had it right. Still, the boss didn’t seem to object.

“
If you just
give me one last chance, I promise you that I can get him to
sign.”

Levant studied the man
for several moments and slowly withdrew a paper from his jacket
pocket. “You gave me your half. I paid you a handsome penny for it,
too. All I needed was your brother’s half too, and you could have
disappeared to live in peace. Never mind, I am sure that your
brother will sell to me too once he realises who his business
partner is now.” He snorted disparagingly at the man on the floor
who began to weep quietly once the realisation of his fate appeared
to dawn on him.

Humphrey studied his boss
and waited for his instructions. Levant stared into the darkness
for several moments as though weighing up his options. Several
moments later, he shook his head sorrowfully and nodded toward the
scurrying movement in the trees as the man ran for his
life.

“
Simpson has
to go,” Levant said quietly. “Deal with it.” His cold words echoed
around the trees. Levant didn’t bother to wait to see if Humphrey
would follow orders, or indeed explain how Humphrey was to ‘deal’
with the unfortunate Simpson. Instead, he quietly turned and melted
into the darkness.

Humphrey seemed to relish
the prospect of what was to come and, with a feral grin on his
face, lumbered through the bushes as stealthily as a charging
bull.

Stephen watched Humphrey
vanish and then turned to stare after Levant. He had no idea where
Charles Taylor was, but had no doubt that he would be around
somewhere; silent; watching, just as he always was. With this in
mind, Stephen remained perfectly still for several moments and,
sure enough, Taylor broke his cover several feet away to follow his
boss. Unfortunately, by the time Stephen did manage to hurry in the
direction Simpson and Humphrey went, both men had vanished. Cursing
his luck, he had no choice but to head back toward Dinnington and
wait for his own orders.

Lurking behind the solid
bulk of the stable block, he watched the door close behind Taylor,
and waited. He had no idea where Simpson had gone but had no doubt
that the man would wind up dead at some point over the next day or
so. There was little Stephen could do except start a hunt of his
own and hope that he was in time, but then what? What if he broke
his cover at the same time? What if he did save Simpson, and Levant
found out about it? Humphrey was thick but he was also hard and
ruthless, and had a fierce determination to carry out his boss’
orders to the last detail. Stephen knew that to stop Humphrey from
killing Simpson, Stephen had to take the hit man out himself, but
was it worth it? In all conscience, he couldn’t risk breaking his
cover because he now had Prudence and her family to keep an eye on,
and he couldn’t do that if he had to go into hiding.

It was an unfortunate set
of circumstances that he pondered over as he made his way toward
Cragdale Manor. He heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the
closed shutters and tightly locked doors. Someone had evidently
seen him last night and had been sufficiently unnerved to ensure
that anybody watching the house wouldn’t be able to see very much
of the people inside tonight. It was enough to forewarn Stephen
that he had to be careful in that regard too. With a sigh he cast
one last, lingering look at the house and made his way back to
Dinnington.

Prudence paused outside
of Robbie’s door and placed one palm on the cold surface. She could
hear her brother weeping quietly inside and wasn’t altogether sure
whether it was because of the scolding she and Eloisa had just
given him, or the fright that the handsome stranger had
issued.

In all of her life,
Prudence had never been as terrified as she had when she had caught
sight of the man towering over a clearly horrified Robbie. She had
no idea what her brother had been doing on the Dinnington estate,
or who the unknown Will was, but she was going to find out in the
morning. Right now, she was so angry; so scared, that she wasn’t
sure whether to hug Robbie and cry with joy that he was alive and
well, and back at home where he was safe, or scold him even more
for his ridiculous and immature escapades.

“
Do you think
that he will be alright?” Eloisa murmured quietly from beside her.
It was rare for Robbie to cry at all but, if it was because of the
fear that the man had instilled in him, then Eloisa could only be
grateful to the handsome stranger. The man had done more in one
evening to put Robbie off Dinnington, and the unknown Will, than
Prudence and Eloisa had managed to do over the last several
weeks.

“
I think he
is just scared.”

“
I don’t mind
admitting that I was scared too. That man was fierce.” Eloisa
didn’t add that he was also the most handsome, if scariest, man she
had ever seen.

“
Robbie has
to understand that he is trespassing though. Men like Ludwig Levant
don’t take kindly to trespassers on their estates. The last thing
we need is for Robbie to be found there. We would never hear the
last of it from Levant, even if he allowed the boy to return home
and didn’t hold him to ransom in exchange for the house,” Prudence
replied darkly.

Eloisa looked at her in
horror. “He wouldn’t do that, surely to goodness?” She shook her
head in denial, even as her common sense warned her that she was
foolish to dismiss the possibility of such an occurrence so
readily.

Ludwig Levant had
recently become increasingly sinister in his ‘offers’ for the house
and Prudence. Was he capable of holding a boy to ransom? Eloisa
couldn’t deny it, but had to admit to herself that anyone who hired
someone as menacing as the handsome stranger, certainly had secrets
to keep.

“
He has to
stop trespassing, Eloisa, it is as simple as that,” Prudence
replied wearily. She felt as though she had the weight of the world
on her shoulders and wondered where it would all end.

It was already late and
there was still the fires to stack up, and mother to check on
before she could go to bed for the night. She suddenly felt as
though there weren’t enough hours in the day to fit everything in,
and wondered how people coped when they had to go out to work as
well. Still, for the time being that wasn’t a problem. She had the
issue of her somewhat creepy neighbour to think about, and how she
was going to avoid his continued visits.

“
What do you
think that we should do about Ludwig?” Eloisa asked when Prudence
continued to stare blankly at the wall. “I mean, we cannot continue
to have his regular visits. The man just doesn’t take no for an
answer. Someone has to do something to put a stop to
him.”

“
How do you
propose we do that, Eloisa? I mean, we can hardly threaten him, now
can we? You saw that man tonight. Would you want to meet him
anywhere in daylight, let alone in the dark? It is coming up to
winter soon, when the nights will start to draw in and most of our
evening activities will have to be done by candle-light. What then?
I think that we cannot take matters into our own hands.”

“
But we
cannot simply sit here and continue to wait for Levant to drop by.
He threatens us, Prudence, and will eventually lose patience,
especially when he doesn’t get what he wants. What if he decides to
find out who owns the house and goes to Uncle Bernard? What if he
sees mother wandering around the gardens in her night
gown?”

Prudence kept quiet. She
knew that it was likely that the handsome stranger had already seen
their mother wandering around the gardens last night, but didn’t
tell Eloisa that. The worry in her sister’s eyes was bad enough,
she couldn’t add to it. The fact that Levant hadn’t made a visit to
boast about Agatha’s condition today suggested that the handsome
stranger had not told his boss yet. Levant was the kind of man who
wouldn’t wait to take advantage of being armed with such news, and
would have been around at Cragdale straight away, whatever the time
of day, or night.

“
We have to
go and see the magistrate,” Prudence sighed and studied her sister
closely.

Dark circles underscored
her sister’s beautiful brown eyes. Worry frowns marred her
beautiful alabaster skin and there were deep grooves on either side
of her mouth where there should have been dimples. Prudence felt a
fresh wave of disgust toward her sire for the predicament his
selfishness had landed them all in. She wondered why the man had
ever considered that abandoning his family was an adequate way to
behave.

In that moment, she was
very glad that she had the responsibility of the family to take her
time. It gave her the perfect excuse to avoid the rather dubious
intentions of any male, and risk leaving herself open to such
callous and self-centred rejection. She quickly closed out all
thought of the handsome stranger and gave Eloisa a dark look before
she turned toward their mother’s room.

“
I’ll check
on mother, if you can make sure that everywhere is locked up
downstairs? Then I think I am going to get an early night.” She
looked at the weariness on Eloisa’s face once more. “I suggest that
you do the same. Tomorrow, we will go and tell the magistrate what
Levant is up to, and see what he has got to say about it all. Then
we will decide how we are going to deal with our odious neighbour
the next time he pays a visit.”

Eloisa didn’t get the
chance to reply. She watched the door to their mother’s room close
behind Prudence and, with a sigh, savoured the silence for a
several long moments. It was rare to find the opportunity to be by
oneself at Cragdale. There was always someone around who was
chatting or banging pots, or making things. She had never really
considered before just how hectic everyone’s lives were, and wasn’t
sure whether she liked it or not.

Eventually, the silence
brought about a sense of disquiet that she wasn’t altogether
comfortable with. Taking the time to think made her look at shadows
that she would rather not even acknowledge were there. With a
shudder, she quickly closed her thoughts out and drew her shawl
tighter around her shoulders before she hurried downstairs to close
up the house. She then did just as Prudence had suggested and
headed off to bed.

Hopefully everything
would look a little brighter in the morning.

CHAPTER
FOUR

It didn’t.

Rain lashed relentlessly
against the window panes when Prudence opened her bedroom shutters
the next morning. The grey clouds that lurked over the house
matched her darkened mood. She stood and stared out of the window
for several moments, and wondered if she would ever find any peace
while the family remained at Cragdale. It wasn’t just Levant who
posed a problem; it was the daily responsibility of running such a
huge house, with only meagre funds and luck on her side that
weighed heavily on her shoulders.

By the time she headed
off to see the magistrate later that morning, her mood was even
darker than the sky. It was bad enough that Robbie had sulked
throughout the morning, but her worries were exacerbated by the
fact that they had been forced to lock their own mother in her
bedroom and leave her alone in the house. To do so, even for a
short while, disturbed Prudence greatly, but none of her sisters
had wanted to remain at home to look after mother, and Prudence
couldn’t bring herself to argue with them. Not only did she need
the moral support, but they had a vested interest in what was
discussed. Cragdale Manor was their home too, after all, and she
couldn’t object to their opinions or interest in what could befall
the family. Besides, it made her feel bolder to have someone beside
her, even if it was her younger siblings.

They were all soaked to
the skin by the time they reached the magistrate’s house on the
outskirts of Marchwell. Although it was a relatively short walk,
the path took them directly over the cliff-tops and afforded them
no protection from the weather whatsoever.

Prudence was visibly
trembling by the time she knocked on the ornate front door of the
town house and stood back to wait.

“
Prudence,
come on in, dear,” Mrs Bridges urged as she beckoned them inside.
“Oh dear, me, now, you are soaked. All of you. What a state you are
in. Are you here to see the master? Oh, indeed, of course you are
now. There then, if you just wait here for a minute? I will tell
him that you are here.”

Prudence opened her mouth
to speak only to close it with a snap as the housekeeper
disappeared into a side room. She lifted her brows at Eloisa, who
merely shrugged and sniffed inelegantly as she lifted her sodden
bonnet off her head. They were all painfully aware of the large
puddles they were creating on the highly polished floor, but there
was little they could do other than mumble apologetically when Mrs
Bridges re-appeared.