All that glistens is not gold; Often have you heard that told ~ William Shakespeare.

Chapter 48.

An Uncle and a Stepmother.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you sitting in this parlor with such a grumpy face," Catrin stated with a giggle as she sat opposite Charles.

She had a point. Charles had the most unhappy expression on his handsome face.

"Well, what can you expect," Charles complained. "You and Mrs. Fairfax going to Bath for a month and leaving me here all alone!"

"You need to focus on your career," Catrin replied.

"Cannot you just send Mrs. Fairfax off and stay behind."

Catrin made a face between a frown and a smile. "Mr. Errol, you know I don't live here out of pleasure but work as companion to Mrs. Fairfax, as such I must needs to go with her. And it is only for a month. We shall be back before the first of August. Now do stop pouting. I shall be faithful in writing, and you can practice your penmanship skills as well. They are terrible you know!"

Charles was not amused by her joke. "There is more to my concerns than pure selfishness," he said in the same serious tone. "Mrs. Llewelyn is in Bath now too!"

Catrin pulled her lips in. "Ah, yes, I had forgotten about that. She went with Lady Morton, did she not? Well, what of it? Bath is big and I doubt I shall see much of her."

"But what if you do? She must be furious at you ever since you cut her off."

At this Catrin crossed her arms in front of her and gave a bit of a scowl. "I did not 'cut her off' as you have put it. I simply wrote the secretery asking if there was some way to limit the amount of money she ues. After our fight I was afraid Mamma would start spending the money to make sure than when I inhereited the manor there would be nothing left of it. And he said that according to the last will and testament of Papa, she was given three hundred a year. Everything else he could easily close off from her as she was not entiled to anything."

"Which is the same as cutting her off!" Charles snapped. "She is surely raving mad at you. Now, together with the money left to her by her other husband, she has only four hundred a year as opposed to five thousand."

"She is not mad at all. We went to a card party the other day, it was a small affair, but Mamma was there. I met her. She was a little distant, but polite and I would say almost friendly. I asked about Beatrice and she told me in simple, non violent words that so far there was nothing. We didn't stay in each other's company for long, but she never mentioned how I had cut her off. It was like she never cared. I suppose living with the Earl of Worthington and being so close with Lady Morton, the money isn't such an issue at the moment."

"I don't know," Charles frowned.

"Mrs. Fairfax must go to Bath," Catrin replied. "She's not been feeling well and the waters will be good for her. Besides, I can hold my own against Mamma, I'm not all soft and weak. I'll have to be standing up to her for the rest of my life anyway. Trust me, Charles, it will be alright."

Charles was not conviced and twisted his face to get the point across. Catrin, feeling annoyed that he had so little faith in her, was about to make some smart remark when a knock sounded on the door. A minute later, Fanny came in.

"Mr. Errol," she said in her timid voice. "There is a man askin' for you. 'E's all dark and dressed all strange. Never saw the like of 'im before. Said his name is Raj and it is about 'is master."

Charles rose to his feet. "Do show him in, Fanny."

The girl nodded and presently Raj entered the room. He bowed in greeting to Catrin, and then turned to Charles.

"Sahib, please, it is my master."

Charles raised an eyebrow. "Again?"

Catrin gazed at him in confusion. She knew this man. He was the servant of Captain Fleets! And Captain Fleets was dead.

"Are you not the servant of Captain Fleets?" She dared to ask. "I was sure your master was dead."

Charles and Raj turned to face her. Raj then looked at Charles, who pondered for a moment, then gave a small shrug.

"It's very complicated, Cadi," he softly said.

"Complicated?" Raj shook his head. "It could not be simpler. Miss Llewelyn, my master is Elwyn Blethyn, Earl of Llys Gwyn. When he was young he ran away to the army under the fake name of William Fleets. When he was burned he returned to his tower and had the world think the Earl was in Italy, all because he was ashamed of what he had become. When Miss Morton came he gave her the fake name, thus you have come to know him by it as well. It was all part of a lie that began many, many years ago."

"But...Colonel Blethyn said...Charles said..."

"Elwyn killed off Captain Fleets so he could return to Llys Gwyn under his real name," Charles summed it up.

Catrin gasped. "So Beatrice...it had nothing to do with her?"

"Beatrice?" Charles narrowed his eye. "How is she involved? Does it have something to do with the note she sent me asking to confirm his death?"

"Please, this can wait!" Raj cut in. "Sahib, my master is out of his mind. Only a few days ago we returned from battle and for some unknown reason he went out walking in a terrible rain and was gone all day and half the night. I found him wet and exhuasted and burning with fever. I do know what is the matter with him, but I know it has something to do with you. He kept muttering your name over and over again, and that of Miss Morton. Please, Sahib, come with me. My master came so far, and I cannot have him slipping away again. I don't want him to become shut up and suicidal once more."

There was a moment of silence as Charles tried to make sense of it.

"Charles, why are you hesitating," Catrin put in. "Go, go now!"

"On what money?" Charles pointed out. "I can't afford to travel at the moment. You must remember that I don't earn anything at the moment."

For reply Catrin dashed out of the room and returned in a few minutes. She pressed bills into Charles' hand. "Don't say no!" She snapped. "You can repay me when your political career takes off. I have lost so much family, you have lost so much family, let's keep what little we have left. Oh, this is so confusing. To think Beatrice was seeing the Earl and never guessed it for a second. But never mind that, we'll figure it out later. You go to your cousin and see what is the matter with him. Now you know what to do with your time while we are away in Bath. Go, Charles, go. You said you were close as children, that he was like a brother to you. Don't let him down now."

Charles looked at the money in his hand, then at Catrin, then at Raj.

"Please, Sahib Errol, please." The man whispered.

"Come, Raj," Charles gave in. "Let's see what Elwyn is up too now."

***

The weather at Llys Gwyn was still cloudy and chilly and nothing like what summer was supposed to be. Charles rode up with Raj to the castle and up the tower he knew so well. He found Elwyn in the care of the housekeeper.

"He is better," she said with a kind smile. "The fever has broken and there is no danger, but I fear his spirits are very low. Do not wake him, Lord Woodworth. He needs to get his strength back. He had a fever for two days."

Charles nodded. The woman rose and left. Charles came to the bed but started back. Elwyn lay without his mask on. He had never seen his cousin without his mask, and he had to admit it was enough to make any person's heart stop beating for a moment. The twisted, mangled skin looked ugly and frightening.

Getting ahold of himself, Charles sat down and shook Elwyn's shoulder. The man slowly opened his eyes, then shot into a sitting position when he realized who was leaning over him.

"Charles...what are you doing here?" Elwyn sputtered. He felt his face and winced. "Where is the mask?"

Charles fetched it from the table and gave it to his cousin, who hurridly put it on his face.

"And the glove," he mumbled.

Charles complied.

Once Elwyn had hidden all his scars he turned to Charles. "What brings you here?"

"Same old," Charles replied. "Elwyn, I thought you were over that phase. You bloody went to war, you returned alive and healthy, you've gotten ridd of confounded William Fleets, you are the Earl again; and then this. Why? Why go out there into the wind and rain and try to end your life again?"

Elwyn's gaze dropped to the blanket and he busied himself with propping up his pillow against the wall. He leaned back against it, but still couldn't bring himself to look at Charles.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself," he muttered at last. "It was not a willful act of suicide. I just needed to get out of the castle, I needed to be alone, I needed to walk. It just so happened that the weather was not ideal."

"But what, what could have happened that made you need to walk for the entire day and half the night in such foul weather? Didn't you realize it could have killed you? Two days of fever! We are fortunate it was nothing worse!"

Elwyn shifted uncomfortably. "You wouldn't understand, Charles," he whispered. Then he took a deep breath and forced himself to gaze into his cousin's blue eyes. "I hear I am to congratulate you on your marriage. You ended up choosing Miss Morton after all."

Charles frowned. "Congratulate me? On marriage? To Miss Morton? Who ever told you such nonsense? How could I have married Miss Morton when she's vanished off the face of the earth?"

There was a great contradiction to what his uncle had told him. Despite himself, Elwyn's jaw dropped. "Vanished? What do you mean?"

"I mean vanished in the literal sense. She took off one night and no one has seen or heard from her since!"

Elwyn shook his head a bit. Now things were very confusing. "Where could she have gone?"

"I'm sure I don't know. What put it into your head that I had married Miss Morton."

"Uncle told me."

"Uncle? Uncle Iestyn? What does he know? I haven't seen him since he rode off for war back in March."

Elwyn narrowed his eyes. "He was here a few days ago, he said that he was in London and that he congratulated you on your marriage. Mentioned how your Father threatened to disown you if you didn't go through with it."

"Oh, he bloody well did disown me!" Charles snapped. "He's cut me off completely because I did things my way. I never cared for Miss Morton; it was a fake courtship we had so I could secretly court Miss Llewelyn." In a few words Charles informed Elwyn what had been going on in London while Elwyn was off fighting in. When he was finished the two cousins stared at each other.

"What a blunt lie," Elwyn muttered at last. "A downright, open falsehood."

"I'll say," Charles slowly agreed. "Only why would he do it?"

Elwyn shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he was upset that I outranked him. Wellington promoted me to Leuitenant Colonel."

"You don't say?" Charles gave Elwyn a bit of a shove. "Pays to be His Lordship the Earl instead of just William Fleets, doesn't it? There is nothing left to your life, eh? It's a waste, huh?"

"Charles!" Elywn snapped. "Let's stick to the problem here. Why would Uncle Iestyn lie to me like that. He never was in London, he never met you, you are not married, Miss Morton is gone. Nothing adds up."

"You think I can give an answer to Uncle Iestyn's deeds?" Charles gave a snort. "There's something fishy here, I'll agree with you there, but the only person who can give the answers both of us want is Uncle Iestyn himself. What right does he have to make such a lie? A lie that involves me! I'm there, struggling to make ends meet, and he's saying how Father pressured me into it and I chickened out and agreed. The complete opposite to what really happened. Here is what we are going to do, Elwyn. As soon as you are stronger we are riding over to Colonel Iestyn Blethyn and demanding an answer from him. And he'd bloody well have a good one!"

Elwyn nodded in agreement. Raj came in with a bowl of food for Elwyn and a glass of port wine for Charles.

"So," Elwyn settled back more comfortably, balancing tray with food on his lap. "Completely broke, huh? What's it like being poor?"

"It takes some getting used to," Charles had to confess. "I would have never held out this long if it hadn't been for Catrin...for Miss Llewelyn that is."

"Ah, so you are on first names already. How will you marry her, oh wait, don't answer that. She is an heiress."

"Yes, but we are waiting for her to turn twenty one. Less than a year now." Charles sighed wistfully.

"You left her in London?"

"No, she went to Bath with Mrs. Fairfax. It's been all hell breaking lose in that poor family. Mrs. Llewelyn turned Catrin out of the house and she's must stay with Mrs. Fairfax and works as her companion for her room and board. Cadi went and asked the manor secretary to cut Mrs. Llewelyn off from the money that wasn't left to her by Mr. Llewelyn's will."

"No doubt the dragon let all the fire loose."

Charles shrugged. "Not really, no. It was strange, she acted as if she didn't care at all. Mrs. Llewelyn has turned all her attentions on Lady Morton. The loss of the money seemed to be a mere trifle to her. Cadi said she bumped into Mrs. Llewelyn at a card party that Mrs. Fairfax decided to attend and Mrs. Llewelyn was civil and polite, almost friendly. I'm just glad she's leaving Catrin alone."

"Mmmm," Elwyn said with a thoughtful look.

"What?"

"I'm just thinking of that old story Uncle Iestyn told us, about the Old Hanging Tree. Remember how the last hanging on that oak was by the stepmother. who lured her stepson with the pretense of wanting peace and friendship and then hung him on the tree. All in the hopes that her son would recieve the inheritence."

Charles choked on the wine, spilling a bit on Elwyn's blanket. He stared at his cousin with wide eyes filled with horror.

"Mother of mercy," he whispered. "She's going to kill her!"

"Charles, wait, it was just a story."

"No, no, no, no," Charles shook his head, motioning for Elwyn to keep quiet. "Mrs. Fairfax went to Bath and of course she took Catrin with her. Mrs. Llewelyn is already in Bath, went there with Lady Morton just a day before Mrs. Fairfax was planning. I thought nothing of it back then, but now it is making sense to me now. Catrin doesn't know anyone in Bath, she's never been there before. Mrs. Llewelyn gets there first, grabs her first chance and kills Catrin. Then the manor is left without an heiress and who gets it?"

Elwyn took a deep breath. "But how would she kill Miss Llewelyn."

"I don't know!" Charles snapped, jumping to his feet and beginning to pace the room. "How do women kill anyone? They use arsenic! King of poison and poison of kings! It's an easy thing to aquire, no one notices it, no one can recongize it as the killer. No one would ever suspect Mrs. Llewelyn of her murderous deed!"

"But you don't know..."

"Oh, but I do! I do! Why else would she suddenly be so friendly? Pretending not to care that most of her money has been cut off? Because she can't have people suspecting her, that's why!"

"Still, Charles, you don't know for sure."

"Well, I'm not bloody there to find out! Cadi doesn't suspect anything! She's playing right into that witch's hands! And I'm stuck here with Uncle Iestyn creating mischief."

"Just go then and leave him to me."

"Huh! So you can what? Go walking out into the rain again? Elwyn, ever since your accident your emotions are the most unstable thing in the world. You have no control over them. God willing in time you will learn, but for now I can't have you going to that man alone. Besides, he directly involve me and I need to get to the bottom of it." Charles turned and punched the wall.

"I'll go." Raj's voice called out. Charles and Elwyn turned and noticed him for the first time, though he had been standing quietly by the door the entire conversation.

"I called you here, Sahib Errol, to help my master, and help him you must, but I am free to go and warn the young lady."

"Why don't we send Raj?" Elwyn agreed. "If it turns out to be a false alarm he can come back. If it turns out to be the truth he can warn Miss Llewelyn. Raj has saved my life many times, if anyone can do the job, it's him."

Charles bit his lip. He would rather go himself, but he needed to sort out the family mess here. Taking a deep breath he gazed Raj straight in the eye.

"You let her die, Raj and I'll...I'll...I'll kill myself!"

"No, Sahib, no!" Raj shook his head angrily. "I already have one going suicidal on me."

"Then you had better not let me down. Please, Raj, I've fought so long and hard for her, I gave up so much, I can't afford to lose her to that dragon of a woman."

Raj bowed. "I shall make preparations for the journey at once. We are fortunate that Bath is not as far as London." With that he left the room.

Charles sighed and sank into a chair.

"Well, at least you can't complain about your life being boring anymore."

Charles lifted his head and glared at his cousin. Elwyn let out a small laugh, then his gaze grew thoughtful.

"Why did Miss Morton run off?"

"Several reasons," Charles replied. "Her mother drove her to her wits end...though I think your 'death' also had something to do with it. Tell me, Elwyn, and tell me straight, were you seeing her in this tower?"

Elwyn looked down, a guilty smile playing on his lips. He gave a small shrug but said nothing.

Charles rolled his eyes. "I cannot believe you." Getting up, he poured himself some more wine then settled down in his chair. "I expect to hear the full story of your summer courtship, Captain William Fleets."

***

The next day dawned grey and bleak. Elwyn felt well enough to get out of bed and went out of the tower with Charles to look at the castle and see what repairs were needed.

"I hope you will be alright," Charles muttered. "It's not exactly friendly weather for someone who just got over a fever."

"I've been a soldier, Charles. You know how many nights I spent out in soaking rain? Have you any idea what sort of rains there were in India? I did weaken while in the tower, but I am getting my constitution back. It will take more than a few drops of rain to kill me."

"Yes, all it takes is the thought that Miss Morton has married someone else."

Elwyn's face reddened. He was about to lash out when the butler came.

"Your Lordship, Master Errol, there are seven men and a woman here. They are requesting an audience with you. They say it has something to do with a kidnapping that took place on your land."

Elwyn, forgetting his anger at Charles, frowned in thought.

"Did they say who they were?"

"They are the Keepers of Ilyd Alarch."

"All seven?"

"They are brothers, Your Lordship. The young lady with them is the wife of one of the men, I believe."

Elwyn thought for a moment, then gave a shrug. "I suppose I shall see them then. Bring them into the main hall."

The butler nodded and walked away. Charle and Elwyn went to the main hall, which wasn't exactly in the proper state to entertain audiences with the Earl, but they didn't notice this fact. Soon the seven Llyod Brothers walked in.

"Those are some Keepers?" Charles whispered to his cousin. "Look at them! That's a little army out there. I'd never want to quarrel with them."

Elwyn nodded and focused on the men and woman. "You wished to see me."

"Yes, Your Lordship," Alwyn said with a low bow. "We have learned that you are returned to the castle and have come for your help. There has been a kidnapping in our home. A young lady was forcefully taken away, against her will, the men who bardged into the house were armed. We were not at home, only our wives."

"And the woman kidnapped, was she one of your wives?"

"No, my lord."

"Sister?"

"No, our sister was taken from us earlier."

"Oh, so your sister was also kidnapped?"

"In a way, Your Lordship." And Alwyn gave a brief history of how they had lost their sister and had not been able to find her. Elwyn heard him out in dismay. What could his mother have done with the girl?

"I am sorry for what my mother did," he said when the tale ended. "But if the girl was not your wife or your sister, than who was she?"

The brother exchanged glances, then Blodeuyn spoke up in her quiet voice.

"She was friend, Your Lordship, who came to us for help. We promised we would keep her safe, but then the men came and took her away. We were threatened. They said if we spoke of this to anyone, we would pay as my husband's sister did in the past. Whoever took Beatrice knew of this family's history."

"Beatrice?" Elwyn gazed sharply at the woman. "Was that her name?"

Blodeuyn let out a small gasp of dismay. Berwyn placed a ressuring hand on her shoulder. "Yes, my lord, her name was Beatrice Morton. The only people who knew the tragic story of our sister were us and the Blethyn family. Thus we figured that somehow, some Blethyn is behind this. We are not here to accuse anyone, we only want the girl back. You are the Earl, this is your land, surely you can help us."

Charles turned to Elwyn. "I don't know why, but I smell Uncle Iestyn here."

Glancing at his cousin, Elwyn gave a serious nod. His heart was beating furiously. She had been hiding on his land the entire time. He turned back to the brothers. "How long ago did this happen?"

"It is six days ago this morning, Your Lordship."

"And you only came now?"

"We only discovered your had returned yesterday, sir."

"Hmmm." Elwyn once more turned to Charles.

"I think we're riding out today, Elwyn," Charles stated.

"I agree, Charles. Have the horses saddled at once. And you, I shall assist you in recovering the girl, and I shall also try to discover what my mother could have done with your sister. Now if you will excuse me. If you think it was done by the Blethyns, then I shall have to pay them a visit."

The brothers bowed deeply and Elwyn hurried off.

Uncle Iestyn had a talent for telling stories, so he'd better have a good one prepared, because Elwyn would demand to hear it.