Chapter 3
When the shot was heard at Kiveton Park
Everyone who heard the shot coming from the stand of oak trees froze. First to react were the two footmen who had been on duty near the front doors. They had seen the nursemaid pushing Lady Bethany and their fellow footman enter the stand of oaks just before the discharge of a pistol.
Both men drew their weapons from beneath their livery jackets and ran towards the stand of trees.
They found Tom lying in the dirt and groaning.
Acrid smoke was still rising from the barrel of his pistol.
While one man assisted Tom, the other went to the side of the prone form of Mrs Younge.
There was no helping her. It was then he saw the perambulator.
The man ran to it and felt a cold chill when he noted that Lady Bethany was not within.
He walked forward inspecting the ground and found the spot where a carriage with a single horse had stood. There was some blood on the ground and all he could hope was that Tom had managed to hit the bastard who had kidnapped Lady Bethany.
As there was nothing they could do for Mrs Younge, the two footmen left her there. One assisted Tom to stand, and the other pushed the empty perambulator as they made their way back to the house.
Lady Amelia had heard the shot and arrived on the veranda before the front doors in time to see two footmen, pistols in their hands, disappear into the stand of oaks on one side of the park.
She felt a sense of dread as she waited.
The feelings only increased as the two men returned, one assisting the guard who had been with Bethie and her nurse, the other pushing an obviously empty perambulator.
She lifted her skirts slightly and ran down the broad stone steps to the drive and stopped in front of the men who had halted as soon as she approached.
“Where is my daughter?” she wailed plaintively. She knew the answer, but she had to ask in case she was wrong.
“She be taken, Your Grace,” Tom reported.
“A man ‘it me and left me fir gone, but ‘e did not ‘it me well enuf.
I seed Nurse Becky allow ‘im to ‘it ‘er, and then ‘e put Lady Bethany into the carriage an’ then when e’ was climbing up to the box, I shot as ‘e was not close to ‘er Ladyship. I think I ‘it ‘im, but I not be sure.”
“I saw blood where the carriage stood,” one of the other footmen stated. “I believe Tom’s aim was true.”
“Have someone ride out and summon my husband immediately,” Lady Amelia managed even though she wanted to collapse in a sobbing heap. By then, more footmen and the butler had joined them. She accepted the butler’s arm and allowed him to lead her back into the house.
“As soon as His Grace arrives, I will send him to you, Your Grace,” the butler promised on entering the house.
Her maid was waiting for her in the entrance hall and guided Lady Amelia up to the private sitting room. Without being asked, the maid told Mrs Buxton, the housekeeper, she thought her mistress could use some heavily sugared tea.
Half an hour after the rider had reached him and the steward in the fields, Leeds vaulted off his horse before the front doors.
He issued orders for a few footmen to search the area where the carriage had been to see if a ransom letter was left.
If a note was found, then he ordered that as many men as possible be sent out to try and apprehend the kidnapper.
With the order issued, he asked where his wife was.
As soon as Mr Buxton, the butler, told him where to find the duchess, he took off up the stairs as fast as he was able to.
“Francis!” Lady Amelia exclaimed as she threw herself into her beloved’s arms. “Who would do this? Why would they take our beautiful Bethie?”
Leeds held his wife and rubbed her back.
There was only one who would benefit from Bethie being taken.
He suspected there would be no ransom demand, but rather a body would be found.
For de Bourgh and his termagant of a wife to claim the dukedom, there had to be absolute proof that the heir no longer lived.
For now, he would not verbalise his dark thoughts because saying it out loud would make it too real and would devastate Amelia more than she was. All he could do was pray for the best.
“I sent some men to search for a ransom letter. Rather than speculate, let us wait until we know more,” Leeds said as calmly as he was able to.
“Elaine and Anne need to be informed. I will write to them,” Lady Amelia insisted.
As it would give her something on which to concentrate, Leeds said nothing in opposition to his wife’s decision. Having Matlock and Holderness present would be a positive, especially if the de Bourghs were found to have had a hand in this travesty.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Jim had only thought he needed to rest, but now he was sure that the services of a surgeon were required.
He could not have stopped in the town to find one with the damned babe in the carriage.
She was sure to wake up, and when she was found, he would have to answer many questions he could not.
His only option was to finish the job before seeking a medical man.
With Becky done away with, the whole of the twenty thousand pounds would be his.
When he tried to climb down from the box, he felt extremely dizzy and did not notice the great amount of blood[4] on the driver’s bench or on the box below it. His heart seemed to be racing, and he began to feel very confused. He did not have enough strength to climb down, so he fell to the ground.
He forgot what he was about to do, and rather than harming the babe, he sat himself against a tree to rest for a little while.
He did not find rest; rather, he felt a sense of impending doom just before his eyes closed, and his life force ebbed from his body.
Rather than murder an innocent babe, his criminal actions had cost him his own life.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Fanny had dressed in her mauve travelling dress that morning, one in which she felt very comfortable.
As she had since she married Thomas, she wore a mobcap, and when she was out of the house, it had a bonnet over it.
It was a straw bonnet with a broad brim.
The ribbon tied under her chin matched the colour of her dress.
She had left her gloves in the Grantham coach as she enjoyed feeling the fresh air on her skin.
As she walked among her friends—the trees—she found herself relaxing; all of her worries and thoughts over the babes she had lost were being leached out of her body as she relaxed and enjoyed nature.
She had been walking for about ten minutes when she swore she could hear the cries of a babe.
Fanny stopped and cocked her head to this side and that, thinking it was her imagination.
When she heard the same again, she walked in one direction, and the sound became weaker.
She turned around and headed the other way.
With each step she took, the sound became stronger and more distinct. It was a babe—of that Fanny was sure.
After a few minutes of walking toward the sound, Fanny came upon a carriage from whence the sound was emanating.
There was one horse hitched to the conveyance.
Before she opened the door, Fanny looked around and saw a scruffily dressed, unkempt man slumped against a tree.
She approached him and could see he was not moving at all.
She placed her hand in front of his mouth and nose.
She felt no movement of air. The man was no longer living.
She was about to head to the carriage when she saw a scrap of torn paper sticking out of one of his pockets.
As it may identify the poor soul, Fanny took it and smoothed it over. What she read chilled her blood and made her angrier than she could ever remember being.
…the child is in the way. Kill it and make sure the body is found…
Had the man not been dead, Fanny would have aimed some hard kicks at his person with her half boots. How could anyone be so callous about a dear child when Fanny would give anything to be blessed with more?
She opened the door and found a babe with raven-coloured locks crying loudly and flailing her arms and legs about, which had opened the blanket in which she had been swaddled. It was a fine white blanket of silk with a pattern of embroidered rows of flowers in the same colour.
Her motherly instincts took over. Fanny could tell the babe, who she knew not if a boy or a girl yet, was hungry.
She climbed into the carriage, pulling the door closed behind her.
She picked up the babe, which seemed to calm it.
A pair of large emerald-green eyes stared back at her.
Fanny thanked God she was still feeding James once a day, so she had milk to give this child sustenance.
As soon as the babe began to suckle, it calmed down completely, and Fanny felt a sense that the world was as it should be. God had guided her to this place for a reason. He had answered her prayers for another babe. Fanny cared not that it was not of her body; to her it was the same.
While the child ate hungrily, Fanny made an inspection which told her it was a girl she was feeding.
Janey always wanted a sister, and now she would have one.
Once the little girl was fed, it did not take much patting of her back before she released the trapped air.
Then, Fanny removed the babe’s soiled napkin.
As she did not have another one with her, she used her handkerchief temporarily and swaddled her in the fine blanket again.
During the swaddling, she happened to see behind the left ear where the girl had a distinctive birthmark.
Sated, the girl fell asleep. Fanny inspected the interior of the carriage just in case there was a clue as to who the babe was, but other than grime and dirt, she found nothing, not even beneath the seats.