Chapter 18 #2
“I came to rescue Madeleine. You absconded with her in the dark of night. Taking her away like a thief. You, sir, are no better than the lowest of criminals. You have ruined her and smeared my good name.”
It was all I could do not to laugh at the absurdity of his words.
I crossed my arms over my chest, drawing a deep breath. “Absconded with her?” I repeated. “You put her up as a bargaining chip in a card game. Demanded I take her. Your words, I believe, were that I was to do with her whatever I wanted, then discard her.”
I glared at him. “Instead, I chose to marry her and give her back her rightful place in society. Is that what you are so angry about?” I paused. “That her rank is now higher than yours?” I asked snidely.
He ignored my question. “I have a witness who will swear otherwise.”
I looked at Baron Fine and laughed. “As I recall, the good baron lost early that evening and was in his cups an hour later. He wasn’t in the room when you led your daughter out as a sacrificial lamb to slaughter.
And his reputation is highly questionable.
A scenario with several married women and a sudden flurry of familiar-looking babes, I think? ”
Baron Fine flushed, his face an angry shade of red. “I am done,” he muttered, climbing into the carriage and slamming the door.
“Next witness,” I stated, my sarcasm evident. Beside me, Edward chuckled low in his throat at my tone.
Barnett indicated the old butler. “He has signed a document with my solicitor, indicating his truth. That you left in the night, taking my daughter and her elderly companion against their will.”
Now I recognized the solicitor. Known for his underhanded ways and rewriting laws to suit his own purpose, he was the lowest of the low.
“Mr. Leigh, I believe. Your reputation precedes you,” I stated dryly.
He bowed. “How kind, my lord.”
I barked out a laugh. “That was not meant as a compliment to you, sir. Your reputation is even darker than that of Fine’s.”
His thin mouth became a line of displeasure, and he stepped back, saying something to Barnett. Behind me, I heard a wagon arriving and knew Lydia was there. From the quick glance over my shoulder, I noticed Geraldine had accompanied her, and I was grateful Lydia had thought of that.
Edward stepped away, hurrying toward the wagon, and I again glanced behind me, seeing him assist Lydia down, with Geraldine remaining in the back.
I noticed how he walked beside Lydia, his hand on the small of her back.
His gaze was focused on Barnett and his motley crew, but his stance was directed toward her. Protective. Assertive. Ready to defend.
Interesting.
I saw Lydia stumble, then pause, saying something to Edward, who turned back in my direction and hurried to my side.
“I have Lydia and Geraldine who will both swear my word is true,” I announced.
“Servants,” he spat.
“As is yours.”
“Mine is trustworthy. That girl—” he pointed to Lydia “—disappeared from my household without a trace. Several items went missing at the same time. She is a thief and a liar.”
“I am not a thief! I took nothing!” she protested.
Edward hushed her, his words low. “We are aware of that, Liddy. Calm yourself.”
She huffed an angry sigh but remained quiet.
“And the old woman is mad!” he continued. “Not to be trusted!” Then, in a total turnaround, he shouted again. “I demand her return as well!”
I was weary of his gesturing. His ugly words and his outrageous demands. He was giving me a headache, and I was worried about Maddie. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but she would be upset nonetheless by his presence.
“Leave my estate. You are not welcome here.”
“I demand to see Madeleine. She will speak the truth once I am allowed to see her.”
I stepped forward, furious and wanting to kill him.
“You demand? You demand? You forget your place. Do you really believe I would allow you to see her? Are you of sound mind? You truly think that I would leave you with my wife so you can beat her again? Make her pick the reeds and the rose to bleed on so you can strike her for your own sick pleasure? Threaten her so often and scare her so she does as you say?”
He paled and stepped back, and I kept going.
“Allow you to take her and lock her away? Work as a servant in her own home? Listen to your berating and insults?” I shook my head in anger.
“You will never see her again. You will never be allowed to touch her, hurt, or frighten her again. I will see you dead first.”
“Is that a threat?”
“I will do whatever it takes to protect my wife. You, Barnett, have forgotten your place. You no longer have authority over her. I am her husband, and she stays with me.”
“Which is exactly where I want to be.” Maddie spoke from behind me.
Spinning on my heel, I saw her approaching, clutching Geraldine’s hand.
I had neglected to look past Geraldine in the wagon, and Maddie must have been beside her, hidden by Geraldine’s larger frame.
Maddie was pale, and I could see her trembling even from where I stood.
But her head was high, and although I could hear the tremor in her pitch, I doubted anyone else could.
“I will not leave my husband or the life I have here. I have no wish to speak with you, nor be alone in a room where you are.”
She stopped next to me, and I slipped my arm around her, holding her tightly to my side.
I knew I should be angry with her for disobeying my order to stay in the house.
For risking herself by being close to that awful excuse for a father.
But I also felt a grudging admiration that she was standing up for herself—against the man who caused her so much pain and torment.
I squeezed her hip, letting her know I wasn’t angry.
She lifted her head higher. “You are not welcome here. Lord Wheaton speaks the truth. I was in the room that night, and I am neither a servant nor an old woman. You gave me away. Treated me like an animal after my mother died. My life was nothing but toil and pain. There is nary a thing you could say or do that would persuade me to leave my husband’s side. ”
I was proud of her. I felt her strength and saw her grace—the traits he had tried to break but failed.
Geraldine spoke. “My senses are perfectly fine. I know what I saw and heard.” She paused. “And witnessed over the years. I will speak the truth to anyone who asks.”
Barnett whitened further at her barely concealed threat.
“I believe my wife has spoken. Leave or I will be forced to make you.”
He glared at me and Maddie, his eyebrows pulled down, a sneer on his face.
“Trained you well, has he?”
I felt her anger growing. “Unlike you, he has shown me nothing but kindness and love.”
The breeze stirred her skirts, and his eyes widened. “Bred you like an animal too,” he mocked.
I was finished with him and his words. I wanted him nowhere near my wife and unborn child. I lifted my arm, pointing my gun. “You dare, sir. Be gone and do not return.”
“I demand satisfaction.”
“What is it you seek?” I roared, startling Maddie, who tensed beside me.
“A duel,” Barnett announced.
Maddie gasped softly, her trepidation getting the best of her.
I wanted to roll my eyes and scoff. The coward wanted his minute of satisfaction. Another lie to add to his story. How he defended his name. He expected me to refuse, to give him the chance to smear my name even more. I refused to give him that gratification.
“Weapons?” I queried.
His surprise was obvious, but he recovered quickly. “Pistols.”
“Dawn. Tomorrow. Name your second,” I replied, my tone one of boredom and dismissiveness.
“I will be his second,” Leigh spoke.
Edward stepped closer. “And I will be Lord Wheaton’s.”
Barnett had the audacity to address Maddie again.
“Soon, you will come to me. I will make sure of it.”
“She will never return to you. Of that, I assure you.” I narrowed my eyes. “And you will never return here either, after the morrow.”
Edward pointed his gun. “Leave.”
Maddie’s shaking legs gave out as they turned to depart. I bent and lifted her into my arms, striding to the cart. I placed her on the back, cupping her face.
“You were to stay inside.”
“I wanted to face him.”
“You are pale and upset now. Risking yourself needlessly. Risking our child,” I rebuked her mildly.
“I was already pale and upset. I made Geraldine and Lydia bring me. Do not punish them.”
I sighed, pressing my lips to her head. “I will punish no one, my love.” I drew back, meeting her worried gaze. “I am proud of you for standing up to him.”
“He cannot take me.” Her words were breathless, laden with worry, requiring my reassurance.
“I will never allow it.”
“I do not wish this duel,” she whispered, clutching my wrists. “It frightens me, Alexander.”
“He wishes to embarrass me. To somehow make me look the coward. We will meet, draw our pistols, and shoot into the air. I will refute his claims and send him away. He is angry, no doubt having hoped I would offer him money for stealing you. It is his way to save face.” I kissed her again, my lips lingering on her soft skin. “Nothing will happen to me, my sweet.”
“What if he takes it further?”
I pondered her words. “Would you have me strike him down, my love? Kill your father?”
“I would have you unharmed, no matter the consequences,” she replied promptly.
“It will not come to that. He is too much of a coward, and killing me would only cause him further trouble. It is all gesturing and noise.”
If anything, my reassurances seemed to upset her more than comfort.
I stepped back, pausing to drop kisses to her fists.
“I will follow you to the house. You will rest, then we will have our picnic. We will not allow that cretin to ruin our day.” I smiled at her, hoping to see her smile back.
But she looked troubled. Lydia climbed into the cart, lifting the reins.
I assisted Geraldine into the wagon beside my wife.
“I tried to dissuade her, my lord.”
I smiled in reassurance. “My wife is, at best, stubborn. That she refused does not surprise me.” I patted her hand. “Rest well, madam. All will be fine.”
Geraldine nodded, still looking troubled.
“Take her to the house, and I wish her to rest,” I instructed Geraldine. “I will follow.”
I watched as the wagon moved away, Geraldine holding my wife’s hand, speaking to her, hopefully comforting her.
Edward appeared at my side, handing me the reins.
“I wish to walk a moment,” I muttered.
He fell into step with me, our horses trailing us. “Not the day you planned,” he observed.
“No. I doubt my plans will continue. Maddie is too fraught now.” I glanced over my shoulder, seeing the empty lane and closed gate.
“What is he about? Nothing good will come of this for him. Did he truly think I would give him money to make him go away? That the word of a drunken card player and a butler so old would frighten me?”
“He is desperate,” Edward observed.
“Yes,” I mused. “But why? What is his plan?”
Edward sighed. “Liddy told me when she was in the village a few weeks ago, she saw the solicitor—Leigh. She recognized him today, and it surprised her to see him here with Barnett. He was questioning people, but she didn’t stop to listen since she didn’t know him.”
I frowned. “Of course not. She is not one to gossip.”
“I fear…” He paused. “Dash it, Alexander. I fear somehow word has gotten out that you set up Maddie with her own funds. Her father wants them.”
He was referring to the trust I had created for Maddie. It was a large amount, ensuring that she would never want for anything should something happen to me, and it had been drafted in a way that ensured only she could access the money.
“The funds are not his. They belong to Maddie. The way it is set, he could never get them—no matter what.”
He stopped, facing me. “Do you think he is of sound mind? He doesn’t care about her reputation or scandal.
He doesn’t care about her. It has to be about the money.
He was drowning in debt before—God knows how much further he has slid into the deep.
I believe he has made some sort of nonsensical plan he imagines will work. ”
I scrubbed my chin, frustrated. My day had been ruined, my wife upset, our fragile happiness threatened, and I didn’t understand why.
I hoisted myself up onto my horse. I needed to return to Maddie, then think this through.
“Post men at the gates in case they return to sneak about. Fetch me Higgins from the village—I require some answers. He established the trust for Maddie’s funds, and I need to know we are indeed sound in our knowledge.
” I paused. “Ask around the village. See if we can find out what Leigh’s inquiries were regarding. ”
“Right away. I will return with Higgins shortly.”
I nodded and urged my steed forward. I needed to check on Maddie.