When Love grows doubt

by Barbara Eckhoff

  He was so hoping to get his hands on him personally, so that he could slap him in the face in his anger. But probably he supervised the removal in the house and so he turned quietly to Samuel.

  "Samuel, listen. Dumfrey is nowhere to be seen. I don't want this guy slipping through our fingers when the police strike. I'm going to go look for him."

  Samuel grabbed his arm.

  "What are you going to do? The commander said that we shouldn't take any risks and that we shouldn't work on our own."

  "I don't care. The guy is nowhere to be seen and if it gets loud here, he might get away from us. I'll sneak into the house and keep him there."

  "That's too dangerous. You don't know the floorplan or how many employees he has. I'll go with you."

  "No. You have to make sure that no one gets out of here. We want the whole group. We can't let anyone get away. I'll be fine."

  With that, he tore himself away and quietly slipped away. He was lucky, because he found a window on the lower floor, which was ajar and he slipped through it unnoticed. The room beyond was in darkness.

  He looked around briefly and realized that he was in the library. The realization did not help him much,

  because he did not know the house. Cautiously he opened the door a crack and listened. The hallway behind it was lit by a few wall lamps, and the rooms that led from it were all in darkness. Not a soul was to be seen. Dumfrey must have given his maid the day off. Cautiously, Robert crept further into the back part of the house, where the cellar stairs had to be. Then the police had initiated the raid and he hoped that there would be no bloodshed. Suddenly he heard hurried footsteps from somewhere. One door was torn open and another one was violently pulled shut. Then it was suddenly as quiet as a mouse.

  Robert listened to see if he could still hear the footsteps anywhere, but the house lay quietly. Also no more sounds reached his ears from outside. The silence was eerie. Just as he was about to set off again to search the house for Dumfrey, the front door was pushed open and the commander, followed by Samuel and five other policemen appeared in the hallway.

  "Do you have them?"

  Robert hurried toward them.

  "Yes, except for Dumfrey. He wasn't there. A couple of men have confirmed that he is supposed to be here in the house," the policeman replied.

  "I heard footsteps in the back the moment you arrested the gang outside, it must have been him. Let's hurry to find him."

  "He's trapped. All the exits are guarded. Men, start searching the house. I want every corner checked. He's got to be here somewhere."

  The policemen poured out together and it wasn't long before they had searched every room on the first floor. But the rooms were all empty. Then they split up. Half took over the upper floor, while the rest, together with Robert and Samuel took over the basement. An hour later, they were disbelievingly disappointed to discover that Sir Dumfrey had vanished off the face of the earth. Nowhere had he been seen, nor had they discovered any trace of him escaping. Robert was stunned.

  "Damn it, how did he get away from us? The house has been surrounded and I was in here."

  Samuel placatingly put his arm on Robert's shoulders.

  "The police will find him all right. He can't have much of a head start. The commandant wants to telegraph his colleague in Edinburgh to guard Dumfrey's house there. They'll get him. First of all, be glad that the whole gang has been apprehended without bloodshed and the merchandise. We've given Dumfrey a run for his money."

  "I guess you're right. We probably won't be able to do anything tonight. Thanks for your help."

  "Do you still need me, otherwise I will ride home. I don't like to leave Eileen alone for so long."

  "No, that's all right. Go. I'll stay a moment. I'll see you tomorrow."

  Samuel left the house and Robert strolled through the rooms once more. He still did not understand how it could happen that Dumfrey had escaped. He went down to the basement, but except for a few shelves on the wall, the room was now empty. He looked around again. There was nothing conspicuous to be seen down here and yet he had a feeling that he might have overlooked something important. Outside the house again, he said goodbye to the police and thanked the commander for his help. Then he saw the whole troop depart. In front, the three carts, fully loaded with the rum barrels, now driven by the police, left the driveway and behind them the smugglers, tied up and held in check by the rest of the police. A long prison sentence awaited them all. Left behind was young William, who now came to him excitedly.

  "He was there, sir, you have to believe me. I didn't rat you out."

  "It's all right, William. You've done your job and you'll go unpunished. Always remember that today could have turned out differently for you. Better yourself and now hurry home. I'm sure your mother is already

  worrying about you."

  With a grateful smile, he took Robert's hand and squeezed it.

  "I will, sir. You will have no more reason to complain to me again. Thank you."

  With those words he hurried away and Robert left the place where he had hoped to bring everything to a close.

  Chapter 25

  Thoughtfully he looked out to the garden. Despite the many clouds in the sky the weather was much too nice to sit here in the room and have to take care of the paperwork. But he had to do it urgently, because

  lately, he had criminally neglected it. Too many things had taken up his time and, if he was honest with himself, he had looked for every opportunity to get out of it.

  But after last night, there was nothing that he could have taken care of at the moment. The gang had been arrested and Dumfrey was on the run, but the police were looking for him and they were sure that he would be caught soon. Especially since his townhouse in Edinburgh was already guarded. So there was only one more thing for which he had to find a solution.

  Moira - he spotted her, as she sat alone in the back part of the garden, taking her lonely walk. Just a few weeks ago, he would have dropped everything to go to her. They would have hugged and kissed, joked and laughed. Robert closed his eyes sadly and remembered the many wonderful hours he had spent with her. Could it really all have been faked? She had wanted to make him believe that Dumfrey had forced her to repay ten thousand pounds. Why should her father have borrowed so much money from Dumfrey, when he had just bought the expensive horses with his uncle. He would not have gone into debt for it. Robert had never met him, but he didn't think he was that stupid and therefore, it didn’t make sense to him. Maybe he should talk to her again, to learn a little more about this matter. But the conversation would have to wait until he was finished here. He glanced out into the garden again to catch one last glimpse of her, but Moira was no longer there. She had probably long since gone back into the house. He heaved a long sigh and went back to his desk. He was just about to sit down in his chair when there was a knock at the door.

  "Yes, please?"

  Albert appeared in the doorway.

  "Excuse me, my lord, Inspector Jennings is here with some of his people and would like to see you urgently."

  Hope sprouted in Robert. Had the inspector and his squad already caught the fugitive?

  "Show him in, please."

  A few moments later, the police commander entered the room. In his hand he held a package.

  "Lord Macintyre, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I must have a word with your wife.“

  Astonished and suspicious at the same time, Robert carefully investigated the inspector's request. Could it be that someone had denounced Moira to the inspector? But who else knew about the matter? Afraid that he had found out about the poison attempt on him by her, he tried to react calmly and level-headed.

  "May I ask what this is about, since my wife is not feeling very well at the moment? You must know, we are expecting our first child."

  "Oh, congratulations. I'm sure I won't keep her long but she would have to confirm something for me. It is correct, isn't it, that your wi
fe is a Fergusson by birth?"

  "Yes, that's right. She's from the neighborhood here, and her parents were killed in a fire about two years ago."

  "Yes, I remember that. Quite a tragic thing back then. We were never able to determine the cause of the fire. However, we always had doubts that the investigation was not done properly. This theory was also supported by Miss Fergusson, I mean your wife, by stating on the record the very next day, the family jewelry and a lot of cash had disappeared from the safe. At the time, we didn't make a big fuss about it, and your wife didn't know about our suspicions either. But this matter from that time is the reason I'm here today."

  "I don't quite understand.“

  The inspector came closer and put the package on Robert's desk. He unwrapped it and out came a jewelry box.

  "Lord MacIntyre, I'll explain in a moment, but it would be nice if we could have your wife join us."

  "Why, yes – of course."

  Robert rang for his butler, and when Albert appeared in the room a moment later, he turned to him.

  "Albert, will you tell my wife, please that I need her here. The inspector has a few questions for her."

  "Very well."

  When Albert had left again, Robert turned his full attention to the inspector.

  "You've got me curious now. What is it about this jelwery box?"

  Robert offered the commander a seat in the armchair across from his desk, while he himself took a seat in his chair. Inspector Jennings leaned back, relaxed and crossed his legs.

  "The box is a strange thing. We just came from Sir Dumfrey's estate and spent the whole day turning the house upside down, trying to find any clue to where he might have gone. In the process, his safe fell into our hands and when we opened it we found this box in there. As you can see," he opened the lid of the jewelry box and turned it over to Robert, who whistled through his teeth in amazement, "it is filled with several pieces of jewelry and, on top of that, with a chunk of pound notes. To be precise, a small fortune. In addition, there was a letter containing a will naming your wife as beneficiary which was signed by her parents. So you can see that it is very important for me to speak to your wife to find out what she knows about this box and if she can imagine how it came to be in Sir Dumfrey's safe."

  Silence fell for a moment. Neither man said anything. Robert thought about what the inspector had just told him, then he said, "If my wife reported these things missing two years ago and they have now turned up at Dumfrey's, doesn't that mean he must have had something to do with taking them? Because otherwise it would mean that you would suspect my wife of complicity."

  "Oh, please, no. I in no way suspect your wife. In fact, I'm of the same opinion that Charles Dumfrey must have had a hand in it. Especially since he was a guest in the house the night before. But I need to talk to your wife to make sure it's the family jewelry, as I assume it is."

  "Well, I'm sure she'll confirm it in a moment."

  Albert appeared in the doorway.

  "My lord, I'm sorry, but we can't find My Lady anywhere. She is not upstairs in her room, nor anywhere else in the house."

  "She's probably still in the garden, Albert, I saw her there earlier. Have a look please ."

  But when Albert came back a short time later he could only report that Moira was not to be found in the garden either. She had disappeared from the grounds. Also an inquiry with Samuel resulted in nothing. Neither a horse was missing nor had the carriage been used. Gradually Robert became very worried, and the inspector, who had not failed to notice, immediately offered his help, with his men to search the estate for her. Robert gladly accepted the help and also mobilized his men to search the entire property for her.

  He couldn't shake the feeling that Moira might have witnessed the arrival of the policemen and had

  become frightened. Perhaps she had believed that he was going to hand her over to the inspector and was now hiding from them. But after an hour of intensive search, they still had not found any trace of her and gradually it was getting dark outside. Worried, he looked at the setting sun, the darkness would not make their search easier. Where on earth was she?

  "We need to widen our search," he turned to Samuel.

  "Robert, it's almost dark, we won't be able to do much more. She could be anywhere. Maybe we should wait until morning."

  "No! I'll ride out in any case, and you ride over to your wife's place and see if she might be there, and then you meet me on the cliff trail. I will ride from here to the cove and then take the Cliff Path there. The inspector and his troop has streamed out in all directions, and the rest will continue to search for her here."

  "Okay, but we should definitely take torches with us. I'll get some and have the others carry them, too."

  "Hurry up, I don't want to waste any time. I'm very worried."

  The rose garden had been her favorite place. Now at this time of year it smelled of all the beautiful flowers, because not only rose bushes, which had given the place its name, grew here.

  The gardeners understood their work, because the bushes, shrubs and perennials were in perfect bloom and so she drew in one after the other the fragrance from them. She admired the variety of colors and how

  masterfully they had been planted to create a variedpicture. Behind this garden was the small pond, on whose park bench she had once sat with Robert. She thought back wistfully to that evening. It had been her first evening here at the castle, on which he had almost shown her what physical love meant.

  Just the thought of him caressing her and kissing her naked breasts, her heart beat faster. She missed him so much and wished she could turn back the hands of time, to do many things differently, because it was also the evening, where she had sealed her fate by giving him the sleeping powder. Moira turned around, because she suddenly had the feeling that she had to leave this place and hurried away in the direction of the house entrance. Just as she was about to turn the corner of the house, she saw six uniformed horsemen arriving in front of it. Immediately she retreated, so that she would not run into the hands of the gentlemen. Panic overcame her. The fact that the police were here, could only mean one thing. Robert wanted to hand her over to the authorities, forgetting his promise that she would have nothing to fear until the birth of her child. He was probably tired of having her in the house. What should she do now? She could no longer go in. The sheer fear of the gallows influenced her thoughts.

  Frantically, without a clear thought, she hurried away as fast as her condition allowed. She had to get away as quickly as possible to build up a great distance from the house. Once her absence was discovered, Robert wouldn't hesitate another minute and have the police hunt her down. But where would she go? She had no money and only the clothes on her body. Maybe she should rush home to Eileen. She would tell her friend the truth and hope she would hide her for a while. At least until she could feel safe from Robert's revenge. Would he ever give up? No matter, it was the only hope she had at the moment, but she would not take the shorter route along the village road. This would be too dangerous. Far too easily for someone to come along the way who recognized her, and therefore she hurried off in the direction of the cliff path. Scared, she constantly looked around for possible pursuers, but everything remained calm and she continued her way along the narrow path by the cliffs. Today the sea lay quiet and peaceful under her, which was a rare sight. A few gulls were circling in the sky, looking for prey, but Moira had no eyes for the beauty of nature. She had just looked around again fearfully, when she suddenly collided with Sir Dumfrey.

  "Oh, where are you going? To see you here is my good fortune."

  Moira uttered a gasp of shock as he held her by the arms.

  "Let me go. I have to go, the police are after me."

  Astonished, Dumfrey looked at her, but did not let her go at all.

  "The police? Then come with me, I can hide you."

  "No! No, let me go. I will not go with you. You've caused me enough trouble
."

  "I did? Don't make me laugh. Your husband has ruined my business and thwarted my plans and now you're going to come with me, and pay for not doing your job. I ordered you to keep him away from me. Now he will pay for it and you will marry me."

  Angrily, Moira replied: "Have you forgotten? I am already married and I will do nothing more for you."

  "I have not forgotten at all that you are married. On the contrary, my dear, for I need you as the widow of Shepherd's King. I'll take care of your husband. He won't be with us much longer."

  "You can't scare me anymore. My husband knows about everything..."

  Suddenly, Dumfrey tightened his grip on her arms so much that she almost fell to her knees in pain.

  His eyes seemed to want to pierce her and like a madman, he shouted at her, "What have you done?

  YOU set him on my business? For two years I have pursued my plans and I will not allow everything to be destroyed by you shortly before the goal is reached. You will see where this leads you and now you will come with me!"