Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
It was a struggle to get her emotions under control.
Agnes realized that this was neither the time nor the place to weep, but it was so difficult to reconcile that thought with the fact that only she had fallen in love.
She wished she had room for doubt, to assume that he was wrong and was merely letting his fears and the weight of the situation speak for him.
But his gaze… it had been colder than she had ever seen it.
At the end of the day, he was not wrong.
Their interests had brought them together and was the reason they had to marry.
It did not necessarily require more than their matrimonial seal, and she was stupid to believe otherwise, very foolish to have allowed herself to fall for him and to have let herself think that the kindness he was showing to her stemmed from deeper feelings.
Sniffing, she wiped away the tears on her cheeks and tried to think of what to do.
Silas had told her to stay away, and he was set on handling the situation himself.
She would allow him to do just that. Perhaps there was something she could do for Scar instead, some way to make him comfortable while Silas did what he needed to help his horse.
Maybe if she asked one of the veterinary surgeons who were no doubt stationed around the field –
“Lady Agnes, where is the Duke?”
Agnes whirled around and patted at her cheeks, hoping Simon could not tell that she had been crying. She glanced around and pointed in the direction that Silas had walked off in.
“He went that way –”
“Alone? Oh, no,” he stepped closer, eyes wide in urgency. “You have to find him, my lady. He is in danger!”
Agnes blinked, confused. “I don’t… I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
Simon looked around and motioned for her to follow him, leading her way from the path bustling with people walking around to a much quieter spot a few feet away, next to one of the larger tents, from which the smell of baked treats wafted.
“I overheard the Marquess speaking about him after the Duke had left. Apparently, his tent was stationed right next to ours, and he only poisoned Scar in order to lure the Duke to him. He really intends to ambush and kill him.”
Agnes’ heart dropped at his words.
She knew their rivalry was bad, but she had not realized the lengths to which Lord Hamilton would go to harm his cousin. Sabotaging her saddle was one thing, but murder?
Agnes looked around, filled with a sense of urgency. She would need to act quickly to find Silas and help him before he fell into the Marquess’ trap.
“Simon… I’m not sure where he has gone, but he did go in that direction. Do you know what might be there? A building he might have frequented or owned? Or perhaps an office that handles matters for the competition?” she asked, pointing in the direction she had earlier.
Simon followed her direction with his gaze, staring hard for a moment before looking back at her with a light of recognition in his eyes.
“The old Duke’s stable house… it has become a stable used to house horses who might have been injured during the competition. The Duke didn’t want to use it anymore, so he sold it off to the competition organizers. It’s straight down and then a left turn. You can’t miss it.”
“Good,” Agnes nodded. “I need you to bring all the footmen that came with us to the stable house. As quickly as you can. I will go on ahead and find him.”
“By yourself? But –”
“Silas went by himself. I can’t just let him face the danger alone. Besides, if we join forces, we’d be able to handle the Marquess better. Just hurry and fetch the footmen.”
Reluctantly, Simon nodded, “All right,” and then ran off.
With a deep breath, Agnes gathered her skirts and faced the path, setting off to find the man she loved.
Regret was something Silas was all too familiar with.
He had faced many moments of regret in his life, none of them quite competing with the heavy weight of it that had sat with him as he watched his grandfather bleed to death, unable to do anything.
Nothing could compare to the feeling of uselessness that had crippled his resolve for weeks as he lay in bed, recovering from his own injuries.
Still, the heaviness in his heart as he walked away from Agnes could not be anything other than regret. The hurt in her eyes, how she stepped away from him as he snapped at her… it all made him wonder what his grandfather would say if he were around to witness his behavior.
He is not here now; you are. Fix this and deal with Lewis once and for all.
Steeling his nerves, Silas tried to forget about Agnes, leaving the matter with her to be resolved at a later time, cautiously approaching the stable house.
Memories of his time spent with his grandfather were rooted to the spot, but for once, he didn’t feel the need to avoid it or drown in it, using his anger as motivation to enter the structure.
His cousin stood right in the middle of the hay-covered floor, tossing a vial up in the air and catching it with an amused expression.
“You came. I thought for sure that you would have merely cut your losses and gone home. After all – you have many other horses.”
Silas gritted his teeth as he approached Lewis. “If you felt that way, you wouldn’t have bothered with this act in the first place. You know why I am here.”
Lewis pursed his lip for a moment and caught the vial, tucking it into the pocket of his coat.
“Ah, how could I forget? It’s because Grandfather gave the horse to you.
At the end of the day, it is still about you and him, just as everything else was.
No matter what I did, he would never look my way, never acknowledge my own efforts and hard work.
It was always about Silas – his prissy little golden boy. He never cared –”
“Because you never actually put in any effort. You are lazy, selfish and conceited. You’re just whining about it like a pitiful dog to garner sympathy, but you and I both know that you wanted everything to come to you without actually having to work for it.
You were never willing to do what he needed from you, always shirking or sloppily working your way through your duties.
You don’t have the right to blame your incompetence on him now that he’s not here.
That is all on you. For once in your stupid life, Lewis, own up to your mistakes and take responsibility for yourself,” Silas snapped angrily.
It was likely unwise to speak to the person holding onto the cure for his horse, but he was fed up with his cousin’s antics.
Lewis had always been like this, desperate for attention and ready to complain to whoever would listen.
Silas had never liked it when he felt it was necessary to slander their grandfather’s upbringing, and today, he was in no mood to stand and listen through another rant.
Lewis’ face took a dark expression, and he shrugged causally, grinning as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
“I already did.”
Silas blinked, confused. “Pardon?”
“You told me to take responsibility for myself. I already did, three years ago.”
Three years…
Silas felt his blood run cold.
“Lewis… Lewis, what did you do?”
This was one of the things Silas hated the most about him. How childish he could look in the most serious of situations. Even now, he was walking back and forth casually as though he had not just implied that he had done something unforgivable.
“I overheard him talking to my grandmother about it.
I had been excited to tell him of my new business venture, but he waved me away as though I was a pest and settled down to speak with my grandmother.
They thought I had left, but really, I was crouched in a corner, listening to their every word.
He brought up his will and discussed his plans to have you marry before you were granted the total of his wealth.
I waited for him to speak of what he had left to me.
I had hoped that although he acted as though he did not care for me, he would still ensure that I was taken care of, well to the end of my days.
Imagine how disappointed I was to learn that he had left me nothing to inherit.
Absolutely nothing. All that wealth… his title.
Just for you. Only for you. That was quite unfair to me, and so I made arrangements to kill him.
I had hopes that you would go down along with him so I could get it all, but like a roach, you persevered.
“And now, I can put an end to you, once and for all, leaving everything to me – as it should have been, rightfully. Perhaps once you are out of the way, I’ll take your betrothed too –”
Silas did not remember moving towards Lewis. It had not been his intention, and yet, he could not deny the feeling of satisfaction that ran through him as his fist connected with the Marquess’ mouth.
“You have some nerve, you bastard,” Silas spat, swiftly kicking at Lewis’ legs, causing him to stumble and fall onto his hands and knees. “I am going to kill you and relish in the fact that I never have to hear your godforsaken voice ever again.”
Silas reared back, preparing to punch Lewis again, but the other man was quicker, grabbing a fistful of dirt and flinging it at the Duke’s face.
Silas groaned and stumbled backwards, wiping at his stinging eyes, groaning as he was bodily slammed against a wall of the stable.
He withstood the blows Lewis was landing on his stomach and raised his joined hands above his head, bringing it down with full force on Lewis’ back.
The man groaned, but before he could move away, Silas swiftly kneed him in the jaw and pushed him away. Lewis stepped back and spat out some blood, a drop of it trailing from his lips down to his chin. Silas recovered his vision in time to see the Marquess flex his jaw and wince in pain.
“I will bury you myself, you spoiled nobody,” Lewis growled, running closer and throwing a punch.
Silas was not quick enough to evade, and it caught him at the side of his head, but he returned the favor, his fist connecting hard with Lewis’ stomach.
As he heaved, Silas put some distance between them, breathing heavily.
There was a wetness he could feel over his upper lip, and he wiped his fingers over the area, feeling angrier when they came back stained red.
“No,” Silas grunted, moving towards him. “The spoiled nobody would be you. Worthless and entitled, far more than you have any right to be.”
He grabbed onto Lewis’ collar and pulled his head back, wrapping an arm around his neck, effectively choking him.
Lewis gasped and wriggled around in his grasp, throwing his jabs at Silas’ stomach with his elbow, barely any of the blows landing on their mark.
Silas felt dizzy and tired, but he needed to end this once and for all, to properly deal with this foolishness or else, it would come back up as a pain in his ass.
When Lewis’ movements slowed down, Silas released his grip and kicked the Marquess at the back of his knees, knocking him down. Lewis scrambled to get away, but Silas was quicker, dragging him back and settling on top of him.
“It was not his fault that you were the way you were,” Silas spat, frustrated at the sorrow bubbling within him.
“Of course, he gave me a lot of his attention and affection – I had nothing!
I had no one else. You had… much more than I did, and you still wanted the little that was mine.
And when he did give you the time of day, you never made it worth it for him – always going on about the ridiculous notions you termed ‘business ventures’, always disappointing him.
If you really wanted him to see you… to really see you, then you should have tried harder.
“I didn’t get to laze around and make so many mistakes.
I knew that what I had was special, and I knew better than to take it for granted.
So I worked endlessly. I studied every book he wanted me to, and then ten more just in case.
I learned all that he had to teach me on horses and went even further to make sure that there was almost nothing I didn’t know.
I tried to be perfect for him because he deserved that much after giving me so much of himself when I had nothing else. ”
Silas had taken hold of Lewis’ shoulders and was shaking him angrily, breathing heavily in hopes of dispelling some of the darkness brewing in his veins.
He was fighting hard to control himself like his grandfather would have wanted, but it was so difficult.
Especially now that he knew that the scum beneath him was the reason why he and his grandfather had suffered so much then.
“Even when you took him from me, you couldn’t even be kind about it.
Do you have any idea how much he suffered?
How painful his final moments were? You just felt bitter and wanted some petty revenge over not getting an inheritance you did not earn.
You are going to hell, and I will gladly send you there,” Silas promised, pulling back his arm and clenching his hand into a fist.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps approach and the unmistakable cocking of a gun.
“That’s enough of that, I think.”