Chapter 38-1

Sohpia was dead. The Lady Sophia Horton was now the late Lady Sophia Horton. And no matter how many times Nan read over the short single lined note Hoss had sent William, she could not seem to believe it. A week ago she had wanted the woman’s life for trying to kill Jamie and now here was the news that she was no more. The threat to her child was gone. It seemed so unreal she almost believed it all to be a dream, or perhaps the start of a nightmare yet to wholly form. An odd mixture of elation and anger swept over Nan as her mind continued to process the news, each emotion taking its turn to wash ashore the beach of her being with varying strength and timing. No sooner would she be grinning with pleasure that the bitch was dead, then she’d be angered by the very thought of what that woman had tried to do to Jamie and want to kill her all over again. But despite this unfortunate albeit pleasant news Nan could not help but pause at the timing of the Lady’s demise. For the fifth time Nan scanned the note dangling between her fingers. It seemed no matter how many times she read it she could not get past its content’s. Lady Horton is dead.  - H “How could he just send this?” Nan queried holding up the note between her fingers as she looked to William for answers.  Almost as soon as William had read the note he’d sent for Nan, who now sat in the large plush chair behind his desk as he stood by the window, seeking comfort in the sea and the glass in his hand, which had reminded untouched since he’d poured his first draft of whiskey.  “Why would he just send this?” she remarked, the bewilderment in her tone pulling William’s gaze from the steady push and pull of the tide to the woman sitting only feet away fretting over the note in her hand. “Like you my Love, I’ve not the slightest idea.” William replied shaking his head as he brought his gaze to hers, the dark material of her chair accompanied by its massive size almost seeming to swallow her whole, though the scarce lighting in the room and Nan’s dark attire were likely to have more to do with that, than the furniture simply seeking to magically absorb her into it. Setting his glass aside William walked over to her, slipping the note from her fingers as he read it once more. Frowning at it, much as he had the first time he’d read the note. He was accustomed to Hoss’ short messages. To a degree he preferred them, but given how things had gone, and how they currently were, some detail on the matter would have made William far more at ease than this simple statement. William had questions and this did not answer them. “You think the police will suspect you had something to do with it?” Nan asked, staring up at William, worry filling her eyes and tugging at his heart that even over this she was concerned for him. “I imagine they’ll suspect me for a time. Run my name through the mud while they’re at it.” William stated with a begrudging nod. “But in the end I had no hand in this.” He concluded. “Do you think they’ll believe that?” she countered, concern and a need to voice what could be, fueling her words. “You’re reputation is not pristine, William. And if they find out you were seeking to divorce her and now suddenly she’s dead. How hard do you think it would be for them to believe you hired someone to do it? Or that you sent Hoss? You’re not a man without means to see the deed done.” Even knowing the truth of her words, or rather the fact they would soon be made as, William could not help but feel annoyed with her for voicing them. He knew he was no shining example of what a gentleman should be, much less the Knight he bore the title of, but he was no fool to be laid blame on either. “It’s sounding as though you think I did have something to do with it.” William muttered, his tone thick with aggravation. Though knowing already that not a week ago he would have. “A week ago you would have.” She stated, glaring up at him unappreciative of his tone. “And I’m not blaming you for this nor am I accusing you of it.” She added rising from her seat, cupping William’s face between her hands as she forced his eyes to meet hers. “I’m merely stating that if I can come to this conclusion. What’s to say they won’t as well?” she asked, arching her brow as she waited for his answer. Reaching up William wrapped his hands about Nan’s wrists pulling them down as he replied. “You give English police far too much credit, my love. However you are right,” he admitted, turning from her to take a seat by the fire. “It would only take one. And one would be all it takes to ruin everything.” William breathed rubbing at his forehead as he leaned forward in his chair bracing his elbows against his thighs. “Are you sure Hoss would not do something without your order otherwise?” Nan questioned moving to take the seat across from his, in no way finished with their conversion. “I’m sure he would and has. But not this.” William stated with a short shake of his head, dropping his hands to his lap and clasping them between his open legs as he locked his eyes with hers. “Not so soon anyway.” “So soon?” Nan echoed, cocking her head as she regarded the man before her with suspicion and a touch of curiosity. “You had plans to be rid of her after our marriage?” she questioned, and in a tone that was neither happy nor innocently asked. “My plan for Sophia was to divorce her and provide her with a large enough allowance to keep her in France and out of my life. If there was to be anything beyond that, it would fall to Hoss’ attentions, not mine. Though he does have the most irritating habit of obeying my orders to the point of almost not.”  William growled, his voice with thick with annoyance as he sank back into his chair, slumping down in it to the point that his head just barely came to the middle of the seats back. Tiredly he stared into the fire, the flames wreaking havoc with the pits and wrinkles of his scared cheek as they seemed to reshape his face with every twist and flicker they made within the confines of their stone stage. “How so?” Nan queried, interested to know what Hoss had done to irk his Master, as well as seeking to pull his attention away from the uncertain mess Sophia’s death may have made for them. For the most of it though, Nan was interested to know about Hoss. So often she had seen William grumble and mutter insults about the man and it was only ever after she’d made some comment on his good character. She’d never known or understood the grounds for William’s irritation with the man. Nor had she ever witnessed such interaction between the two to cause William’s foul mood. Hoss had always appeared the perfect servant and a true and loyal friend to William. Yet, whenever Nan spoke of such to William, he would roll his eyes and sometimes groan. With a sigh William rubbed at his face, craning his head towards the ceiling, what little he could given his sunken state, then brought his gaze back to Nan. “A few years ago I was involved in trades with a certain Frenchman. Several in fact,” he waved at the air before him “But this one wasn’t particularly fond of me selling to his competitors. And I made no attempt to hide that I was. Not an especially brilliant move on my part,” William ceded, casting his hands out to his sides as he admitted his mistake. “But I didn’t particularly care at the time. I had what he and several other interested parties needed and he had not offered me enough to make me stop selling to them. And I wasn’t overly fond of the fat frog to begin with.” He declared with an indifferent tilt of his head. “Well to make a long story short, he felt my lack of…compliance, entitled him to inform on me to gendarmerie. If it weren’t for Hoss barely obeying my orders to get me out of that jail and find out who had put me there, I would be rotting in a French prison, instead of the fat frog and every person who helped him put me there.” He conclude with a smugly satisfied grin. “And for this you groan when I mention what a good man he is?” Nan scoffed, unable to believe he could tell her such a story yet still look at those he wanted to strangle the man when she brought him up. “How often has he saved you from such scraps?” “I groan because he’s an intolerable know-it-all. And he knows I’ll never throw him out on account of how many times he’s saved my wretched hide. For that I can’t decide if he’s the best or worst decision I’ve ever made.” William muttered, again running his hand over his face as he spoke. “I think it was one of your best.” Nan smiled, her own expression taking on that thoughtful knowing gleam it always did when she was about to state a fact of either good or ill nature “You tend to do your best when you’re being unwittingly noble.” Nan explained with a cheeky grin. “Unwittingly noble.” William repeated the words with a slow please nod. “I always thought I was being a foolhardy sod. But I like yours better. It makes me sound magnanimous” He stated with a proud nod, grinning like a fool for the title Nan had dubbed him with. --- Hoss arrived at the house almost two days after his note and rather than rest and regain his strength, he marched directly into his Master's study, his boots still covered in mud, his coat dripping with its own supply of rain water and a broad happy grin spread across his cheeky face.