Lady of Greystoke (Sequel to "At all costs")

Confirmation

'I must say, Mr. Clayton, I was quite surprised to find you knocking on my door, just now.' Coldon said as he sat down in one of the chairs in his drawing room. 'I don't get many visitors up here. It is not a very populated area.'

John sat down in a chair opposite of the man, doing his best, to look as tired and beaten down as his made up story explained. 'Well, I must say, I never expected to be this far away from large towns either.' He chuckled, faking the humor and innocence in his voice to perfection. 'You see, I have always enjoyed the stories of people traveling through nature, and seeing the wild, but never had the chance to experience it myself. I figured I should try it, and thought that my long experience with fencing and boxing, would have given me enough stamina and endurance to be able to do it.' He faked a laugh again, doing his best to come off as harmless to the monster across from him. 'It only took a few days for me to realize how wrong I was, but by the time I was ready to admit that, I realized I had no idea where I was. So when I saw your home, I felt like my best option was to ask for help. It turns out, I am not much of a nature man.'

Coldon listened carefully, but chuckled after a while. 'I imagine most of us men like the idea of being strong and able to conquer nature and the wild. But often so we find out we are not cut out for it. I have made the same mistake myself a few times actually. Once was not enough to get the idea out of my head.' Coldon laughed genuinely.

John laughed along with him. 'It is never easy to admit defeat.'

'Definitely so.'

In the back of the room a small door opened, and although Coldon didn't seem to move any muscle in his body, the sound made John look up. As he looked up, his gaze met the dark brown eyes of his youngest daughter, and though he did his best to hide it, his eyes filled with relief.

Coldon, however took at as a different expression. 'Do not pay any mind to the girl, Mr. Clayton. She is only a servant. Inferior not only in her standing in society, but even her racial heritage.'

The main tone in Coldon's voice radiated the disdain he had for servants, or maybe people of color, were not obvious enough to hide his true emotions from John. Fascination. Obsession, maybe even. It was obvious to John that the man had a strange attraction to Alice.

John quickly looked away from Alice, hoping to draw Coldon's attention away from the girl.

Alice Quickly put down the tray with tea, sandwiches, scones and other pastries. She quickly scurries out of the room again.

'Well, at least she is obedient.'

Coldon again misinterpreted John's look of question and surprise, thinking the man across from him was being polite, and waiting for the host himself to start eating.

'But, what are we waiting for? You must be starving, Mr. Clayton. Let's eat.'

Nearly 2 hours later, John had said his goodbyes to Mr. Coldon, and had mounted his horse again. Coldon had spent at least an half our offering John to call a carriage for him, but John had refused, preferring to be given directions to the closest town. It took the man some convincing, but eventually Coldon accepted John's decision and let him go.

As part of the show, John mounted his horse again and returned to the barn he rested in that morning. He lay down in the hay again to get some rest.

He now knew his daughter was there, and hisworries were confirmed. He knew he had to get Alice out of there and would dowhatever would be necessary for that. At nightfall, when the Coldon householdwould go to sleep, he would sneak in, and he would take home his girl, and makethe monster who hurt her pay.

Hey guys, sorry it's been such a long time since I uploaded anything. University is keeping me really busy lately, so I haven't really had time to write a lot.

Thanks for the patience and support. Love you all!