Lord Cavendish Returns (18 page)

“
I think you need to tread carefully, Harper. Someone doesn’t
want you to get hold of that register for some reason and they
sound dangerous. I don’t like it. I don’t like it one
bit.”

“
Me neither. I just don’t understand why someone is so
determined to bury the truth. I mean, what significance would it
have to anyone outside of the Lawton family? The people who raised
us are both dead. I don’t intend to tell everyone what I find.
Quite the opposite is true in fact. It is private and personal to
me and the least amount people who know about it the better as far
as I am concerned. The Cavendish brothers came to me with the
information so are not likely to prevent me from finding evidence
to prove their claims are right. Unfortunately, I just don’t know
what to do about Arrabella now. I feel that I have drawn her right
into the middle of this. Although she was only helping me out as
the verger, whoever is after that register didn’t care that she was
locked down there as well. They didn’t care one bit that her
reputation was at stake, and they didn’t give a damn that she was
scared.”

“
Who needs the register?”

“
Me.

“
And?”

“
Well, neither you or Robert or Angus are interested, so it is
just me,” Harper frowned.

“
What about your father?”

“
Pardon?”

“
I said, what about the man who claims to be your
father?”

“
Johnson?”

“
He may be a solicitor but that doesn’t mean that he is unable
to resort to a little subterfuge if the occasion requires
it.”

“
He must be in his sixties or seventies at least,” Harper
sighed. “But he has already told the Cavendish brothers the story
of when he and this Alice woman came together and admitted to
having a child with her. If he didn’t want me to know he was my
father, he could have just denied everything.”

“
But would they have just accepted his word, or would they
have gone after the proof themselves?”

Harper
knew that Joseph was right. The Cavendish brothers would never have
just acted on a man’s word. They first received the information
from their aunt, who had wanted to clear the air before her death.
Then they went to the solicitor ‘father’ for confirmation. If he
had denied everything, the Cavendish brothers would have
undoubtedly continued their hunt for the truth.

“
The Cavendish brothers are not the kind of men to action
something like this on a whim. They seemed convinced that they had
the facts right when they accosted me but acknowledged they didn’t
have proof.”

“
Accosted you?” Joseph lifted his brows, clearly
intrigued.

Harper
rolled his eyes and told him what had happened when had first met
the Cavendish brothers. Joseph was clutching his sides with
laughter by the time Harper had finished.

“
It’s not funny,” Harper drawled. “I still have the lump on my
head.”

“
You are right. Entitled men are arrogant fops who think that
they are above the law most of the time,” Joseph sighed. “But this
lot sound like a lively bunch.” He studied the floor beneath his
boots for several long moments before he looked at Harper. “What
makes you think that they weren’t trying to put you
off?”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Well, they could have arranged to meet you somewhere.
Knocking you out cold and kidnapping you seems an extreme way of
breaking such news to anyone. If Dominic Cavendish is friends with
Sir Hugo, surely he would have felt that he could tell his friend
and ask him to help arrange a meeting? It all seems rather odd, if
you ask me, and that is before you even get here and things really
do start to get strange.”

“
I know. It all started when I got knocked on the head.
Nothing has seemed the same ever since.”

“
I cannot tell you what to do, Harper, but I think that
because people use the spare set of keys to the church on a daily
basis, and think nothing of having free access to the vicarage in
the same way as they do with the church, you need to focus your
efforts a bit more on finding that parish register. Forget the
keys. Their disappearance could be just circumstance.”

“
I suppose.”

“
Look, nobody new can really stay in this village without
people noticing them. We are not on a main through-road to a major
town. Anyone who comes here does so for a reason, so you need to
look further afield,” Joseph reasoned.

“
You could be right. We got locked into the church at
Moldton.”

“
Arrabella knows the cleaning ladies and has been the verger
there for several years,” Joseph added. “If anyone can ask around
for you, she can. This is a parish register that has gone missing,
not some personal papers. It is a vital piece of the church
equipment that contains private details of a lot of people; most of
whom are still in the area.”

“
I know. It is also really heavy and not something you would
tuck under your arm without attracting the attention of several
people. He could have been noticed walking around with a heavy
book.”

“
So you can conclude that the person who is trying to stop you
getting the information is not from Hambley Wood, is not Arrabella,
or any of us. You need to look to Moldton. I think that there will
have been a stranger sighted by someone, you just need to find out
who he is and where he is.”

“
I need Arrabella’s help, don’t I?”

Joseph
nodded. “But remember that Moldton is just like Hambley Wood.
Gossips rule, so if you don’t want to attract it; don’t do
it.”

Harper
also knew that if the person who had the register now was prepared
to steal it, they would also be prepared to do whatever it took to
keep it. Arrabella could be in significant danger. “God, what a
mess,” he whispered.

“
If you need me, you know where I am.”

Harper
nodded and watched the dogs walk toward the door. They had clearly
had enough of sitting beside the fire and were eager to get some
work done. He knew that Joseph probably had a million jobs to do
and so made his own way toward the door.

“
Can I ask you if you were in the vicarage garden the night
before last?”

“
Pardon?” The blank look on Joseph’s face told Harper
everything he needed to know and waved his brother
goodbye.

As he
left the farmyard, he thought about what Joseph had said. Although
his brother could be right in that the disappearance of the keys
could be mere circumstance, Harper had learned from his time with
the Star Elite that it was ever wise to leave questions unanswered.
Something about those keys plagued him, only he couldn’t quite
figure out what it was. On the surface, it all seemed very
innocent; someone had borrowed the keys to get into the church and
had simply forgotten to return them. It was a reasonable enough
explanation. But, there was something about the timing of the keys
going missing at the same time as the register that he just
couldn’t ignore.

CHAPTER
NINE

Rather
than head over to the vicarage Harper decided to go to Moldton to
find out where travellers were able to stay instead. It didn’t take
long before he established that there were only two taverns which
rented their rooms out. They were at opposite ends of the main
road, and were both well run, although small, establishments. He
didn’t want to venture inside either tavern to take a closer look
at the patrons for fear of tipping off their thief, and took a few
moments to study the surrounding area just in case his quarry
spotted him and decided to make a run for freedom.

Once
back on the main road, he studied the church spire for several
moments. He knew that the register wasn’t there, and the keys were
hardly likely to be there either, but he found himself standing
just inside the entrance hall ten minutes later anyway.

Suddenly, he sensed movement behind him but unfortunately far
too late to avoid the heavy object that was swung at his head. He
ducked, but the heavy brass candlestick caught him on his temple
anyway. He blinked back the stars that danced before him and swung
out with his fist in an attempt to catch his assailant. The grunt
from his attacker was music to his ears and he gritted his teeth in
an attempt to keep the swirling blackness at bay until he got his
assailant out of the church.

“
You won’t stop me,” he ground out. “I am going to get that
register.” He wasn’t answered of course, but then he didn’t need to
be.

Over his
lifetime he had been in more than his fair share of fist fights and
knew how to gauge his opponent’s abilities. This one knew how to
duke it out, but was not familiar with the down and dirty fighting
Harper had frequently been subjected to. His gaze was locked on the
heavily disguised figure of the man as they traded blows, but it
was impossible to identify any distinguishing features because of
the large scarf that was draped around the lower part of the man’s
face, and the large hood on the dark cloak that covered everything
else but his eyes.

“
I suggest you bring that bloody register back before I pound
it out of you,” he snarled as he dodged another swinging fist.
Harper knew that they could continue to trade blows all night and
decided to drop his head and charge. Unfortunately, his intent must
have been written on his face because the man suddenly turned and
fled.

Harper
tried to race after him but, as soon as he moved, the church began
to swirl around him and the shadows around the edges of his vision
began to cloud over. His stomach rolled sickeningly to the point
that he knew that if he didn’t get outside he was going to be sick.
Sure enough, by the time he got into the churchyard, his battered
body objected to the demands he placed on it and he lost the
contents of his stomach in the bushes. When he finished, he glanced
down the lane and cursed at the sight of his assailant hurrying
down the road at a rapid clip. Rather than give chase, Harper sat
on the lawn and rested his elbows on his bent knees while he
studied the direction the man had gone. He knew now that the thief
was a man, and someone who could afford a few luxuries if the
quality of the cloak he wore was anything to go by. Although he
hadn’t said a word, the way the man fought suggested that he was
more familiar with gentleman’s clubs than the work of the Star
Elite.

It took
quite some time before Harper felt strong enough to walk anywhere
without staggering. As soon as he felt strong enough, he slowly
made his way toward Hambley Wood.

“
Mrs Able!” Arrabella shouted as soon as she opened the door
and caught sight of Harper on the doorstep. “Good heavens, what has
happened to you?”

Just the
sound of her voice was a blessed relief to Harper who, by the time
he reached the vicarage, was seriously struggling to keep his wits
about him. He couldn’t remember one thing about the journey but,
now that he was safe, he remembered that his brother, the doctor,
had a house and a practice at Moldton: the village he had just
left.

Before
he could speak, he was led into the sitting room and settled before
the fire. When Mrs Able appeared in the doorway, Arrabella swung
into action.

“
Go and send Billy Reynolds for the doctor.” She ordered and
turned to Harper with a militant gleam in her eye. “Stay right
where you are. Do you feel sick? Dizzy?”

When
Harper didn’t immediately respond, she seemed to take his absent
minded behaviour as illness and began to flutter around him with
all of the determination of an avenging angel.

“
Stay right where you are, I will be back in a moment.” She
didn’t have the chance to give Mrs Able any more instructions; the
woman had already left the house and was half-running, half-walking
across the garden toward the village.

“
Stay right there,” she snapped, and hurried to the kitchen
where she hastily collected the items she would need and carried
them all back to the sitting room. She found Harper resting his
head against the back of the chair. His eyes were closed and, if it
hadn’t been for the steady rise and fall of his chest she would
really have panicked because his pale complexion was so stark
against the crimson stain of blood that covered half of his
face.

As soon
as he had left the house last night she had bitterly regretted her
outburst. Her behaviour had been wanton and, although she had
over-reacted, she couldn’t really blame him for taking advantage of
the situations that had been presented to him. She had hardly done
anything to fight him off and so only had herself to blame for what
had happened between them.

It all
seemed to be of little importance at the moment though; the large
cut on his temple was still oozing and, if the large red stain that
covered the left side of his chest was anything to go by, had been
for some time.

“
Here, let me see if we can get this cleaned up a bit.” The
sight of blood didn’t bother her one bit, although she had never
seen it on someone she cared about before. The sight of Harper, who
usually appeared to be a tower of strength, pale, covered in blood
and struggling to focus on anything, was unnerving. She wanted to
ask him how he had done it but knew from the dazed look in his eye
that she was not likely to get any accurate details out of
him.