Synopsis (Jocelyn)
Story opens with the evil Cecily inviting an unnamed man, called only the General, into her boudoir. She gives him a poisonous potion and they discuss their plans for her cousin, Rosemary Carlyle. Cecily has led Rosemary to believe that her sister, Anne, newly a Marchioness, wants nothing to do with Rosemary. Cecily and her co-conspirator are both convinced that the two sisters will not contact each other.
Alistair Erskyn is just returning home to his estate after a long absence. His years away from home have not been happy ones: he was disgraced and cashiered after the battle at Culloden. He is welcomed home by Tibbets, the caretaker, and Tibbets' wife, known as "Tibby." Once he has retreated to the library, Alistair pulls an emerald from his saddle bag and stares at it. He recalls that a woman dying in childbirth gave it to him. While he is attempting to down copious amounts of brandy, Tibby comes to scold him for his numerous transgressions and accidentally discovers the emerald. Alistair swears at her in a voice she's never heard before, then subsides into misery. Even as Tibby would go comfort him, they're interrupted by the arrival of his younger twin brother, Alexander. Alexander coolly informs Alistair that he has been cut in London and has returned to discover the reasons why.
Rosemary Carlyle, on the other hand, has no such family connections. She is at Portsmouth with her ayah, Primat, trying to decide what to do. Her husband is dead of a border massacre, but he was never much good to her anyway since he was an opium addict. Rosemary reflects sadly that her own sister does not want to see her, at least according to her cousin Cecily. Primat insists that Cecily is a snake and Rosemary should not listen to her lies. Rosemary decides she will send Primat ahead of her to Cecily's house while Rosemary searches for Anne.
The following morning, Alexander and Alistair get into a brief tiff that shows signs of developing into a real sibling fight until an interruption by Martha Nesper, Alex's mistress, who proceeds to eat copious amounts that are not reflected by her slight form. Alex informs Alistair that he has summoned their childhood friends, Cave and Dunnett, and that he is certain Dunnett will also bring his annoying sister-in-law.
Alex goes to warn Tibby of the expected guests and is surprised by an unexpected one, Mrs. Rosemary Carlyle, who thought she heard her sister laugh in the coach that brought Alex and Martha, and followed them from Portsmouth. In fact, it was Miss Nesper who laughed, and Rosemary, discovering this, collapses and does not cry.
Things get off to a bad start when Rosemary, recovering enough for introductions, calls him "Evil Erskyn" and "Archfiend Alistair." She's only repeating the terms she's heard since everyone knows he kidnapped and ravished Lady Macpherson. At that moment, Gareth Cave, Kenneth Dunnett, and Dunnett's sister-in-law Mariana Atwell arrive. After some discussion about Rosemary's plight, they decide to go talk to James Havershaw, an old schoolmate of Alistair's and a relative of the Marquis of Seaforth, who hopefully will be able to give them Anne's location.
Back in London, Cecily is infuriated when she discovers that Rosemary has gone looking for Anne. She comes up with a new scheme, to blackmail Rosemary by holding Primat prisoner, and sends for the ayah. The servant returns to bring the bad news that Primat has escaped. Primat, out on the street by herself, determines that she will find Seaforth, her employer's new brother-in-law.
Rosemary, meanwhile, is exhausted and ill and not sure of her sanity. Alexander, Alistair, Cave, Dunnett, Miss Atwell, and Miss Nesper all pile into the coach along with Rosemary and they depart for Havershaw's place. Along the way, they stop at an inn, The Fife and Drum, where they are met by a man calling himself Ralph Verten. Verten, actually Rafe Green, gives up his room to Rosemary so that she can be nursed back to health. Tibby is sent for so that Alistair can remain properly with Rosemary. The rest continue on for Havershaw's place.
Rosemary awakes some days later feeling better. Alistair comes to check upon her and then asks who's been expecting her. He does not know what to do with her.
In London, there is a meeting between a Mr. Warburton, one of The Guardians, and Lord Brookfield. Lord Brookfield is ordered to take his wife and son (?) on a seaside holiday to Yorkshire so as to keep an eye upon the Seaforth clan. Once he leaves, Warburton begins planning a way to kill him.
At Seaforth Manor, a few miles outside of Whitby in the Yorkshire North Riding, the Seaforths are enjoying their newlywed status. Flora is still stung by David Daventry's betrayal but also nurses a new tendre for Jacob Holt. Theo is enjoying helping with the horses. They read in the paper that the Earl of Daventry has had to flee England to outrun his creditors. Breakfast is interrupted when Primat at last finds them and brings news of Rosemary, whom Anne was just wondering about.
Primat was given entry by Holt, whose men have been watching the manor house. Anne leaves from her private interview with Primat with the news that they are all going°somewhere.
Back at the Fife and Drum, Rosemary and Alistair are enjoying a walk in the gardens when a coach bearing Cecily arrives. Alistair, infuriated by the apparent fact that Rosemary lied about having no one but her sister in England, leaves her alone with Cecily. Rosemary, shocked and hurt, goes to have tea with Cecily and is soon drugged and unconscious. Alistair watches outside as their carriage pulls away from the inn.
At another inn miles away, the General, David Daventry, and a third man meet to discuss the location of the emerald. The third man has heard that a woman dying in childbirth had it from her lover and gave it to Alistair. The General sends Daventry with a potion to retrieve both the gem and Alistair.
Alistair sends Tibby home and sets out on his way alone. During his ride, he remembers his disastrous liaison with Lady Macpherson. She thought it would be "romantic" to be kidnapped, so to speak, until her outraged husband caught up with them. She protested her innocence, and Alistair was left with a filthy reputation. Daventry follows him from the inn.
While riding, Alistair comes across an old man who asks him to rid his croft of a "ghostie" who turns out to be a bat. While attempting to do so, Alistair is attacked by a disguised man who, upon being struck on the head by the old man, turns out to be Lord Kenneth Dunnett. Alistair, shocked and hurt beyond words, orders the old gentleman to throw Dunnett by the side of the road and leaves, still followed by Daventry. Alistair thinks of Rosemary while riding toward a new inn. At the Blind Goat, he discovers that Rosemary and Cecily stopped there also, and that Rosemary was apparently incapacitate. He resolves to follow them but decides to eat first. While he does so, Daventry enters, drugs his ale, and carries the now-unconscious Alistair off to see the General.
Alistair awakes in agony and captive, accompanied in his stable prison by Mrs. Rosemary Carlyle. Rosemary soothes him, but he can see that she has suffered rough treatment at the hands of their captors. He apologizes for misjudging her and says he will kill the man who hurt her. She in turn tells him that she overheard Cecily say that the General would reward her. Alistair remembers that the woman who gave him the emerald mentioned a "General" and is disgusted to discover that his cloak, which had the emerald sewn into its hem, has been taken from him. They escape, knocking out Rafe Green in the process. Alistair comes close to killing him but does not at Rosemary's insistence.
Looking for a place to stay, they come across a croft occupied by a little girl who asks for help for her "Da," who is wrapped in bloody bandages and at Death's door. Once the man has been nursed past his crisis, Alistair tells Rosemary the whole story behind the emerald. The woman who gave it to him was the lover of a man who stole the gem from the Guardians. When she died, Alistair set the child up with a barren couple and paid for their passage to America. Rosemary asks him if he always takes Death so personally. Alistair, in answering her questions, discovers that although he has lost the emerald he has regained himself as a physician.
Back at their former jail, Rafe Green awakes and reflects that his plan to send Rosemary and Alistair into his trap worked a little too well. Similarly, Lord Kenneth Dunnett awakes after a period of unconsciousness to be confronted by the little old man. Unfortunately, Dunnett is newly an amnesiac.
At the croft, the father of the little girl recovers enough to weakly thank Alistair. Alistair discovers from him that they are two miles west of Blythe Snook near the coast, which will not let them catch a packet heading south. The other man's demeanor quickly changes and he confesses that his name is Fairleigh, that the little girl really is his daughter, and that she was threatened so that he would go along with Daventry's demands that he entrap Alistair and Rosemary. Fairleigh volunteers to help him if he'll deliver Mary (his daughter) to Fiona in London.
A day's drive south of the croft, The Dirty Seadog inn is host to Cave, Alexander, and Mariana, who are all in uncertain temper after having been contained in the same coach for days. Miss Nesper succumbed to food poisoning earlier. While they eat and argue, Cave suddenly spots Cecily trying to fade into the background.
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Map
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Chapter 4 Geographic Notes (Toni)
Finchale Abbey
Alistair, Rosemary, Holt, Falcon, Fairleigh, Gareth, and Hessell
London
Catherine Cave
An Hour Away from the Abbey
General, Warburton, Cecily, Daventry, and 2 others (ah... who are they?)
Carriage South to London
Alex and Primat
Missing Key Inn
Flora, Kenneth, and Mariana
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Title Nominations
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- The Emerald's Execution
- The Illustrious Emerald
- The Emerald's Eloquence
- The Emerald and the Pawnbroker
- The Emerald Burden
- The Emerald Enigma
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AUTHORS: Although changes to the story are not allowed, please email any grammatical corrections, punctuation errors, or typos related to your installment to Tonia Izu.
Changes last made on: Sunday, March 2, 2008
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