Rose recalled what Elianna had confided in her. She’d told her that the Berklys were her relations and she agreed to serve them after they assumed the title. Not an uncommon situation for a poor relation to assume. “What did she neglect to share?”
Anna inhaled a deep breath. “She is more of a prisoner to the Berklys than a willing servant. You see, Elianna has no one who cares for her and no funds of her own. When Lord Berkly inherited the title, he made her choose between a nunnery and servitude to his family. I do not believe Eli understood what she was agreeing to until it was much too late. The family is not at all kind to her and they rule every aspect of her life. She is in truth, Lady Elianna, daughter to the previous Earl of Berkly.”
“Dear me.” Rose’s heart ached for Elianna.
“She stays because she has nowhere else to go.”
Poppycock. Rose would gladly take Elianna from this place and restore her to her proper place among society. “I need not hear more. Help me find her.”
Anna stepped around Rose. “I’d wager she has been locked in the attic. Let us start there.”
Jiggle, jiggle. Elianna straightened from her fetal position near the attic wall. Did her ears deceive her? She swore she’d just heard the rattle of the door handle. She strained to listen.
Rap, rap.
Elianna’s heart jumped. Someone had come. At this very moment, someone attempted to gain entry—to save her.
“Eli, are you in there?”
Anna’s soothing voice reached her and she forced her sore, stiff body up. “Yes, yes, I am here.” She sprinted toward the door.
“Lady Berkly has somehow altered the lock, rendering the key useless.” Panic laced Anna’s tone.
“It is hopeless. You cannot save me from my cousins.” Elianna leaned against the door, allowing her head to rest upon the hard, cold surface. “Not without causing harm to yourself.”
“But I can,” another woman said.
“Lady Aubry?” Hope surged through Elianna, then crested in a wave of despair. “I fear there is nothing you can do for me, either.
“Nonsense. I am going to see you freed, then I am going to take you away from this place. Anna, too, if she so wishes it.”
Elianna’s spirits soared once more. “You truly mean it?”
“With all my heart.”
Elianna wanted to believe her years of abuse were coming to an end. Still, life had been so cruel to her. What if all Rose did was make things worse? What if the Berklys found a way to punish her for her intervention? Most importantly, why had Elianna not considered the consequences that might befall Rose for assisting her before? Elianna did not want her friends to suffer for her.
Drat, Lord Sinclair had her mind all muddled. Regardless, Elianna could not allow Rose to suffer for her mistakes. She never should have crossed Lady Berkly. “Rose?”
“Yes, dear?”
“I fear you will cause trouble for yourself by helping me. I do not want my cousins to harm you. I am truly fine. Please do not involve yourself further.”
“Poppycock! I was once in a similar situation, entirely different circumstances, but a similar danger. Lord Aubry saved me despite my fears. Allow me to save you.”
“But—” Elianna began to protest.
“No buts. Fret not. I will return shortly.” Rose patted the door separating them.
“Dare to dream, Eli,” Anna added.
Elianna slid down the length of the door and pulled her knees close to her chest as the sound of her friends’ footsteps faded. What a mess she’d made of everything.
Chapter 10
“Calm down. I cannot understand a word you’re saying.” Garrett watched as Aubry took hold of Rose’s arms. “Take a breath and start over, love.”
“Elianna…” She gasped for air. “Is locked in the attic.”
Garrett needed to hear no more. He raced from the room, taking the stairs two at a time, desperate to reach her. His pulse hammered fiercely as he went. He’d been so wrong. Devil take it! He’d allowed Lady Caroline and her parents to make a fool of him and harm Elianna in the process.
He rounded the corner into the hallway leading to the attic and pushed himself to run faster. “Move,” he commanded when he reached the door, barely allowing the maid who blocked his path to step out of the way before he started tugging on the door. “Elianna, I’m here. I will get you out.”
“Garrett. You came…for me.”
Her voice caused his blood to warm and his heart to swell, the need to protect her bearing down on him. He’d see Lord and Lady Berkly punished for what they did to her, and Lady Caroline would never wed a respectable gentleman. All of London would discover their true nature. “I need you to move away from the door.”
“Okay,” Elianna’s voice quivered.
“I am going to knock the blasted thing down.” He backed up to allow himself a running start, then plowed his left side into the oak door. It made a fierce cracking noise but there was no visible damage. He repeated the motion again, a crack appearing in the wood.
“My lord, you’re going to hurt yourself.”
He peered at the maid. “That is no concern of yours.” Again, he backed up and slammed into the door. A splinter of wood flew across the hall and a small shriek emitted from Elianna. “Have you been injured?” he called to her.
“N-no. Merely s-surprised.”
“Good. Stay back, darling.” Garrett lunged at the door again, causing more damage but not managing to knock it down.
“Sinclair, move aside. Allow me a go at it.” Aubry appeared in the hall with Rose by his side.
“Help if you please, but I will not step aside.” Garrett backed up and lunged at the door, this time with Aubry. Their combined weight split the door further. “Again,” Garrett ordered.
“Cease that this instant.”
Aubry turned toward the angry intruder. “Lady Berkly. What a pleasure.”
Garrett ignored her and rammed into the wooden panel, determination driving him on.
Lady Berkly shrieked, “You are ruining my home. Stop at once.”
“Perhaps if you produced the key he would cease breaking the door down,” Rose said, her voice calm and polite though her arms were crossed and eyes narrowed.
Lord Berkly joined the crowd, passing his wife to grab ahold of Garrett’s jacket. “My wife asked you to stop.”
“The hell with you and your wife,” Garrett seethed. He pulled back his fist, then smashed it into Berkly’s jaw. The man released him, crumpling to the ground.
“Good lord!” Lady Caroline yelled.
Garrett wasted not a moment, returning to the task at hand, ramming into the door once more. It splintered, shaking on its hinges.
“One more should do the trick.” Aubry joined him, and the two plowed the door again.
Lady Berkly, along with Lady Caroline on her heels, moved to stand in front of the splintered door. “You cannot go in there.”
Garrett stared at them with cold eyes. “Why not?”
“It is dangerous, my lord,” Lady Caroline said.
“Yes, rats and rotten floorboards,” Lady Berkly added.
“Step aside or I will toss you out of my way.” Garrett stepped toward them purposefully. He would no longer play their games, no longer allow them to stand between him and Elianna.
Rose dashed into the fray, shoving first Lady Caroline, then her mama out of the way. “We know Elianna is on the other side of that door and we know what you’ve done to her.”
Garrett pushed the door until it fell aside. Elianna rushed into his arms and he wrapped her in his embrace, burying his face in her golden curls. She shook against him as though she had just come in from a snowstorm. He stroked her back. “You are safe now, darling. I will protect you.”
She nodded her head against his chest but did not stop shaking.
“You stupid fool. No one can save her. She owes us.” Lady Berkly stepped closer to him.
Rose’s eyes flashed with anger.
“Elianna owes you nothing.”
Lady Caroline took her mama’s arm. “She’s ruined everything. I was to have Lord Sinclair,” she wailed. “He was to wed me.”
“I never would have wed you. You are a spiteful, shallow creature.” Garrett scowled at her. “I am well aware the note you tried to force on me wasn’t from Elianna at all. You’re not fit to mend Elianna’s frocks.”
“She and Anna are both coming home with Lord Aubry and me,” Rose interjected.
“The hell they are.” Lord Berkly stirred into a sitting position. “You cannot come into my home and steal my servants.”
“Watch us,” Lord Aubry said, his countenance stern.
Garrett turned his attention to Rose and Aubry. “Actually, the Berklys are correct on that count. No one is going home with you.” He took hold of Elianna’s chin, tipping her head up until their eyes met. “Marry me?”
“You cannot,” Lady Caroline protested. “She’s nobody…a servant…and you are a lord. It’s not fitting.”
Garrett gave her a hard look meant to make her shut her mouth, then gazed into Elianna’s eyes, searching. “I care not who or what you are. I want you for my wife. I want to laugh with you, work beside you, and protect you. Most of all, I want you to let me love you.”
Elianna’s lips quivered, her eyes filling with tears. “You l-love me?”
“I do. With all I am. Heart, body, and soul. Say you will be my viscountess?”
She glanced at Rose and Anna, then back to him. “Yes…yes, I’ll marry you.”
“No, no, you can’t. For God’s sake, she’s a servant,” Lady Caroline yelled. “Mama, do something.”
Rose approached Lady Caroline, her eyes cold, face set sternly. “She is a lady. Lady Elianna, daughter of the sixth Earl of Berkly.”
Lady Caroline’s face balanced. She peered at Elianna. “You ungrateful harlot. After all my family has done for you. This is how you repay us? You steal—”
Rose backhanded Lady Caroline, cutting off her vitriol, a satisfied grin on her face.
Aubry moved to take his wife into his arms. “That is quite enough, my love.” He directed his attention to Lady Caroline who stood with her hand on her cheek and shock etched into her features. “Be warned, I will not protect you further.”
“Take me to bed, Caroline.” Lady Berkly put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “I cannot withstand anymore of this.”
“You? What of me? Someone should take me to bed. I am the one who has lost my companion.” She pouted. “Who will dress me? Style my hair?”
“Stop being so dramatic,” Lady Berkly snapped.
“But Mother—”
Lady Berkly peered at her. “Hold your tongue, girl.”
Garrett pulled Elianna closer as he watched the Berkly women make their way down the hall. “They cannot hurt you now, darling.” He scooped her into his arms. “Let us get you out of this place at once.”
“Garrett?”
“Yes, darling?”
“I love you, too.” She gave him a warm smile before resting her head back on his shoulder.
Epilogue
Ten months later
As Garrett paced the length of the parlor, he recounted all that had happened since he rescued Elianna and she’d rescued him in return, though he did not know it at the time.
He’d secured a special license and wed her upon their arrival in London. The ceremony had been intimate with only Aubry, Rose, and Anna in attendance. Elianna had worn one of Rose’s gowns which she had altered to compliment Eli, as he’d come to call her.
He glanced at a portrait he had made of them a fortnight after their wedding, his beautiful wife’s likeness stared back at him. After the ceremony, Garrett had taken her home, saw her settled and then joined Aubry in seeing to the Berklys. He’d been correct in thinking there was something sinister afoot—far more so than simply enslaving his Eli.
Garrett pivoted to pace back the other way. She had been strong all those years and he prayed she retained that strength for she no doubt required it now. She had been so brave back then, so forgiving. Eli had gone so far as to ask that the Berklys simply be forgotten—one request Garrett could not honor. They had to pay for what they’d done to her.
Aubry had launched his own investigation, and Garrett hired the Bow Street Runners. Between the set, they discovered the late earl had indeed provided for his daughter. In fact, she’d had a great deal of money along with an estate settled on her, an old country home that had not been entailed to the earldom.
Elianna had been left a wealthy lady with property all her own. As it turned out, Lord Berkly had presented Lady Caroline to the solicitor, passing her off as Elianna, having her claim what was left to Eli. The Berklys had been destitute and desperate to save themselves. They shamefully took Elianna’s inheritance and used it to pay off their own debts.
By the time Garrett, Aubry, and Bow Street had finished with them, Lord Berkly sat in debtor’s prison while Lady Berkly and Lady Caroline were forced into servitude until their debts to Eli were repaid. The ladies now served as scullery maids at his country estate, an arrangement that pleased Garrett beyond words and a fitting punishment for what they had done to Elianna.
“Lord Sinclair, you may go to her now.” Anna beamed.
“Thank you.” Garrett needed no further prodding. He raced from the parlor to join his wife in her bedchamber.
His heart overflowed with love when he entered the chamber to find Eli snuggled on the bed, a newborn baby resting in the crook of her arm. “Darling.” He smiled before sitting on the edge of the mattress and dropping a kiss on her forehead, then on the baby’s.
“We have a son.” Elianna said, her eyes shining. “A beautiful baby boy.”
“He gets it from his mother.” Garrett peeled back the blanket to allow himself a better view of their son.
Elianna laughed. “How you do go on, my dear husband.”
“What are we to call him?”
Elianna turned her head, taking in the sight of their child. “I should like very much to call him Edward Lee after my father.”
The baby let out a cooing noise, and Garrett stroked his satiny cheek. “Very well, Edward, he is.”
Anna, who had followed Garrett into the chamber, approached the bed. “It is a strong name befitting a future viscount indeed.”
Elianna glanced at her friend who now served as her companion. “Do you think it would please Papa?”
“Without a doubt.” Anna grinned. “I will leave you two to bond with your son now.”
“Anna, I have a request of you,” Garrett said.
“Yes, my lord.”
“If it pleases you and Eli, I would like you to be Edward’s godmother.” He looked between his wife and her companion, gauging by the wide smiles both women wore, he had indeed pleased them.
“Nothing would give me greater joy. Do say you will accept?” Eli took Garrett’s hand in hers but her gaze remained on Anna.
“I am honored to be little Edward’s godmother. Thank you.” She gave a curtsy, then took her leave.
Garrett stretched out on the bed, taking both his wife and son into his arms. “How did I get so blessed?”
“We dared to dream,” Elianna said, her voice sleepy as she snuggled closer.
Garrett stroked her hair. “You are my heart, darling.”
She dropped a kiss on his shirt where it covered his heart. “And you are my soul.”
EXCERPT
Turn the page for an excerpt from:
Delighted by the Duke
Fabled Love book 4
Prologue
London 1812
Miss Emma Baxtor paused outside of her uncle’s office unable to ignore the raised voices coming from within.
“You will settle your debt or face debtor’s prison.” A raspy male voice shouted.
“Surely I have something other than coin that you would accept,” Her uncle, Mr. Silas Powell, suggested.
Emma c
rept closer and peeked through the crack of the open door. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Lord Winham stood near her uncle’s desk, a tumbler of amber liquid in his beefy hand. What debt did her uncle owe to the loathsome man?
“You should refrain from gambling if you haven’t the blunt to settle your losses, Baxtor.”
She should have guessed as much. Uncle Silas had gambled away nearly everything they had, save for the house and a few baubles her aunt had entrusted to her before she passed away. Those too would no doubt have been lost as well if Uncle Silas knew she possessed them. He claimed to have stayed away from the gaming hells these past months. All the same, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to hear he was in trouble again. After all, it was only a matter of time where Uncle Silas was concerned. He always fell back into the trap. The habit had caused a continuous heartache for her aunt while she lived and likely caused her death. Poor thing, she had loved him deeply despite his failings and as a result fretted more than was good for any one person.
“You are welcome to anything I posses, Windham. Name your desire and it is yours.”
What was there to take other than their home? Her uncle’s shop she supposed. One would be as devastating a loss for them as the other. If Windham took the house they would have no shelter—if he took the shop they would have no income.
“Perhaps there is one thing you posses of interest to me.” Windham rubbed his rounded chin between his thumb and forefinger as she stared, her belly in knots. “Miss Emma.”
Bile rose in her throat and she fought to suppress it. Uncle would never…
“Done,” Uncle Silas agreed. “She is yours to do with as you please.”
How could he! Was it not bad enough that her own father gave her away after her mother’s death? Now her uncle used her to settle a debt as well. She’d not stand for it. The office door ricocheted off the papered wall from the force she used entering the office. “You cannot give me away like I am nothing more than an old settee.”
Enticed by Lady Elianna (Fabled Love Book 3) Page 7
