Free Captive Surrender by Rebecca King Page A

them a place to stay for a few days, but then
thought of their mother who was purportedly ‘ill’. She was
obviously still at Cragdale. It was clear from the worn state of
their clothing that Eloisa had told the truth about the lack of
finances; well sort of. He was fairly certain that she hadn’t been
honest in telling him about just how impoverished the family really
were. He hadn’t missed the worn soles to Robbie’s boots, or the
frayed hems to practically all of their dresses.
    “ Leave it
with me, ladies. I will deal with this man. It just takes time for
me to investigate his activities and gather enough evidence to
arrest him, unfortunately, but I will do.”
    “ What do we
do in the meantime? I mean, he has his men watching the house and
is vile when he visits.” Prudence tried to keep the panic out of
her voice and took a deep breath to steady herself when Robbie
glance worriedly at her.
    “ Either don’t
speak to him or, if you are left with no choice, acknowledge his
presence but don’t agree to anything he offers. Keep your distance.
I will call by your house, if I may, on a daily basis, so will be a
visible presence around and about your property.”
    He didn’t add that it
would help his investigation if he could get a layout of the house,
its grounds, and take a look at the area, if only so that he could
get some idea as to why Levant wanted so much of the land around
the village. What was the man up to? Rufus knew that it was only
the purchase of Cragdale Manor that prevented Levant from owning a
sizeable portion of coastline, but why did he want so much of it?
He had seen Levant’s men, and learned enough about them to know
that any innocent man didn’t hire heavies like that without having
something to hide. Although he didn’t tell the ladies, Rufus felt
fairly certain that although he would make daily visits, Levant was
unlikely to be deterred from continuing to pursue ownership of
Cragdale. It would take nothing short of the man’s arrest to put a
stop to his continual harassment of the Freestone family until he
got what he wanted. Unfortunately, the last time he had checked, it
hadn’t been illegal to purchase houses.
    “ If you wait
for one moment, I will escort you all home.”
    “ That isn’t
necessary, really,” Prudence offered only to watch the man stalk
toward the door.
    “ I think that
we had better start as we mean to go on, don’t you? I am going to
be a visible fixture at Cragdale and, if I cannot be there because
I am conducting business, I will arrange for one of my men to pay
you a visit to check on you. Until then, we need to be seen out and
about together so that we can make sure that everyone knows we are
close acquaintances. It will ensure that Levant understands that
you are not vulnerable.”
    He gave Prudence a direct
look that rendered any further argument she may have had completely
useless, and she closed her mouth with a snap.
    Silence settled in his
wake, and they all stared askance at each other at the speed in
which matters had been taken out of their hands. Having been forced
to always be the one in control of everything, Prudence felt an
immediate sense of relief that was rapidly followed with acute
wariness. Was he being genuine? Did he really intend to go to such
lengths to protect the family? If so, why? She didn’t have much
experience with magistrates, but was fairly certain that the old
magistrate, Mr Bloombury, wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to
help the family.
    Rufus puffed out his
cheeks and took longer than usual to put his cloak on. Given that
the family didn’t have a man in the house, he felt that it was down
to him to ensure that there was a visible legal presence at
Cragdale. If he had to get his own solicitor to issue Levant with a
warning to stay away from the house and family then he would do so,
however he wasn’t sure whether he would be crossing a line between
professional courtesy and personal interest in taking