The Cautious Maiden

by Dawn Crandall

  “He didn’t,” I assured her.

  She let go when she caught a glimpse of Cal lying on the bed, grimacing with pain, blood everywhere. “Oh, your cousin!”

  “It looks bad, but Cal says his leg was only grazed by the bullet.” I steered her back to the hall, hoping to keep the girls from seeing what Mrs. Duncan and I had seen of Cal’s leg. “Do you happen to have someone—besides Thomas—that you can send for a doctor? Thomas isn’t to be trusted. At least he wasn’t trusted with this.” I fished the note we’d sent with him out of my pocket.

  “Oh no! That boy! But how then did your husband and cousin know to come?”

  I quickly stuffed my note to Vance back into the pocket of my dress. “I don’t know. I suppose because of Cal’s original recommendation to Rowen, he must have figured this was where we might be.”

  “Goodness,” was all Mrs. Duncan uttered, and then turned to the two girls waiting in the hall. “Will one of you get a pot of water boiling in the kitchen, please?”

  “I can do that,” Miss Lassiter answered, and then both girls disappeared down the stairs.

  “I’ll go for the doctor myself.” And without another word, Mrs. Duncan was down the staircase and out the door, intent on accomplishing her important mission.

  I walked back to the bedroom where Vance attended to Cal, a little wary of getting too close a look at the wound again. But Vance had a wadded-up sheet pressed to Cal’s leg to help staunch the bleeding.

  “Violet, will you take over here for a few minutes?”

  As I came closer, I realized my cousin had passed out, and that all of my questions for him would have to wait. I pressed my hands onto the sheet, next to Vance’s.

  He didn’t move for a moment, staying close to me. “I’m glad you’re safe, Violet. For the time it took Cal and me to get here…I wasn’t certain what I was going to do.”

  I had too much gratefulness bursting from my heart to speak right away, but I did cover Vance’s hands with one of mine in silent answer.

  Cal stirred and Vance let go, allowing me to take over.

  After a minute, Vance came back and I stood back as he carefully worked a shoelace around Cal’s upper left thigh. “Who were those young ladies? Were they involved somehow?”

  “They thought that we—supposedly a respectable married couple—were taking them up to work at a hotel in Bangor, when really, I suspect, they were actually headed to some place more like The Hawthorne Inn.”

  “He was recruiting young women to become prostitutes—only without their knowledge.”

  “Exactly.” I stood close to Vance, studying the cousin I hardly knew, who’d done so much for me in the last few months without my knowledge.

  “The water is warming,” Miss Lassiter announced as she came to the head of the stairs.

  Vance and I put a respectable distance between us before she reached the doorway of the bedroom, neither of us yet accustomed to the fact that we were married and perfectly allowed to be anywhere we wanted…quite alone.

  “The detective has passed out, has he?” She stood before Cal, and then took a long look at us. “This is your husband then?”

  “Yes, this is Mr. Everstone, my husband.” I smiled, taking immense delight in saying the words.

  “Mrs. Duncan explained to us what happened,” she said sadly. “I’ve served in a hospital before, under the guidance of my mother, who is a nurse. I don’t mind watching over the detective until the doctor gets here…if you’d like some time alone after such a morning.”

  “Thank you, Miss Lassiter. That would be wonderful….” Vance took my hand in his as we walked out to the landing, not too far from Miss Lassiter and my cousin, for the sake of propriety. Vance cautiously put his left arm around my shoulders. He spoke quietly as he went on to say, “Cal will be fine, Violet, don’t worry.”

  “I feel absolutely terrible for the things I’ve believed of my relatives.” I hoped that I would still be able to form a meaningful relationship with them before they moved to Maine—if Cal truly would be alright, and that was still their plan. “I’d almost been able to escape with the help of Mrs. Duncan while Rowen had left me in her company to collect Miss Lassiter and Miss Martindale. He didn’t realize, of course, that Cal had warned her about him, and that he might eventually bring me here.”

  “We have much to thank him for, don’t we? We grossly misjudged him.”

  “I hope they forgive me,” I said, turning my face to Vance’s neck, wanting desperately to lean into him. But I couldn’t. Not yet—not without first apologizing and gaining his forgiveness too.

  “Rowen was trying his best to make everyone believe we were married and that he was a gentleman, but never acted like one to me. He was horridly unpleasant.”

  Vance squeezed closer, but then leaned me back to look me in the face. “Is that all?” he choked out, his eyes filled with fear that so much more had actually happened.

  “He never had a chance to do anything,” I insisted. “I’m not lying to you. It’s the truth. The first time he had me alone, besides at the garden at Everthorne where he’d found me, and in the surrey on the way here, was just as you and Cal showed up and burst into the room.” I shivered at the realization of what all could have happened.

  Vance pulled me close again, not saying anything for some time, until he uttered, “I don’t have the words for how relieved I am—”

  We heard the front door of the house open and a few people enter the house. Hoping it wasn’t just some boarders of Mrs. Duncan’s, we went to the head of the staircase and looked down to the front entry. It was Mrs. Duncan herself, and she’d brought the doctor with her. A police officer had apparently arrived at the same time.

  They all three came up the stairs, followed by Miss Lassiter and Miss Martindale who brought the small pot of hot water just as it was needed.

  I heard Cal’s weak voice as the officer entered the small room. “Sergeant Taulbee, it’s so good to see you….”

  28

  With You

  “God has set his intentions in the flowers,

  In the dawn, in the spring—

  It is his will that we should love.”

  —Victor Hugo, Toilers of the Sea

  After Sergeant Taulbee collected information from everyone involved about the events of the morning, Vance and I were finally freed to go home.

  Once the doctor situated Cal comfortably into Vance’s carriage, taking up an entire bench seat, we entered the vehicle to escort him home, seated together, facing him. Vance kept a tight hold on my hand, lending me strength.

  As soon as the carriage door was closed, Cal said, “I knew Rowen had been trying to get close to you through me, and eventually my mother and sister lately…. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. We thought it was best that way.”

  “I now see that their concern was the reason for their sudden coldness, and why you all didn’t attend Vance’s father’s wedding,” I said, so glad to finally put the puzzle pieces together.

  “I’d been trying to arrest Steele for anything I could ever since your brother came to town to tell me how he’d lost you in a poker bet. He also told me about chopping your hair off and the way he’d sabotaged you into getting engaged to Vance a lot sooner than planned.”

  Than planned. I smiled and squeezed Vance’s hand. Without Ezra’s meddling, there probably never would have been an engagement between us.

  “Ezra didn’t know I was a plainclothes police detective, which was probably for the best. That was how I discovered the plans regarding Miss Lassiter and Miss Martindale, from digging into anything and everything I could on both Steele and your brother.”

  “Oh, so you know about Ezra….”

  “I’m not going to hold your brother’s sins against you.” Cal pulled a face as the carriage wheels hit an extra bumpy section of the road. “You’re nothing like him, I can tell—and so can mother and Mabel.”

  “Thank you—”

  “It does say something fo
r him that he was doing all he could to keep Steele from collecting on his careless bet though.” Cal closed his eyes, as if the pain was making speech difficult.

  “I still wouldn’t consider him a beloved brother—no matter what he’s done to try to help,” Vance added.

  “No, definitely not…but he did find a way to keep Violet relatively safe in Boston, by being engaged to you, and therefore having her so completely surrounded by your powerful family. However, when your father’s wedding took place…I didn’t realize that everyone would be leaving town. Once they left, I didn’t feel quite as confident about Rowen keeping his distance.” Cal opened his eyes and looked to me specifically. “But fortunately, Steele had apparently lost track of you after your move to Hilldreth, and although your temporarily broken engagement and new plans to travel to Roan Mountain Station weren’t public, it wasn’t too difficult for an undercover detective to figure out.” He smiled to himself, although his eyes were again closed.

  “So you thought I was safely tucked away on a train headed to Tennessee this morning when Miss Abernathy told you that I hadn’t, in fact, left as planned, but that I’d instead stayed and married Vance after all….”

  “That was definitely unexpected, I can assure you.”

  Vance didn’t add anything, but he took our entwined fingers to his lips and silently kissed my hand.

  “And then you showed up at Hilldreth—which was even more unexpected. And walking about Back Bay all on your own—I didn’t know what to do with myself!”

  Vance sat up, turning me to him. “You walked to Hilldreth on your own this morning?”

  “I needed to tell Roxy and Miss Abernathy that what you’d said of Ben was false.”

  “I’d been fairly confident you would be safe riding home to Everthorne with Miss Blakeley,” Cal added, suddenly looking a bit piqued. “Especially since you insinuated Vance would be home for lunch.”

  “Hoping, were you?” Vance asked in my ear. I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “However, when Miss Blakeley didn’t return right away as she’d said she would, I began to worry. I left mother and Mabel at Hilldreth and went straight to Everthorne to investigate.” Cal had remained alert for most of the ride, but at this point in the story, he spoke slower and slower and became more lethargic. “That was when I’d found your butler had been shot and killed. I notified the police at that point, and that’s when I stopped at Everstone Square—since it was right on the way—and told Vance what I suspected had happened.”

  The doctor had said Cal’s body would eventually tire from the loss of blood and it seemed as if his confession of everything that had been going on without my knowledge had also helped to wear him out, for soon after he’d said this, he fell unconscious and didn’t wake up when the carriage stopped in front of his mother’s house, or as Vance picked him up and carried him in to be cared for by his loving mother and sister.

  When Vance returned to the carriage to head home to Everthorne, he sat beside me on the frontward facing seat. He made no remark, and I wondered what he was thinking—though having his arms securely around my waist gave me a good idea. He certainly didn’t seem mad at me for what I’d done the night before, but I knew I still needed to apologize.

  I really didn’t know how to begin, so I simply said, “It’s time to go home.”

  Glancing up at him, I found him simply staring down at me, something dangerously heated kindling behind his black eyes. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”

  Not knowing what else to do or say in response, I recalled how I’d written out my apology to him in the message Rowen had given back to me. “I wrote you something today….” I pulled the still-sealed note from my pocket and handed it to him, the wax seal faced up.

  He immediately flipped it over and read the two addresses I’d written—Everstone Square, and then below that, the street address of Everthorne. “What is this?” he asked skeptically.

  It must have seemed strange, to be sure.

  “It’s the reason I’d lost all hope that you would come in time…just before you did.” I smiled bashfully remembering how he’d held me in his arms and wouldn’t let me go once he’d found me in that tiny bedroom. “It’s a message I’d tried to send to you, but Rowen intercepted it.”

  Taking his arms from around me, Vance broke open the seal and then slowly read my words. I watched as his beautiful black eyes roved over the page. He didn’t look up from the paper for much longer than it had to have taken for him to read the few sentences that were there. And then after studying them quite intently, he only smiled—a much bigger smile than I’d ever seen stretch across his cheeks.

  I smiled back, but I couldn’t help my gaze from dropping to the floor of the carriage. “Would you like to begin our marriage, again? And will you please forgive me for how I behaved last night?”

  When he didn’t answer right away, I looked up and found him staring down at me.

  “Now, you know I haven’t been the best at new beginnings, though I’ve tried my best.” He had a playful smirk on his face, but I could tell there was much truth behind his words.

  “You never give yourself enough credit—”

  Vance placed a finger at my lips, and suddenly I didn’t exactly care to say anything more—I just wanted him to kiss me.

  “But this,” he held up the letter, “—this is rather compelling. It makes me want to try, again and again.” He moved closer and wrapped an arm about my waist. “Especially because of that last part.”

  “The part where I said…I love you?”

  “Yes, that part, exactly.” He brought his other hand to my neck and fingered the strands of my short hair hanging over my ear. “Because in case you missed it in yesterday’s late-night discussion, the reason I wanted to marry you so badly was that I’d fallen in love with you too.”

  “We’re both fools, Vance,” I said softly, “hurting each other so clumsily. I’ve been sorry for how I reacted; especially this morning. And then all this happened, and all I could think about was how I’d possibly never see you again, or ever be able to gain your forgiveness. I’ve regretted my haste in shutting you out last night.” I lowered my eyes to my lap. “Will you forgive me…and allow me to make things right?”

  “Oh, I don’t think that will be too difficult.” Vance’s arm tightened around my waist, bringing me much closer than he had since when we were last together alone, the night before in his bedroom.

  I couldn’t help but look up into his gorgeous, black, serious eyes. I also couldn’t help but smile shyly.

  “Now that I’m holding you again and have these words to treasure….” He held the letter I’d so frantically written earlier, gently caressing the corner of it across my cheek. He then followed its trail with a kiss, until his lips were just barely pressed against mine. “I think it will be quite easy, in fact, my sweet wife.”

  About the Author

  Dawn Crandall is an ACFW Carol Award-nominated author of the award-winning series The Everstone Chronicles, which currently consists of: The Hesitant Heiress, The Bound Heart and The Captive Imposter. The Cautious Maiden is her fourth book.

  Apart from writing, Dawn is also a mom of two very little boys and serves with her husband in a premarital mentorship program at their local church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

  A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian education and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall has always loved books but didn’t begin writing until 2010 when her husband found out about her long-buried dream. It didn’t take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do.

  Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and an associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter. She is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency.

  Connect with Dawn Crandall online…

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/DawnCrandallWritesFirst

  Twitter: @dawnwrit
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  Blog: www.dawncrandall.blogspot.com

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