Guardians of the Crown Complete CollectionBy the SwordThe King's ManExile's Return by Alison Stuart

Author:Alison Stuart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Escape Publishing

Chapter 14

Kit’s hired horse had a mouth as hard as rock and seemed in no hurry to reach the pretty village of Turnham Green, about an hour’s ride on a good horse from London. However, the steady pace allowed Kit time to think and by the time he reached the village, he had remembered the name of the lawyer that Lucy said she had known. Knott. An appropriate name, he thought, for the tangle he found himself in.

The name of the village rang in his memory as the site of the first confrontation of the war, when the King marching on London had been turned back at Turnham Green. Such a monumental day had left no echoes in the quiet streets, and after some judicious enquiry he found the Knotts’ neat house a little way out of the village, set well back from the London road.

A timid maid answered his knock on the door. She asked his name and showed him into a tidy parlour. The plain, unadorned furniture glowed with many polishings, and a bowl of early spring flowers sat squarely in the centre of the table. Kit touched the fragile blooms.

A man entered the room, shutting the door behind him. Kit’s eyes flicked over his unprepossessing appearance. He stood barely middle height, his thin body concealed behind dark clothes. His straight, greying hair had been brushed over the top of his pate to conceal the balding hairline. His pale face bore a downcast expression, which to judge from the lines was habitual.

‘Captain Lovell?’ he enquired.

Kit bowed. ‘Master Knott.’

‘What business brings you to my house?’

‘I am looking for a friend, a Mistress Thamsine Granville.’

The man’s thin lips trembled slightly. ‘I cannot help you, Captain Lovell.’

The door opened and a slight woman entered the room. Like her husband she wore plain clothes, her greying hair covered by a neat, white cap.

‘Captain Lovell,’ she said, ‘my name is Jane Knott, I am Thamsine Granville’s sister.’

‘Thamsine’s sister? I had no idea ... Your servant, ma’am.’ Kit bowed.

He scanned Jane Knott’s face for some resemblance to her sister and found none. A purple bruise marred the right side of her face and he cast the husband a quick glance, wondering if such a man was capable of violence against a woman.

Jane’s fingers touched the mark and she turned to her husband.

‘Roger, Captain Lovell is a friend. He is the only one who can help her.’

Her husband opened her mouth, but Jane put a hand on his arm.

‘Please, Roger. Thamsine needs our help.’ She turned to Kit. ‘Please sit, Captain Lovell.’

Kit removed his gloves and took the proffered chair at the table. The Knotts sat straight-backed on the hard chairs across from him, as if he were interviewing them.

Kit held up a hand. ‘Mistress Knott, you must understand I know little of Thamsine’s history. I am trying to piece it together.’

Jane’s eyes widened. ‘But I thought you were friends?’

Thamsine had her reasons not to trust me, Kit thought bitterly.

‘We have an unusual relationship,’ he said.

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