Chapter Thirty-One
S hivering, Louisa huddled in the corner of a stall wrapped in a horse blanket. In those six years she practically lived on the streets working for Macgregor, she knew where to go to keep warm and where she could find food to steal. Her memory had returned completely now, and she knew exactly what to do in whatever situation she was placed in. It was as if she’d never left and spent a whole month being loved by two adorable children and one very handsome and kindhearted man.
Sickness rolled in her stomach, but not from lack of food this time. Instead, disgust for the life she now lived—because of her wrong decisions—weighed her down and made her miserable.
The weather had turned chilly today. At least she had a warmer dress to wear instead of the rags she’d been in when Trevor had hit her with his curricle. And the cloak and bonnet she had on when he kicked her out of his mother’s house were her only possessions. Still, they were much better than what she’d been accustomed to for six very long and miserable years.
A noise from the front of the stable brought her alert. Fear crept upon her, making her heart thump wildly. She couldn’t be discovered hiding in the stable. She didn’t want anyone to catch her. Instead, she wanted to surprise Eliza Watson whenever her childhood friend left the house.
Slowly, Louisa rose and peeked over the stall. Whistling, a groomsman walked around the carriage, preparing it for travel. For the first time in three days, hope grew inside of her. She prayed Eliza would be the one needing the vehicle this morning so that Louisa would get her chance to speak with her former friend.
Going without seeing Trevor or the twins for so long had put Louisa in a melancholy mood, and she couldn’t stand to be miserable any longer. She was determined to formulate a plan and stop Macgregor, along with confronting her childhood friend before making an appearance to her family. Living like this was destroying her heart, and she refused to take this abuse even one more minute.
“Mornin’ Joe.” Another stable hand walked up to help the groomsman.
“Good morning.”
He ran his hands over his wide middle. “Who needs the carriage today?”
“Miss Eliza. Who else in this miserable family wants us to wait on them hand and foot?”
Surprise flipped through Louisa, and she quickly covered her mouth before a laugh escaped. Obviously, the servants did not approve of their mistress.
The stable hand shook his head, his long black hair slapped against his neck. “Honestly, I cannot wait until she marries. Good riddance to the spoiled chit, I say.”
“And I would say the same.” The groomsman nodded in agreement. “The sooner she becomes Lady Wellesley, the better for us all.”
Louisa gasped and sank down the wall. Eliza… engaged to Frank?
As children she and Eliza were inseparable and Eliza was always over at Louisa’s house. When they became older, Louisa realized her friend had an infatuation with Frank. By this time, Louisa and Frank had become betrothed, and not wanting to go against the wishes of her parents, she didn’t argue with their decision. Secretly, however, she had wished Frank would rebut the betrothal and marry someone else. Somebody more his age, or prettier, or even wealthier—anything, but wanting to marry her. Eliza had been starry-eyed whenever Frank was around, and Louisa had wondered if Frank was interested in her friend.
One day she’d asked him, praying that he found Eliza better suited for him. Instead, he’d rolled his eyes and flipped his hands in the air. “She’s too chubby for me,” he’d said.
From what Louisa had seen of her old friend yesterday, the years had been kind to Eliza. She’d lost her baby fat, thank heavens. So perhaps that was why Frank changed his mind.
“Where is Miss High-and-Mighty off to this early in the morning?” the younger man asked the groomsman.
“I don’t know for certain, but I heard her telling the butler she had to visit with the policeman about that man’s death the other day.”
“Oh, that Macgregor fellow—the thief from Seven Dials?”
Louisa gasped again, and slapped her hand over her mouth. Macgregor? Dead? Cautiously, she slid back up the wall to peek at the two servants.
“Aye. The same fellow.” The groomsman shook his head. “It makes no sense to me. Miss Eliza says she saw the man stabbed while she was coming out of the hospital that night. Yet…”
Pausing, the tall man took a quick look around, probably searching for anyone who would overhear. Thankfully, he didn’t see Louisa.
“What was she doing at the hospital?” the groomsman continued in a lower voice. “She has never gone there before.”
“Do you think she’s lying?”
“I do.” The groomsman scrubbed his unshaven chin. “She did take the carriage that night, and indeed she went into the hospital, but she never once mentioned why she was there. Not only that, but when I saw her come out of the hospital, the police had already been summoned to the commotion happening down the street. I do not think she saw any stabbing at all because the killer would have already taken off by that time.”
“Very interesting, indeed.” The stable hand nodded.
Louisa thought the same thing. Interesting… So what was Eliza up to this time? Whose life was she trying to destroy? Of course Louisa still wanted to know why her childhood friend ruined her life when they had been such good friends.
“Well, I had better take the carriage around to the front now and wait for her to come out.” The taller man adjusted his hat before buttoning his overcoat.
As the groomsman drove the carriage out, Louisa snuck out of the stall and quickly ducked in the next one. She listened close for any noise that she’d been discovered. After a moment of silence, she hurried to the next stall, and continued the pattern until she reached the doors. Thankfully Eliza’s family didn’t have many servants, because it made sneaking easier than Louisa had planned.
The carriage was now stopped in front of the house. Nobody stood around waiting, except for the groomsman and he sat atop in the driver’s seat, his attention turned the other way. On quiet feet, Louisa crept to the carriage, opened the door, and as gently as she could, climbed inside.
Just as she closed the door, the vehicle moved as the groomsman jumped down. Panicked, her heart stalled. He must have felt her climbing in.
“Good morning, Miss Eliza,” the man called out.
Louisa expelled a relieved breath and huddled on the seat in the corner. The curtains were pulled down, giving the box very little light. Although, when the door opened, she would certainly be noticed.
“Please take me to the police headquarters. They are expecting me.”
“As you wish, Miss Eliza.”
Louisa held her breath. The door opened and Eliza climbed in, her head down as she focused on stepping inside without tangling her gown and cloak—a habit most ladies did when entering a vehicle.
Before Eliza was completely in her seat, the door closed.
Blinking—probably adjusting her eyes to the semi-darkness—Eliza scanned the inside the box until she spotted the unknown person in the carriage. “Oh!” Eliza shrieked.
Immediately, Louisa jumped next to the other woman on the seat and covered her mouth. “Say one more word and I swear I shall snap your neck in two with my bare hands. Do not think I won’t, either.” Louisa hated to sound so threatening, when she would never follow through with the promise. Hopefully, Eliza didn’t realize this.
The other woman calmed quickly as she narrowed her gaze. “L-L-Louisa?”
Louisa slowly released her hold. “Strange how you would think that, considering I am supposed to be dead. Something—I might add—you have known about since your uncle kidnapped me.”
Even through the shadows, Louisa could tell when the other woman’s face lost color. Betrayal crushed Louisa, and she wanted to cry in fury, but she’d give her so-called friend time to explain before lashing out her own anger.
“I—I thought you were dead,” Eliza muttered.
“Indeed? When did this happen? We exchanged letters for two months before your uncle sold me to a man who was Satan’s own child. Yet my family had heard I had drowned at the girl’s school—the very school we had attended together until the day your uncle came.”
Eliza shook her head. “Honestly, Louisa. I didn’t know.”
“You lie!” Louisa grasped the other woman’s shoulders and shook her hard. “Tell me the truth for once in your miserable life.”
“Beg pardon,” Eliza snapped as she pushed Louisa away. “If you are assuming that I do not speak the truth, then you are sadly mistaken.”
“No, you are the sad person in this situation, Eliza. Because you convinced yourself that your lies are in fact the truth, and in doing so, you ruin people’s lives.”
Eliza huffed. “I don’t have to take this abuse from you. Leave my carriage this instant.”
“Not until I get some answers.” Anger pumped through Louisa stronger than it had ever done before. She wanted to cause physical harm to this woman, when she’d never experienced such fierce anger before. The newfound feeling frightened her.
“Well, I don’t know what you want me to say, especially if you will not believe a word of it.”
Shaking her head, Louisa sat back in the seat and folded her arms. “Why do you hate me so? What did you think to gain from sending me to hell and telling my family I had died?”
Eliza stared at Louisa in silence. Only the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves and the rattle of the carriage were heard. Malice darkened Eliza’s expression and slowly she bunched her hands into fists on her lap.
“You had everything a young girl could ever want,” Eliza spat. “And you flaunted it in front of others.”
“I did not.”
“Your parents spoiled you and treated you as if you were the queen herself. And I—I had nothing. ”
“Eliza, what are you talking about? Your parents saw to your comfort just as mine did for me.”
“No. My father was a drunk and gambled away our money. My paternal grandmother was the one paying for my schooling. I knew once I was out of school, no man would want me for his bride because I would not have a dowry to give him. I was not as pretty as you. You have no idea how badly I wanted to be you.”
“Eliza? What does any of this have to do with having your uncle kidnap me?”
“Because I wanted to be your parents’ daughter. I wanted to be the one betrothed to Frank—a boy I had loved for many years. But I knew it would not happen unless you were dead. I didn’t want you dead, but I wanted you to disappear. I once caught my uncle kidnapping a child, and I threatened to inform my family of his crimes. Uncle Percy had fallen out of the good graces of my family, and he was desperate to be reclaimed, and he begged me not to turn him in. He told me he would do anything for me. That was when I realized he could kidnap you and take you far away. I would tell everyone you had drowned in the river. Then and only then could I take your place in your family’s heart. It took time, of course, but now they look upon me as their daughter. Not you.”
Louisa hadn’t realized she’d been crying until a tear trickled down her cheek. “If you had only said something to me back then, I know my family would have helped you.”
“Not when I wanted Frank as my husband and I couldn’t because you were betrothed to him. It was after you had told me your parents had betrothed you to him when I started planning your disappearance. I’m sorry you were sold to Macgregor because I had not planned for that to happen. However, I am not sorry about everything else I did. Frank and I are to be married next week, and you are not going to stop it.”
Louisa held up her hands in defeat. “Oh, believe me. I will not stop it at all. I don’t love Frank. I never did. You can have him. All I want is my family—and home. I want my real life back.”
“Well, I honestly don’t know how you can do that without the truth coming out. If Frank and your parents discover it was me all along…” She waved a hand in the air. “Impossible. It cannot work, Louisa. You cannot reenter your life now. Not when everything is finally falling into place for me.”
Was the kind of anger pumping through her now what criminals experienced before they committed a crime? Yet the hatred inside Louisa ran hot—fiery hot—and she had no wish to cool it any time soon.
Louisa lashed out and struck the other woman across the face, then grasped her thin shoulders for a hard shake. “Just try to stop me. I will not let you win.”
For a split second, Eliza’s eyes widened in panic, then a devilish grin spread across her face. “I beg to differ, my friend. I will stop you.” She lifted her hand which now clutched a knife. “Release me at once or I will surely use this to protect myself.”
Keeping her eyes on the knife, Louisa slowly backed away. Why in heaven’s name did Eliza have a weapon on her person? A knife—in fact—that looked vaguely familiar… “Where did you get that? Is that not Mr. Macgregor’s hunting knife?”
Eliza laughed with a wicked grate to her voice. “My, my… I’m surprised at you, Louisa. You know so much about Macgregor.” She tilted her head to the side. “I heard you were Macgregor’s best. Does that mean he made you his whore, too?”
“How dare you! I would not allow that man to touch me in such a vile way. I would have killed him if he had.”
“Well, what do you know—your wish came true. Now the man is dead, and you can take the credit.”
Louisa shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
Just then the carriage rolled to a stop and Eliza took a quick glance out the window. Her smile widened when she met Louisa’s stare.
“You shall find out in a moment, my dear friend.” She reached for the door and opened it, climbing out backward. Once her feet hit the ground, she motioned with the knife. “Come down.”
Panic settled in Louisa’s chest. Something was not right. She didn’t dare comply with the other woman’s wishes, yet did she have a choice?”
“Miss Watson? What is going on?” a voice asked from behind Eliza.
“Oh, Constable Oxley. I’m so happy you are here. I was accosted in my own carriage by this vagabond, and thankfully, I was able to get the weapon away from her to protect myself.” Eliza pointed inside the carriage. “I have found Mr. Macgregor’s killer. She is a madwoman, I tell you, and completely insane.”
Dread poured over Louisa as the man and two other policemen rushed toward her, pointing their swords at her. At this particular moment, she did not know how to fix this. Perhaps this was her destiny after all.