Part 40 (1/2)
She cast him a quick, understanding smile. ”Yes. Yet.” She looked around the dark, cold pa.s.sage and s.h.i.+vered. Four villagers pa.s.sed them with respectful nods and began to organize the retrieval of Felix Farrell. ”Let's get out of here.”
”Capital notion.” Akash stood back to let Gideon and Charis precede him. As Gideon pa.s.sed, Akash reached out to clasp his shoulder in a brief gesture of affection.
After the mine, daylight dazzled. Gideon placed a steadying hand on Charis's arm. The day was fine, and sun sparkled on puddles and dripping foliage. The air smelt fresh and clean. He sucked in a deep breath, savoring the sea's salt tang.
The scent of Penrhyn. The scent of home.
The crowd outside made him brace for the familiar sick haze. He felt Charis's loving concern as she slid her arm around his waist.
But when he surveyed the welcoming faces turned toward him, he was only aware of open sky and clear air, the breeze against his skin, Charis's enticing warmth pressed to his side.
Had his wife spoken more truly than she realized? Was he finally free?
The shock was too much.
He staggered. His sight narrowed to a single beam of light.
”Gideon, what is it?” Charis's hold tightened. As ever, her touch anch.o.r.ed him. His shaking arm twined around her slender shoulders, and he fought not to lean on her as his legs threatened to fold beneath him.
The wave of light-headedness pa.s.sed, leaving him lost, bewildered. What had happened? Since Rangapindhi he'd been unable to endure people around him. So many defense mechanisms had become second nature.
Yet today he needed none of them.
His whirling mind struggled to make sense of it all. Now he thought about it, the demons should have tormented him long before this. Yet they'd been remarkably silent. Felix and Hubert's kidnapping hadn't sparked an attack. Nor, more significantly, had captivity in the dark tunnel.
But he'd been blisteringly angry when they took him. With the brothers and more, with himself, for placing his wife in danger.
The anger had pa.s.sed, and still there were no screaming ghosts in his head. He stared at the villagers. He looked past them to Sir John Holland and the militia, surrounding a shackled Hubert. Then he sought and found the two men who had stood by him through so much. Tulliver watched expressionlessly from Akash's side. Akash's gaze as he surveyed Gideon and Charis was steady and unsurprised.
He knew the signs of Gideon's illness better than anyone. Gideon was sure he wouldn't have survived the worst attacks without Akash's arcane medical knowledge. What did his friend make of this abrupt change?
Then, with another shock, Gideon remembered that Akash had touched him without hesitation in the mine.
”You know, I think I'm all right,” he said in a thick voice to Charis, who stared up at him with s.h.i.+ning eyes. Did she too guess what had happened?
His dreams had been so humble yet so out of reach. Had heaven relented after all his pain? It seemed beyond belief.
”I need to talk to Hubert,” Charis said quietly. ”He shouldn't learn about Felix from a stranger.”
”That's a consideration the cur hardly warrants,” Gideon said grimly. She was so strong. If she hadn't been, she'd have given up on her husband weeks ago.
”Nevertheless, I must do it.”
Reluctantly, Gideon released her, immediately missing her nearness. He watched as she crossed to where a chained and guarded Hubert waited in sullen, fulminating silence. Even with Hubert shackled, Gideon fought the illogical urge to drag her back into his arms, where she was safe. Would this instinct to protect her ever fade? Not while he breathed.
Across the open area, Hubert let loose a broken groan. The bulky brute swiftly went from surly resistance to utter collapse. Tears poured down his face. Charis said something, and placed a hand on his shoulder. He accepted her comfort, much as he didn't deserve it. Gideon felt another surge of admiration for his wife's generosity. If the decision were left to him, he'd let the b.a.s.t.a.r.d suffer.
Sir John approached, smiling, extending his hand. Dazed, Gideon returned the handshake. How simple the gesture was. Only a day ago, it would have been a painful ordeal.
”Sir Gideon, rum doings indeed. I can't say how pleased I am to find you unharmed.”
”Thank you, Sir John.” Astonishment and wonder still gripped Gideon. The change was too sudden for him to trust although with every minute, it became more likely that the impossible had occurred.
”I take it the other villain is incapacitated inside the mine?”
Gideon forced himself to concentrate on immediate matters. So difficult when unfamiliar happiness bubbled up like a new stream. He gave the magistrate a short recounting of events from when he'd discovered Charis in Winchester.
Akash joined them. When Gideon performed introductions, Sir John, to give him credit, displayed only a moment's confusion at meeting Akash Stamford, the new Viscount Cranbourne.
”What happens now?” Gideon kept an eye on Charis and the distraught Hubert.
”We'll take Lord Burkett to London for trial. You'll likely be called to appear.” Sir John looked tired and troubled. ”I can't see him escaping the noose. If you'll come with me now, we can...”
Akash smoothly interrupted. ”I'll start the formalities. Sir Gideon was held overnight. His lady has ridden through a storm and managed no sleep since. Let the Trevithicks go home.”
Looking abashed, Sir John cleared his throat and nodded. ”Of course. Wasn't thinking. Nothing that can't wait. Appreciate your cooperation, my lord.”
The Penrhyn men emerged from the mine, holding an unmoving, black-coated body. Gideon saw at a glance there was no hope for Felix. He met Charis's gaze across the clearing and shook his head. She nodded but remained dry-eyed. Hubert's painful, choked sobs intensified as the villagers carried Felix's limp form past him.
With each moment, Gideon became easier in his skin. He moved among the local men, thanking them. n.o.body needed to tell him they'd braved the storm to find him. Hard to believe it had taken him twenty-five years to recognize the unbreakable bonds that tied him to this land and its people.
Tulliver came up, leading Khan. One mount for two riders, the sly dog. With a word of thanks, Gideon took the reins and rubbed the horse's nose in greeting. He'd missed the spirited thoroughbred over the last weeks.
With his usual impa.s.sivity, Tulliver handed over the coat he carried under his arm. ”Here you are, guvnor. Thought you might need some extra covering”
Gratefully, Gideon pulled the garment over his ragged s.h.i.+rt. He must look a ruffian. He badly needed a bath and a change of clothes. He needed a shave and a hot meal. More than anything, he needed time alone with his wife. With relief, he watched Charis move away from Hubert and approach Sir John.
He turned his attention to Tulliver. Akash wasn't the only one who deserved his undying grat.i.tude. ”I appreciate it. Just as I appreciate your rus.h.i.+ng to my rescue today.”
”I'm honored to serve you, sir.” Tulliver's eyes held a hint of uncharacteristic softness. ”Always have been. And I reckon grat.i.tude goes both ways. You won't recall, but I was one of the soldiers who pulled you out of that pit in Rangapindhi, more dead than alive.”
Astonishment gripped Gideon at this revelation. ”By G.o.d, I never knew.”
”My last a.s.signment for the Company. Those heathens we locked up after the invasion talked like you was a G.o.d. They'd never seen such grit. Nothing they done could break you.” Tulliver's voice deepened with feeling. ”You kept your mouth shut and saved me and my chums from a bloodbath. When I heard you sailed home on the same packet as me, I set myself to enter your service.”
Gideon tried to remember the exact moment he'd offered Tulliver a place. The details were hazy. When he'd been delirious with fever on the s.h.i.+p, Tulliver had turned up to help, and he'd been around ever since. Capable, resourceful, taciturn. In fact, that was the longest speech Gideon had ever heard the man make.
”I haven't been an easy master,” he said with difficulty.
”Maybe not always, lad, but I knew you'd come right, given time and incentive. Gold always rings true.”
Gideon swallowed a lump of emotion. He owed this man more than he could ever repay. ”You know you've always got a home at Penrhyn.” Shabby return for the selfless devotion.
Tulliver's wry smile appeared. ”Aye, guvnor. I'd counted on that and all. A nice quiet life by the seaside in my old age suits me down to the ground. Although it's not exactly been quiet so far.”
Gideon laughed with a lightheartedness he couldn't remember feeling for years and clapped Tulliver on the back. Another natural gesture unthinkable yesterday.
His pulse racing with a mixture of antic.i.p.ation and trepidation, Gideon led Khan up to Charis. He felt like a nervous schoolboy. Absurd after all he'd been through with her. But recent events had created a new map between them, and he wasn't yet sure how to navigate it.
”I should get you back to Penrhyn.” Before she could object, he caught her by the supple waist and tossed her up onto Khan's back.