Emily woke up for the fifth time that night. Sleep had alluded her all night, so she decided to finally admit defeat and got out of bed. She wrapped her shawl around her shoulders and went to the window. The early rays of morning peeked over the horizon. Emily pulled a chair over to the window to watch the sunrise. It would be her last sunrise from this room for a while.
During her restless night, Emily had devised a plan for her future. If she were being forced to go to London, she would use it to her advantage. She had pamphlets from one of the nursing schools in London hidden away. With the war going on, there was a growing need for nurses. More wounded were coming home every day, and Emily knew her skills could be useful.
Once Emily arrived in London, she would make inquiries and see about enrolling. The only problem would be how to keep her secret from her mother, but she would find an excuse. Thankfully, her mother had gotten used to Emily’s less refined ways and did not require her to attend all the social functions. If Emily was fortunate, perhaps she could travel to the continent to work.
If those brave soldiers could sacrifice their lives, the least she could do was care for those wounded. Thoughts of the soldiers made Emily think of Hugh. She worried that he would go back to the front and get hurt. What did it matter to her? He certainly would not think of her; she was nothing to him. Hugh had rejected her advances; she should be done with the man. The problem was, she could not stop thinking about him.
It was a fool’s dream to believe someone as handsome and brave as Hugh would love her. But every time his dark eyes glanced her way, she melted. There had been times when she thought she had caught him looking at her, but she was not positive. At those moments, there had been a glint in Hugh’s eyes, was it desire, or was she just fooling herself?
All Emily wanted was one kiss, nothing more. She knew Hugh had a reputation as a womanizer and a gambler, but she did not care. She only wanted a taste of what other women had enjoyed. Her thoughts became dismal, and she fought back the tears.
Just then, the door opened, and her maid entered. “Good morning, my lady, did you sleep well?”
“Yes, thank you, Betsy. Can I have some water to wash up with, please.”
The maid curtsied and went to fetch the water. It gave Emily a few minutes to compose herself before Betsy returned. She had breakfast in her room; she was not in the mood to be social this morning. It would be hard enough to say goodbye later.
After breakfast, Emily joined Kate in the nursery with Robbie. They told him that Emily would be leaving for a short while.
“Why must you go, Auntie Emily? I don’t want you to go.” Robbie clung to her skirts.
Emily knelt next to the boy. “Now, Robbie, dear, I won’t be gone for long. I just have some things to tend to, then I will be back, all right?”
The little boy put on a brave face, but Emily heard a sniffle when he hugged her. It broke her heart to leave him; she already thought of him as her flesh and blood, and she loved him dearly.
Afterwards, Emily went back to her room to finalize the packing and to make sure she had everything she needed. She put on her traveling cloak and went downstairs. Kate and Ethan waited for her, but there was no sign of Hugh. Emily’s heart sank. So, he had decided not to say goodbye. It was probably for the best.
Strong arms enfolded her in a hug, bringing out of her misery; it was Ethan. She returned the embrace. Emily loved her brother. She may not always agree with him, but she knew everything he did came from a place of love.
“Don’t drive mother too ragged. You know how she is with her headaches,” Ethan joked.
Emily smirked. Lady Norris was known for her mysterious headaches, which came on any time Emily was too headstrong or impertinent.
“I won’t.” Emily pulled back from Ethan. “Please be careful. Don’t do anything foolish, or you’ll have me to answer to,” Emily scolded.
“I promise. Kate will keep me safe, won’t you, darling?”
Kate stepped up next to Ethan. “You know he will answer to me if anything happens.”
Kate embraced her friend. Emily heard footsteps and looked over Kate’s shoulder, hoping to see Hugh. Instead, she saw Louis coming down the hallway. He noticed her disappointment and slightly shook his head. So, Hugh was not coming. Emily cast her eyes downward and gave Kate one last embrace before letting go. She hugged Louis as well, and they all walked out to the waiting carriage. After another round of farewells, Emily was off.
The carriage was halfway down the drive when Emily caught sight of a figure on horseback. The rider was too far away for her to distinguish, but she had a feeling it was Hugh. No one else who would be out riding and following the carriage. Emily wanted to wave or call out, but she thought better of it. Hugh did not want her in his life, and she accepted the fact which was fine with her. She would go to London and make her own life, no matter what anyone else said.
Chapter 23
Hugh watched the carriage roll down the drive and out to the main road. Inside was the only woman who stirred his soul and made him want to give up the charade he lived. But that was not possible. There were too many wheels set in motion and too many years of hard work. He had to see that everything ran smoothly. Besides, Emily probably would not forgive his deception. If she learned the truth behind all the secrets and lies that made up his life, would she still care for him? Truth, even Hugh did not know what was true in his life after all these years. The lines had started to blur. The only thing he knew was that Emily would be safer away from here until the threat had passed.
This situation had to end. There had to be someone who had answers. Perhaps, Hugh could question the men they had captured again. Both prisoners had sworn they didn’t know who had given them orders, but there had to be something they were missing. Hugh turned his horse around and went off to the building to interrogate them again.
When Hugh arrived, he ordered the guards to open the door to the room that held the first man they had captured during the attack in the gardens. He grabbed the man by his shirt. “Tell me what you know about the man giving you orders.”
The prisoner stammered, “I don’t know nothing. I already told you, me and the others never saw him.”
“How did he find you?”
“My friend, Tommy, he was the one who set everything up.” The captive stammered.
“Where is your friend now?” Hugh didn’t loosen his grip on the man’s shirt.
“I don’t know.”
“Did your friend, Tommy, tell you anything about the man who was paying you?”
“He said the gentleman looked right proper, fine clothes, money. Tommy said he would pay us good money to cause a little mischief, so that’s what we did.”
“How did Tommy get the orders?”
“There is a small house in the woods. We met Tommy after he talked with the gentleman, but I don’t know where they met.”
Hugh shook the man.
“That’s all I know, sir, please,” the criminal begged.
Hugh dropped him to the floor. There wasn’t anything new to go on. Guards were stationed around the cabin, but so far, it had proven fruitless. Either the mystery man no longer needed the gang of thugs, or he knew his accomplices had been rooted out.
Next, Hugh made his way to the room across the hall. His men had caught the second ruffian on the night of the attack in the garden. He had been found running through a field to escape, but he had been wounded and passed out. They had questioned him briefly, but now, Hugh would make sure they would leave no stone unturned.
The guard opened the door. At the sound, the second prisoner looked up in surprise and saw the look of impatience on Hugh’s face.
“Now, you will answer all of my questions, and if I am satisfied, I may not kill you where you stand,” Hugh ordered.
The color drained from the detainee’s face, but he was smart enough to nod his head in understanding.
“Good. Now, how many men were there the night you came to the manor house
?”
“Six, sir.”
“One of your companions was killed in the garden, and another was killed during the pursuit. Will the others come back and finish what they started?”
“Depends,” he whispered.
“On what?”
The culprit did not move from where he stood. Hugh could tell he was scared.
The prisoner asked, “Did one of the dead men have a scar down his cheek?”
Hugh remembered the bastard who had taken Emily. Even now, the memory was enough to make him clench his fists. He pictured the man’s face and recalled the scar that ran down his left cheek.
“Yes, he was one of the men that was killed,” Hugh confirmed.
“He was our leader, Tommy. He’s the one who got the orders about what to do and where to be. The others won’t be back if Tommy’s not around. They’ll go home, I promise you.”
“Do you know where Tommy met to get his orders?”
“Yeah, some inn about two towns over; it was called the Pig and Cow, or the Cow and Chicken, or…”
“The Pig and Rooster?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Tommy would go there and meet the bloke then come and tell us what we was to do. Tommy was supposed to meet the man tonight.”
Hugh couldn’t believe his luck. “You are sure it’s tonight?”
“Yes, sir, I remember Tommy saying it the other day.”
Hugh rushed out to his horse and raced to the house. He hurried inside to find Ethan in the study with Louis. He told his friends what he had learned.
“Finally, something solid to go on,” Ethan sighed.
Hugh knew that Ethan’s inability to find the orchestrator of this farce weighed heavily on him. Among his friends, Ethan was the brightest, and he had always been the first one to find a solution; he prided himself on that fact. This was the first time Hugh had seen his friend so distraught, and it pained him. He would do everything in his power to help Ethan and Kate.
Hugh said, “I’ll go to the inn and wait. Someone there might remember this Tommy fellow. With a scar on his face, he’d be hard to miss.”
Ethan nodded.
Louis rose from his chair. “I will go too. You may need someone to back you up, who knows what you will be walking into.”
“Very well, you two go, but be careful. Take one or two guards with you. I do not want to take any chances. This man is cunning, and he may know who you are.” Ethan replied.
Louis and Hugh raced out the door. On their way out, they shouted their farewells to Kate and Robbie.
Chapter 24
Kate pulled Robbie out of the way as Louis and Hugh thundered past them. It piqued her curiosity. She took Robbie to the nursery and handed him over to Nana. Then, she went to find Ethan, who was just leaving the study.
“Ethan, what’s going on? Hugh and Louis went storming out of here like the devil was at their heels.”
“No, but they may find him.”
Kate’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about.”
Ethan came over and swept her up in a kiss, and Kate lovingly responded. “Hugh received some information from one of the prisoners. Our mystery man is supposed to be at The Pig and Rooster tonight. Hugh and Louis are going there now to see if they can find him. It may soon be over.”
Kate let out a shaky laugh. For the first time in months, she felt like everything would work out. She would not have to be afraid anymore. Ethan smiled and kissed her again.
Suddenly Kate remembered why she had come down to speak to Ethan. “I have a few things I need to pick up in the village. Can one of the guards come with me?”
“I’ll go with you,” Ethan offered.
He ordered the carriage, and they were off within ten minutes. Kate needed to pick up orders from the seamstress and the mercantile. When the carriage pulled to a stop Ethan handed her out.
“I will go to Mistress Barnes’ shop first. I have a few dresses that are finished. After that I have some packages to get from the mercantile. I should not be more than a half hour.
“Very well. I will stroll around, see how everyone is getting along. I will meet you back here in half an hour.” He placed a kiss on her cheek and went towards the blacksmith’s shop.
It did not take Kate long to finish her business. She didn’t want to hold Ethan up too long in case he was needed elsewhere. Kate handed her purchases from the dress shop to the coachman, then went over to the mercantile store. She browsed while the shop keeper gathered her order. The bell on the door signaled the entrance of another customer. Mr. James, the local solicitor, smiled and bowed to her. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Lady Leeds.”
“You are well, Mr. James? What brings you here today?”
“I require a new cane; mine has unfortunately gone missing.”
As the solicitor spoke, Kate noticed the pin on his necktie. It looked familiar, and she wondered where she had seen it before. Her mind worked furiously until she remembered. A faint shaking started in her limbs. The pin had the same flower design she had seen on Mary’s broach, the one her mystery admirer had given her. This was more than a coincidence.
When Mr. James finished speaking, Kate spoke up, “Sir, I could not help but admire your pin; it is most unusual. Where did you come upon it?”
“Mr. Brightley gave it to me yesterday. It was a gift for helping him while he visited these last few weeks.”
Brightley, the man had shown up multiple times since she had been here. Plus, his comments and questions, at times, had left her with a sense of apprehension.
“Where did you say Mr. Brightley was from?”
“He’s from up north. I believe he has family up there, a cousin, or some such thing.”
Kate wondered if her attacker might have been right under their noses the entire time. She had to find him. “Is Mr. Brightley here today? I must ask him where he purchased that pin. Lord Norris would adore one.”
“He should be at my office.”
Kate thanked the solicitor and left the shop. She searched for Ethan as she hurried down the street but did not catch sight of him. As much as Kate wanted to run, she did not want to draw any attention. When she came to the solicitor’s office, she threw open the door.
“Is Mr. Brightley in?” Kate demanded.
A clerk answered from his desk, “I’m sorry, ma’am, but he has left.”
“Do you know when he will be back?”
“He mentioned he would be leaving tonight.”
“Did he say where he was going?” Kate asked breathlessly.
“No ma’am, but he mentioned he had to pick up one last thing before he left.”
“Did he say what it was?”
The clerk shook his head. “I’m sorry, no. He only said it was time to finish what he came here to do.”
She thanked the clerk, left the office, and rushed down the street. The wheels in her brain rolled through the events of the last few days. It could not be pure chance. Mr. Brightley had made comments in the past about her being a widow. The day she and Ethan had returned from her parents’ house, he was there on the road. He had known they were on their way back to Ethan’s house. How he could have known unless he had asked around or been there himself? Plus, the broach and the cravat pin were identical. It all had to be connected. Mr. Brightley had to be Mary’s mystery man, but where did he fit in with Arthur?
Kate neared the carriage and saw Ethan exiting the book shop. He approached her with a grin, but that changed when he saw the troubled look on her face.
“What is it?” Ethan demanded.
“We have to go back to the house.”
Ethan nodded and helped Kate into the carriage.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I have found our mystery man; it is Mr. Brightley.”
Ethan’s eyebrows lifted. “You cannot be serious, the solicitor? Whatever gave you that idea?”
Kate explained the similarities between Mr. James’ pin and Mary’s broach. She also pointed ou
t the comments Mr. Brightley had made on the times they had met. Lastly, she told Ethan what the clerk had told her.
“I think he is planning one last attack. The clerk said he mentioned that he had to finish what he had come here to do.”
Kate dared not put her worst fears into words. From the look on his face, Ethan could read her thoughts. He yelled out to the driver to speed up. The ride to the house took half the usual time.
The coach had barely stopped when the couple barged out and headed toward the house. As they headed to the stairs, they heard shouting. A groomsman called out and pointed off into the distance. Kate saw a billow of smoke circling from among the trees.
Ethan yelled, “Oh God! He’ll burn down the whole bloody forest.”
He called for his men and ordered them to mount up. In a matter of minutes, a full patrol of guards waited for further orders.
Ethan shouted over the commotion, “The smoke is coming from the cabin we’ve been watching. Kate be on guard and stay in the house with Robbie. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Before Kate could say a word, the group rode away. She watched the men charge across the lawn at a breakneck speed. Just as she entered the house, she heard screams coming from the kitchen. She raced back and saw the garden on fire.
Kate rounded up the servants and told them to fill buckets with water. The fire must have been deliberate. There were multiple fires set far enough apart in the garden that they would not spread quickly, but they would take time to douse. As Kate and the staff worked to put out the fire, she realized they were merely a diversion. Everyone in the house was with Ethan or with her trying to put out the blazes. Someone wanted to divert their attention, but from what?
A cold, impending sense of doom left Kate chilled to the bone. Robbie! She dropped the bucket and ran upstairs to the nursery. The guard set to watch the nursery was gone. No doubt, he had rushed to help when he heard the commotion from downstairs. She rushed in and found Nana on the floor in a pool of blood. Kate knelt to turn her over and saw she was still breathing.
Kate called out, “Robbie!” There was no answer.
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