Chapter 4
Phillip gave a deep sigh as he sat slouched in a hard chair. He had given Sarah the bed. His cousin was under the covers, sleeping soundly. He had a blanket too, but he wasn't able to close his mind to the horrors enough to sleep.
Boni's sister had taken all his energy to keep calm after her kidnapping and meeting with Count Gregory. It had drained him almost completely. Besides that, the schoolgirl shine she had for him had been fanned higher as she took him for her knight protector. Sarah was a cute little girl, all brown curls and blue eyes, but Phillip had no wish to have her romantic girlish notions pinned on him.
Phillip wondered at how her captors could have gotten her out of Uncle Seth's place in the country so easily. Sarah had told about a party going on celebrating her eldest brother's engagement. Mark, Boni, Ramsey, Uncle Seth, Uncle Martin…There had been a host of relatives at Shillingworth Magna, and Sarah had been stolen right under their noses after she had gone to bed. Boni had been at the party, had been a surprise. The ship's leave-taking must have been delayed.
What did Count Gregory mean about the campaigns in Spain? Phillip considered that as he stared out the narrow window at the darkness. Has he been changing Wellington's orders?
There had been a few battles he had heard of that defied explanation. The army had simply been in the right place at the right time, catching the French flatfooted. Those had been cases of pure dumb luck, or was it something else?
Count Gregory had also said he used Lord Wellington to punish the French. Maybe he was the head of some powerful faction. He alluded to a network that covered all of Europe. If that were true, then he could be an unknown ally.
Phillip shuddered at where his thoughts were taking him. Lord Wellington would not want a dismantled undead monster like Count Gregory for an ally, no matter how helpful. As for himself, Phillip would not complacently take over David's message service. He had to get Sarah and himself out of this.
The next morning, Phillip gave Sarah a firm talk, admonishing her not to do anything to draw attention to herself. He encouraged her of rescue, as much as possible, without making false promises. Their talk was interrupted when the guards came to lead him away.
Outside the castle, in an overgrown courtyard, he was given David's dispatch satchel and a horse.
The guard also returned his pistol to him, unloaded, along with his ammunition. "It would not do for the master's messenger to be unprotected," his guard said.
Phillip took the weapon sullenly. As he rode away, he turned, looking back at the castle. He saw Sarah looking out the count's tower balcony window. He had moved her, for the day, or just to make a point. Despite himself, Phillip looked at the ground under her. The grass was tall at the foot of the castle. He thought of Georgette Claire's broken body and the count's comments about scavengers. Did they leave her there?
Phillip turned his head away and kicked his horse into motion. It would be a long ride to the coast.