Page 4 of Exile's Return
Daniel hesitated. The five years of privateering had netted him a comfortable sum. Sufficient to restore a life in England he had not known since before the war, but hardly a fortune.
The King laughed and held up a hand. ‘You do not need to tell me. Indeed, I do not wish to know.’ He leaned an elbow on the arm of his chair and inclined his head. ‘So why have you returned now?’
‘I heard that Cromwell is dead,’ Daniel responded.
‘But you are still an escaped prisoner, are you not, and a privateer? No doubt there is a price on your head.’ The King leaned his elbow on his chair, stroking his moustache.
Daniel shrugged. ‘Possibly, but that is not why I am here, Your Majesty. I am seeking news of my brother, Christopher Lovell. He —’
A hush fell on the room, and the back of Daniel’s neck prickled.
‘Do you mean Kit Lovell?’ Hyde asked.
The breath caught in Daniel’s throat as the King frowned. ‘Lovell?’
‘You recall the man, Your Majesty. That affair of Gerard?’ Hyde leaned down to whisper in the King’s ear, and Daniel’s sense of foreboding trebled.
‘Good God, I thought I knew your face.’ An unfamiliar voice came from the courtiers behind him and, the tension broken,Daniel turned to see the speaker, a trim man of middle height with light brown hair curling to his shoulder.
He too looked familiar, but Daniel could not immediately place him. There had been many visitors to Eveleigh during the long years of the war. He could have been one of many.
‘Sir, you have the advantage of me,’ Daniel responded.
‘Longley,’ the man replied with a bow. ‘Giles Longley. We played cards on the eve of Worcester—your brother, Jonathan Thornton, and I. Do you recall?’
Daniel stared at the man as small snatches of memory began to snap into place. A card game on the eve of Worcester. Kit and his friends playing their last hand before the battle that would decide their fates. They had tried to warn him but he had not heeded their words.
The arrogance of youth.
In the long years that had followed, he had often wondered what had become of them, the men that he had called the Guardians of the Crown. In his mind, they all lay dead on that field of battle.
If Longley still lived, then maybe there was hope for Kit?
Daniel swallowed. ‘A lifetime ago, my Lord,’ he replied.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the King glance at Hyde. Whatever private message passed between them, Hyde acknowledged it with a slight inclination of his head.
The King straightened in his chair. ‘You are welcome, Lovell. Welcome to my court and, God willing, soon to be welcome in a peaceful England.’
Daniel’s lip curled. ‘I am not so certain of the last sentiment, Your Majesty. As you pointed out, there will be some in London who would like to see me hanged for my alleged crimes.’
‘They’ll have to catch you first, my friend, and it seems you have your brother’s aptitude for evasion. Longley,’ the King indicated the dapper Viscount. ‘Take our friend Lovell andintroduce him to the joys of this town. They do good ale, but not much else I am afraid, Lovell.’
Dismissed, Daniel bowed and left the room, his question unanswered.
Chapter 3
‘Tell me, Lovell, why have you come back now?’ Longley asked as a greasy and ill-tempered pot boy slammed down their ales, slopping most of it onto the table.
Daniel looked around the crowded taproom. A haze of tobacco smoke hung in the air, tinged with smoke from the huge fire that burned at one end of the room. A fug of unwashed bodies and boiled cabbage completed the picture. He could not have been further from the dens of Fort Royal in Martinique, and it felt good.
He took a draught of the excellent ale and considered his reply.
‘As I said, Cromwell’s dead. His son has fled to the Continent. The time is right for the King to return.’ Daniel paused. ‘For us all to return. How many years has it been since you were last in England?’
Longley sighed. ‘I’ve not been back since my own escape from Worcester. Is it really eight years?’ He took a swig fromhis tankard, brushing foam from his well-groomed moustache. ‘I long to return, but it is not quite so simple, my impetuous friend. We must see the King legally restored by the will of the people. Until such time we continue to bide here. Exile teaches you patience.’
Daniel smiled. ‘Patience has never been one of my virtues, my lord. I have paid my dues and I am no longer a raw youth hungry for his first taste of battle.’ He shrugged. ‘The simple fact is, I want to go home.’
