Forever Young Birth Of A Nation, page 3
Flashing a dazzling smile then he said “I had better be taking you back to your group, lest they think I have kidnapped you.” She thought I might not mind that at all! Rebecca! Where did that thought come from?
Ian escorted her to her seat just as Harold Grundy returned with Mrs. Gage. Grundy tried to conceal his displeasure as best he could and Ian never noticed a thing, but Esther Gage noticed it right away. The music started again and Harold asked Rebecca to dance, so Ian turned to Mrs. Gage and asked her to dance seeing as General Gage was not to be seen.
She was a good dancer and was skilled in the art of interesting conversation as well. Ian learned that her husband was disappointed in the way the hostilities were shaping up with the colonists, and worried as well. After that dance ended, Ian danced two more numbers with wives of two of the naval officers who had been so interested in his story. He answered questions about his sailing experience and some few about banking. After that he went to get another glass of punch, joining both James and Andrew. He finished the evening dancing with the very young ladies of the group where he had started, who were all glad that he and James had returned to dance again with them.
They departed near to eleven o’clock, walking with Andrew to the loading dock where New Hope was moored and parting company there. Ian and James were hunting north of the city within the hour and bagged several rabbits. The balance of the night was spent recalling the events of the evening and comparing notes. There was no doubt that the accounts given in the newspapers and the reality of the war between the Crown and the colonies were two different things. Ian was becoming increasingly interested in the struggle.
Chapter 4
Miles Edwards sat reading a detailed report given him by a private investigator just that morning. He had moved into his missing brother’s estate in North London and had been actively pursuing facts surrounding his brother’s disappearance. As he pored over the report his brow furrowed in concentration.
The information fit with what he had learned at Robert Milliken’s office recently, being as it said one Ian McCloud had gone to America. The report went on to say that indeed one Henri Lafayette had been in London at the time of his brother’s disappearance, in company with an unknown number of people. The grisly evidence he had found at his brother’s home before the Constables had arrived that first day had been a piece of what he was now sure was his brother’s ear. It looked as if a child had bitten it off and spit it out. Yet there was no mention of a child in this report. He absent-mindedly took a sip of rabbit’s blood from a pewter goblet on the table beside the wingback chair he sat in.
As he pondered this, his butler came in to announce that there were two people who asked to see him. He nodded and shortly the butler escorted a lovely red-headed woman and a man wearing a silver hook mounted in place of his right hand into the room. Remaining seated, Edwards merely raised his eyebrows and waited for them to speak. The man introduced himself as Stefan Devrie and his wife as Yvonne. Edwards nodded and gestured to the sofa across from his chair.
“What is it you two seek?”
“We have information which might be useful.”
“Do tell.”
“Yes, we know somewhat about a fellow named Henri Lafayette.”
Edwards nodded encouragement so the fellow continued “He is a banker, and very well connected all over Europe and particularly in France where he enjoys great favor with His Majesty Louis XVI. We believe that he may have had something to do with the death of Aldric Moreau as well as Emile Francoise.”
“Continue.”
“Arnaud Moreau overheard the names “Ian” and “Henri” mentioned the day after his brother died. We two were there the night that Emile Francoise died in the fire that consumed his mansion.”
“I know Moreau. How is it you have heard about what he knows concerning those two?”
“We have talked with an acquaintance of his in France, Donatien Francoise. He is also known as the Marquis de Sade. It was he who told us of this and gave us your name.”
“I see. Well in any case I know nothing of that incident, so how is this is supposed to interest me?”
“Both incidents occurred as a result of kidnappings of children”
Edwards looked narrowly at the two then, thinking of the piece of an ear he had found with what looked like the bite mark of a child where it had been severed. His interest now piqued, he nodded and said “Go on.”
“We know that your brother is missing. Do you know of a kidnapping involving a child that might have been connected to your older brother in some way?”
“I might know something relative to that. What else do you have?”
The man looked disappointed that he wanted still more, yet he was hopeful when he said “Mr. Edwards, we are quite motivated and are willing to help you search for information regarding this Henri and Ian.” Edwards only sat looking at the two, feigning disinterest. Stefan then continued. “We think that they may also be involved in the death of Emile Francoise and for this as well.” He held out his right arm, the silver hook glinting in a shaft of sunlight reflected from a vase sitting near an open window. Edwards shrank back from the reflected sunlight, covering his eyes. The two on the sofa looked at each other knowingly, realizing then that Edwards too was a vampire.
Edwards reached into his pocket and withdrew a small object wrapped in a linen handkerchief. He spread the cloth on the low table between them and watched them intently. They looked puzzled, and finally the woman said in a flat voice “That looks like it could be a piece of an ear.” Her husband turned in his seat and looked at her as Edwards said “I found this the day I discovered that my brother was missing, right out back in the guest house. Is there anything about it that stands out to you?”
The woman spoke then, again in a flat voice saying “It looks like a very small mouth made that bite, perhaps the mouth of a child.” She thought my god! It is likely that only a vampire child could bite through anything as tough and gristly as a human ear! What does this mean?
Edwards nodded slightly, thinking you are most observant, Yvonne. Those green eyes do not miss much. You might well make a competent investigator. He said “If you two are so interested in this affair then see if you can learn of any kidnapping that took place around the time when this Henri Lafayette and Ian were here in London.” He tossed a small bag of gold coins onto the table next to the grisly article. “Keep me informed and let that include where the two of you are staying.” Stefan picked up the purse with his hook and handed it to Yvonne. Edwards continued “If you happen to encounter Moreau, just say that you are assisting me on this investigation. He may be able to help you as he seems to agree with the two of you.”
“How is that, Mr. Edwards?”
“He thinks that this pair killed his older brother Aldric while in Austria.”
Stefan sat back then as did Yvonne and looked at each other, nodding. They both turned to Edwards then and Stefan said “I think that we shall have a mutually productive relationship, Mr. Edwards.” Yvonne nodded toward the goblet beside Edwards and then said “And if you will pour each of us some of that rabbit’s blood you are drinking this morning, we vampires shall seal this with a toast.”
Edwards could not conceal the look of total surprise that spread across his features.
Chapter 5
“Ian, I may have a lead on a building we could buy for the bank.”
“I was going to suggest that we both get busy on that starting today. What do you have?”
Grinning at Ian, James said “At least one of us was working last night, Ian. While you were dancing with the lovely Rebecca Davis, I was dancing with Laura Millhouse. She is the niece of August Millhouse who just died last month. It seems that he was building a place to house a mercantile and commodities exchange and had bought up an entire block. The building is well along towards being finished and the family is going to sell it and return to England.”
Chuckling at James’ joke at his expense he replied “We should see it today.”
“Agreed. If you have nothing else we should do, let’s go look at it this morning.”
About then Mrs. McKinley came in with a platter loaded down with scrambled eggs, hashed potatoes, and slab bacon, fried until it was crispy golden brown. “This is the first time you have eaten here since you have rented a room. At this rate I will make a good profit on the two of you. Whenever do you young men ever sleep?” Ian thought if only you knew…..
“Mrs. McKinley we are just too eager to see all of New York City. There is so much to take in and we were confined aboard ship so long coming here that we are working that off it seems” said James with a smile. Ian chimed in saying “If James here had not just this day told me of a business opportunity I should be sleeping until lunch time. You run a fine establishment Ma’am, and we are well pleased to be staying here.”
She beamed her pleasure at the compliments from the two handsome young men as she hustled off toward another table.
Within two hours they were sitting in the parlor of the Millhouse mansion not a mile from the New York Mercantile Exchange Building under construction. When the butler ushered them into the opulent parlor, the widow Millhouse, her sister and niece were all present. The young lady beamed a radiant smile at James and he at her as he performed introductions. After giving their condolences on the untimely death of her husband, Ian presented her with an offer for the entire property including the building and the entire block of lots on it which had two buildings now rented. “Take all the time you need and do consult your attorney Ma’am” he said with a friendly smile.
“That is not nearly what we hoped to get for it Mr. McCloud, but property prices have plummeted since the outbreak of hostilities in the colonies these past few years.”
“Indeed they have, Ma’am.”
She thought aren’t you the well informed one even if you did just arrive here. Then she said “There is no need for me to consult with my attorney since he predicted that what you offered would be as good as I could hope for. It is only a little under what we paid for it some eight years ago. I accept your offer and we can go to my bank today and do all of the paperwork and have it duly witnessed.”
“That would be Merchants?”
“Yes.”
Laura approached and said “Aunt Thelma, may I invite these two gentlemen to my birthday celebration?”
“Why yes child.” She turned to the two and said “It is tomorrow at 7 PM and dinner will be served. Please do come.”
Ian looked at James who was smiling broadly at Laura, and then he turned back to the widow Millhouse with a chuckle saying “It seems that it would be our pleasure Ma’am. Shall we meet you at Merchants later then?”
Whatever for? We shall all go there together now. I will have the carriage brought around shortly. Please wait here, gentlemen.”
Within some thirty minutes or so they arrived at Grover Merchants’ Bank and concluded their business within the hour. Milliken Merchants’ Bank of New York now had an official address and Ian had an appointment for later that day to speak with the contractor who was building it. By evening, he had looked at all of the drawings and had conferred with the contractor showing him the needed modifications and reaching an agreed upon price for the deviation from the original plan.
He patiently explained to James later that this would become a nerve center for private communications of the banking network of the Milliken’s and Lafayettes in the new world. That was the reason for buying the whole block of lots and buildings instead of only the site and building itself. The bank would always control the entire block down to who leased space there and would always have ingress and egress privately through the back, exclusively for the bank itself and its couriers and officials. James readily saw the reason and the wisdom in that and was only too pleased to be learning from Ian about this type of planning. Ian had seen it first hand when he appeared to testify at the Supreme Council headquarters in Liechtenstein and again at the Banque de Lafayette in Paris. It offered far better security in an urban setting when done this way. Henri and Robert would be pleased.
That night the two dined with Andrew Norris aboard New Hope. Ian and James gave him letters posted for Robert and for Henri regarding the purchase of the bank and where they were now living. A detailed economic forecast was included. Encoded within that forecast was information to the effect that the hostilities in America between the Crown and the colonists was worse than reported and that the supreme commander in charge of all British forces in America was himself quite worried for the long term about the direction things were going. The war was spreading to the southern colonies as well. The events at Concord and Lexington Massachusetts were listed along with Ian’s personal observation of seeing Hessian mercenaries and that a formal state of war existed. It was now a situation with increasingly popular support amongst the citizens of the colonies themselves.
Ian used the code taught to him and James while they were together in London before Alandra died. It was a code whose key was the date itself, and was very difficult for a human to even use, let alone detect. He also enclosed a personal letter for Marie and Henri as well as a general one for the family members and a special letter just for little Aimee. Included was a letter for his human family in Scotland and he left it all for Andrew to deliver to Robert Milliken in London upon his return voyage.
They hunted across the East River on Long Island and got to stretch their legs that night. Visiting six more taverns later, they listened in on the scuttlebutt regarding news of the war. The most popular tavern was a place called The Green Dragon Tavern and Inn. It was frequented by Tory loyalists which was quite evident from the conversations the two could hear while they were there.
The next day after checking on progress of the new bank building, Ian happened upon a small public area called Grover Square. In the center of it was a rather tall pole with a gilt vane at its top. The single word ‘Liberty’ was easily readable on that vane. Asking a passerby what it meant, Ian learned that this one was the eleventh such that the Sons of Liberty had erected in New York City in some nine years. He was told that they were commonly seen in Boston and Philadelphia as well as many other towns in the Colonies. The British did not like them and periodically tore them down in due time. Ian took it to mean that the idea of liberty from English rule was now an idea that would not die no matter what the British did. He pondered on that for much of the day.
That evening he and James arrived promptly at 7 o’clock at the Millhouse mansion for the birthday celebration for Laura Millhouse. The white-gloved butler who answered the door showed the two into the foyer where the widow Thelma Millhouse, Merriam her sister, and Merriam’s daughter Laura greeted them with smiles. Both Ian and James handed gift-wrapped packages to Laura who smiled and blushed prettily as she curtseyed a second time, thanking the two. Ian could not miss the look she gave to James nor his especially broad smile to her. Thelma and Merriam each flanked Ian and put their arms through his, leading him into the cavernous parlor while Laura and James followed. Ian let his gaze travel about the opulently furnished room as they approached the area where the guests were seated. He thought now here is a home that Henri and Marie would love. It is big enough for all of us and the Millhouse family will sell it if they are returning to England. He stopped and turned to Thelma to ask about that when a young lady who had just entered the room came to them.
“Ian. What a pleasant surprise.”
Ian turned to see Rebecca Davis approaching with a dazzling smile on her lovely face. He smiled broadly and stepped forward to take her hand saying “Hello again, Rebecca.” Bowing slightly as he kissed it he then said “Once again I am enchanted.” As he moved to one side to include Laura and James his eyes traveled to the seated group and encountered the steely stare of Colonel Grundy. Ian smiled and nodded towards Grundy who gave a nod and a thin smile in return. Ian easily noticed that the smile did not include his eyes and wondered at that just as Rebecca put her arm through his and led him to the group for introductions.
The group numbered around two dozen of which half of them were friends and peers of Laura, of hers and Rebecca’s approximate age. There were two British Army lieutenants and two Navy ensigns as well, all young men besides Colonel Grundy who Ian estimated to be around thirty years old. The two naval men immediately engaged Ian in conversation, having heard of the story of when he had been in the party that had defeated two pirate ships in the Mediterranean some eight years earlier. They plied him with questions as Rebecca stood by smiling. A servant rang a brass bell and Thelma announced that dinner was served. The guests rose and began to drift toward the dining hall.
Thelma came then and asked Rebecca to help her with something that was a surprise for Laura. She reluctantly left Ian’s side to go with Thelma then as the group now clustered around Ian had grown to include four women of Laura’s age and two more young men. Merriam Millhouse then came to Ian and linked her arm through his, leading him to a seat at the great dining table. He was seated next to James, who was next to Laura, at the head of the table. When Rebecca returned from helping Thelma, she found that she was seated on the same side of the table as Ian and James, but down at the other end, next to Colonel Grundy. Unknown to anyone there, Merriam and Thelma had maneuvered in such a way as to separate Rebecca from Ian and seat her with Grundy. They had done it correctly and innocently enough, being as Grundy had escorted Rebecca to the affair.
Thelma stood at the head of the table opposite Laura at the other end, and proposed a toast to the King, which all stood and partook of. Dinner was marvelous, being four large roast turkeys and a mouth-watering assortment of steamed and baked vegetables. The time passed pleasantly enough, although with no small amount of talk about the war. After dessert, the entire group returned to the parlor where all of the gifts were waiting for Laura to open. That took the better part of forty minutes or so, and Laura was very pleased with the ivory framed sun glasses that Ian had given her. James had given her a finely crafted brooch.
