Chapter Eighteen
Rose Point Chateau
Nottingham, England
A day later
“The place appears to be eerily deserted,”
Gerald said, running his hand through his hair. “Which means what?” The other four men pulled up alongside him, and the small party continued to move slowly as they progressed onto Rose Point’s grounds. They’d thought there was the possibility they’d face some sort of fight. Instead, they faced destruction…chaos.
“Good God!”
Wright said as they took in the smoldering piles scattered across the grounds in front of the manor house. “They’ve burned furniture, clothing, linens. It’s almost like the man is set on punishing the Bowles family. What kind of person impersonates a man to steal everything of value, yet leaves a trail of destruction behind?”
“A narcissistic, crazed person,”
Banbury said in a grim tone. It’s conceivable he may not have found what he was looking for and decided to burn things in a fit of pique. As you know, we’ve seen worse,” his brother-in-law elaborated.
Gerald knew his brother-in-law and his friend had seen depravity and destruction in their work. The marquess had worked for the Crown. And Wright occasionally worked alongside friends who still worked for the government—in one branch or another— doing reconnaissance. The Napoleonic wars had ended giving rise to riots and fears of conspiracy—too much with real basis for fear.
Banbury had been an indispensable agent, having saved the Prince Regent’s life on more than one occasion, earning him Prinny’s undying friendship. Gerald was thankful his brother-in-law had given up that dangerous line of work and was now happily settled with Diana, raising a family, and managing his estates and investments. It was what he’d wanted most as well. Spending time with Selena had only solidified that for him. He wanted to spend the rest of his life caring for her, giving her babies, and expanding his racehorses.
“I wonder if Prinny’s detail caught them and are on their way back to London or if they ended up giving chase,”
Gerald murmured out loud.
“Possibly,”
Banbury replied. “Although judging from this destruction Vern and his minions certainly took time to destroy as much as they could.”
“Then again, this could also be the work of vandals who might still be inside. Let’s proceed with caution, gentlemen,”
Wright said.
“It hasn’t rained in the last two days, so it’s easy to see tracks in the driveway.”
Gerald pointed to the tracks of horses. “Perhaps Prinny’s security detail was here. That’s a lot of horse tracks. It’s impossible to say how many men, but it’s too many for two men.” Once they caught the bastards, they would have to look to restore all the damage done to the estate. He would do everything in his power to assist Lady Fleur. He was positive Connery would be leading the way. Gerald couldn’t help but notice the burgeoning friendship between Lady Fleur and Connery. Under better circumstances, he would be teasing Connery about it. Gerald had seen the way Connery looked at Lady Fleur when he thought no one was paying attention. He was happy for his friend. Connery deserved to be happy, God knows the man had suffered enough in his life, losing both his wife and child.
“Well, gentleman, I think it’s time we ventured inside,”
Banbury said.
“No matter what we find,”
Gerald said in a steely voice. “Leave Vern to me.” Everything Selena had told him had been burned in his brain. He would not rest until Vern was captured.
“Let’s start with the bed chambers and work our way down,”
Banbury suggested. “It’s conceivable we might find something of importance there as to their whereabouts.”
The men quietly made their way upstairs. They fanned out each taking a bedchamber to search. Gerald instinctively knew when he entered Selena’s room. The evidence of the vile invasion was everywhere. Selena’s armoire was empty of gowns, no doubt stolen by the crude women Vern had given free rein to. The window curtains had been yanked down, the delicate wallpaper had been shredded, and bed linens had been ripped and strewn about. Her vanity had been toppled over, and drawers from her dresser had been taken off their tracks and tossed to the floor. Despite the destruction, Selena’s lovely floral scent still lingered. He breathed it in and took strength from it.
Selena had told him about the secret passage, and he wondered if he could find it. Crouching down, he felt along the bottom of the bookshelf, his fingers felt a catch where the shelf met the wall. He pressed it and watched as the passage sprung open. It appeared Vern had never determined there had been a secret passage. The man probably assumed she had jumped from the window to the sturdy branch of the tree that stood outside. Gerald shuddered as he imagined the terror Selena must have felt to leave in the middle of the night, alone, with only her horse. Leaving her mother’s supposed grave, unseen. She was the bravest woman he had ever known.
Having found the passage and seeing little use now for it, he closed the door and continued to poke around the room. He spotted an empty brandy decanter on the fireplace mantle, and an empty bottle of gin under the bed. He felt another wave of anger knowing that Vern and his friends had been in Selena’s room and had defiled it. Thank God she was safe at Bellwood. As he made his way into the hall, he saw Banbury emerge from the master bedroom. “Anything?” he asked.
“Nothing but lots of empty liquor bottles and decanters. The man had an unquenchable thirst, it seems,”
Banbury said in a disdainful tone.
“From all the bottles we’ve seen up here alone, it appeared he and his friends must have guzzled everything in the house and probably whatever might have been in the cellar.
The other men emerged from the rooms, all shaking their heads.
Aside from the destruction and disarray, they’d found nothing to indicate where Vern or Grom might be.
“I’ve seen no evidence anyone is still here…so far,”
Wright said as they made their way back down to the main floor.
“I’m surprised there are still so many paintings still hanging,”
Gerald observed. “Although it looks like some didn’t make it through the last party.” He pointed to a pile at the end of the hall. [JD1] “Let’s start with the study.”
The study, like the rest of the house, was a shambles. Drawers were pulled out, books were thrown and scattered all over the floor. And bottles were smashed.
“It appears he was looking for something,”
Banbury observed. He pointed to the open safe—the door was still hanging open. “Lady Bowles said he made her give him the combination.”
Gerald felt an almost menacing presence in the room. He silently fumed as he recalled Selena’s story. Vern had terrorized Selena and her mother. No woman should have to endure such treatment. He silently swore he would make Vern pay.
They continued to sift through papers and books, searching for something that could tell them what Vern was planning.
“Vern might be insane, but he’s a clever bastard,”
Gerald said. “He knows his impersonation of Percival Bowles could not last more than a few months at best.”
“True, and he couldn’t just go to London to meet with the solicitors to get his greedy hands on Bowles’ money. Such actions would be questioned by the solicitors, and he couldn’t risk that,”
Banbury added.
“Nor could he sell any paintings or furnishings,”
Wright said. “There wouldn’t be time for that either. Not to mention he would be drawing attention to himself.”
“Eventually word would get out,”
Gerald said.
“There are enough people out there who know what Percival looks like, including myself,”
Wright added.
“But as we’ve seen, he stole all the jewelry they had in the house, he could make his escape with that,”
Banbury suggested.
“True, but it would still take time for him to sell it on the black market,”
Wright said. “Yes, there are pirates who will take jewelry as payment, but they would most likely slit his throat while he’s sleeping.
“And there weren’t enough funds in the house for him to be able to plan his escape to God knows where,”
Banbury said. “So, what is there left for him to do?”
Gerald saw the corner of a document that had slid to the floor, peeking out from under the desk. He picked it up and quickly scanned it, shouting a curse as everything crystalized in his mind. “It’s our betrothal contract. Mine and Selena’s.”
He held it up for his friends to read. “He knows!” he shouted. “Damn it to hell. He knows. Selena is to inherit her grandmother’s estates and money on her 21 st birthday.” It’s right there plain as day in the betrothal contract. He raked his hands through his hair. “Her birthday is in two weeks! He’s planning to kidnap her. We’ve got to get the hell out of here and back to Bellwood.”
As they made their way out of the study, they heard a vase topple over and footsteps running down the hall. Alarmed, Gerald and his friends took off after the intruders.
They followed the thieves to the kitchen. Signaling to Wright and Banbury, Gerald entered the kitchen on stealthy feet. He could hear crying and whispering that sounded like it was coming from the larder—a room with the door standing propped against the wall. It must’ve gotten in someone’s way, and they saw fit to rip it off—like so many other doors and drawers they had seen since their arrival. He stepped inside scanning the almost empty larder and in the far corner huddled behind a pile of empty baskets, he saw them. A little boy, who appeared to be seven, and a little girl. Their tear-stained faces were stark with fear as they clung tightly to each other.
“Well, who do we have here?”
Gerald asked, a little more abruptly than he intended as Banbury and Wright entered right behind him. The little girl began to shake even more. “What are your names?” he asked, in a gentle voice, as he crouched down.
The little boy pushed the little girl behind him as though protecting her, and stood, with his shoulders straight, as though willing to take any punishment on her behalf. “M’name’s Paul and this be m’lilsister, Kat,”
he said in an accent that sounded slightly cockney.
“Where are your parents, Paul? More to the point, why are you here?”
Wright asked.
“Our mum brung us here when she got off work at The Pig and The Poke . She said there would be nice things for us and plenty of good food to eat. When we got here, there weren’t much in the way of food. I managed to find us some apples. Mum told us to stay put and she went off with some bloke. She were laughing with him, and he passed her a bottle of whiskey as they left. Kat and I waited and waited until we fell asleep and when we woke, everyone was gone.”
“Where do you live?”
Wright asked.
“Makes no difference, now. We never had one place to live. Mum was always moving from village to village. I guess she got tired of bringing us along with her.”
The boy’s lower lip trembled as he spoke. I’m taking care of my baby sister. Our mum don’t want us.”
“How long have you been here, Paul?”
Banbury asked softly crouching down next to Gerald.
“Maybe four days,”
the little boy said. “Like I said, we ate what we found on the tables, but t’weren’t much.”
Gerald looked at the children. They were severely malnourished and clearly in need of a bath and care. Anger roiled in his belly. What kind of mother would treat her children like that and then abandon them? “We don’t mean you any harm. Would you allow us to help you?”
Gerald asked. “We have food with us and warm blankets. We can take you to my home where we can help you.”
Paul turned to his little sister and whispered in her ear. She in turn whispered back.
“All right, we’ll go with you, milord,”
the boy said to Gerald. “But please feed Kat first, she hasn’t been feeling too good.”
“I promise you we have more than enough food for both of you,”
Gerald said gently.
They helped the children out of the hiding place. “Gerald picked up Kat and carried her in his arms and Banbury held Paul’s hand as they walked back out to their horses where their footmen were waiting.
Wrapping the children in blankets, they fed them from their supplies and gave them water.
“Don’t feed them too quickly or give them too much water at once, these children are starving, and it could make them ill,”
Banbury said quietly to Gerald.
“Paul, could you answer a few questions for us?”
Wright asked as the children ate.
“Aye, milord, I will if I know the answer.”
Wright’s lips twitched. “Have you seen a man with long black hair and coal-black eyes? He’s fairly tall like us but he is with a man who is much taller and has long blond shaggy hair.”
“Yes, gov’na. I saw them. They left just before the soldiers came.”
“He must mean the security force,”
Banbury said in measured tones. When did the …soldiers get here, son?”
“Three days ago. They looked everywhere for the man with the bigger man, but Kat and me stayed hid from the soldiers. Mama always said never to get caught by soldiers or they’d take us to Newgate.”
“Where did you end up hiding, in the larder?”
“No milord, ‘twere in the stable…we burrowed under the straw in a corner.”
“The two men, the bad men. Did you happen to overhear them talking before they left?”
Gerald asked, needing to ask, but not expecting an answer.”
“Yes, he was angry,”
Paul said, tugging his sister closer. “He said the chit was as good as his.”
A cold dread shot through Gerald at the boy’s words. It confirmed his suspicions. They had to get back as soon as possible. “Thank you, Paul, you and Kat have been very helpful.”
They bundled the children up and took them with them on their journey back to Bellwood.
The bastard was most likely hiding in the woods beyond Bellwood, waiting for his chance to strike. Gerald prayed they could get to Selena before Vern did. Judging from what was done here, everyone was in danger.
Bellwood Plantation
The next day
Selena kicked her covers off. She felt restless and nothing seemed right. Gerald had been gone for several days and she worried that they had encountered Vern and Grom and God knows who else at Rose Point. What if there had been a confrontation? What if Gerald had been wounded or worse? Nor had the Prince Regent’s men arrived to assist them as Banbury had said. Had something happened to the soldiers? Had Vern managed to kill them? Logically she knew she was overreacting. After all, Connery was there and Lord Bellecote along with the additional footmen who were spread out guarding the estate. But try as she did to dismiss her imaginings, she couldn’t leave them be. Her mother always told her to trust her instincts. She’d wanted to speak to her mother about her fears, but she did not want to intrude on her newfound friendship with Connery. Her mother had been through so much, that Selena wanted her to be happy and enjoy her time with the tall, rugged Scot.
The only thing that helped to calm her fears was Azure. His presence always soothed her. “Anna, I’m going to the stable to visit Azure,”
she said as she finished dressing. “He’s probably ready for more treats.”
“Yes, Miss. I saw a stack of apples Mrs. McDonald brought up from the larder. Perhaps she’ll part with some of those for your handsome horse,”
she chuckled as she tucked the clean sheet onto the mattress. “I’d be happy to ask one of the footmen to go with you. Lord Lawrence said not to go out without an escort.”
“I’m sure Connery and Ben are in the stable. I should be fine.”
Anna gave her a look. Miss Bowles, I know you’ve been feeling prickly since Lord Lawrence left. I’d be happy to fetch a footman to go with you. “I’ll take Dutch with me. The dog had taken to sleeping next to Selena’s bed at night. Surely, he’ll be a good escort to the stable.”
Anna shook her head. “I think you should do as Lord Lawrence asked,”
she said. Dutch’s ears perked up and he angled his head as he regarded both women.
“It seems your mind is made up, and I can see that your escort is ready and willing to assist you, milady,”
Anna chuckled.
Selena had grown close to Anna since she first arrived. The young woman had especially helped her get through the past few days with her quick wit and her kindness.
Selena left the house with several apples tucked in her pocket and Dutch at her side. “Azure will be thrilled to have the apples, Dutch. And I am thrilled to have you by my side. I know you take your job as my protector, very seriously.”
“Rrrrrruff!”
the dog barked, in obvious agreement.
Selena felt that odd prickly feeling again and looked around her. There was a slight rustling at some shrubs across the field. It was probably a rabbit or a fox, she reasoned. “I swear, I think I see Vern Stiles everywhere. How ridiculous is that Dutch?”
“Rrrrruff!”
Dutch barked and smiled at her.
As they entered the stable, she saw Ben feeding the horses and felt a sense of relief. “You’re getting an early start, Ben,”
she said, smiling.
“Miss Selena, you are here bright and early to see your horse. I just fed him, but if you’ve got an apple in that pocket of yours, I know Azure will jump right on it.”
“You know me. I can’t resist giving Azure a treat.”
“Well, he adores you for it!”
Ben chuckled. “If ye need anything, Miss Selena, I’ll be over there doing some repairs.”
“Thank you, Ben.”
She smiled as he hefted a toolbox and began to make his way to the other end of the large stable.
Selena grinned and touched the apples in her pocket. When she got to Azure’s stall, she climbed up on the gate and leaned over. “Hello handsome!”
she cooed.
The horse whinnied.
“I brought something for you,” she said.
“And I’ve brought something for you,”
a familiar voice said from behind her.
Dread assailed her as she slowly turned. “Vern!”
she gasped. “He…mumph…” Selena opened her mouth to scream but he clamped a hand over her and stuffed a foul-tasting rag in her mouth. He tied another rag around her head, making it impossible for her to speak.
Dutch, who had been visiting Aphrodite ran to Selena and began to growl at the stranger.
“I see the secret is out,”
he huffed pulling her in front of him as a shield to keep the dog at bay. “Even if I’m not going to be Lord Percival anymore, I’ve got everything I need to secure my future….You!” he whispered in her ear.
Selena mumbled through the gag. Her worst fear had been realized. Please someone help! Gerald. Gerald, I wish you were here…
“And you thought you were smarter than old Vern.”
He pulled a rope from his pocket and wound it around her arms and torso, immobilizing her and pushing her to the ground. She could do nothing but watch, helplessly.
Dutch flew into action, his jaws sinking into the murderer’s leg and shaking it. Blood oozed from. Dutch refused to let go. Vern kicked out his leg and hit Dutch with an iron rod. Selena screamed through her rag as she watched the loyal dog fall away.
She tried to roll into Azure’s stall but couldn’t move. Surely Ben would hear the commotion and come to her aid.
She could smell smoke in the barn and began to panic, kicking her feet and trying to roll up.
“Yes, that’s smoke you’re smelling. This whole place will soon go up in flames. But don’t worry,”
he said with a sneer. “I’m going to take you and your fine horse with us. He’ll bring a pretty penny.” She saw Vern try to grab Azure’s reins. But the horse reared up, crashing against the stall door. He kicked again and broke the latch, opening the stall door.
“Fine! No matter. You’re what I wanted. I came for you, sweet Selena. Turning her over to face him, he withdrew a bottle from his pocket and poured it onto the rag over her face.”
“This will calm you down. And keep you from fighting me.”
The horse would have been a nice profit,”
he said, hoisting a weakened Selena over his shoulder. Seemingly unphased by his bloodied leg, Vern carried her to a horse that he had hidden behind a stand of shrubs—the same shrubs she had seen move earlier.
She thought she recognized the horse as one of Gerald’s but could no longer be sure, as the sickly smell of laudanum invaded her senses. She felt nauseous and light-headed. In what seemed like seconds, everything started to turn dark. Selena thought she heard Azure’s furious cries in the distance as the smell of smoke began to grow stronger. She tried to stay awake, but it was impossible as everything faded to black.