Captive Surrender (22 page)

After several moments of
quiet contemplation, she realised that he had been true to her
word. The noise from downstairs had fallen to a considerably
quieter level and nobody had knocked on her door to tell her how
they had gotten on, like they usually would have done when they
returned from town. Stephen had clearly told them that she was
asleep and should remain undisturbed. She had no idea what happened
next, but suddenly felt as though she didn’t want to spend too much
time thinking about it. She wasn’t sure if she could handle the
answers if she looked for them. Whatever she found out about
Stephen, she couldn’t regret what they had shared. She could only
hope that her sisters wouldn’t pick up on the change in her
relationship with their house guest.

Her hopes were well and
truly shattered when, much to everyone’s shocked surprise, Stephen
became openly affectionate toward Prudence as soon as she appeared
downstairs. Whenever she happened to pass him, he winked at her,
asked her if she was alright or generally took the opportunity to
touch her. A palm in the small of her back, a swift peck on the
cheek, it all went a long way toward confirming to everyone that
their relationship had indeed changed. However, all of his small
gestures of affection were eclipsed when he slid his arms around
her waist to hold her while she was stirring the stew for dinner.
She froze and turned to look at him, her eyes full of questions. He
merely smiled at her and openly dropped a kiss on her lips in front
of Eloisa, who sighed and had a dreamy expression on her face, and
Georgiana, who gasped and dropped the cutlery. Even Prudence
briefly forgot what she had been doing and had merely stared at him
while her cheeks blushed prettily, and her mind frantically raced
for an excuse to offer the others.

Stephen, however, was
having none of her hesitation, and made no attempt to explain,
excuse or offer an opinion on what was happening to any of them,
even Prudence. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought, he wanted
Prudence to understand that their relationship had changed. Theirs
wasn’t an afternoon of love making before they went their separate
ways; theirs was an afternoon of love making to formalise their
burgeoning relationship that would continue to thrive long after
his work with the Star Elite was done.

Although he could sense
the questions on everyone’s minds, nobody voiced them and instead
continued to study his changed behaviour with something akin to
bemusement. It was Robbie that eventually broke the shocked silence
after dinner while everyone was still seated at the
table.

“
It is like
sitting at the table with mama and papa,” he said as his gaze swung
from Prudence, who sat at one end of the table, to Stephen who sat
at the other.

She merely lifted her
brows and studied him for a moment. She couldn’t exactly chastise
the boy for his opinion on the seating arrangements. He hadn’t been
rude, merely stating fact. It was only then that she realised that
she sat where Agatha used to sit, and Stephen sat at the head of
the table where their father used to sit.

“
I am not
like your papa, Robbie. We are poles apart,” Stephen replied
carefully as he took a sip of his quite excellent, and newly
purchased, rum. “I don’t ever walk out on those I care about. No
man ever would.” He kept his gaze firmly locked on Prudence as he
spoke and he made sure that his intent was clearly written on his
face for them all to see.

She was lost for words.
The silent promise in his eyes left her slightly flummoxed to know
what to say. How was she supposed to respond to that? She could
hardly ask him what his intentions were. A part of her wanted to
laugh it off, but in her heart of hearts she desperately needed to
know what was likely to happen when his work for the Star Elite was
done.

“
I know but
it is like you are the head of the house,” Robbie replied with a
frown. “Prudence usually sits there but she is now sitting in
mama’s seat.”

“
I am the
head of the house now, in all but name at any rate,” Stephen
replied firmly. His tone brooked no argument even though nobody had
made any. He was aware of the fine shimmer of tension that hovered
over the table and caught the cautious looks that passed between
the sisters.

“
Ladies, I
have every intention of ensuring that Levant’s threat to this
family is stopped once and for all. You will reside at Cragdale
until you marry and move on to live with your husbands. Until then,
you should feel at liberty to live here free of stresses and
strains, and without threat from the scourge of society like
Levant. I have reinforcements coming from the Star Elite and -” He
paused when Robbie gasped and opened his mouth to speak.
“What?”

“
The Star
Elite?”

“
We are a
group of men; ex-soldiers mainly, who have fought in the war and,
for various reasons, have been enlisted to work in a special unit
in the War Office. We have been tasked to protect England’s shores
from French spies, English traitors and the like. My work has
brought me to Marchwell.”

“
Is Levant
erm?” Georgiana whispered weakly in a voice that was as horrified
as the look in her eye.

“
I don’t
know, to be honest with you. This is strictly between us. Under no
circumstances must you discuss this with anyone outside of this
house.” He waited until everyone nodded their confirmation that the
secret was safe. “I have two men coming to support me because we
need to investigate what Levant is up to. It is imperative that,
for the time being, none of you venture away from this house. Don’t
go with Levant, and don’t answer the door to him or any of his
men.” Stephen’s hard gaze landed on Robbie. “Stay away from
Dinnington, because it looks like Humphrey Brown is the person
responsible for Mr Simpson’s murder.”

A mixture of gasps and
exclamations of horror swept around the table but Stephen paid them
no attention. His gaze was locked firmly on Robbie’s as he silently
willed the boy to accept his authority. By being so brutal with the
truth, he not only hoped that the ladies complied with his request,
but that Robbie would agree to stay away from Will.

“
Where is
Humphrey now?” Prudence asked. She had watched the exchange between
Stephen and Robbie, and was glad that Stephen had taken it upon
himself to take Robbie under his wing. Prudence and her sisters had
told their brother off on many occasions for going to Dinnington
Hall, but the boy simply hadn’t listened. With a man like Stephen
seated at the head of the table, his strength of character, and the
force of his personality, would be more than enough to ensure that
the boy did as he was told, when he was told.

“
He is in
jail awaiting trial,” Stephen sighed. He could see no reason not to
tell them. “Unfortunately, we don’t know how much Will was
involved.” He saw Robbie turn to stare at him but kept his gaze
locked on Prudence.

“
We?” Eloisa
murmured expectantly.

“
Rufus and
me.”

“
Oh, he is
working with you?”

Stephen’s lips twisted
wryly. He had seen the looks that Rufus had given Eloisa, and could
fully appreciate the man’s attraction to Prudence’s sister given
how swiftly he himself had fallen for Prudence. “He is the local
magistrate. It makes my job considerably easier to have him work
alongside me rather than getting offended that I am stepping on his
toes.”

“
How long do
you think it will be before Levant is stopped?” She hated to ask if
Levant could be stopped and knew that if anyone could ensure that
the odious creature ended up in jail, it was Stephen.

“
We are
working on it, but I simply don’t have the answer to that question
right now. As soon as we can establish just how illegal his
activities are, and gather sufficient evidence for the courts, we
will ensure that he is removed from Dinnington and put before a
judge. Unfortunately, it takes time and a lot of investigative
work. My colleagues at the Star Elite have been working on it for
several months now, and I have been investigating the activities
around Dinnington for the last few weeks. That’s all I can
say.”

He glanced up at the
ceiling when the now familiar rhythmic thumps started
up.

Eloisa sighed and pushed
back from the table. “I’ll go.”

The reluctance in her
voice suddenly made Stephen angry. The burden the woman upstairs
put on her children was shameful, and he wondered again where in
the hell the men in the extended family were, and why they had
allowed the young family to continue to look after their
mother.

He pushed away from the
chair and nodded toward the door. “Prudence, could I have a word
with you for a moment please?”

Prudence felt her stomach
dip to her toes. The solemnity on his face unnerved her and she
wondered what had raised his ire so quickly. Was it because her
mother had started banging again? Or was he angry because she had
asked how quickly he could stop Levant? Did he think that she was
trying to pressure him into working more quickly?

She had to confess that
she had never heard of the Star Elite before, but then none of the
family gossiped with the locals since mother’s illness, and they
couldn’t afford even the cheapest of the broadsheets. All
frivolities, including the daily news, had been abandoned not long
after their father had left. She left the kitchen to the sound of
Georgiana, Maggie, Madeline and Robbie clearing the pots away and
followed Stephen into the library.

It was a room that had
been used a lot and showed alarming signs of advanced decay. The
woodwork gleamed from having been polished regularly, but the rest
of the room was furnished with items that should have been thrown
out years ago. Stephen winced as he sat in a chair that squeaked
alarmingly under his weight. He immediately leaned forward to prop
his elbows on his knees rather than sit back and embarrass himself
if it failed to hold his weight. He watched Prudence sit on the
chaise beside him and moved to sit beside her.

“
I want you
to allow me to send for a doctor to take a look at your mother,” he
sighed and gently picked her hand up in his.

Over the course of day he
had done everything he could to try to ease any anxieties she may
have that their love making had been a one-off. He had every
intention of making sure that it happened as often as time, and
circumstances, allowed. However, that also meant that he was going
to become a permanent part of the family and with that came certain
rights, like having a say on the day to day running of the house,
and the intimate affairs of the family such as Agatha’s
illness.

He sighed when Prudence
shook her head. “No, I don’t think it is a good idea.”

“
Look, you
cannot ignore the fact that she is ill and needs help. At least get
a doctor to take a look at her so you know what is wrong with
her.”

“
I know what
is wrong with her. The madness is plain to see,” Prudence sighed
and removed her hands from his before she rose and moved toward the
warmth of the fireplace. Once there, she wrapped her arms around
herself in a picture of vulnerability that didn’t fail to move him.
He followed her and drew her into his arms. She didn’t pull away
and merely stood compliant in his arms while she stared blankly
into the flames.

“
You need to
allow a doctor to take a look at her so that we know if there is
any medication that can help her. I have to confess that I have no
experience of anyone like your mother, and don’t know of what is
available by way of medication. I am not suggesting for one second
that she goes away anywhere, but she may be able to have some
powders or something that will make her feel better, and her
episodes a lot less frequent. If not, then at least we know. The
best we can do then is make her comfortable but at least we will
know she won’t get better. Right now, nobody knows anything, and
that disturbs me greatly.”

“
I know, but
you don’t understand,” Prudence sighed, feeling tears beginning to
build. She wasn’t sure what to make of the entire day, or the last
week, really and struggled to focus on anything while he held her
so tightly.

“
Then make me
understand, Prudence. You are not alone in this. I don’t want you
to shoulder this burden by yourself, not while I am
here.”

“
What then?”
Prudence gasped and pulled back so she could look up at him. “When
your work with the Star Elite is done, what then?” She tried her
hardest not to weep and wail that he would leave and not look back.
She would be devastated that she had lost someone so precious, who
held her heart. She couldn’t bear the thought of the darkened days
ahead, but couldn’t form the words to explain to him, to ask him
what she needed to know.

“
I am not
just going to walk out, Prudence,” Stephen replied softly. “I won’t
simply say, ‘thanks for everything’, pack my bags and then leave.
God, is that what you think I would do?” He bent down to look into
her eyes and cursed at the truth written there. “I am not that kind
of man, Prudence. I am not your father.”

“
I know you
are not my father, but you have work that takes you to all four
corners of the country. You work in the darkness, and will
undoubtedly be taken far away on your next mission. Even if you
could get back here, what then? How long would you be able to stay
before you would be off again?” Prudence knew she was in no
position to put a list of demands on him. They had shared a bed.
That didn’t give her the right to lay claim to him or his future.
Her heart wept for the pain that lay before her but, even with the
knowledge that she would have to say goodbye to him at some point
in the future, she couldn’t regret what they had shared.