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Allison; Taking Control Chapter 95
Talbot, who smiled triumphantly at Stanton’s discomfiture, was a distant relation of a noble English family of the same name, with ancestors who fought in France alongside Henry the Fifth and went on to become the Earls of Shrewsbury. Aspiring to a knighthood and proud of his smattering of noble blood, he let it show in his appearance. Shining gold buttons on his coats and waistcoats displayed the lions rampant and lions passant recognizable from his family arms. He had a full head of curly hair, cut short, that he saw no need to cover with any wigs and which only betrayed the slightest hints of gray at his temples. One could tell that when he stood he would have been of a height with Scott.“You do all realize,” Talbot now said, “that His Excellency will not allow the charges you make to be brought before the court, nor will he conscience the reparations you seek to be taken from Mr. Thorpe’s estate.”“We’ve given you evidence!” stated Mr. Hargrove, an assemblyman, and by far the old
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 96
“He seeks whatever justice is most amenable to him and his group of cronies, that’s the only thing of which we can be certain,” Peele said. After a short pause, he gave each of his fellow councilors a quick glance from side to side. “Well, what think you both?”“I don’t know,” Fenwick answered first. “Surely they’re all frustrated at our refusal to allow their accusations to be heard in court, but there are other things about which to be concerned. There’s more than a hint of malevolent duplicity about that group.”“Indeed,” agreed Talbot, “though some of that duplicity is directed inward. I’d say they don’t fully trust one another, especially when it comes to involvement in Mr. Thorpe’s demise. That said, our friend Mr. Scott is another matter entirely. He’s more dangerous than the rest of them taken together. All his headstrong bluster aside, his ambition and deviousness make any dealings with him a perilous endeavor.”“And you would have openly challenged such a man to a duel?” Pee
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 97
“And if they don’t?” Talbot asked him. “For all we know one of our own peers on the council could have had a hand in what transpired. We’d be foolish to deny that certain individuals were extremely jealous of the favor Thorpe enjoyed with His Excellency, you know that.”“And you already know the inherent difficulties that course of investigation would entail,” Peele reminded him.Talbot grunted in frustration. “Perhaps old Hargrove was right when he suggested that Anne wanted her own husband dead. For all we know, it’s as good a theory as any,” he said.“Let’s not allow our vexations to get the better of us, shall we, Gilbert?” Peele interjected.“Perhaps this talk of traitors and plots has us ‘hunting witches’ after all,” Fenwick commented.After a short pause, Talbot spoke up.“Your contacts in the Royal Navy, what of them?” he asked Peele.“I’ve had no communication since they left, though I imagine there’s no real reason for me to expect anything at the moment. Let’s not allow the
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 98
The last thing he heard was the foreboding click of a wheel-lock pistol being cocked before a loud shot rang out in the gloom accompanied by a momentary bright flash. The ball passed straight between Weston’s eyes and out the back of his skull, killing him instantly. He never felt his body slide off the saddle and flop heavily to the ground, face down, the back of his skull ruptured by a horrible, bloody wound.The spooked horse immediately turned and bolted. The two men who killed its rider made as if to give chase, but were immediately stopped by a third figure which ran up and grasped the others by their shoulders. With a hurriedly spoken admonishment, the other succeeded in herding his fellows off in the opposite direction, toward the strange ambient sounds.Moving with alacrity through the pall of night, the three dark-skinned men were soon in the company of others hurrying off in the same direction. They passed the completely darkened main house, where bodies of slain overseers
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 99
Allison knew the quality of his volunteer crew and that such lines of questioning for warrant officers like the master-at-arms were perhaps wholly unneeded. Still, it was a way of showing concern for his men that conveyed his good will while not betraying any undue sense of acquaintance or familiarity that could be seen as inappropriate for an officer in his position. Given his sympathetic leaning toward the plight of the common sailor, it was only logical and fitting. Yet, something in Allison ’s mind caused him to wonder if doing small things like that weren’t actually in fact selfish actions – token gestures meant only to ease his own conscience when it came to the harsh realities of the men’s lives. Perhaps something in his nature did find a form of reassurance in showing due regard for the hands entrusted to his command; but this was no different from his respectful treatment of the officers or his engagement in the education and seasoning of the midshipmen. Commanders of lesser
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 100
Absent-mindedly, Allison reached for and picked up the brass bell from LaTour’s float which had now been sitting upon the desk for several days. He turned the bell over in his hands, allowing the light coming over his shoulder from the candelabra to shine upon the pale golden surface. Though it was in exceptionally good condition and quite well made, Henry couldn’t have been more correct in his observation that it was a prodigious waste of brass where the French were concerned. They would have been better served in using the material out of which it was hewn to mold cannon, or even shot. As the flickering candlelight glinted off its surface, Allison reflected upon his decision to retrieve the object, wondering just what he expected to learn from it that could have been of real importance. Not even the trained scientific perusal of Deakins had been able to glean the slightest bit of helpful information from this finely wrought, but otherwise rather ordinary piece of metal.Then, unex
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 101
Having finally arrived, the two men weren’t in the least surprised to discover almost no passers-by in the streets at that early period of the small hours, but still they pressed on undeterred. Obviously searching for something in particular, they walked along, conversing quietly but intently with one another as if trying to determine which direction to walk or on which street corner to turn. Things went on like this for a short time until the pair happened upon a couple of drunkards stumbling around a corner from a cross street. They were almost comically striving with might and main to prop one another upright despite their mutual intoxication and lack of equilibrium, laughing ridiculously the entire time. These men were rough-looking and boorish, but appeared quite pleased and satisfied with the night’s bout of drinking and the lofty heights of insobriety to which it had taken them. Despite the threatening appearance of the pistols and knives they openly carried on their persons, t
Allison; Taking Control Chapter 102
The travelers looked up to see an aged man with a full grey-white beard standing next to their table leaning heavily on a gnarled wooden cane. His worn and weathered face featured a conspicuous red bulbous nose which stood out in contrast to his otherwise tanned skin. Short of stature with a crouched back, there was probably a great deal more hair on his chin than on his balding head. He wore baggy galligaskins and a long coat of canvas with the sleeves rolled up past the elbow. While much about the man’s appearance gave the suggestion of frailty, his swart complexion, sinewy forearms and rough knobby hands marked him as a man who had hauled on more than his fair share of hawsers and halyards during his lifetime. Even if his bent back didn’t allow him to perform these tasks any longer, it was a fair guess to expect this elderly man was a former sailor with a significant store of tales to tell.“Oh?” answered one of the two visitors – the one who wore a floppy wide-brimmed hat and plai
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