XXIV. The Legendary Grey's Fiasco-2

"If you only did what I told you, this would not have escalated to how it is now!" He swallowed and looked up at the row of windows of the second landing. "How is she?" "She is Alice. She wants us to believe she is fine, but she is now packing." There it was again. The fear and panic. He rubbed his hands on his face. "What do you intend to do now?" his friend demanded. "Bloody hell, Harry. I know you are in love with the woman. Anyone can see that, you bloody coward." Harold placed his hands on his hips and looked down. "I know," he said softly. He looked up at his friend and said, "I'm a coward. I know." He turned and climbed down the stairs toward his carriage. "What in tarnation—" "I need your help with something." Martin stared after him in disbelief. "What—" He climbed into his carriage and waited until Martin followed, albeit with hesitation and anger. "This ought to bring something good, you bastard. Eva will murder me if I return with something bigger than the scandal." He merely sighed and tapped the door. "We will also need Theobald." ***** Martin was adamant that they postponed, that Grey's was not the right place to do it. But his friend's attempts to be reasonable proved futile when Theobald agreed that it might be their only chance. As they entered the gaming room of Grey's like the powerful lords that they were, the room was immediately distracted except for the table in the corner where five gentlemen were in the middle of laughing. Noticing that the room had gone quiet and a shadow hovered over them, the five men's laughter died down as they looked up to see Harold, Martin and Theobald. "Ah, Everard!" Timothy Bowman greeted wryly. "If you can step aside, my friends and I need a little bit of light." Harold ignored Bowman, his menacing green eyes on Sebastian. Sebastian looked quite amused. "What is it, Kenward?" "Get up," he ordered. The room had gone still, but the excitement from the other men was almost palpable as they turned in their seats, ready to watch the show. Sebastian chuckled. "Why would I?" he turned to Martin and asked, "Has your friend been drinking, Martin? It seems to me he is asking for a fight." Martin shrugged, his gaze far from friendly as well. "I suggest you follow his request." "Hmm, I would say the same," Theobald added, leaning his forearm on Bowman's shoulder. Bowman tried to shake him off and failed. Theobald winked at him. "We are here to settle a score." "What score?" Sebastian asked with a scoff. He looked at his friends. "These idiots think they have a score to settle." Theobald turned to Harold. "He called you an idiot." Harold lifted cracked his fingers while loosening the muscles of his neck. "No, I believe he called us idiots." "But we're friends, Sebastian," Martin said, taking off his coat. A gentlemen sitting nearby readily took it from him. Bowman let out a mocking laugh as he tried to brush Theobald's arm away from his shoulder. "Now, now, Sebastian, what have you done for these gentlemen to risk their membership at Grey's?" He shot Harold a meaningful look. "Again." Sebastian shrugged, feigning indifference, his eyes locked on Harold's. "I can only imagine." The three other gentlemen in the table sneered. "I will not fight you, Kenward," Sebastian said wryly, grabbing his glass of drink. "Your bitch is not worth the risk of being banished from Grey's—" His glass shattered against his face before he even finished his statement. A roar of cheers erupted around the room just as Sebastian, with his bloody face, sprang to his feet and threw himself at Harold. It was followed by Bowman's howl of pain as Theobald dug his elbow on his shoulder, cracking a bone. Martin was fast to kick the table, hitting three groins at once as the three gentlemen stood up to help Sebastian who was pinned on the floor by Harold. Townsends were being passed around as the other members wagered on the fight while the poor manager was screaming for the men to remove themselves from the establishment. "Forever banned!" the manager, an aging man with white hair and lanky feature, was saying over the whistles and cheers. And the sound of breaking glass and wood. "You bloody bastard!" Harold growled as he landed a fist against Sebastian's face. "You settle your scores like a man. You do not do it," he planted another blow, "like a cunt!" He bent down and gasped mockingly. "Oh, but wait! You are a cunt!" Unfortunately, one of the three men behind him managed to grab and drag him off Sebastian. In less than a few seconds, another pair of hands managed to help the first and Harold was held back for Sebastian to attack. "You will pay for this!" Sebastian shouted as his fist dug into Harold's abdomen, followed by his elbow against the side of Harold's head. A second of blackness passed his eyes before he felt his body slide to the floor. The men holding him were suddenly gone, followed by a loud crash of wood, probably a chair, against flesh. Martin pulled him up and threw him toward Sebastian before turning to finish off the two men on the ground. Theobald was dragging Bowman across the floor and soon, the sound of shattered windowpane erupted with howls of cheers. Bowman had left the room through the window. "Ahhhh!" Theobald shouted as he ran back to throw himself at the one gentleman standing with his hands on his crotch. Sebastian and Harold were rolling on the floor, grunting as they struggled to regain control over the other. The sound of gunfire froze everyone. Harold had his arm around Sebastian's neck. Martin was sitting on the detached tabletop with two men sandwiched between it and the floor. Theobald was on dragging a man toward another window. "Stoooooop!" the manager shouted in fury, firing his gun one more time. "You..." he said, sweeping his gun at everyone in the room, "all of you... are stripped of your membership!" A burst of protest from the other members erupted. Another shot rang out. "All of you, bloody bastards!" the manager shouted, his face and white hair almost red with fury. Harold let go of Sebastian and pushed him on the floor. "Gladly," he said, righting his clothes, his murderous eyes on Sebastian. Blood dripping from the glass cuts on his face, Sebastian scrambled to his feet and spit out blood. He sneered at Harold. "I did promise that cunt I will ruin her, Kenward." Harold started to attack him again but the manager stepped between them with his gun. "Step out of my establishment at once!" the manager ordered. "All of you!" Sebastian stepped away as Harold tried to reach for him over the manager's shoulder. His bloodied face sneered at Harold. "And I delivered," he continued his statement. "She is ruined forever, that cunt! No one will want her now." Harold pushed the manager aside and Martin jumped to stop the man from firing his gun, giving Harold the chance to strike Sebastian another strong blow, sending him on the ground. He kneeled down over the cheers from the other members and pulled Sebastian by his collar to harshly grit out, "I will have her, you bastard." He dropped the limp Sebastian on the floor with a thud and strode out of the room, not noticing the look of surprise Martin and Theobald shared before they followed him.