Chapter Thirty-Four
Violet smoothed down the fabric of her dress as she sat in a small tent on the outskirts of Bracknell.
The gown she wore was one she had worn a dozen times before.
She wouldn’t wear the planned wedding dress she had embroidered for something that could ruin her outfit meant for her special day.
She gazed around this small dwelling wondering and worrying if this insane plan would even accomplish what they hoped.
Gideon and Owen had made this makeshift tent to keep up the pretense that the bride would need a place to perform any final touches to her wedding attire.
The flaps of the opening were held back by ropes of twine so Violet was able to see outside.
A short distance away, and hopefully far enough to keep everyone out of harm’s way, she could make out through the trees a small group of witnesses for her marriage.
Several of these were disguised as guests, although Violet knew they had been hired by the constable to keep watch over their family and friends.
Violet had hoped to keep her parents out of this whole fiasco but Gideon reminded her that Dawkes would know what her parents looked like and they needed to keep up appearances.
Which was the reason why Arianna was also in attendance.
She couldn’t help but worry as she picked up a small nosegay of roses and lifted the flowers to smell their fragrance.
If Dawkes made an appearance, she was to drop them to the ground to signal he had come out of hiding.
Knowing the time had come to make her move, she stepped from the tent and went to stand in the clearing.
Once again, she appeared to be inspecting her gown when a voice came from behind her.
Even though she was expecting him, his presence still came as a surprise.
She whirled around to face him and dropped the flowers to the ground. Dawkes gave an evil grin. “How lovely you look today, Violet. It’s too bad you’ll miss your own wedding,” the major drawled.
She knew she had to keep him talking in order to possibly get a confession from him for the nearby constables. “What are you doing here?” she asked, as though surprised by his presence.
He made a sound deep in his chest before casually strolling around her, even being so bold as to lift one of her loose, flowing curls to his nose and inhaling. “You smell like the roses you dropped. Heavenly.”
“You didn’t answer my question, Major Dawkes. Why are you here at my wedding?”
“And I already told you why I’m here. To abduct the bride, of course,” he sneered. “Why should Gideon have such a prize for a wife when you could be my lover instead. I assure you, once you’re in my bed, you’ll forget anyone else.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her causing Dawkes to frown. “As if you could ever measure up to Gideon,” she said. “You’re not even half the man he is if you think you can take whatever you want and get away with it.”
He tried to take a hold of her arm but she backed away from him. “And who will stop me when everyone who is dear to you is waiting for your entrance for the ceremony to begin?”
“All I have to do is scream,” she said softly, raising her chin in defiance.
A snort left him. “Your confidence that your man will come running to your rescue in time is to be commended and is exactly what is in my plans.”
She narrowed her eyes while watching him closely. She had to keep him talking so everyone could move into place to capture him. “And what exactly are those plans?”
“Did you really think that my schemes for the past few weeks were only to cause you harm, my pet? Those were merely distractions to draw out your soon-to-be dead lover.”
“You were responsible for the break-ins at my apothecary.”
“Yes.” He stepped forward and she retreated.
“And set fire to my house,” she stated, hoping for a full confession.
“Of course. I knew you were with him at the time. Unfortunately for that, I had plans to make it appear as if he had caused the fire but he ruined that for me much like he ruined my plans for advancement in France.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, watching him and noticing what appeared as a glimpse of madness in his eyes.
He really was touched in the head and she would need to be more careful than they had previously thought.
“You became a major and took over Gideon’s battalion after he was wounded and lost his memory. ”
A deep rumble of anger erupted from the man as he pounded his forehead with his fist. “Those men should have been mine from the beginning! Gideon always stood in my way for advancement and should have died on that battlefield.”
“You caused Gideon’s accident and were responsible for his memory loss,” she stated, hoping he would admit everything. She caught a glimpse of Gideon hiding behind a tree; he nodded in her direction.
A corner of Cosmo’s lip curled up in a sneer. “And only because I got him out of the way did I advance… the damn bastard somehow managed to survive after I hit him from behind. Even the knife wound I inflicted wasn’t enough to kill him.”
Violet turned slightly so her back was now facing where Gideon was located. “He lost his memory because of you,” she accused.
“And he will lose more when I take you from here. I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted you and if it will make Gideon wonder for the rest of his life where you disappeared to, then so be it!
” He made a grab for her but Violet was ready for any violence coming from Dawkes. She turned and dashed toward the trees.
The clicks of the hammers being pulled back into place of several flintlocks sounded out as men came from the woods. Dawkes growled in outrage as he swirled around to see that he was completely surrounded. He began mumbling to himself about his plans being ruined as he pulled a knife from his boot.
Gideon stepped forward, pushing Violet behind him. “Did you never learn that you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, Dawkes? Admit defeat. We’ve heard your confession and the constable here has all the evidence he needs to put you away for a very long time.”
The lawman stepped forward. “Drop the knife, Major Dawkes. You’re under arrest for crimes against Miss Barnet and also Captain Tyler.”
Dawkes brandished the weapon in front of him, waving the knife back and forth as if he had a chance of winning the altercation. “I’d rather die than spend even a second in jail.”
Before anyone could stop him, he swiped the knife along his own throat and dropped to the ground. The gurgling sound of his death had Violet covering her ears and closing her eyes until Gideon wrapped his arms around her to shield the dying man from her view.
It was finally over. A tragic event that resulted in her and Gideon now starting their lives together.
She cried in relief that the threat to her life was at an end and they would never need to look over their shoulders again to see if Major Dawkes was attempting to do any more mischief.
The coward had taken his own life. It was a fitting end to someone who had no morals.
And as Gideon escorted her away from the ghastly sight of Dawkes’s death, she now could look forward to a lifetime with her handsome knight at her side. Love had indeed found her and she would be forever grateful to the man next to her for coming into her life and making everything perfect.