“I do not believe he thought we would come up with so many men to fit into the wall. He seemed quite shocked when I encountered him as if he had believed himself to be beyond capture. When he attempted to run, he found himself confused by the sound of all the other footsteps around him and decided to charge me instead. He drove himself right into my knife. I am not certain whether it was intentional or not, but I couldn’t stop him.”
“Suicide by another’s knife?” Felix asked, frowning in confusion at such a notion. In spite of all the man had put them through, Felix was sad to see him come to such a pass. “What could possibly have driven the man to such an action? Who could he possibly fear so much that he would rather end his life on your blade than to be captured? The entire affair saddens me to no end.”
“I am sorry that you will not get your questions answered, Your Grace.”
“Yes, that is most unfortunate indeed. It will be difficult to rest assured that this is over when it most certainly seems to me that he was not working alone.”
“Could it be the actions of my father, Lord Enfield?” Marybeth’s voice asked from behind them. “He knew far more about me than he should have.”
“I do not think so, but one can never be sure,” Felix answered coming over to shield her from the grisly scene. “You should not be here, Marybeth. This is no place for a lady.”
“Then it is good that I am not a lady,” she retorted moving past him to examine the body. “I know this man,” she replied in surprise.
“How?” Felix stepped forward to stand beside her peering down into the former footman’s face.
“I have seen him in the forest near the croft and Blackleigh Castle. I always thought he was one of the estate’s men.”
“He was, but his duties never took him out that direction that I am aware of and it has been some time since he was employed here. How long ago did you last see him?”
“Around the time my grandmother passed away, before I came here.”
“And then the so-called hauntings began shortly after your arrival,” Felix remarked thoughtfully. “Perhaps you are right. Perhaps this in some part has something to do with you, but I cannot fathom what a former footman of mine would have against you to behave in such a fashion. Perhaps it is a coincidence due to the location of the other end of the tunnel.”
“It could be, or it could be something to do with my father.”
“Well there is very little hope of ascertaining his true intent now. The dead seldom speak, I am afraid.” Felix instructed one of the groomsmen to go into town and fetch the magistrate.
“Shall I summon the undertaker as well, Your Grace?”
“Yes, perhaps that is best.”
The groomsman nodded and left immediately. Felix instructed that a small number of maids go throughout the house knocking on the walls to signal to the men that remained within to exit. One by one the men began to filter out of the walls taking in the grisly scene before them as they stepped around the bloody corpse upon the floor.
“Patrick, take two other men and find the place where you believe that the intruder met his end. As I said, we will need to remove a section of wall to show the magistrate that there was not foul play involved,” Felix ordered the man who had drug the former footman from the walls.
“Yes, Your Grace.” He was still pale from the encounter, but he was strong and walked away with his shoulders squared, ready to face whatever might come next.
“Do you truly believe Lord Enfield could be responsible for this, Your Grace?” Mr. Wheatly asked softly, entering the room from where he had stood and watched quietly in the hall. “Given his past history should we not tell the magistrate of Miss Wright’s suspicions?”
“We are not certain of anything yet, Mr. Wheatly. One must have solid evidence before one accuses a peer of the realm.”
“Yes, of course, Your Grace. Forgive my impertinence, I simply worry for the girl’s safety.”
“As do I.” Felix laid a reassuring hand on Mr. Wheatly’s shoulder. “We will keep her safe, Mr. Wheatly.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” The butler bowed and returned to his station at the door to the room. Felix was grateful to him for his efforts to protect the remainder of the staff from seeing such a grisly sight.
Some things are best left unseen unless one is absolutely required to do so.
Felix watched as Marybeth examined the body to ensure that he was indeed deceased. Once she was satisfied that he was dead she stood and stepped back away from the body. “There is nothing to be done for him now,” she murmured, wiping her hands clean with a wet cloth from the bowl brought to clean the man’s face. “We can clean the body and prepare it for burial once the magistrate has done his due diligence. I can help with that.”
“Thank you, Miss Wright,” Felix murmured. He longed to reach out and touch her, to offer her comfort from her worst fears, but as they were not alone, he could not do so without causing a scandal. She deserves better than that. He also feared that were her true parentage to get out that she would be the subject of even more censure than she already endured. He had no intentions of mentioning Lord Enfield to the magistrate if he could keep from it. Marybeth’s reputation did not need to be scarred further.
“I will go and inform your mother of the intruder’s demise. She will be saddened by the death, but relieved to have this time of fear and anxiety brought to an end,” Marybeth stated, turning away from the body upon the floor. Her face was solemn, her eyes portraying a myriad of emotions. Felix knew it was not her first corpse, but it was still an unnerving sight regardless of one’s intimacy with death.
“Shall I go with you?” he offered in case she did not wish to be alone.
“No, I will be fine. The danger has passed, and life must go on. You have more than enough to be getting on with here.” She gestured toward the dead man and all of the male servants that had emerged from the wall still waiting for orders.
“You are correct, of course,” Felix replied, saddened by her refusal, but knowing she was right. Life indeed must go on. For me that means marriage to Lady Cordelia. Now that the danger has been dealt with, I will be forced to resume our courtship. Felix groaned in inward misery at the thought. I will miss my dear Marybeth and the moments we have shared together. She has been a breath of fresh air into our lives when all hope was nearly gone. I will never be able to repay her for that.
Marybeth nodded and left the room. Felix knew that she would still be around the manor house tending to his mother, but it would no longer be as intimate as it had been. Odd that I have never felt more alive as I have in these last few days of danger and mysterious intrigue. I have been so consumed with finding a cure for Mother over the years that I had never stopped to think about all of the things she and I had missed in our pursuit of life itself.
“Mr. Wheatly,” Felix summoned.
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“I believe once we have sorted out this mess with the magistrate and all propriety has been observed, we should begin preparations for a brief trip to Bath. I intended to take the Dowager Duchess before all of this occurred and I believe the time has come that we might safely do so.”
“A splendid plan, Your Grace. Her Grace will be greatly pleased. I will begin preparations immediately upon the magistrate’s departure.”
“Thank you, Mr. Wheatly.”
After issuing orders for the remaining staff that stood around staring at the corpse, Felix and Mr. Wheatly continued to stand guard over the body as they awaited the magistrate’s arrival. An odd sensation of discontent settled over Felix’s being. It confused him greatly because he knew that he should feel elated at the capture of the culprit who had terrorized his home and yet he did not feel that they had truly achieved safety and security. Instead, he felt a gnawing sense of doubt about it.
When the magistrate arrived, he examined the body, took witness statements, and went to look at the place where the intruder had been killed in the walls. Patrick and the me
n he had selected had made short order of tearing out the appropriate section and stood by waiting to clean the blood and rebuild the wall at their master’s behest. Felix was grateful for their efforts.
“Well, Your Grace, it would appear we have a simple straight forward case of defense here, possibly even suicide from what your man said. I do not believe there is any need for further legal action on the matter. Would you like for me to take the body and arrange for burial? The undertaker rode up with me and awaits my orders outside,” the Magistrate offered.
“Yes, thank you. I believe we are all ready for this matter to be put to rest and for normal life to resume once more.”
“I should say so,” the magistrate looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “I shall have the undertaker take the body away immediately.”
“Thank you,” Felix answered. “I have a healer here who has offered to aid in the cleaning of the body if her services should be needed.”
“That is most kind, Your Grace. I will inform the undertaker, but it is likely that he will choose to take the body as it is.”
“Very well.”
Felix walked the portly official to the door and watched as he hobbled out to his waiting carriage. The magistrate spoke with someone inside and a tall, pale, solemn faced man exited the carriage with a large folded piece of cloth under his arm. The undertaker followed the magistrate back through the house to the secret room where he wrapped the body in the cloth and then motioned for two of the household footmen to aid him in carrying the body to the carriage.
The footmen looked to Felix for his consent. He nodded his assent and they stepped forward picking the body up by its torso and legs. The undertaker followed without nary a word other than a bow and to murmur, “Your Grace,” as he passed Felix in the doorway. The magistrate did the same and then they were gone. The entire matter had been dealt with in very short order.
“Well, that is that,” Mr. Wheatly sighed and then began issuing orders for the entire household to clean up the mess, removing all evidence that a death had ever occurred.
Felix climbed the stairs to his mother’s bedchamber and entered to find Lady Cordelia sitting next to his mother reading. “Lady Cordelia,” he greeted in surprise. “I was not made aware that you had arrived.” He looked about the room but did not find Marybeth anywhere.
“I told them not to bother you. It was plain that you were otherwise occupied, and I really only came by to see how your dear mother was doing. When I heard of the distress within the household, I thought perhaps a distraction might be in order,” she replied lifting the book in her hand in illustration.
“That is most kind of you, My Lady,” Felix complimented with a smile. Perhaps she has more merit than I have given her credit for. Stepping forward, Felix came to sit beside his mother upon the bed. “How do you feel?” he asked in earnest. He had been concerned that all of the excitement might not be good for her.
The Dowager Duchess lifted her hand and caressed her son’s cheek. “Do not worry for me, my dear Felix. Marybeth’s herbs are doing wonders for me.”
“I am so very glad to hear it, Mother. I have been quite concerned for you these last days with all that had transpired. I am relieved to see that the anxiety of it has not dampened your spirits.”
“Knowing that all within our household are safe once more is all the boon I need,” the Dowager Duchess admitted with a smile.
“Well, now that life can once again resume its normal pattern, what would you say to a trip to Bath?”
“Oh, I adore Bath!” Lady Cordelia exclaimed, her eyes alight with excitement.
“Would you and the Earl care to join us, Lady Cordelia?” The Dowager Duchess asked smiling kindly at the girl.
“Oh, yes! Thank you! We would be most honored,” Lady Cordelia accepted the Duchess’s invitation. “When will we depart?” she asked turning her gaze back to Felix.
“Upon the morrow?” he inquired. He had not planned on taking anyone other than his mother, Marybeth, and his mother’s lady’s maid, but he supposed that the trip would give them all a chance to become better acquainted. They had all lived within riding distance of one another their entire lives and yet had hardly spoken a word, or in some cases had never met, in all that time.
“So soon? I must rush home and begin packing this instant,” Lady Cordelia gushed. She stood up, curtsied to them both, and then glided from the room. Felix had never seen her so excited.
“This should prove to be enlightening,” he remarked turning back to his mother. “Are you certain that you wish to host company? This trip is supposed to be for the improvement of your health.”
“Lady Cordelia is good for my health, Felix. I look forward to the day when I might call her daughter.”
Felix’s heart clenched at the thought, but he pushed his emotions aside and managed a smile. “If you are happy then I am happy.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead then stood to see to the preparations. “Have you seen Marybeth?” he inquired, concerned that she was not at his mother’s side as he had expected.
“She tended to my needs, but when Lady Cordelia arrived, she excused herself and returned to tend to Oliver Singer, I believe. I fear Lady Cordelia’s comments about her paternity have made Miss Wright uncomfortable.”
Felix nodded. “What comments? Should I be concerned? Is there a need for my intervention?”
“Nothing for you to be concerning yourself with. Your primary concern now is to resume your courtship of Lady Cordelia. Naught else matters to me more than that.”
“Of course,” Felix bowed respectfully over her hand, kissed it, and then went in search of Marybeth. It was going to be difficult for him to hide his feelings for Marybeth from Lady Cordelia, but he knew he had to try his best.
My life is a series of gloriously maddening complications, he remarked to himself in a mixture of humor and frustration, but it is worth every moment if Mother and Marybeth are a part of it. Heaven help me but I do not believe that I can surrender either of them. If I am to keep Marybeth in my life, I must ensure that no one else ever discovers how I feel about her, for if it were to ever become known she would be lost to me forever. Propriety would demand it.
Chapter 21
The carriage ride to Bath was a long awkward affair. Marybeth sat in the corner next to the Dowager Duchess in silence while Lady Cordelia and the Earl fawned all over the Duke in the seat opposite. Both Lady Cordelia and the Earl continuously sent disapproving looks toward Marybeth as they spoke. Had the two of them not been so desperate to garner the Duke’s favor, Marybeth suspected they would have refused to share the carriage with her. As it was, the Duke had demanded it.
Marybeth found herself wishing that she were sitting atop the contraption with the driver as Mrs. Snow had done, or better yet that the Earl and his sister had not come along at all.
Lady Cordelia is to marry the Duke whether I like it or not. It is not my place to have an opinion on the matter and yet I cannot help but wish that it were not so.
She gazed longingly at the handsome dark head across from her as he stared out of the window at the passing landscape. Feeling her eyes on him he turned and met her gaze. His deep green eyes had dark circles under them from lack of sleep. He looks tired. Marybeth’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of the longing she found in his eyes. Her cheeks grew warm under the intensity of his gaze and she fought the urge to reach out across the carriage and take his hand in hers.
The memory of their shared kiss flashed through her mind, sending tingling sensations all throughout her body. No other man had ever made her feel as Felix did. No other man had ever touched her as he had, but she could not imagine it being the same with anyone else. She had lived a life free from societies conventions and yet she had never been brazen or wanton.
Felix had been her first kiss and if how she felt for him was any indication, he might very well be her last. She feared that no one would ever be able to replace him in her affections. An image of herself as an
old woman living alone in the forest, while Felix bounced his grandchildren on his knee flashed through her mind and she closed her eyes at the intense feeling of pain that swept over her at the thought. She had never had a problem with the idea of living alone before she had met him, but now…
“Are you well, Miss Wright?” Opening her eyes, she found Felix still watching her from across the carriage. Lady Cordelia had ceased from speaking and was now glaring at Marybeth. In fact, everyone was staring at her.
Pray God I did not voice my thoughts aloud!
“Are you well?” Felix repeated the question concern on his face. He had leaned forward in his seat attempting to gauge her wellbeing for himself. “You went suddenly pale and looked quite troubled. Is it the tumultuous motion of the carriage?”
“No, no, I am quite well, thank you.”
“Are you certain?”
“A bit tired perhaps, but I am well.”
A Duke Under Her Spell: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 16
