Page 19 of Secrets of Capell Manor
A minute later, Devlin sat at the table and enjoyed some mostly warm roasted chicken with potatoes, leeks, and carrots. There was even a heel of bread left for him to round out the meal.
I could get used to this.
A warm meal, a warm fire…a warm woman. He almost snorted out loud at this line of thinking.
No woman would find a landless knight very appealing. After all, where would they sleep? On the cold ground each night?
Devlin pushed those thoughts aside.
“Did you find anything useful in your search?” Alden questioned when Devlin finished eating.
“That I did, friend. This could be our first breakthrough.” Devlin walked to the chair near the fire and sat. ‘‘
Alden leaned forward with focused attention.
“Edmond kept careful records of his rents and the few sharecrop totals. Payments were recorded regularly from his tenant farmers, as well as some sales and trades with the villagers. So, at first, I found nothing unusual. But his study contained another ledger. This one appears to hold lists of gambling debts and possibly money he lent to others to cover bets and gaming. I found three rather large totals. Two amounted to seventy-five sovereigns that were paid to him just this past autumn. And if that weren’t curious enough, there is another entry saying he owed one hundred sovereigns. This entry was made just days before he disappeared.”
Alden’s head tilted slightly to the side, and a low whistle escaped his lips. “That’s a lot of gold,” he said. “And who does he owe?”
“That’s the thing. There are no names in this book. Only single initials beside each entry.” Devlin sighed.
“Someone dealing in that much gold would have enemies. Wealth usually leads to greed, and that brings out the evil in men,” Alden stated.
Devlin agreed. Along with too much drink, money often turned sensible men foolish. His religious experiences were few but he did remember a verse about the love of money being the root of all evil. If what his family and servants said was true, Lord Edmond illustrated this truth perfectly.
“Yes, this part of the puzzle must be solved. But not tonight,” he announced as he stood.
“Tomorrow is soon enough.”
“Agreed, but I think I will sit a bit longer here and enjoy the fire.” Alden placed his feet back toward the flames. “Goodnight, Dev.”
When Grim saw Devlin leave, he followed a few paces behind. They climbed the stairs and headed down the hall to the bedchambers. After passing the lady’s room, Devlin noticed that Grim stopped at the next door. He tapped the door with his mighty paw, and the door opened enough for him to pass through.
Devlin sighed and followed the dog into the room. This was where the girls slept. There was a bed to the left, and Kaylyn and Luella were sound asleep. Grim jumped on the bed without hesitation. He carefully and gingerly squeezed in between the two sisters. Devlin started to reach for the dog’s collar to pull him off the bed before he woke the girls up, but instead the young girls rolled toward his killer hound, throwing small arms around the dog, and in a matter of seconds, their deep sleep breathing continued.
And that… was that, Devlin realized.
But then he heard a slight whimper and then a louder cry coming from the adjoining room. Lady Rosalind was in some kind of distress. His heart pounded, and his body tensed. Hegave Grim the hand signal to stay where he was. If someone was in the chamber, he wanted the children protected.
He pulled his dagger from its sheath and paced stealthily to the door. How could someone have entered the manor without Alden, himself, and the dog knowing? But he was ready. Whoever this intruder was would soon regret their decision. He slowly looked around the door frame and into the room.
The fire cast just enough light to see into the far corners of the chamber. There wasn’t anyone there. Rosalind was having a nightmare, it seemed. She tossed and turned on the bed, moving her head from side to side. She mumbled unintelligibly, and then a few words he understood.
“Mmm…no…no…girls…I won’t… no, don’t!”
Devlin contemplated waking her up from the dream that held her in such fear but realized that he would scare her to death, sword drawn and standing over her in her chamber late at night. Thankfully, the nightmare that gripped her seemed to fade, and in a moment, she rolled over and slept peacefully. Her night clothes dropped off her shoulder just slightly, and Devlin was ashamed that his gaze lingered longer than it should have. But as he turned away, he noticed something else. A familiar rage built inside him. Below her shoulder, a long red scar traveled down into her gown. He had seen that wound before. That welt was the result of a beating with a riding crop. And he had no doubt who had caused this injury. He suddenly wished he would find Edmond alive so that he could kill him, slowly! The man was a disgrace.
Rosalind then cracked open one eyelid.
He braced himself for a scream. But she only sat up slightly and pulled her bedspread up to her chin.
“Sir Devlin.” Her voice was hushed, her eyes widening. “What in all of the heavens are you doing here?”
“A thousand pardons, my lady,” he stammered out quickly. “Grim entered the children’s room, and I came in to get him.” He motioned towards the door. “But he made himself quite comfortable in their bed. I heard you crying out. I thought someone was in your chamber. So I entered. But it seems you were having a bad dream.” He bowed his head. “Please forgive my intrusion.”
Rosalind’s hands covered her face, and she shook her head from side to side. When she lowered them, her eyes filled with tears that threatened to escape at any second. “I don’t remember what the dream was about. The children tell me I cry out often, but I only know that I wake up feeling afraid.”
Devlin wondered if the nightmare was a manifestation of some hidden secret or even guilt. He’d known many men that suffered from the night terrors, and these men were usually reliving horrors of their past each night.
