A Knight of Vengeance: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book)

by Deborah Wilson

  “Good.” The shouting switched back to a murmur once the door was closed again.

  “Perhaps you should stay here,” Nick said.

  Elisa shook her head, still thinking about Leo and Oliver’s conversation. “Are you sure your brother is the true marquess and wasn’t switched at birth with a baby wolf?”

  Nicholas laughed. “Ask him that yourself. He’ll enjoy hearing it.”

  Elisa put on a dress. “Help me button this. I wish to see what is going on.”

  Nick finished her buttons in no time and then they were both descending the stairs.

  A man was tied up in the middle of the foyer. The servants stood around in a circle but cleared the way as Nick came in.

  Leo and Oliver were already there.

  Elisa blushed and noted that Oliver was thankfully wearing breeches.

  How strange that she was more concerned with Oliver’s breeches than the man who was tied on the floor.

  She looked the man over. His eyes and mouth were covered with black silk that had been tied behind his head.

  His hands and arms were roped to his chest. His knees were bent and also tied with ropes and no matter how much he fought them, he could not get out.

  She tilted her head and stiffened. “It’s Lord Alguire.”

  Alguire jerked to a halt at her voice. Likely until that moment, he hadn’t known who was present.

  “Thought it might be. I already sent word to Van Dero.” Oliver knelt next to the man. “I’d love to meet the person who put the knots together.”

  “Might have been a former navy man,” Leo said.

  Nick moved around the man and then knelt down. “Lord Alguire. We meet again.”

  Alguire began to jerk and scream behind the gag in his mouth. He reminded her of a caught fish after it had been tossed onto land.

  Leo laughed. “Look at him go. He must know your voice, Nick.”

  “Likely haunts his sleep,” Oliver replied. Then he looked at Elisa. “I’d suggest you say what you wish now, my lady. You’ll not want to stay for what happens next.” It had been three days since his arrival and the man already had a short growth of beard.

  “No.” Nick straightened. “He’s not ours to deal with.”

  “What?” Oliver’s mouth fell open. He looked like a child who’d been told he couldn’t have his dinner that evening. “What do you mean? What are you saying?”

  Nick put his hands on his hips. His expression was grim. “He was promised to someone else.”

  “Who?” Leo asked, seeming more curious than upset.

  Nick sighed. “Someone who is owed it more than us.” He looked at Elisa. “If there is something you wish to say…”

  “There’s something I wish to say,” Oliver said. “I’ve sat here for days for this chance. Was my time wasted?”

  “You got to know me,” Elisa said. “Surely, that wasn’t a waste of your time.”

  Oliver bowed. “Of course not, my lady.” He even found a smile for her. “It’s just…”

  She went over to him and placed a hand on his arm. She shook her head, not even sure what she was trying to communicate.

  But a second later, Oliver made a pouting face and sighed. “Fine,” he bemoaned.

  “Have you ever thought about fasting from your… skill?” she asked.

  “Fast?” He lifted a brow as though the word offended him.

  She wanted to help Oliver but wasn’t sure how. This was an entirely different matter than teaching someone to read. She suddenly thought about the day Nick was going to teach her to fish with her hands. “Could you do me a favor?”

  He straightened. “What?”

  “The next three times you wish to hurt someone terrible… don’t.”

  “Don’t?” he asked for clarity, watching her with lost eyes.

  She nodded. “Don’t. Just… let them go.” She lifted her hands up and away to emphasize her words. “Just… let them go.”

  “Three people,” he asked. “You want me to walk away from three people.”

  She laughed. “Surely, it won’t be that difficult.”

  Oliver crossed his arms. “What if they hurt me first?”

  “Let them go.”

  “What if I’m hired for the job?”

  “Don’t take it.”

  “Three,” he said with amusement. “And what shall my reward be at the end?”

  “You’ll know,” she told him. She hoped, at least. She hoped he would feel it. The rightness of forgiveness.

  Oliver grunted. “Very well, sister. I shall do this. For you.”

  She would take it. “Thank you.” Then she turned to Nick. “Who is Lord Alguire going to?”

  “I cannot say,” he said.

  Elisa had a feeling she knew. There were only two other people in the world who were owed blood from Alguire. One of them was Lord Saxon. The other… “It’s my brother, isn’t it? It’s why he shut us out of the little meeting you had with Van Dero.”

  “Avery wants him?” Leo asked, surprised.

  “You know my brother?” Elisa asked.

  “We share a past.” Leo grinned.

  Nick turned to the footman. “Put him in a cart and cover him.” Then he knelt by Alguire. “Am I going to have to hurt you to keep you quiet?”

  Alguire shook his head.

  “Good.” Nick looked at Elisa. “I can’t confirm what you’ve asked.”

  She sighed. She didn’t need confirmation. “May I come with you? I need to speak to Avery.”

  “Why?” Nick asked. “You want him spared?”

  “I want Alguire arrested,” Elisa said. “I want him put on trial.”

  Nick stood and grabbed her shoulders. “Elisa, the courts will fail us. There is no way to truly prove he poisoned your father. The comfits are gone, and we’ve no connection between him and Gloria. Also, Gloria still makes no appearance at her shop. It is likely, because he is a lord, that he will walk free.”

  Leo took the silk from between Alguire’s lips. “Would you like us to take him to Van Dero or a judge?”

  “A judge.” Alguire’s voice was hoarse. “Please. Please, not Van Dero.”

  Leo looked at Elisa with meaning.

  Would they truly lose in court? She knew it was hard to find a lord guilty and, in the end, Alguire could always say Gloria had acted on her own.

  They were in a terrible situation.

  Still. “We should do the right thing.”

  “You can tell that to your brother,” Nick said. “But I made a vow to give him up if I got my hands on him.”

  Leo took a note from a servant and read it aloud. “Van Dero has requested we take him to his house.”

  Oliver said, “That would be best. His home is in Regent Park. No one would hear the cries of a man from that distance.”

  Alguire moaned.

  Elisa pursed her lips that Oliver would say such a thing in front of her.

  “Who do you think brought him?” Oliver asked.

  “We could ask him,” Leo said. He pushed Alguire. “Who tied you up?”

  Alguire shivered, and she realized he’d been doing that for a while now. “I c-can’t say.” He was shaking.

  Nick said, “Remove his eye cover.”

  It was gone at once.

  Alguire tried to shy away from the light. Then he opened his eyes.

  Elisa screamed, but then caught herself. They were a bloody red.

  Alguire began to weep and tried to hide.

  Oliver cursed. “He’s been given something, likely tortured with a substance of some sort.”

  “I just want to sleep,” Alguire whispered through his tears. “Please, let me sleep. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He wailed and shook.

  The footman took him away.

  “It was likely Gloria,” Elisa whispered.

  Elisa had no idea what had happened but was very glad it had not happened to her.

  Nick wrapped an arm around her. “Are you ready to go?”

&nbs
p; She nodded.

  “Seeing him as he is, I’m surprised you’ve not asked that we let him go.”

  “Am I terrible for not begging for that very thing?”

  Nick’s gaze was serious. “You could have cut his throat there before my eyes and I’d never have thought you terrible.”

  “What a horrid thought,” she whispered.

  He didn’t apologize. He was no longer shielding her from his truths.

  She said, “Alguire looks terrible, but… he killed my father, not for a crime, but for land, land I had already vowed to give him.”

  “There was no guarantee that you would be able to keep such a promise, especially if you married.”

  She hung her head.

  “We’ll speak to your brother.”

  As Elisa put on her coat, she tried to be strong. She doubted she could change much of Van Dero’s methods of operation, but she would fight for what she believed to be best.

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  6 0

  * * *

  The moment Elisa walked into the Duke of Van Dero’s home, Avery caught her eye and cursed. “You’ve brought my sister? Does she know what’s going on?”

  Van Dero stood beside him. His golden gaze moved over those who’d just entered his domain. If there was anyone he hadn’t expected, he didn’t let on.

  Alguire was brought in from the back. He didn’t even move when the footman dumped him on the floor.

  Avery looked down at the man he planned to punish and then up at Elisa. “Well, I suppose that answers that.”

  “Don’t do it, Avery.” She stepped around Nick and his brothers and approached him. “I know how you feel. You want revenge, but I can’t allow you to—”

  Avery caught her chin. “This man took our father and perhaps others, men and women who’d done nothing to deserve their deaths. He will not walk from here unmarked.”

  Elisa stiffened. She’d never seen Avery’s eyes so cold.

  A footman said, “I don’t think he’ll be walking from here at all.”

  Elisa turned. The footman who’d dragged Alguire in stood by. “What do you mean?”

  Van Dero moved close, until he was almost on top of Alguire. He looked down.

  Alguire still hadn’t moved, and it finally occurred to Elisa why not.

  “He’s dead,” Van Dero said.

  “Who is dead?” a female voice from upstairs asked.

  Van Dero moved and the footman moved with him, creating a curtain with their bodies. Without words, Nick, Oliver, and Leo stepped up as well. Alguire vanished behind them.

  But the young woman who stood at the top of the stairs had already seen him. She paled.

  Elisa had never met her before. She was pretty, blonde, and her pale blue eyes were full of fright. Her skin was white, and Elisa wasn’t sure if that was an effect of her fear or simply her natural tone.

  The woman asked, “Is that person…”

  “Dead, I’m afraid,” Van Dero said. “He came to us like this, yet sadly, there is nothing we can do to revive him.” If Van Dero revived him, it would only be to kill him later.

  Elisa still couldn’t believe Alguire was gone. She was only a little ashamed of the relief she felt.

  “How did he die?” the woman asked.

  Everyone was silent.

  “Poison.” Nick turned to Van Dero. “Who is this?” Though the question was more, “Why is she here and how do we make her go away?” But he didn’t ask the latter aloud, it was simply in his tone.

  Van Dero cleared his throat. “Lady Vita Castella, daughter of Lord Bush, these are my friends, the Marquess of Goldstone and his brothers Lord Leonard and Lord Nicholas Childs. This is Nick’s wife, Lady Elisa Childs.”

  The men dipped their heads.

  Elisa curtsied.

  “Lady Vita will be with Milly and me for at least the next year.”

  Everyone stared at the duke, shocked by his announcement. Elisa had suspected the duke was many things but not a caretaker. She was only slightly surprised Lord Bush hadn’t taken his only child with him on his trip, but then again, he was a newlywed. A trip with his wife was just the thing they needed.

  Elisa wondered if she could persuade Nick to take one with her.

  Lady Vita bit her lip. “Should someone send for a doctor?”

  Only the duke addressed her. “Last I recall, doctors were unable to raise the dead.”

  The young woman nodded. She fidgeted her fingers. “Who hurt him?”

  “No one here, which is all that matters, my lady,” Van Dero said.

  “But you know who did it?” Even frightened, she stood her ground.

  “They shall be addressed,” Van Dero promised her.

  The pretty lady nodded again but

  remained at the top of the stairs.

  Everyone watched her, waiting for her to leave.

  It took Van Dero saying, “Could you get my wife, please?”

  “Yes!” Vita left.

  Van Dero turned to the men. “Get him out of here. Quickly.”

  The footmen jumped into action. Alguire was gone as though he’d never appeared. Elisa took note that the staff were all unbothered by the sight of the dead body.

  This was life for the people here.

  “You’re a governess now?” Oliver asked the duke.

  Van Dero narrowed his eyes. “I’m trying this new thing out. It’s called being gracious. It was Milly’s idea.”

  “Of course,” Nick said. Not even Elisa could see the duke volunteering to watch over a young and very curious lady.

  With the matter of Alguire gone, there was nothing else to be done.

  Nick’s brothers said their goodbyes. Neither would be remaining for the Season. Elisa wondered how long it would be before she saw Leo again. When Elisa went to look for her own brother, he was gone.

  She wondered if Alguire had lived, would Avery had gone through with his words and hurt him?

  The question would never have an answer, so she put it to the side and worried about only the things that mattered at the moment.

  Having been rescued by Van Dero, not once but twice, and witnessing his latest act of kindness, and finally taking into account everything she’d been told about what he’d done for others, Elisa decided her husband’s employer and friend was not so terrible at all.

  And one day, she might find a way to breathe easier around him.

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  epilogue

  * * *

  Nick was holding her in bed that night. He rested against the headboard. His arms were around her middle. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded. Though she’d tried to get her brother off her mind, she couldn’t. She could only imagine him in that house by himself. “We need to find my brother a wife. I hate to think of him alone.”

  He sighed. “I suppose your brother deserves some happiness. Had he not come to Van Dero for help, we might have never met. We’re very fortunate.”

  “Avery should be so fortunate. Your brothers, too. And Sparrow and especially Remy.”

  “Remy? Astger allows you to call him by his given name now?”

  She smiled. “He’s a very pleasant person to be around when he forgets to be serious. He’s quite exciting to watch.”

  He played with her hair. “If you say so.”

  She tilted her head back to look at him. “I have a gift for you.”

  “Another gift? Is it a letter?”

  She moved off the bed. “It is in my room. Come.” She’d been working on his gift since her father’s death, yet it wasn’t so much a gift as it was a test.

  Her heart fluttered. If Nick failed his test, she didn’t know what she’d do.

  Nick groaned as he got out of the bed. “Could you not bring it to me?

  She laughed as she led him from the room. “Come.” She licked her lips with nervousness. “Once you have your gift, you can return to bed.”

  They made it to her room, and Elisa turned on a lamp at a low sett
ing.

  Nick looked around and then at her. He lifted a brow. “Well, where is it?”

  Elisa swallowed. She could hardly speak with the fear that climbed in her throat.

  Nick grabbed her shoulders and concern came over his expression. “What is it?”

  “Your gift is beyond the wall.”

  “What?”

  “You have to walk through the wall to get it.” She pointed at the wall, the one where her bed and nightstand set. Blue wallpaper wrapped the entire room.

  Nick stared where she’d directed and then looked at her. “The gift is beyond the wall?” He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  “You have to walk through it to get to it.”

  Nick leaned back. “You want me to knock the wall down.”

  She shook her head. “No. I want you to walk through it.” She needed to know her husband trusted her, believed in her mind.

  Nick stared at her, looked at the wall, and then at her again and sighed. “So, I just… walk through the wall?”

  She nodded.

  Nick sighed again then shrugged. “Very well.”

  She gasped at the surety in his steps. He went through the wall and stopped when the paper began to come down around him.

  “What is this?” He began to tear at the paper in confusion.

  Elisa laughed. Her heart fluttered and soared. “I had the footman move the bed and nightstand forward by a foot and then had him hang fresh wallpaper up against it.”

  Nick looked at her. “Why?”

  “To see if you would walk through a wall if I asked you to.”

  He held her gaze. “I’d walk through fire if you asked it.”

  She smiled. “I know, but I believe a wall was more difficult.” She knew he’d do anything for her if she were in danger, but trust was everything.

  He approached her and wrapped her in his arms. “You’re… the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

  She kissed him and then pointed at the wall. “Don’t forget your gift.”

  He looked over. There was a small note affixed to the wall. He went to get it, and Elisa started from the room.

  “What does it say?’ he called after her.

  She giggled to herself. He’d find out soon.

  The note contained all the things she planned to do to him once he made it back to his room.