26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Six
T he next morning, the storm had not let up, but Charlotte could not wait another day to return to Reid.
“Are you sure you want to go now?” Stephen asked as they stood huddled around a campfire in the early morning light.
“The wind will be at our back?” she asked.
“Yes—but the waves look formidable.” He was gentle with her—far too gentle—almost like a skittish lamb. Part of her wanted to test the limit to which he would allow her to push him, because she longed for him to take command. But he didn’t.
“How long will it take us to return to Fond du Lac?” she asked Bernard.
“Maybe six hours, since the wind will be at your back.” Bernard ate from a cup, the warm rubbaboo steaming into the frosty air. “But I will not go back with you.” He nodded at Stephen and the guide Stephen had hired to get him from the Upper Red River to Crow Wing, where they had learned that they had missed Reid and Charlotte by two days.
“Where will you go?”
“The men and I have decided to take Monsieur Rutherford to Montreal, as he requested.” He smiled at Charlotte, and his eyes danced. “He hired us to take him there, and that is what we will do.”
Roger was still tied to a tree, though he had been fed and given a blanket to ward off the worst of the chill. He stared at Charlotte now, his eyes filled with hatred.
“You will be free to return to the fort and be married by the priest.” Bernard nodded encouragingly.
Roger was close enough to hear, and he spat on the ground.
Charlotte stepped away from the fire and went to stand before her guardian. “Do you hear that? I will marry Stephen and will return to England as the rightful heir of Blissfield Manor.” Now that she was free of his threats and power over her, she almost felt sorry for him. “You are not allowed to step foot on my property. I am sending a letter with Monsieur Bernard, which will be delivered to my solicitor in London. He will see that my wishes are carried out.” In her letter, she would tell her solicitor to fire all the staff Roger had hired—and those who had conspired against her. Only Stephen’s parents would be retained. A whole new staff would have to be hired. The thought was a bit daunting but also felt like a fresh start.
Roger turned his head away from her, as if he did not see her or hear her.
“If you will excuse me,” she said to Bernard and Stephen, “I will write my letter and then we can be off.”
She went into her tent where she had paper and the charcoals Reid had given her when they moved into the row house at Crow Wing. She wrote her letter as quickly as she could and folded it. She did not have an envelope or a seal, but she hoped Bernard would honor her privacy and not read the contents.
Even if he did, it mattered little. Once she and Stephen were married, she would have complete control of her fortune. By the time the letter arrived in England, she would probably be on her way there as well.
She came out of the tent and handed the missive to Bernard. “Merci, monsieur. You do not know what a godsend you have been to me.”
“It is my pleasure, my lady.” He bowed, then directed his men to start breaking camp.
“We are ready to leave,” Stephen said to Charlotte.
She took her bag to the canoe waiting for her, and without looking behind, she stepped into the vessel.
The wind pushed at them for hours, numbing her fingers, toes, and face. Stephen and his guide paddled without ceasing. Guilt ate at her for asking them to go to such trouble, but she did not suggest they stop, because she cared too deeply for Reid. She did not know how much time they had—or if it was too late. They might have already held his trial and found him guilty. At this very minute, he might be hanging from a noose.
Charlotte swallowed the fear and kept her chin down to ward off the chill.
Finally, the stockade of Fond du Lac fort was visible in the St. Louis Bay. It was still far off, but she could see the NW flag flying in the snow and knew they would be there soon.
Upon arrival and before they drew any attention, Stephen directed the canoe to the shore and got out to help Charlotte disembark, then he allowed the guide to continue without them.
“Are you certain this is the only way?” Stephen asked her.
She nodded and held her bag close to her side. They would approach the fort from behind and make a quiet entry into the stockade. What she hoped to do would only work if they were not spotted.
They climbed over rocks and crevices, down into ravines and up the side of a steep hill before coming to the back of the stockade. A guard stood near the back gate, but he didn’t seem too alarmed at their arrival. When Stephen told him who he was, the guard allowed them to enter without any fuss.
The fort was busy with activity, even in the midst of the storm. Snow swirled around them, gathering in wind-swept piles along the eastern edge of the stockade. Mr. McDonnell’s house was the tallest building in the fort and easy to locate among the other dependencies.
“We will enter at the back of the house, and I will ask for Daanis,” Charlotte told Stephen as they crossed the yard. She had already told him who Daanis was and why she wanted to speak to her. “Hopefully, we can get her alone.” It was the only hope.
They made it to the servants’ entrance, and Charlotte stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. Stephen stood beside her, quietly, waiting for her to proceed. Again, he did not take the lead or try to stop her but simply allowed her to go forward—much as he would if he were her servant, which was exactly what he had been their whole lives. Gone was the authoritative bourgeois who had walked toward her yesterday. Over the past day, Stephen had become the cook’s son again, his face turning red each time she caught him watching her.
“I will pray for you,” he said.
If that was all he had to offer, then she would gladly take it. If she had learned anything this past year, she had learned that she was far braver and stronger than she’d ever believed, and that God was worthy of her trust. He’s proven to her over and over that He had gone before her, answering prayers she hadn’t even uttered. Bringing Reid into her life to protect her and fight for her. Knowing it was her turn to fight for Reid gave her the courage to move forward without Stephen’s leading. “Thank you.”
Entering the house, she found the kitchen busy with activity. The midday meal would be upon them soon, and with several guests now in residence, there were three ladies at work.
“May I help you?” one of the ladies asked when she saw Stephen and Charlotte.
Charlotte was still dressed as a clerk and had no wish to be known, so she resumed the mannerisms she’d adopted as Mr. Crawford. “I’m here to see a guest you are entertaining.”
The lady lifted an overgrown eyebrow, impatiently going back to the bread she was kneading. “I’m no maid. Go find him yourself. And use the front door the next time you come.”
If Charlotte remembered correctly, Daanis had been given a room on the bottom floor, not too far from the front room. But she had not been in the kitchen and didn’t know how to get there from here.
“What way to the front room from here?” she asked.
“Through that door and down the hallway to the right.” The woman pointed at one of the three doors in the room.
“Thank you.” Charlotte led Stephen to the door and opened it cautiously. If someone saw her, they would alert the whole house. But her plan depended on the element of surprise, so she didn’t want Daanis to know they were there.
Peeking around the corner of the door, Charlotte found the hallway empty. Voices drifted to her from a room at the opposite end of the house, but she could not make out who spoke or what was being said.
She didn’t bother to close the door but walked quietly to the right. Several doors ran down the length of the hall, and a staircase sat in the middle. If she was correct, Daanis’s room would be at the end of this hall.
Charlotte motioned for Stephen to follow her, and when they stopped at the last door, she took a steadying breath and knocked lightly.
“Yes?” a woman asked.
It was Daanis. Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief. Before she turned the knob, she pointed at the opposite end of the hall and nodded at Stephen to do what they had planned.
He returned the nod and started toward the sound of the voices. When he was almost at the office of Mr. McDonnell, Charlotte turned the knob and entered Daanis’s room.
Daanis sat on a chair near a window, staring out at the endless woods beyond the stockade. At the sound of Charlotte’s entrance, she turned.
Her eyes grew wide, and she stood. “Charlotte.” She swallowed hard and moved to stand behind the chair. She looked as if she’d been crying. Her face was swollen, and she had big dark circles under her eyes.
“Is it Reid?” Charlotte choked on the question. “Has he been sentenced already?”
Fresh tears gathered in Daanis’s eyes, and she shook her head. “No. Mr. McDonnell is waiting for other shareholders to arrive before they have a trial.”
Charlotte prayed Stephen had had time to get Mr. McDonnell to leave his office and stand outside Daanis’s door—because she was ready to draw the truth out of Daanis and she needed Reid’s superior officer to hear.
“Why are you so upset?” Charlotte asked, staying where she stood, not wanting to alarm Daanis any more than necessary. “You have everything you want, don’t you?”
Daanis wiped her face and took an unsteady breath. “I didn’t think it would come to all this.”
“What do you mean?”
“This,” she said impatiently. “I never wanted to hurt Reid—I just wanted to choose my own path, to be with the man I love.”
“Lachlan?”
“Yes.” She nodded.
“Because you are carrying his child?”
She stared at Charlotte. “How do you know?”
Charlotte didn’t bother to answer. “Do you think your father will let you be with Lachlan if Reid is found guilty of murder?”
Daanis paced over to the window and looked out. “Reid will simply be replaced by another bourgeois, and my father will make me stay with his replacement. He is loyal to the North West Company.”
“Then why did you frame Reid for murder?” Charlotte’s heart pounded hard, and she had to focus on breathing, afraid she would push too fast—too soon. Her hands shook so violently, she clenched them together. “He is a good man. He does not deserve to be punished.”
“I did not frame Reid.” Daanis gripped her skirt in her balled fists. “That was Lachlan’s idea. I didn’t even know he was going to do it until it was done.”
“Until you were on your way here with him?”
“Yes. He told me while we were traveling here.”
“Where did he get Reid’s knife?”
Daanis looked down at her hands.
“Did you give it to him?”
“He asked me to take it from Reid’s quarters. But it happened so long ago, I’d forgotten he had it.”
“Is that what you were doing the morning I was shot by Lachlan?”
Nodding, Daanis pressed her lips together.
Charlotte needed Mr. McDonnell to hear her confess the truth. “So you gave Lachlan Reid’s knife? And then didn’t tell anyone when he shot me?”
“Yes.” She looked at Charlotte with wild eyes. “But I didn’t know what he planned to do with it and he didn’t kill you, so I didn’t see the need to tell anyone who pulled the trigger.”
“I believe you.” And she did. Daanis was acting out of love and desperation.
Charlotte hoped and prayed Stephen and Mr. McDonnell were on the other side of the door, because she would never get Daanis to admit this to them in person. “Lachlan used the knife to frame Reid for murder so he would be out of the way and you two could be together?”
Daanis clasped her hands together and paced back to the chair. “It wasn’t simply for us to be together. To gain my father’s respect, Lachlan needs the trade. He needs to prove the North West Company men are not trustworthy.”
“Yet Lachlan is the one who is not trustworthy.” Charlotte felt sad for Daanis and the child she carried. “Why did you support him in this?”
“Because I love him.” Daanis finally met Charlotte’s gaze. “You understand—it’s why you’ve done what you’ve done, because you love Reid.”
Charlotte didn’t respond, not wanting to confirm Daanis’s statement for fear of what Stephen might think.
“There is no excuse to frame another man for murder,” Charlotte said.
“Lachlan would do anything to have me.”
“Even murder Monsieur LeBlanc and then frame Reid?”
She looked down at her hands again, and Charlotte’s heart broke for her. “Yes. He told me he sent the anonymous letter to Reid that morning, claiming to be a witness who saw him shoot you, because he knew Reid would go to his fort to fight him. It was the perfect way to accuse him of murdering Monsieur LeBlanc.”
The door opened, and Mr. McDonnell stood on the other side. Stephen stood beside him, with Lachlan in his grasp. Two other men Charlotte did not know were also there.
But Reid was not with them.
“I’ve heard enough,” Mr. McDonnell said. “Lachlan McCoy, you are charged with the murder of Nicolas LeBlanc and the attempted murder of Lady Charlotte Fairfax. You will be transported to the nearest XY Company post where you will be handed over to their authority.”
Daanis inhaled a sharp breath and ran toward Lachlan, but she was intercepted by Mr. McDonnell. “The young lady will be transported back to her father’s village immediately.”
“This is all a lie,” Lachlan said. “Daanis is upset and dinna ken what she was saying.”
“Take him away,” Mr. McDonnell said to Stephen and the other two men.
Lachlan tried to get away, but they held him fast.
Mr. McDonnell addressed Daanis. “You must stay in your room until I can organize your transfer.”
Daanis crumpled onto the chair with a wave of fresh tears.
Charlotte wanted to comfort her, but the other woman would never accept her compassion now. To free Reid, Charlotte had been forced to reveal Daanis’s secrets. Any hope Daanis had of marrying Lachlan was now dashed.
“And Lady Charlotte?” Mr. McDonnell raised an eyebrow. “I think you have some explaining to do as well. Will you join me in my office?”
Charlotte bit her bottom lip as she cast one more glance at Daanis.
“I’m sorry,” she said and then quietly left her room.
She had freed Reid from his charges—but she must now convince Mr. McDonnell not to fire him from his post.
It was the very least she could do for all that he had done for her.
A knock sounded at Reid’s door. “Supper is served.”
Reid had not been downstairs since the morning meal. Sitting at the same table as Lachlan and Daanis had turned his stomach sour, so he had avoided the midday meal. Though he was hungry, he would rather starve than see them again. He didn’t bother to rise from the chair where he’d been sitting, trying to read to pass the infernal hours.
But all he could think about was Charlotte and how she was faring in this storm—at Rutherford’s side.
Reid closed his book, saving his place with a finger. “Please tell Mr. McDonnell I am unwell.”
The door opened, and it was Joseph who stood over the threshold. “I think you’ll want to be at this meal.”
Reid frowned. Why had Joseph summoned him personally? He had sent a clerk the other time. He stood and set his book on the chair.
“I’ll wait for you to put on your best coat,” Joseph said.
“My best coat?” Reid could care less about his appearance.
“We’re having a party tonight.”
A party? While he was waiting for a murder trial? “What kind of party?”
“A wedding feast—though the wedding won’t take place until the morning.”
Lachlan and Daanis? “I’d rather not attend.”
“I think you’ll be pleased that you did.” Joseph smiled, and it was the first time since Reid’s arrival that the smile reached his eyes. “I have some good news to share at the party.”
Now Reid was intrigued—at least to hear the good news. He reached for his coattails and ran his hands through his hair but did nothing else.
He followed Joseph through the hall, down the stairs, and into the spacious front room. There were about two dozen people in attendance, many of them clerks and their wives, people he knew from Grand Portage and other places where they’d mingled in the past.
A long table had been set up in the middle of the room and chairs were gathered around it. The table was laden with wild rice, bread, roasted vegetables, venison, and other good things to eat, though Reid doubted he’d enjoy the food.
Standing at the head of the table, a man drew Reid’s attention, and he had to blink twice before he recognized him.
“Stephen?” Reid left Joseph’s side.
Stephen offered his hand and took Reid’s in a hearty shake. “It’s good to see you again, McCoy.”
The reality of Stephen’s timing hit Reid like a boulder. He staggered from the force of it and put his hand on Stephen’s arm. “You must go after her. She isna more than two or three days away.”
Stephen smiled and clasped Reid on his shoulder. “I found her. She’s here.”
It took a moment for Stephen’s words to make sense. “Charlotte is here?”
“Yes.” He grinned. “And she proved your innocence and convinced McDonnell to give you a second chance back at Crow Wing.”
“What?” Reid frowned, uncertain that he’d heard Stephen correctly. “She proved my innocence?”
Stephen explained how Charlotte was able to get Daanis to confess the truth while McDonnell and he had stood in the hallway to listen.
“Lachlan is already on his way to the nearest XY post, and Daanis will be on her way back to her father’s village in the morning.”
Reid stared at Stephen. “Charlotte has done all of that?”
“She has.” Stephen’s cheeks were ruddy. “She’s a courageous woman.”
“And she’s here?” Reid looked around the room but could not see her.
“She’ll be here any minute.”
Just then, a woman entered the room from the hall. Her beautiful auburn curls hung loose around her face, with a green ribbon encircling her head. The dress she wore matched the ribbon and was the bonniest gown he’d ever seen. It was even more attractive on her than the one back at his fur post. This one fit her like it had been sewn just for her, and this time it was evident that she wore all the right undergarments to keep it modest and shapely.
Her dark brown eyes searched the room, and when her gaze landed on him, her face softened into the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.
His heart thrummed with joy as he realized she was free from Rutherford. His own freedom didn’t compare to hers.
She moved toward him with such grace and poise, he wondered how anyone had ever believed she was a man.
He met her in the center of the room as all else faded around them.
“Charlotte.” He shook his head, unable to believe what he was seeing and what he had just heard. “Stephen told me—”
“Are you happy?” she asked with a smile as she put her hands on his arms.
“Happy?” He wanted to throw her high into the air and swing her around the room. “I never imagined.” Reid swallowed the emotions and took her hands in his. “Now I owe you a debt for my life.”
“Just be happy,” she said quietly, squeezing his hands, her eyes filling with tears. “That’s all I ask.”
There was a different air about her now—one he liked very much. She was more than feminine, she was a highborn lady, and it reminded him how far apart their worlds really were. Everything she had endured in the wilderness was even more impressive as he saw her in this light. There was not another woman like her in all the world.
The sounds of the room pushed their way back into his consciousness as the guests glanced their way. After all this time, he was finally standing with Charlotte in a room of people who knew she was a woman.
Stephen joined them then, and Reid let go of Charlotte’s hands.
“Thank you,” Stephen said to Reid. “For bringing Charlotte safely to me.”
Reality crashed back on Reid. This breathtaking lady before him was betrothed to another man. Reid forced himself to smile. “’Tis the least I could do to repay you for saving my life.”
“I was hoping you’d agree to one more favor.” Stephen stood proudly next to Charlotte and faced Reid. “Would you be my best man in the morning?”
Charlotte’s smile fell, and she turned troubled eyes to Reid. “I’m sure Reid wants to be on his way back to Fort McCoy as soon as possible.”
“I don’t know anyone else but you,” Stephen said with a little embarrassment to Reid. “I’d be in your debt.”
How could Reid turn down the request? Yet how could he stand beside the man who would become Charlotte’s husband?
“Please?” Stephen asked.
Reid nodded. “Aye. You saved my life, after all.”
Stephen smiled, but behind his smile Reid could see apprehension. Was he nervous about marrying Charlotte? Reid couldn’t imagine being nervous to take her as his bride. If it were him standing beside her tomorrow, he would have no uncertainty.