A Bride for the Betrayed Earl

by Bridget Barton

  “Then I shall intrude upon your morning no longer, Mrs Fitzgerald.” Hunter began to rise, and he could sense Algernon rising in a somewhat more confused manner beside him. “We shall make our way back down south and will hopefully happen upon Mr Fitzgerald there.”

  “Well, I shall tell my son that you called, Mr Bentley. I am sure that he shall be very pleased to hear it.” She began to rise to her feet also.

  “Please do, Mrs Fitzgerald.” Hunter bowed deeply. “And I do hope that we shall see a little something of you in the South when your son finally becomes the master at Tarlton.”

  “As do I, Mr Bentley.” She inclined her head graciously and then pulled the bell rope at the side of the fireplace.

  In a heartbeat, the same young woman who had answered the door to them, likely the only servant in the house, arrived to show them out.

  As they untethered their horses, Algernon was quiet for some moments before turning to his cousin.

  “Why on earth were you asking about hostelries in the rough part of town?”

  “Because we both know that Kent Fitzgerald is certainly not in the South. If he has a degenerate, drunken driver, the man will need to get a drink somewhere, will he not? It is much easier, I should imagine, to hide a kidnapped young woman in a rough place full of drunken people who ask no questions than in a fine coaching inn anywhere else in England. What do you say?” Hunter said and raised his eyebrows.

  “I say that that was a very clever little deduction indeed, Cousin.” Algernon mounted his horse.

  “And now all we need are the directions to the Green Man Coaching Inn.” Hunter smiled and mounted his horse also.

  Chapter 28

  “Kent, please understand that I have been two nights away from Tarlton Manor now, and my mother and sister will be desperate with worry. Could you not at least write to them to let them know where we are?”

  “I am Kent again, am I? Well, I am not quite so gullible as you would suspect, Emmeline. I realize that you are trying to get me on your side, and I will not have it.”

  “I am not trying to get you on my side, Cousin, I am simply asking that you put my mother and sister out of their misery. You are a gentleman, after all, and it would be the gentlemanly thing to do.”

  “So that they can alert your Earl and have him come and rescue you?” he said with a sneer.

  “No, you may write that we are to be married and then the Earl would have no need to come looking, would he?”

  “So, you are telling me now that you are willing to marry me here in the Midlands? You will behave yourself and do as you are told for once?” Kent looked at her with the utmost suspicion.

  “I realize that I have no other way out of this, and so I shall marry you if you still wish it.” Emmeline almost choked on the words but knew that she had to do something.

  She would never, of course, marry him, that much she knew. But at least if she agreed to the thing, it would be a way of getting out of that dreadfully malodorous and shabby room and into the daylight. It was not much of a plan, but Emmeline had fully decided that she would try to win his favour again, even all the way to the church and, the moment she had an audience, she would loudly proclaim that she had been kidnapped, stolen away from her family and her fiancé, the Earl of Addison. She would make such a fuss and refuse to make her vows and, finally, some person of good sense somewhere would surely realize that there was something dreadfully wrong. As far as plans went, it was all that she had.And if he could be persuaded to write to her mother and sister, then at least they would know where she was. Rose, knowing her poor feeling for her cousin, would instantly realize that something was wrong, and she would inform the Earl. Hunter would come for her, surely he would.

  Emmeline went quiet for a moment and thought about it. Would Hunter really come for her? Even though there had seemed to be greater sympathy between them of late, would it not be easier for him to assume that he had been abandoned once again? Would that not make it easier now for him to open his arms wide and accept Felicity Burton into them? The same Felicity Burton who had treated her so cruelly.

  “After all your harsh words and posturing and anger, you would marry me now, would you?” Kent looked at her and narrowed his eyes, the growth on his face making him look even more of a villain than he had done the day before.

  Emmeline knew that she was getting nowhere with him; he did not trust her, but she knew she must find a way to make him.

  “I suppose I realize now the depth of your feeling, Cousin. Perhaps before I thought you only sought to use my upcoming financial quandary and homelessness against me, but I see now that you genuinely care. You must do; otherwise, you would have not gone to such lengths to get me here, you would have simply ignored me entirely.”

  “Well, that much is true,” he said and began to look her up and down in a way which made her feel dreadfully uncomfortable.

  For a moment, Emmeline wondered if she was following the right path, if her actions would lead to her freedom, or if they would simply dig her ever deeper into the nightmare.

  At that moment, her attention and that of her cousin were drawn to the door. Somebody was turning the handle, quietly and slowly, but still, it could be heard. Emmeline thought instantly to cry out but then wondered if it was simply the drunken and slovenly driver returning to his master for orders. If it was and she screamed, then she would no doubt suffer for it, and any progress she had made in the last moments would be lost. Instead, she held her breath.

  Kent, seeming to come to his senses finally, looked around the room to where he had left the Baker rifle leaning up against the fireplace. Emmeline felt suddenly dreadfully afraid, but before Kent had the opportunity to reach for the gun, the door flew inwards with a tremendous crack.

  There, framed in the doorway, was Algernon Rochester. He seemed to her suddenly larger than ever, his mighty stature perfect for the occupation of kicking a door almost off its hinges. He entered the room quickly but was overtaken by Hunter Bentley.

  “Hunter, thank goodness,” she said, and his eyes flew to her.

  She could see that he had immediately taken in her circumstances, her bound wrists and the way she had been tethered to the bedstead. She saw the darkest anger cloud in his eyes before looking back towards the fireplace where Kent Fitzgerald was making for the Baker rifle.

  Hunter sprung into immediate action, crossing the room in a heartbeat and grabbing Kent Fitzgerald’s shoulder firmly, spinning him sharply around to face him before landing a very hard blow to the man’s face. It was a single blow which sent Kent Fitzgerald flying backward until he landed on his back on the floor almost in the corner of the room. He did not move at all, and Emmeline could not help hoping that the man was simply unconscious and not dead.

  However, as Algernon Rochester walked across the room and towered over the man, Kent Fitzgerald began to groan, and Emmeline breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Emmeline, forgive me for not getting here sooner. As soon as your sister realized what must have happened, as soon as she explained it all to me, Algernon and I set off. I am only sorry that you have had to spend such time here in this awful place with so dreadful a man.” Hunter dropped to his knees by the side of the bed and hurriedly began to untie her. The moment her wrists were freed, she looked down at them and saw that they were red and chafed and they hurt terribly. Hunter gently took them in his own hands and rubbed them so tenderly that she felt tears springing into her eyes.

  “Oh, Hunter, I thought nobody would ever come for me,” she said and pulled one of her wrists free so that she might dab at the tears rolling down her face.

  “How could I not come, my darling? I would have searched the earth to find you.”

  “You would have?” she said, staring hard into his dark brown eyes, noting the golden flecks which drew her irresistibly to him and always had.

  “Of course I would have, how could I not? How could I have given up for a moment when the only woman I have ever truly loved wa
s out there in the world and suffering?” he said, and suddenly he was sitting on the bed at her side, his arms enveloping her in their strength and warmth and pulling her to him.

  “You love me, Hunter?” she murmured into his chest.

  “I have loved you for so long that I can hardly remember the moment I realized it. But yes, I love you with all my heart, Emmeline, and I always shall. I hope that does not upset you. I hope that does not turn you away from becoming my wife, I cannot imagine that I can live without you.”

  “It would never turn me away, Hunter,” she said and began to weep tears of happiness. “I love you too. I have loved you from the moment we first sat on the terrace at Addison and talked about Ivanhoe and Frankenstein. From that moment, I was lost.”

  “And now you are found, my darling Emmeline.”

  “I was so afraid that you did not love me and never would. Felicity told me that you still loved her, and she demanded that I break our engagement. And forgive me, Hunter, but I believed her. I believed that you still loved her, and you would spend a life married to me wishing that you were married to her.”

  “Felicity told you that? You mean she was a part of all of this?” he said and looked around the room until his eyes fixed upon Kent Fitzgerald.

  “Yes, they came to my home together,” Emmeline said, suddenly too exhausted to explain the whole thing to him. She sagged against him, wishing that she could close her eyes and go to sleep.

  “Well, I can tell you now, Emmeline, that I do not love Felicity. In truth, I love you with such intensity that I realize that anything I felt before in my life pales in comparison. It pales so much that it is insignificant as if there were no love at all before I met you.”

  “Then we will be happy, will we not?” Emmeline said in a tiny, exhausted voice.

  “I promise you that we shall be happy. I am not sure that I can promise you such excitement and adventures as you have had these last days, but in truth, I do not even think that Sir Walter Scott could promise you such a thing.” He laughed, and she could feel his laughter radiating from his chest.

  It was a wonderful, comforting feeling and one that she knew she would experience time and time again for the rest of her life.

  Epilogue

  “I think I might come to Rosedale Manor with you, darling,” Hunter said, and Emmeline looked at him to see that he was, indeed, dressed ready to attend her mother and sister with her. “Unless you particularly wanted to spend time alone with Rose and your mother?”

  “No, not at all,” Emmeline said feeling so content she could hardly believe it. “And you know how my mother enjoys being teased by you.”

  “In truth, I find that your mother’s company always provides the most curious surprises. I particularly like the weeks when she has spent a little time with Lady Harbury, and I would give anything to be a fly on the wall listening secretly to one of their conversations one of these days. They must be truly enlightening.” Hunter chuckled mischievously.

  “They are indeed enlightening, but perhaps not in the way you might hope for. And beyond that, they are extraordinarily long and almost painful, but to each his own, Hunter,” Emmeline said and laughed.

  In the six months of their marriage, much of their time had been spent in humour and laughter. Emmeline had always known that they had a certain sympathy of humour, but she had never guessed quite how much. Hunter’s humour was dry and witty, and he seemed to enjoy the fact that hers was also at times. He was so unlike any other man she had met, so pleased to have a wife who could not only make him laugh and interest him but interest others also.

  “I can only imagine.” Hunter was chuckling. “But yes, I should like to come with you and have afternoon tea.”

  As they made their way out of the carriage, Emmeline thought how strange it was that Rosedown Manor had instantly become just like their old family home. Although her dear father had never set foot in it when Hunter had purchased it for her mother and sister when they had finally lost Tarlton Manor to Kent Fitzgerald, she had been amazed to find that it had such a great feeling within.

  It felt to her as Tarlton Manor had felt when she was a child; full of love and laughter and hope. It was a place of security and warmth, just as her old family home had once been.

  And her mother and sister had adored it, instantly making it their home. It was then that Emmeline had come to realize that it was family which eventually made a home. It was not bricks and mortar, nor stone and cement, but the people within four walls who made it what it was.

  Kent Fitzgerald had kept himself very quiet since becoming the master of Tarlton Manor. He did not enjoy society as he had hoped, given that Hunter had threatened him that he would stay out of their way or his behaviour would become known to all. He had, of course, warned Giles Calloway against having any further association with the man, giving some hints as to what had happened. After all, Giles Calloway was a decent man and deserved to know that he did not have a true friend in Kent Fitzgerald.

  As for the Duchess of Galcross, she had similarly been warned. Hunter had written a lengthy letter to her, and Emmeline had been surprised when he had asked her to read it through. She had not expected him to be so open and yet, at the same time, she knew she ought not to have been surprised. Apart from hiding their innermost feelings of love for fear of losing one another, they had been open and honest in every other respect. And now that their love was known, now that everything was clear between them, their honesty was complete.

  “Allow me,” Hunter said with a beaming smile as he helped his wife into the carriage.

  “Thank you,” she said and climbed into the carriage, smiling broadly back at him when he climbed in after her and closed the door.

  He sat at her side, so close to her that there was not a space between them, and reached out to take her hand as he always did. There was always such closeness, a closeness that she knew she would never have experienced with anybody but Hunter.

  She could never have realized all those months ago that Christopher Lennox had done her a great favour in humiliating her that night. As much as it had hurt, she would never have stumbled onto the path to happiness; she would never have been rescued by Hunter Bentley, and he would never have hatched his plan for their marriage of convenience.

  As their carriage rumbled along towards Rosedown Manor, Emmeline realized that life was a curious thing. Sometimes it was only the worst of circumstances which would bring on their backs the truest happiness of all.

  “I love you, Hunter,” she said simply, and her husband turned to kiss her.

  “And I love you, Emmeline.”

  THE END

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