by Rebecca King
“It is my pleasure.” With another polite bow, Sir Hugo took his leave of them and disappeared into the study but beckoned Elias to follow him.
Because she was aware that Elias was staring at Ruth as if he had something in front of him that he had wanted for a very long time, Maud felt a little uncomfortable as she stood beside them. She felt as if she was intruding on a private moment. While it was highly inappropriate that she left her niece alone with the handsome investigator, Maud also knew that Ruth was safe with Elias. He wouldn’t hurt her, so she backed toward the stairs and muttered: “Well, I am going to go and take another look upstairs and will settle into my bed chamber. I will see you two later.”
When they were alone, Elias wasted no time closing the distance between him and Ruth. He hauled her into his arms and kissed her before she could object. Being together in a house like this was a dream come true for them both and neither of them were willing to waste a moment of it.
When he finally lifted his head, Elias rested his forehead against hers. “I wish I didn’t have to leave you. I wish I could stay so we could talk properly.”
“You have an investigation to conduct,” Ruth breathed, wishing he didn’t have to leave her either. “Don’t stay away for too long.”
She wondered if this were what being married to him was going to be like, a tearfully reluctant parting of lovers who would miss each other terribly while they were forced apart by forces neither of them could control.
“I will return as soon as I can, I promise,” Elias murmured lovingly. “Promise me you will be here when I get back.”
“I promise,” she whispered without hesitation.
Elias knew that he had found a mate, his soul mate, someone he could trust with not just his life, but his heart and soul too, and didn’t doubt that meeting her was the very best thing that could have happened to him. Now all he had to do was convince her to feel the same way and agree to spend the rest of her life with him.
What neither of them expected was that when Elias left the house later that night, he wouldn’t manage to spend any time alone with Ruth again for nearly two weeks. In the intervening period, Ruth did some soul searching and asked herself what she really wanted. Could she bear this parting of the ways for weeks if not months at a time if she did marry Elias? How could she run a house like this all by herself if she chose to stay? Could she really be happy rattling around such a huge mansion alone, and with nobody to share it with except Maud?
“It feels like home already, doesn’t it?” Maud murmured as she gazed contentedly into the huge, ornate fireplace roaring heartily beside them. Behind them, the massive room was bathed in afternoon sunlight. They had both just finished a delicious luncheon provided by the excellent Mrs Appledore, a bustling matronly lady who was a sublime, no-nonsense cook who created sumptuous meals for everyone with effortless ease. Now, they sat amongst the opulence of the lady’s sitting room with a comfortable ease that felt natural.
“It does,” Ruth replied quietly.
“You miss him, don’t you?” It wasn’t really a question. “I know you, my dear. You are in love with him. If you haven’t told him yet, you must. Remember that he works for the Star Elite. Nothing in their organisation is certain because of the kind of criminals they hunt down.”
“Have you heard anything about their investigation?” Ruth asked, hoping that one of the maids had told Maud about what the men had been saying about the investigation while in the kitchen.
“Nobody discusses it. The men come and the men go. The men eat, sleep, change clothing, and then go again. Mark is no help either. He is always out there with the men and rarely comes inside, but he revels in being one of them. I am sure that being an investigator with them is what he was born to do. He is in his element. It is wonderful to see. I understand that Sir Hugo has already been to visit his mother. She is delighted that Mark is doing so well, and content now that she has moved closer to her sister.”
“I am pleased for them all.”
“Now, what about you?”
Ruth’s brows shot up. “I could ask the same about you. When we arrived here the other week, you were reluctant to stay and certainly wouldn’t consider a future here. Has time in the house changed your mind like Sir Hugo hoped it would? Or are you still adamant that we should move to a cottage like the one we left behind?”
Maud contemplated the rug beneath her boots just a little too long for Ruth’s peace of mind. She began to grow nervous while she waited for Maud to reply.
“I think that we would be fools to walk away from a place like this, Ruth. The problem I have is how we are going to be able to afford to live here. Why, we cannot pay one maid let alone three and a cook like Mrs Appledore.”
“Do you want to move?” Ruth wanted to cry because in the space of just a few weeks the house had become her home.
Because of Elias. It has links to him, so it is where I need to stay.
“I miss him,” she whispered miserably. “I want nothing more than for him to come through that door.”
“He will. I know he will.”
“We don’t really know any of them,” Ruth reminded her. “He might have had second thoughts about courting me.”
Maud tipped her chin up. “Rubbish. The Star Elite have done more for us than any of the villagers have in all the time we have lived in the village. I know you are going to say that the Star Elite have the might of the War Office to help them but those men Elias works with helped us before Sir Hugo appeared and told them to. Without them, God only knows what would have happened to us. Elias’s interest in you has nothing to do with any Star Elite obligation. I saw the way he looked at you. He is attracted to you, but as a man.”
“I hope so because I am attracted to him. Even if Elias has changed his mind about courting me, though, I cannot go back to the cottage in Riddlewood, or even move to one like it. Not now. Not after living somewhere like this. If Sir Hugo can find a way for us to stay here, I should like to try to make this house a home – somehow.”
Maud smiled. “Life is an adventure, isn’t it? What you did has forced us to change our lives.”
Ruth shook her head. “I think we have had a little too much adventure lately, haven’t we?”
“Life is meant to be an adventure, my dear. It is no good sticking to the same old routine every day, doing things that are predictable and dull and boring. We know how suffocating that is. If we stay on the right side of the law nothing can be wrong with shaking life up a little, can there?”
“Well, no,” Ruth whispered.
“Are you in love with him?” Maud asked boldly, needing Ruth to verbally confirm it if only to admit it to herself.
“Aunt Maud! You shouldn’t ask people questions like that,” Ruth blustered, blushing furiously. She rather felt that Elias should be the first one to hear her declare her true feelings for him.
Maud gave her a pointed look. “We have been through a lot together. If you cannot tell me about your innermost thoughts and feelings, whom can you talk to?”
Ruth still blushed and found that she couldn’t look her aunt in the eye when she eventually confessed: “Yes, I love him.”
It felt odd to say the words. She hadn’t said the words about anybody before and hadn’t expected to say them about Elias, but it was the truth. She couldn’t deny it. While she hadn’t met him when she had overheard Bob and Mark’s conversation, she had immediately felt a responsibility toward him, a connection even, that had strengthened the second she had set eyes on him. “He is handsome, isn’t he?”
“He is strong, capable, and will be a good husband,” Maud assured her.
Ruth heard the slight hesitation in her voice and lifted her brows. “But?”
“But be sure of what you are letting yourself into. There are no certainties with a man like Elias. He is far less likely to return to you safe and sound than anybody else. Don’t you think you have lost enough people in your life already?”
“But if I do
n’t take this chance to be with him, I won’t know what true happiness feels like. I will always wonder if I made the right decision if I walked away from the feelings that I have for him. I have never felt like this before, but the more I feel it the more I want to feel it. It is rather addictive.” Despite her aunt’s warning, Ruth smiled whimsically at her.
“Then you and he had better have a talk before the investigation is over. As for living in this house, I think we have to. We can keep ourselves busy by fixing things.”
There was a sly expression on Maud’s face that Ruth didn’t trust. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that there is more than one house on this property, and it needs our attention,” Maud mused. “There is a rather curious looking gatehouse that I was hoping we could explore together.”
“Well, then, let’s go and see it.” With that, both ladies left to find their shawls.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
They stopped briefly to tell one of the men on watch where they were going and promised him that they would stay on the main road through the estate and wouldn’t venture into the woods or further than the lake. Eventually, Ruth and Maud were on their way, but the walk was far shorter than Ruth had expected. Within just a few short minutes, they arrived at a wonderful house that was about half the size of the main hall. While the windows were boarded up, and the place had a derelict feel to it, the three-storey property with its front bay windows bracketing an elaborately carved front door was decidedly elegant.
“It is a pity that we cannot get inside,” Ruth muttered when she tried to peer through a narrow gap in the boarded-up windows but couldn’t see anything but her own reflection.
“We can. Follow me.” Maud promptly disappeared around the side of the house.
“Do you think we should be doing this? Have you told Sir Hugo that you have managed to get inside here?” Ruth asked when she joined her aunt at the back of the building.
“We aren’t doing anything wrong. This board was like this when I found it. Nobody has been here in an age.” Maud slid a large board covering the kitchen door sideways so Ruth could squeeze into the house.
“This is beautiful,” Ruth breathed as she studied the rectangular dining room. Despite the windows of the room being boarded, shafts of golden sunlight streamed into the room which burnished the aged furniture and ornate fireplace in a rosy, romantic hue that was enchanting. Within seconds, Maud was describing where the furniture was going to go when she rearranged the room.
“It all needs a good clean, but this furniture is still functional,” Ruth murmured.
“With your agreement, of course, I should like to ask Sir Hugo if I could live here,” Maud said before they left the building.
“Here.” In that moment, Ruth was struck by how reluctant she was to leave the main house. In just a few short days the place had already started to feel like home to the point that she was crestfallen at the thought of having to leave it and live somewhere else.
When the expectant silence settled in the room, Maud stepped closer. “See? You belong there, my dear. There are some who would warn you not to make such a huge change in your life. I mean, coming from our rather ordinary cottage and into a mansion like that is a rather big step, but you have made it. Do you regret it?”
“God, no. How could I?”
“Then you have already adapted to living in that mansion and calling it home.”
“I suppose I have.”
“What about Elias? Do you think you can walk away from him either?”
Ruth was already shaking her head before Maud had finished talking.
“There you have it then. Life has made the decision for you. You would be a fool to make yourself miserable by leaving either. You know what happened with your parents and the suddenness of their passing. If you have the chance to be happy with him then take it. If you have learnt anything from what we have been through over the last few days understand that if you stop life from becoming mundane it will be adventurous. You will relish the quiet periods in your life. You will savour life more, stop and enjoy the sights, sounds, and wonderful scents of summer for instance, or enjoy the carols and sparkling landscape during the snowy seasons.”
“I want it all,” Ruth whispered.
“It is highly unlikely that you will ever find a better man than Elias. He adores you.”
“Oh, tosh,” Ruth protested, but was inwardly thrilled that her aunt might suggest it.
“He does. I have seen the way he looks at you. His colleagues have also remarked about how affectionate he is toward you. It is highly unusual for him, don’t you know.”
“I just don’t want him to feel responsible for me because I put myself in danger to get him out of that tavern.”
“Elias isn’t the kind of man who would make any foolish romantic gestures, or rush into anything without having considered his feelings first. His friends wouldn’t allow him to either. They rely on each other for support, guidance, and friendship. None of those men are fools or they wouldn’t fight the enemies they battle and beat. What you must understand is that he won’t enter your life alone. Sir Hugo has already made it clear that the men’s wives and children are as much a part of the Star Elite as the men themselves.”
“It is an adventure, isn’t it?” Ruth whispered, thrilled yet terrified at the same time.
“Then shall we stay?” Maud looked as delighted by the prospect as Ruth did when Ruth nodded.
With happy smiles, they left the house, replaced the board, and began the short walk home. The women walked with their heads together and were deep in conversation as they walked - so deep, in fact, that they didn’t realise they were no longer alone.
It might have been how quiet everything was; that there was no contented chirping from the birds sitting high in the trees. There wasn’t even any wind to rustle the leaves and branches of the chestnut trees lining the driveway to the main house. Nothing stirred. Because of it, everything became eerie and watchful. It was as if the entire world had paused to watch and wait for whatever it was that was about to happen. It was as if the animals sensed that trouble was afoot and didn’t want to be a part of it and so had disappeared back into their holes and homes.
“We have to get back to the house,” Ruth muttered with a shiver of unease. She glanced at the bushes and luxurious landscape before them but couldn’t see anything wrong.
“You feel it too, don’t you?” Maud glanced behind them, and promptly screamed with surprise when two riders, dressed completely in black, cantered out of the trees and raced across the lawn toward them. Before either woman could run toward the house, the horses pounded down the driveway, bearing down on them with murderous intent.
When she realised that there was nowhere to run, Maud dragged her shawl off her shoulders and began to flap it at the horses. Ruth joined in, but it didn’t work.
“Over here.” Ruth grabbed her aunt by the arm and dragged her over to one of the chestnut trees lining the driveway.
The riders suddenly found themselves having to ride around the trees while the women moved from tree to tree to avoid them. Whenever the horses ventured too close, Ruth and Maud flapped their shawls at them, despite the highwaymen pointing guns at them.
“I am not going anywhere with you,” Maud snapped, dodging away from the highwayman’s aim when she saw his gun. “Go away, Rointon. We know all about you, but I suppose that is why you want us to go with you, isn’t it? Well, we are not going to be used as trophies either. Get off this property, do you hear?”
“Shut up, you old bag,” Rointon snarled.
“Maud,” Ruth snapped, shaking her head in warning.
“Well, he is going to have to shoot me before I will go anywhere with that fool,” Maud retorted. “I am not going to be threatened by the likes of him.” But she screamed when Rointon shot at the ground mere inches from her feet. Dancing out of the way, Maud clasped a hand to hear heart and glared at the horseman. “God, you utter bastard.”
> “You had better believe that I will have no qualms about ending your life,” Rointon informed them. “Now get over here.” He waved his gun toward his horse.
Maud eyed the gun and horse in disgust and didn’t step anywhere near them. She remained rooted to the spot and glared defiantly at Rointon instead. Ruth, who had been keeping a wary eye on the second horseman, Archie Hammond, glared maliciously at him when he dismounted, spat on the floor, and grinned toothily at her as he casually ambled closer. She didn’t doubt that the highwaymen would be delighted if they managed to snatch just one of the women, but Ruth wasn’t going to allow them to. Thanks to her adventure with Elias, she knew how to shoot now, and would - if only she had a gun.
Elias heard the first scream and was already running before it had stopped. He reached for his gun and ran toward the house only to meet with Daniel who was already charging out of the back door.
“The Dower House,” he growled. “They went to see the Dower House.”
“Who is supposed to be guarding them?” Elias snarled in disgust.
Sir Hugo rode bareback out of the stable yard and hauled his horse to a stop beside them. “There are men in the woods. The women can’t get off the property.”
Before Elias could reply, another scream shattered the silence. Elias cursed fluidly but was forced to waste a few precious moments fetching his horse. By the time he left the stable yard seconds after Sir Hugo, his horse was at a full gallop and narrowing the distance to the stricken women with frightening speed.
He was horrified when he found both Maud and Ruth staring down the long barrel of Rointon’s gun.
“Come anywhere near and I will kill her,” Rointon called to the men from the Star Elite. “Stay right where you are.”
Archie fired his weapon at Sir Hugo who immediately hauled his horse to a stop about twenty feet away.
Rointon swore when various men from the Star Elite emerged out of the trees, all with weapons trained on him. He shared a worried look with Archie. Strangely, the highwaymen stepped toward each other as if they intended to hold a private conversation. Even Ruth was a little puzzled by this and shared a confused look with her aunt.
