Lords of Honor (29 page)

“Time to sleep, Libby,
”
h
is voice was thick with
huskiness
. H
e realized he must stop while he still could
.

“Goodnight, Micah.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”

Libby snuggled up against him, her head tucked under his chin
.
She fell asleep almost immediately.

Micah sighed against her hair after he knew she slept
.
He k
issed her temple
.
He
must
convince the vicar their wedding needed to be as soon as possible
!
He didn’t know if he could make it another two days
.
His control was
all but gone
.
Micah
felt
a
n overpowering
need
this night
to remove
their cloth
ing
and make her his
.

“We need to know
exactly
what Lyon told Madame
Rosier
and the gentleman in the opium den, and any others he remember
s speaking to,”
Harry
s
aid as the gentlemen sat in the
large
library in Horethorne Hall
.

The
Avalon Society members present
were gathered
in the middle of the
large and impressive
library
.
Several massive mahogany tables and matching chairs
were
set up in the center of the library
.
Six large and heavy
, ornately carved,
high-backed
upholstered armchairs
were
clustered
nearby
.
Some gentlemen also sat in more comfortable, overstuffed chairs flanking
heavy
side tables
.
The library at Horethorne Hall was
long and wide
.

The
carved
white marble fireplace frontispiece was
c
olossal
, rising all the way to the ceiling and situated in the center of the room
.
The alternating
black and white marble
was covered in the seating areas with richly colored carpets.
O
ne long
,
thin,
deep
red carpet ran the length of the room
serving as a walk way
.
Finely carved and polished
bookcases lined the walls of the large room
, housing Micah’s extensive book collection
.
Paneling
stretched three quarters of the way up
the walls.
Magnificent, ornate plasterwork decorated the walls
above the gleaming
wood
and the ceiling
.
Large candelabra, lamps and a huge chandelier would provide a wealth of light in the late afternoons and evening
.
Though
everything in the library
appeared to be
built
on a grand scale,
the room
was furnished for comfort over formality
;
just like
the rest of Horethorne Hall
.

“I’m afraid our problems with Lyon go deeper,” Newt began
.
“I received a letter from Cleve
twenty minutes past
.
He is
with Lyon at my house in London
.
I need to explain what
initially
happened
with Lyon
first
.
I told you Lyon
spent
much
time in
the
opium den
s
.
A
pparently he
did
so
often
during
his weeks in London
.
A
w
eek b
efore I followed him
to Limehouse
and locked him up
he visited
the opium den
and
sp
oke
to
a
gentlem
a
n
named Crow
, who brought him to an establishment for carnal pleasures where they assured him he would be well taken care of.
In fac
t
, it was
Madame Rosier’s establishment.
And you know Lyon.”

“Ah
, t
he same Mr. Crow who
was responsible for L
ibby
’s
kidnapp
ing
?” Micah looked to Owen.

“More than likely, l
et me explain
.
There is more
.”
Newt raised his hand.

“So what hap
pened, Newt
?
Lyon visits
establishments
that offer carnal pleasures from time to time
.
What differe
d
this time?” Micah asked.

Newt continued, “
This was
Madame Rosier’s
establishment
, not one of the better ones
.
When
Lyon
entered the
room,
the woman
already
lay
upon
the bed
.
Lyon
being quite out of his mind immediately
went about his business
.
The woman
made
sounds
which
Lyon mistook for
moans of
p
leasure
.
Until
he tore through her maidenhead
!
Thankfully, Lyon
realize
d what happened and he began to
question her
and coax her to speak to him
.
He
knew by that time Crow
drugged
her
.
He
found out she’s a young woman of noble birth
.
She was
abducted
from her garden,
the same as
Lady Elizabeth
.
How
Lyon
managed it in such a condition, I do not know, but
he got
her out
through the back
door of the establishment
some hours later
.
He carried her through
the alley
and
hailed a hackney
.
He
took
her
to his
London house
.
The young lady
still
suffered from
the
effects
of laudanum and
unfortunately
a
philtre amoureaux
or possibly
the
S
panish Fly
.”

“
Thankfully
Lyon
remembered
the
address
she gave him and
sent a message to her grandmother
telling her Miss Hart was safe but unable to return
home
for several days
.
”

Newt
emitted a heavy sigh
.
He
continued, “
The young lady
remain
ed
at his
London
house
until she was free from the e
ffects of the drug
s
and recovered from
,” Newt paused, “t
he humiliation of it all
.
I
went to her deceased father’s house
days later
upon
Lyon’s request
.
I took her and her grandmother
to another house Lyon
let
for them to stay in
,
for he feared the
Brown Coats
would return for her
.
It is just she and
the old lady
left in the family
.
The father lost almost all their money gambling before he died
.
She and her grandmother
came to
London to secure a marriage for her
.
There
remained
no
other
alternative
for them being left with no money
as they were
.
”

“Who is she?” Harry asked.

“Sophia Hart
.
Her father was Nathan Hart
.
He was a scholar
and
was
a
lways known to be
a
very
proper
sort of
gentlem
a
n
.
Unexplainably,
several months before his demise
,
he
suddenly
took to drinking and gambling
according to Miss Hart
.
He died
six
months ago
after being set upon by thieves after leaving one of the Hells
.
Lyon provided her
enough money
for the two of them
to live on
for several months
.
I told her of Lyon’s demons, and that he
would come to her in a few weeks when he
returned to his former self
.
He
agreed to marry her
.
In fact, he insist
s
upon it
.
I gave her my name and address and told her to contact me if she need
ed
anything.
”

“Miss Hart is
a very handsome young woman
and quite petite
.
She very kindly answered all my questions
.
She is
stubborn too
.
S
he said she will not take Lyon as
a h
usb
and if his
demons are not slain
.
She
told me she
lived through that hell already with her father
and would not do
so
again
.
”

Newt
explained further,
“
This i
s where it gets more devious
.
The men who took her and put her in that establishment were
trying
to ruin Lyon
.
They specifically took her for
him
.
She was intended for
Lyon alone
.
Miss Hart heard all this
after
they drugged her
.
T
his Crow and several other men
talked
whil
st he
r clothes
were removed and Madame Rosier pu
t her in
to
the
bed
clothes of a whore
.
S
he heard them say
Lyon
would be blamed for her murder
.
T
hey planned to make it known
that he beat and murdered her
.
B
efore they brought Lyon in, the
men with Crow
roughed her up
.
She sported several bruises
still
when I talked to her
.
They
planned to
blame Lyon for that too
.
Miss Hart
said they jested
amongst themselves
that after he was known
throughout society
as a monster, and a cripple addicted to laudanum, that it would be no time at all before he died
, o
r
was
killed
.
They mentioned they could easily make it
appear to be
a suicide
.
Because of his new reputation, no one would think twice
about his demise
.
”