Lords of Honor (60 page)

“Go quickly.” The Angel instructed him
.

Owen
nodded to him
.
Charlie brought his horse and held Libby while he mounted
.
Charlie lifted his friend’s sister to him
.
Owen gently settled
Libby across his lap
.
He
removed his cravat and
held
it to Libby’s
deeply
cut
and bleeding
cheek
.
Her eyes
remained closed
.
“Thank you, Archangel Michael
.
Thank you
.
I owe you,” Owen
whispered
as
relief washed over him
.

“The Light must prevail
.
Remember, brother
.”
The
Archangel’s words
carried
in
the night breeze.

“It will
.
I shall see to it
,” Owen pledged
.
“We all will
.
You can count on us
.
The Light will prevail
.”
Owen spurred his mount forward
.
He
needed
to get Libby back to Horethorne Hall quickly
.
She was losing a lot of blood.

Owen took the stairs two at a time
as he
carried
his sister
to her chamber
.

Sophia studied
Libby’s
wounds
.
“Her cheek was laid open
.
I have some very fine thread
.
I can make some very small stitches so the scar will be less noticeable
.
We should
still
send for the doctor, but I will stitch her immediately
.
I shall need extra light and someone to hold her down
.
She might wake while I
place the stitches
.
I need hot water and cloths.”

Harry
ask
ed
Newt to go down and have Cook boil water.

“I’ll hold her
.”
Owen said
.
He
motioned
to Gabriel
.
“Tell Micah she is safe.”

Gabriel nodded and headed to Micah’s room.

“She is so pale and cold
.
I think she was drugged
.
We must keep her warm
.”
Sophia
turned
to Charlie
.
“
Start a fire
, please
.
The additio
nal light will help
me make the stitches
in any case,
”
she
instructed.

Harry
followed Gabriel
through the connecting door into Micah’s room
.
He stood behind Gabriel
as he checked on Micah
.

“He burns
.
We need to cool him down in a tub again.”

“Wyldhurst
!
Lachlan
!
We need to douse Micah i
n a tub again
.
He’s burning up,
”
Harry called
downstairs
as he removed his coat and prepared to help Gabriel.

Gabriel, Wyldhurst,
Lachlan
and Harry tended to Micah.

Sophia, Rowena, and Owen tended Libby
.
Charlie and Matthias held candelabra’s above so Sophia could stitch Libby’s cheek.
The others kept watch, for they expected retaliation from the Brown Coats when they realized Libby
had disappeared
.

Doctor Fuller
arrive
d
and
examined
Libby
.
He confirmed that she was drugged
.
“
It was l
ikely an overdose of laudanum
.
My
major concern
is
the bump
and bruise
on her forehead
.
I believe she very likely has suffered a concussion
.”
He roused
Libby
with smelling salts
to
talk to
her
for
a few
seconds
.
He instructed them to try and
wake
her every couple of hours, and if she did not seem coherent he should be called
.
He commended Sophia on her excellent stitching
.
He c
onfessed that although Sophia’s stitches were small and the thread fine, he feared Libby would always carry a scar
.
He mentioned she
m
ight
experience numbness on that side of her face
, possibly for life
.

Sophia assured them after the doctor left that she would concoct a cream to keep Libby’s cheek from scarring so badly
.

The men left Sophia, Rowena and Owen to remove Libby’s soiled clothing
,
wash her and change her into
her
nightdress
.

An hour after his cold bath, Micah opened his eyes
.
His hand wrapped about Gabriel’s arm
.
“Libby?”

“She’s safe, Micah” Gabriel sat on the edge of his bed
.

“Is she well
?
Can I see her?”

“She was drugged
.
She was hi
t on the head
.
The Doctor believes
she ha
s
a concussion
.
Sophia
stitched her cheek
.
Davitt
laid it open
as you saw in you
r
dream
.”

“Take me to her,
” Micah demanded.

“
Certainly
.”
Gabriel motioned to
Wyldhurst
and Lachlan
.

Micah flung back the covers.

“We’ll have to get you into some
clothes
.
The ladies are with Libby,
”
Harry posed as he
noted
Micah’s nakedness
.

“
Drawers in the dresser, second drawer
.
Nightshirt
in the wardrobe.
” Micah said
.
“May I have some water
and s
ome broth
?
Libby needs me
.
I must get my strength back
.”
He tried to raise himself up and could not.

“Absolutely
.”
Harry
nodded
.
“I’ll send someone to fetch it
.
You wear nightshirts
?”
The corners of Harry’s mouth turned up in a
n amused
smile.

“No
.
Grandfather gives me one every year at Christmas
.
He has for the last
twenty years.
”
Micah said hoarsely.

Rowena pulled the covers back
allowing
Wyldhurst and
Lachlan
to
slide Micah in
to bed
beside Libby.

Micah
remained
partially
upright
, resting
his weight on one elbow
while he
reverently touched h
is wife’s face
.
He
took in the
long, jagged scar
and
the bruise
d
cut on her forehead
.
She was so pale and still
.
Please let her live, let her be well again
!
Anger burned inside him at the thought of the abuse his sweet Libby, his love, suffered
at the hands of Davitt and the Brown Coats
.
“Davitt is a dead man!
”
he
growled
through gritted teeth.

Libby stirred
.
She r
olled onto her side
and s
nuggled against Micah
.

“I’m staying here with
Libby
,” Micah announced
as he put his arm about his wife and held her tightly to him
.

“It will be good for you both to be together,” Owen said
.
He helped Micah to lie
back against the pillows
.
Before long, Micah closed his eyes.

“I will sit with them tonight,
”
Owen stated.

“I will join Owen,” Charlie volunteered.

“I’ll come in the morning
, at dawn
.
We’ll need to start getting some broth down Libby if she holds her water tonight,” Gabriel said
.
“I
t’s doubtful they fed her
.
Harry said she
was
not fully recovered from her first ordeal.
”

“Sophia, since Lyon is gone
you
should
sleep in Micah’s bed
in his
chamber
.
There is a connecting door
to this room and there will always be a guard here
.
Y
ou’ll feel safe
r
that way,” Harry suggested.

“Yes
,
I will
do that
.
Thank you, Harry
.
Please,
you may call on me
if I’m needed during the night,
” Sophia
said
to Owen and Charlie.

“Very good,
Lady Amesbury
.
Thank you
.”
Owen acknowledged her offer.

“
Wyldhurst and Lachlan, i
f Micah’s fever rises, we’ll wake you,” Charlie informed the two largest men of their party
.
“Mrs. Clarke said there are enough buckets of water waiting in the kitchen for a bath for Micah if he should need one
.
That way we don’t have to go out and haul water in ou
rselves like we did last night
.”

They nodded
.

“In the meantime, I’m going downstairs, having a brandy and going to sleep
.
I fully expect another attack during the night,” Wyldhurst said.

Harry agreed with a nod
.
“
We should all get some sleep
.
And I’m sleeping in my trousers tonight and leaving my weapons loaded and ready
.
I suggest you all
do the same
.
Newt and Jack
are on watch in the hall
way upstairs
.
Cleve is in charge of downstairs and the outside watch
is
taken by
Gabriel’s men
until two
.
Anyone who was in the other wing has been moved to this one
.
We’re all here together now
.
It’s safer that way
.
Call me at once if you need help with Micah or Libby or if I am needed
for anything else
.”

Owen and Charlie nodded
.

Rowena leaned down and kissed both the sleeping Micah and Libby on the
ir
forehead
s
.
“Feel better
you two
.”