Moonspun Magic (Magic Trilogy 3)

6

I will find you twenty lascivious turtles ere one chaste man.

—SHAKESPEARE

“Captain Carstairs,” Lord Walton greeted Rafael as he shook his hand. “It’s been a long time, sir, too long. Welcome home. Allow me to express the government’s thanks on the excellent job you’ve done.”

> Rafael merely nodded, and seated himself in a welcoming leather armchair in front of Lord Walton’s mahogany desk. Lord Walton had aged, he thought. His hair was grayer now, thinner on top, and there were more lines of worry on his face. But the intelligence in his eyes was as formidable as ever. He waited until Lord Walton had finished Morgan’s packet of information. He studied the office, admiring the drawings of racehorses clustered on one wall.

“They are Caverleigh Arabians,” Lord Walton said. “My grandson named that last one, the strong-shouldered bay. He’s only seven and already racing mad.”

“They are quite excellent, sir,” Rafael said. He knew little of racehorses.

“Would you like a brandy?”

“No, I thank you, sir.” He made to rise.

“Actually, Captain, not quite yet. Please, relax. I wish to thank you on behalf of all Englishmen for your fine work over the years. Do not distress yourself that your usefulness is over. It is not. However, in this particular instance, you won’t be required to disguise yourself and sneak in and out of difficult situations. I understand that you intend to go home to Cornwall.”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m not the Baron Drago, as you well know. I intend to build my home in Cornwall, however.”

“That is what Morgan wrote to me.” Lord Walton paused a moment, then said, “The smugglers still abound there, you know, droves of them. I fear if their rate continues to soar, they will become a national institution.”

“Evidently the Bishop is still alive.”

“So I understand. However, smuggling doesn’t particularly concern me today. It is something else, something a bit more insidious, a bit more evil, if you will.”

Rafael sat very still, waiting. He watched Lord Walton lightly rub his fingertips over his temples.

“We don’t have a Bishop in this group. This man calls himself the Ram.”

Rafael laughed. “Ram? Good Lord, what pretentious nonsense.”

“I agree, but there you have it. Captain, have you heard of the Hellfire Club?”

“Yes, it was active in the last century, in the seventeen-seventies, perhaps eighties, I believe. A group of dissolute young noblemen bent on outdoing each other in wickedness and perversion. Satanism, as I recall, was their object, new and varied sorts of satanism, that and the raping of as many young virgins as the bounders could capture.”

“That’s right. What we have in Cornwall is a revival of the Hellfire Club, with this Ram as its leader. It’s still a small group, not more than ten men as its members. Unlike their predecessors, they eschew the more outrageous trappings and perversions of satanism, and get on with the ravishing of young virgins. To be honest about it, Captain, we would not be at all interested in this group were it not for the rape of Viscount Bainbridge’s daughter. He, I will tell you, is active in the ministry and is so very enraged he can scarcely see straight. I promised him that I would ask you to look into it.”

“A viscount’s daughter? That wouldn’t seem very intelligent of them.”

“Not at all. Evidently it was a mistake. They kept calling her by another name—Mally or something like that—and this Ram fellow fed her some drug to shut her up when she began screaming her head off. When she came to her senses, she was clothed again, and was propped up against an oak tree some four miles from her aunt’s house near St. Austell.”

“So the daughter was visiting a relative and wasn’t known in the area?”

“Exactly right. We also know that this group of idiots dress their role—black robes and hoods, the girl said. They also drew numbers for the order to rape her. The Ram directed it all with evidently superb orderliness. Would you see what you can discover about this group, Captain? Find out who this damned Ram is?”

“I assume that this Hellfire group has raped other girls?”

“Yes, I had a man down there for two months poking about. The normal procedure is to pay a father a goodly amount for his young daughter’s virginity. That way, there can be no complaints.”

“That is truly quite disgusting.”

“Indeed. Unfortunately, my man didn’t accomplish a great deal, just learned the group’s method of operating. He also made up a list of some local young men who appeared to him prime candidates for this kind of wickedness.”

Rafael grinned for the first time. “Actually, I could name you the young men on that list right now. The point is to prove it, then make certain they stop their activities.”

“Exactly. And as a local young man from a fine family, you already have entrée into every circle in the area. I would appreciate it, Captain, if you would look into the matter. Find out who this Ram is and notify me. I promised Viscount Bainbridge I would provide him the Ram’s name. He wants to kill the fellow in a duel. I agreed. A man should have the right to protect his family, and if that fails, he should have the right to avenge the wrong done him.”