Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
M argaret fully expected to have been shot before now.
But since she was unharmed, she chose not to question Haverford’s lack of shooting and instead remained quietly vigilant.
Haverford had led them to the stables, and while he’d kept the gun trained on Emily, he’d ordered Margaret to saddle two horses. He’d taken one, forcing Emily to sit with him, and Margaret had taken the other.
He must have known that had he forced Margaret to sit with him, she would have risked injury and tried to overpower him in the hopes Emily could get away. As things were, however, Margaret knew if she tried anything, Emily would pay, and so she rode obediently beside Haverford as they made their way into town.
It looked so different now than it had when they’d last visited. Not only was the world carpeted in thick white snow, but all shop windows were dark. The street, eerily deserted, took on a very different feel from the bustling atmosphere of before.
A few upper windows were brightened by light shining from inside. Those must be the homes of the shopkeepers.
Dare she call out for help?
Margaret glanced to her left, where Emily sat with Haverford’s arm around her, his gun pressed against her stomach.
No—one cry from Margaret and they’d both be dead before anyone even opened the shutters.
They made their way down the street, slowing at a shop that looked familiar. Glancing around and seeing they were alone, Haverford pointed to the small alley between two buildings.
Margaret followed him off the main street, carefully looking over the familiar shop as she passed it.
The florist’s shop. That’s where they were. The very place where she’d bought all those lovely red roses several weeks ago.
Riding behind the already deserted shop into an even more dark and forsaken back alley, that moment in the florist’s shop felt like a lifetime ago.
Haverford pulled his horse to a stop. Keeping a close eye on Margaret, he dismounted and then pulled Emily down beside him.
“Now,” he said to Margaret, his voice low, “You aren’t going to try anything while I tie you up, understand?”
“Isaac,” Lady Emily said, her voice small, “please. Don’t do this.”
He wheeled on her. “Quiet. You’re lucky I haven’t killed you both already. But the man inside says he doesn’t believe I’m from Mondstein Herrenhaus or that I can get a piece of jewelry from a duchess. So you,” he said, pointing his gun directly at Lady Emily, “are going to go in there with me and convince him that you are His Grace’s daughter and that what I have is worth a pretty sum.”
“I can’t.” Emily started crying again. “I can’t do it.”
Haverford’s voice rose. “You will. You’ll go in there—”
“I’ll do it,” Margaret said.
Haverford paused, then slowly turned toward her, his gun still aimed at Lady Emily.
“You’re meeting with the man who owns the florist shop?” Margaret asked. “He knows my face. He knows I am staying at Mondstein Herrenhaus. When I tell him you stole the brooch from Her Grace and its value, he’ll believe me.”
Perhaps it had been a stretch to say the large man would believe her, but it was better than being tied up and left out in the cold and abandoning Emily to face both men on her own.
Haverford seemed to be thinking it over.
“You heard the story,” Margaret pressed. “Remember when my reticule was cut and a shopkeeper accused me of trying to make up a story so that I might steal from him?” The entire house had talked about it for days after the event. There was no chance Haverford hadn’t heard the whole of it.
Haverford nodded toward the back of the shop. “This was the place?”
Margaret nodded. “I am certain he’ll remember me. Who better to convince him of the worth of the brooch than a lady he knows is staying with Her Grace?”
He was silent for another moment. Then he forced Lady Emily onto the ground and began tying her arms behind her back.
“Very well,” he said, working quickly. “Do just as I say, and I’ll let you both go after I have my money.”
Margaret nodded her agreement, knowing full well he had no intention of letting either of them live.
Tracks lead from the stables out toward Lichterwald. Blessedly, the snow was still thick on the ground from the previous storm, and no snow had fallen that evening, leaving clear horse tracks easy enough to follow, even in the dark.
Once they reached town, though, the matter became far harder. It seemed that horses had been by that day, and the tracks were muddled and confused.
Keeping as quiet as possible, Benjamin ordered they split up into groups of two. Not only had Lord Abernathy, Ingram, and both Thrup twins joined him, but so had most of the manservants from Mondstein.
They rode out in all directions with instructions to stay as quiet as possible and only call out when they’d found something definite.
Ingram rode beside Benjamin down the deserted street. The young man shifted about constantly in his seat, and his head was forever whipping one way and then another. Clearly, not a young man used to tense situations. But at least he was following Benjamin’s directive to remain quiet.
The soft whinny of a horse made Benjamin pause.
There was a chance it had simply been the horse of someone in their search party, but he didn’t think any of them had headed behind the shops, and Benjamin was fairly certain that’s where the sound had come from.
A glance about, and he spotted the tracks of two horses leading between the buildings, in the direction of the sound.
The tracks looked to be about the right size and shape. But then again, horse tracks weren’t exactly distinctive.
Benjamin waved at Ingram to stay close to him, and they wordlessly followed the tracks.
Two horses restlessly shuffled about, tied to a post behind the shop.
Past them, huddled on the ground, was a lady.
“Emily,” Ingram said, leaping off his horse.
“Hush,” Benjamin said, looking all around them.
They seemed to be alone, so he also carefully dismounted.
“Are you all right? What happened?” Ingram asked his sister in a soft voice.
Benjamin stepped close enough to hear but kept his head on a swivel. Emily wouldn’t have come here of her own accord, and he didn’t want to be caught unawares.
As Ingram untied his sister, she explained all that had happened. How she’d fallen in love with Haverford—Haverford of all people—and he’d convinced her to steal the brooch under the pretense of needing it so they might run off together and wed.
She then relayed how when Margaret had found out, he’d pulled a gun on them and brought them out here so he might sell it.
Benjamin’s gun, no doubt. Haverford would pay double for that.
“He forced Margaret inside with him,” Emily said as she rubbed her freed wrists and stood. “He said he needs her to convince the shop owner that the brooch is worth a lot.”
“They’re inside, then?” Benjamin asked.
Lady Emily nodded.
“How long?”
“Quarter of an hour at most.”
At least he knew where Margaret and Haverford were now. If only he had his gun.
“Ingram,” Benjamin ordered, “take your sister and the horses and go find His Grace and the other men. Quietly alert them to what’s happening and tell them to come.”
Ingram nodded and moved over to untie the horses. “I’ll let them know you’re back here, behind the shop.”
Benjamin shook his head. “Don’t bother. I’m not waiting.”
Margaret had done her job. The large shop owner had remembered her immediately, and when she’d said the brooch had, indeed, belonged to the duchess, he’d believed her.
Now, she was counting the minutes she had left to live.
Haverford and the large man were haggling, and both had seemed to forget she was there. But she knew if she tried to run, Haverford wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her.
Of course, he was certainly going to do that as soon as they settled on a price.
A cold, large hand wrapped around her arm.
Margaret nearly screamed—the touch was so wholly unexpected—but it was also familiar, and she caught herself just in time.
Swallowing down the scream, Margaret focused on breathing normally and standing still so as not to draw attention.
Gently, Benjamin pulled her backward, and Margaret took first one small step and then another, slowly slipping back away from the two men arguing over every last cent.
Four steps back. Five, six, seven.
The men were haggling in the dark, and only a sliver of moonlight made its way through the large shop window.
Ten steps…
Margaret’s foot knocked into something with a loud clank .
Both men instantly went silent.
Haverford swung her direction, raising his gun. “Get back here, you hussy!”
Benjamin’s arm wrapped around her as he pulled her around a row of flowers and down onto the shop floor.
A gunshot rang out. Flower petals and leaves exploded overhead and rained down on them.
The floor shook at the pounding of Haverford running toward them.
Margaret glanced over just in time to see Benjamin push forward into a low crouch.
As Haverford rounded the now ragged display of flowers, Benjamin sprang forward.
He caught the valet around the middle, and the two tumbled to the floor.
Margaret pulled herself into a sitting position as the men wrestled. Soon, a single figure rose to stand. Silhouetted by the moonlight window behind him, Margaret knew immediately it was Benjamin.
No one else had so imposing a form. Even in the dark, there was no mistaking it was him.
Margaret got to her feet and hurried over to him. Benjamin stood over Haverford, gun in his hand.
“Are you all right?” he asked her, his gaze not leaving the man still lying on the floor.
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Several men came running in from the back door to the shop.
“Is everyone safe?” came Lord Abernathy’s voice.
“I’ve got Haverford,” Benjamin said. “But the shop owner ran off.”
“We caught him trying to escape with the brooch,” His Grace responded as several other men filed in behind him. It wasn’t until they were close that Margaret recognized them to be some of the manservants from Mondstein. Taking hold of Haverford, they tied his arms behind his back and led him outside.
“Ingram has taken his sister back to the house,” Lord Abernathy continued. “The rest of us will see these two men are introduced to the local authorities. I fully intend to wake the Burgermeister if necessary.”
Margaret listened as the men discussed what was to be done with Haverford and the shopkeeper, all the while the tension inside her slowly ebbing away.
It was over.
She and Emily were safe.
The brooch had been recovered, and no one had been hurt.
After a moment, Benjamin took her hand. Margaret blinked and looked up.
The room was quiet and empty save for the two of them. She’d not realized Lord Abernathy had gone.
“Are you truly unhurt?” Benjamin asked her.
Margaret nodded. “I believe so.”
He moved closer to her and cupped a hand around her cheek. “In the past week, I have almost lost you twice.”
Heat swirled inside her chest at his words, and the warmth from his hand was intoxicating. “You never would have allowed anything to happen to me.”
He lowered his head nearer hers, his voice dropping softly. “I don’t know what I would have done if something had.”
The heat inside her fractured and skittered across her skin in all directions. “Would it have mattered?” she asked, both terrified and thrilled to learn the answer.
His thumb stroked her cheek, then dropped to run along her bottom lip. “More than you know. More than I’ve dared admit.”
“Tell me,” she whispered.
“I love you, Margaret. I swore I wouldn’t allow myself to. But you insisted on being tenacious and kind and undeniably captivating. I couldn’t stop myself. I have fallen for you irrevocably.”
“Then I should probably tell you that I have fallen for you as well,” she said as the corners of her lips turned upward.
“I don’t see how. I’m surly and stubborn—”
“And protective and responsible.” Margaret looped her arms around his neck. “And being responsible for me would push a saint to his limits.”
Benjamin chuckled. With him pressed up against her, Margaret felt the rumble of his laugh.
“There’s no reason to deny it,” she said. “I know what I am.”
“You mean, a handful?”
Margaret’s mouth dropped open. “Mr. Benjamin Rockwell, I do believe you are flirting with me.”
“After all the times you tried to flirt with me, it was bound to happen sooner or later.”
“Honestly,” Margaret said, “I was beginning to wonder if you knew how.”
He leaned in, placing his mouth close to her ear. “Just because I didn’t”—he kissed her once below the ear, then a second time—“doesn’t mean I couldn’t.”
The kisses tickled and Margaret couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped.
He kissed her along her jawline and the corner of her mouth. Just when she felt she would burst if he didn’t kiss her fully, his lips captured hers.
The kiss was sweet and tender. Gentle and warm. He held her tight to him but allowed her to guide their kiss.
Her heart raced as their lips moved together in a delicate dance, exploring the depths of emotion they had both, until now, pretended didn’t exist. She could feel the heat of his breath mingling with hers, sending a shiver of delight down her spine. His hand cradled her cheek, fingers brushing through her hair, while his other arm anchored her against him.
She felt safe, cherished.
The moment was perfect, the feel divine.
As far as first kisses went, Margaret was immensely pleased she’d waited to share hers with Benjamin.
They finally drew apart, their foreheads resting against one another as their breaths mingled in the stillness. Margaret sighed, her heart full.
She had long since given up hope of finding someone to love, someone who would love her in return. But here he was, holding her as if she were the most precious thing in the world.
The doubts and fears she had carried for so long seemed to vanish, replaced by the certainty that she had found what she’d thought she never would. The realization filled her with a deep, contented joy.
This was it—her happily ever after.
It was also her beginning. The love she’d once thought impossible was here.
This was the start of her forever.