Page 68 of The Housebreaker's Assistant
“As much as I hate leaving Charlie alone,” Jonathan said, watching the pair on the bed as well, “something tells me itwould be best to leave the young men to themselves for the moment.”
“Yes,” Titus agreed. “They can comfort each other. And I trust Valentine to come fetch us if things take a turn.”
Valentine nodded. Tears streamed down the young man’s face. Greer was moved by those tears and moved by the compassion the younger man showed as Valentine joined Charlie on the bed to comfort Lord Fabian. Too many men saw the younger, submissive men as inferior or barely human, but Greer saw more strength in them than a thousand soldiers.
Without fully letting go of Penny, Greer left the bedroom along with the other men. In some ways, Penny belonged with the younger, softer men. He was the same age as Charlie and Lord Fabian, or so Greer assumed, but his experience of the world was more extensive than half the adults he knew.
“Come down to the parlor,” Brutus said once they were in the hall. “I believe you have much to tell us about your mission and how it was accomplished.”
“There is so much to tell,” Penny said with a weak laugh. “I won’t know where to start.”
“We’ll start with refreshment, and then perhaps you can move on to a bath and some rest once your tale is done,” Titus said.
All of it sounded divine to Greer. As they moved to a small, cozy parlor downstairs, where a full meal the likes of which he hadn’t seen for days was presented to them, every bit of the anxiety and tension that had been Greer’s constant companion for days began to slough off of him.
“The castle was not as difficult to break into as I’d initially thought it would be,” he explained after they’d eaten their fill and drunk enough ale to make the horrific story easier to tell. “But that did not make our mission easier at all.”
“Dalhurst must have thought no one knew Lord Fabian was at Trebarral Castle,” Penny added to the story. “I’m not even sure if all of the servants knew who was being held prisoner right under their noses. They were told he was an ill friend recovering by the seaside.”
“They probably had no reason to doubt that,” Brutus agreed. “Lord Fabian was only there a short while. It is my understanding that he has been moved more than once since Fairford House.”
“I heard Dalhurst say someone named Underhill was supposed to fetch Lord Fabian, but he’d been delayed on the Continent,” Penny said.
“And it’s a good thing, too,” Jonathan added with a frown, sipping a glass of wine. “If he’d come any sooner, this tale might have had a different ending.”
“Fortunately for all,” Titus said, “the tale has ended well.”
“For Lord Fabian,” Greer said, the dark, gnawing feeling in his gut pulsing. “How many other young men have Hammond and Dalhurst bought and sold like chattel? Dalhurst is dead now, but Hammond is still very much alive.”
The entire room grew serious at Greer’s comments. There was no need to answer the question he’d asked. Every man there knew the answer was not pretty.
“Hammond must be stopped,” Penny said, anger clear and crisp in his voice. “Anyone who seeks to do that to another person should be—” He paused, and his face suddenly filled with relief. “Helen!” he exclaimed, jumping up out of his chair.
Greer twisted in his seat to find Penny’s lovely sister standing in the doorway, accompanied by the young man, Erastos.
“Brother!” Helen called out, her face a beacon of innocence and love.
Penny flew across the room and threw his arms around his sister. He hugged her tightly with a sound of incredible relief and lifted her off her feet for a moment.
“Hello, my princess,” he said once he put her down, then held her head in both hands and kissed her forehead noisily. “I’ve missed you so much. Have you behaved?”
Helen wrinkled her nose. “You smell,” she said.
Penny laughed with joyful abandon, as if she’d sung the most tender endearments. “I do need a bath, yes,” he said, then hugged her again. “Have you been happy here?” Penny asked her.
“Yes,” Helen said, smiling, but then grimacing and pushing away from Penny, her nose wrinkled. She looked like she didn’t know whether to hug her brother or get away from his smell. “This is the best castle.”
“It is, love, it is,” Penny said, drawing her into another hug. He turned to Brutus and Titus and said, “Thank you for taking care of her.”
The two men nodded.
“Perhaps it is time for you to enjoy your reunion with your sister,” Brutus said, rising from his chair. Everyone else rose, too. “There will be time for us to discuss Lord Fabian, Hammond, and what we do next later.”
“Yes,” Penny said, glancing happily at Greer as he walked over to join them. “I think what we need now is a bath, some daring bedtime stories, and a good, long sleep.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Greer said.
Brutus and Titus said their goodnights and directed Caius to show them to rooms in the part of the Den where Helen had been given a lovely, large room. If Greer needed proof that Brutus and Titus understood the nature of the relationship between him and Penny and how it had grown during their time in Cornwall, it came in the form of the room adjacent to the oneHelen and Penny were supposed to call their own. It would be simple for the two of them to pass back and forth between the two rooms without anyone noticing their activity.
