A Powerful Little Love

Chapter 53

"The Question is," mumbled Amorette as she took a step back from the table, "Why on earth did anyone think that this was Lyall?"

Eustis coughed awkwardly.  "Well he was found in the rooms Lyall was renting; wearing his family ring and there's this."  With the land not holding up a lantern, he reached for the linen covering and tugged it even further down the body.  Sacha, Buckingham and Amorette appraised first a white shirt and the beginnings of a set of brown breaches just visible beneath the end of the linen before Amorette realised what Eustis wanted to draw attention to.  Wound around the man's left arm was a strip of tartan fabric in the Campbell colours of black, green and blue.  The Fitzgerald brothers' uncle Campbell was the Duke of Argyll, and those were his colours.  Amorette swallowed painfully and threw a glance at Buckingham who seemed to be sharing her thoughts in that moment.

"Perhaps then this man is one of Lyall's men?" Buckingham announced to the group.  "But either way he is not Lyall Fitzgerald.  I think our business here is concluded Cometess."

"Lead the way Duc," called Sacha with a gesture to depart and the group began to retreat back down the dank tunnel the way that they had come. 

"And of course there is the scar on the back of Lyall's neck that I gave him that is the telling factor," Buckingham called from ahead of Amorette.  "Do you remember that day Cometess, when-"

"How visible was the scar?" came Eustis' voice from the rear.

Amorette tore her attention towards the Red Guard captain who was much older than the rest of the group.  He was clearly an agile man, with a strong build and adhortative demeanour.  His hair was grey and his face, although a little wrinkled was still expressively youthful.  He was more than likely even older than he looked.  He had stopped still in the middle of the tunnel, his attention fixed on Buckingham.

"It was a deep wound," replied Buckingham curtly.  "made with the hilt of a dagger."

Amorette well remembered the day that Buckingham and Lyall Fitzgerald had torn shreds from one another on her father's lawn.  It had started out as mere play fighting, but even in the beginning there had been the underlying emotion of resentment there.  A lot of the men had laughed and guffawed as if it were all one big joke, but Amorette had seen the hatred in the sparing men's eyes.  They had fought like cat and dog; biting and throwing punches and kicks until Lyall had produced a dagger that he had hidden in his boot.  Had Buckingham not been on form that day, Amorette was well aware that Lyall would more than likely have killed him.  As it was, Buckingham had managed to wrestle the dagger from Lyall before the Scotsman could do any real damage with it and knocked him out cold with a blow to the back of the neck with the hilt of the dagger.

Buckingham could have killed Lyall that day and perhaps he should have done.  No one would have argued with such an action after watching Lyall pull the knife upon Buckingham.  The English Duke had walked away, wiping blood away from his own bloody nose as he went.  Lyall and Buckingham were rarely seen in each other's company again after that day.  Henry was incensed that his brother had tried to kill one of his closest friends and disowned his brother, vowing never to speak with him again.

Eustis did not speak again, but instead moved back down the tunnel a little.  Amorette and Buckingham shared an apprehensive glance before turning to follow the swinging light of the lantern.  Once again Eustis stopped, his hand hovering above the linen coverings of another body.  "Perhaps the Cometess might care to look away?  I must warn you that this one is not a pretty sight."

Amorette shook her head and stared resolutely forwards.  "Monsieur we came here for a reason.  If this is the man that we know, then the Duke and I are both required to identify his body so that there may be no doubt."