Claiming the Chaperon's Heart

by Anne Herries

  ‘Yes. I thank God for it—and you, Jack. Had it not been for your quick wits, I might have been searching for weeks and still not found her.’

  ‘Oh, he would have let you know eventually, for your death was his intention, but she might have suffered in the meantime. I do not like to think what he had in mind this evening.’

  ‘She had found a weapon from somewhere and was defending herself, but I think he must have overcome her resistance in the end.’

  ‘Then it was a mercy we arrived when we did,’ Jack said and jerked his head at the woman and her husband, who had been silently watching the proceedings awaiting their fate. ‘What do you want to do with this pair? The other rogue ran off when we arrived.’

  ‘That was my brother, sir.’ Sophie spoke up. ‘It was I gave milady the weapon to defend herself. She came to no harm in this house. We but did what that devil commanded, my lord—he would have killed us all if he’d known.’

  ‘Yes, I imagine so,’ Paul said. ‘Jane told me that you had helped her and I shall not move against you this time—but the magistrate warned you of your fate if you break the law again.’

  ‘If my man attempts such a thing I’ll take my hand to him,’ Sophie said and gave her husband such a look that he jerked back as if he believed her.

  Paul hid his smile. ‘Very well, woman. Keep your man on a leash, because if he ever comes near my lady again I shall kill him.’ He turned back to Jack. ‘Gather the men. I would return to London and speak with Jane...’

  * * *

  Jane was sitting in her parlour at her writing desk when Paul was announced later that evening. She turned, gave a cry of pleasure and ran to him. His arms opened to receive her, holding her close to him for a moment before he spoke.

  ‘You are safe now, my love. Hershaw is safely locked away and will harm neither of us again. He was a bitter, twisted man and a dangerous enemy, but I did not expect he would use you so ill, Jane.’

  ‘That was my own fault. If I had not allowed Lady Catherine to distress me I should not have laid myself vulnerable to his schemes.’

  ‘She has a vicious tongue and meant to hurt you, but I doubt she knew what lay in his heart, or what he was capable of.’

  ‘No, I am sure she did not. Lady Catherine spoke out of spite and jealousy. I think you must have slighted her, Paul...or I have done something to arouse her hatred.’

  ‘She was at the theatre with Hershaw. Perhaps she thought we might speak of it to her betrothed and spoil her marriage plans, for he was merely an amusement to her. She would not have married him, because she requires a prestigious title and a fortune.’

  ‘I should never have dreamed of such a thing,’ Jane said. ‘Let us forget her and the other one...though I think her the more dangerous of the two. If Annamarie would move a man to murder because of some imagined slight...’

  ‘It was the reason I could never like her,’ Paul said. ‘She is proud and beautiful in her way, but I thought her cold of heart. She offered herself to me and I refused her... I knew it angered her but did not imagine she would inspire a man to murder because of it.’

  ‘Yet if he had not already hated you, she could not have done it. Adam loves her and has every reason to feel jealousy, but he does not hate you...’

  ‘No, I must admit that for a while I thought he might be my enemy but, despite knowing that the woman he loves preferred me, he did not turn completely from me. I can only pray that his love for her will overcome her nature—for otherwise I think he will know only unhappiness...’

  ‘What kind of a woman could be so vengeful?’ Jane marvelled at it for she could never understand such wickedness. ‘I could never urge a man to kill another, even if he had slighted me.’

  Paul smiled softly at her. ‘I know and it is that precious difference between you that makes me adore you, my sweet Jane. I loved you from the moment we met and if you had not found it in your heart to love me, I should never have married.’

  ‘Oh, Paul,’ Jane said, her throat catching. ‘You know that I loved Harry. I never thought to love again, but I do—and as deeply. Harry was the mad, sweet love of first youth and you are the man I love now and will love all my life.’

  ‘I thank God for it,’ he murmured and bent his head to kiss her lips. ‘How soon will you marry me, Jane?’

  ‘We go down to the country soon and you must visit Melia and her aunt or she will think you have deserted her. As soon as you come to me, we shall set the banns and then we can begin our new life together...’

  ‘Yes, you are right,’ he said and sighed. ‘The responsibilities of a guardian weigh heavily upon me, Jane. I would that I might stay by your side, but I must do my duty.’

  ‘Do what you must and come to me,’ she said and lifted her head so that he could kiss her again. ‘I shall look for you every day so do not tarry longer than you need, my dearest one.’

  ‘You have my promise on that,’ Paul said. ‘We shall spend tomorrow together and then I really must leave for the country—when next we meet it shall be at your home...’

  * * *

  ‘I will accompany you to Miss Bellingham’s home,’ Adam said the following evening. ‘I must make my peace with her—and then I shall sail for India. I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for me, Paul. You have stood as a good friend to me and there were times that I did not deserve it.’

  ‘You loved a woman you knew had feelings for me and it caused you grief,’ Paul said. ‘Yet be comforted by the knowledge that I never once laid hands upon her. She is your wife and she must care for you or she would not have come to you that night, nor would she have wed you.’

  ‘She wed me because she was carrying a child.’ Adam frowned. ‘I think she came to me out of temper and a wish to hit back at you through me—perhaps she thought I would be turned against you, but she never asked me to take your life.’

  ‘You were not Hershaw and would not have done it,’ Paul said. ‘You had opportunity to see me dead by another’s hand, but you did not take it.’

  ‘No, for I am no murderer,’ Adam said ruefully. ‘I know Annamarie’s faults, Paul. She can be both spiteful and cruel, but she has been taught harshly by her father’s people when they turned her from the palace after her father’s death. Now that she will have a palace of her own and my title, I can provide her with the life she wishes, I believe she will be content. Besides, she is my wife and, if Hershaw speaks the truth, she is desperately ill. If she still lives when I return, I shall do my best to make her happy. I can only hope that illness will have driven the bitterness from her heart.’

  Paul kept his silence. He was not sure that Adam would ever find happiness married to the beautiful but vicious woman he so obviously adored, but love was blind. Words would not change Adam’s heart nor would he wish to try. Love was a strange but glorious thing, which brought both great happiness and terrible grief. Adam loved his wife despite all and he could only send him on his way in friendship.

  ‘Very well, if you wish to say goodbye to Melia you shall come with me,’ Paul said. ‘We shall ride together, Adam—and then I shall take my leave of you, because I stay only one day before I join Jane at her home...’

  * * *

  The man looked down at the battered body of the fool he had so easily duped into bringing him the only weapon he needed—a bottle of wine. It had been a pity to waste good claret on the oaf but, broken over the head of the obliging turnkey, it had proved sufficient to gain his freedom.

  He took the keys to the outer door. His prison had proved no stronghold and he’d known immediately that money would sway the fool they had given charge of him. All he had to do was steal a horse and he would be away. Then he needed clean clothes and money, which he had hidden safely in case he had need of them.

  The horses were in the stables behind the magistrate’s house. No guards patro
lled the grounds and there was only one unsuspecting groom in charge of the stables that night. It was a matter of a swift blow to the neck with the broken bottle and the fool fell to the ground, blood seeping from the wound as he tried to call out but could not speak.

  Once upon his chosen mount, the man sped away from house and stable to open countryside. His first plan had failed and that bitch Frant planned to marry would be on her guard, but there was one other who would not be so wary. He might yet find a way to ruin her and bring Frant to his knees.

  Annamarie’s promise was in his mind as he sped through the darkness.

  ‘Kill him for me and I will share everything I have with you...’ she’d whispered as they lay together in the darkness. ‘I will take you for my husband and you will live in a palace...’

  He had been mad for her from the first time he saw her, when he was sent with a diplomatic mission to her mother. At first the girl had not seemed to notice him, but then one night she had waylaid him as he returned home from dinner at the Governor’s house. Her smile had sent his wits spinning and when she offered herself to him in return for a favour, he had not stopped to think. He would have killed anyone for her at that moment—but when she spoke the name of the man she hated, he’d laughed with pure delight. Frant deserved all that was coming to him.

  He had taken his time planning the downfall of his enemy, but somehow luck had been on Frant’s side—but this time he would no doubt be planning his wedding to that bitch and would know nothing of his ward’s elopement until it was too late.

  Melia was a flighty little thing and he did not doubt that he would have her eating out of his hand within a few minutes of speaking to her. She would run off with him...and then he would make Frant pay, both in money and with his life. A ransom first and then a ball in his heart...

  * * *

  Melia was annoyed. She had expected that Lord Frant would be here sooner. The plans for the wedding could not go ahead until he came and the marriage contract was signed. Her aunt was strict about keeping the proprieties and she said it would be discourteous to speak to the vicar or plan anything until Lord Frant arrived—and her betrothed agreed.

  ‘Your aunt is correct, dearest,’ he’d told her. ‘Besides, what does it matter? We have a lifetime ahead of us—and it is but a few days’ delay.’

  Melia did not know why she felt so frustrated. Until they came down to the country she hadn’t truly known either her betrothed or his sister very well. Spending each day in their company, she was beginning to be bored. Anne was forever with her nose in a book, and her brother spent most of his time riding or speaking to the grooms. He did walk with Melia in the afternoons and was attentive in the evenings, but that was almost worse than when he left her alone to go riding or played cards with her aunt’s guests.

  The truth was that she had provoked Captain Smythe into speaking by saying that she was to return to her aunt’s house and did not know if she would ever return to town. Managing to shed a tear, she’d had him gallantly trying to comfort her and when he’d suddenly proposed she had accepted him—and now she wished she hadn’t.

  Oh, what a bother it was! She had been so sure that Viscount Hargreaves was in love with her, but when she’d tried to push him towards a declaration he’d told her he couldn’t afford to marry her. Melia had blamed her guardian, because Adam had told her of the rewards her guardian had received while he had only a few guineas. She’d resented that, because she was sure that Adam would have wed her if she’d had more fortune.

  Then, after it was made clear to her that she would never persuade the viscount to wed her, she had met Captain Hershaw. He’d set out to captivate her from the start and, though she did not think him as handsome as Adam Hargreaves, he’d seemed to like her—but he had not spoken and so she’d seized her chance when Captain Smythe proposed. Now she wished that she had waited, for it seemed that only a lifetime of boredom lay ahead.

  So it was with a mixture of anticipation and surprise that she heard Viscount Hargreaves announced as she sat alone in the parlour that morning. He entered and her heart raced at the sight of him. How handsome he was and she loved him. Yes, now that she saw him again, she knew that it was Adam Hargreaves she had always wanted.

  ‘Miss Bellingham, forgive me this intrusion,’ Adam said and looked awkward. ‘Your guardian has allowed me a short time to speak with you alone...’

  ‘You wanted to speak to me alone?’ Melia asked and her heart raced. There could be only one reason for him to come all this way to speak to her! Her engagement had made him realise that he cared for her and he had come to beg her to break it off and marry him. The excitement was so intense that at first his words did not penetrate her mind.

  ‘It was very wrong of me to let you think I was free,’ Adam said and at last the words reached her. ‘I found you attractive and I was disturbed by other things. I should not have been so free in my manner towards you, because I have a wife and child in India...’

  ‘You have a wife...?’ Melia stared at him in dismay. ‘You let me think and you knew...you always knew that you were married...’

  ‘Forgive me. I have regretted what I did and perhaps, had I been free...’

  ‘How dare you come here?’ Melia demanded. ‘Why should I care what you have to say?’

  She threw him a look of malice and ran from the room before she could shame herself and weep before him. Adam called her name but she did not look back. Her disappointment was such that she could scarcely bear it and she ran from the house, through the back gardens to the orchards beyond.

  Leaning with her back against a tree, Melia let her tears fall. How could he come here just to tell her that he had a wife? Oh, how she hated him, and her guardian. Lord Frant must have known of the wife—why had he not told her at once? Why had he allowed her to humiliate herself by running after that hateful man—and why had he brought him here to hurt her in this way?

  She hated them both. She wanted to strike out and hurt someone—to punish those who had wronged her.

  ‘Miss Bellingham, I do not like to see you in distress...’

  The voice broke into her fevered thoughts, bringing Melia’s head up. She gasped as she saw him and dashed her hand over her cheeks.

  ‘Captain Hershaw,’ she said. ‘I did not expect to see you here.’

  ‘I could not stop thinking of you,’ he said softly and smoothed his fingers over her cheek to wipe away the tears. ‘I should have spoken sooner, my dearest Melia, but I dare not because your guardian hates me.’

  ‘And I hate him,’ Melia said, firing up immediately. ‘He does not care for me—no one truly cares for me...’

  ‘Then come away with me now,’ he urged. ‘Let me take you to France, where we can live and be happy. I shall find a way to...’

  Before he could say more, a voice called out to him. ‘Stand away from her, you dog! Melia, move away from him. He is a coward and a murderer...’

  Melia saw her guardian striding towards her and, a little distance behind him, Adam. She lifted her head defiantly.

  ‘You have never wanted me to be happy,’ she said. ‘I am going with Captain Hershaw now and you cannot stop me.’

  ‘Think about what you’re doing,’ Paul warned. ‘He is wanted for a hanging offence and means only to lure you away to get at me...’

  ‘And I nearly had her,’ Hershaw snarled, reaching out to grab Melia around the throat with one arm. He levelled a pistol at her head. ‘I am taking her with me and I shall dishonour her and you, Frant. When I’ve done with her I shall kill her—and if you come near me I’ll kill you too.’

  Melia gasped. Her throat hurt where his arm pressed against it, but the pain of humiliation was far worse. She had come here to weep in private and he had offered her comfort, but it was just a trick. Filled with rage and hatred against the whole world, Melia bit his hand as hard as
she could and heard him scream and jerk his hand away. In that moment of freedom, she wrestled with him and tried to take the pistol he’d held to her head. In her thoughts was only one desire—to see him dead at her feet.

  He knocked her back so that she was felled to the ground and then fired at her guardian. Hearing the muffled oath, Melia thought he must have hit him and she rolled over, flinging herself at his leg and pulling at it so that he stumbled. He kicked out at her, his boot landing hard against her mouth so that she tasted blood and then he fired again.

  Getting to her feet, Melia glanced round and saw that Adam lay bleeding on the ground. She ran to him, screaming, as she flung herself down on her knees and looked into his face. He was dead, Hershaw’s ball having found its target too well. A pistol lay beside Adam. Melia’s hand reached for it. She took it, turned slowly and aimed. Her shot caught Hershaw in the groin and he screamed in agony but levelled his pistol at her, and in that moment another shot rang out and Hershaw pitched to the ground.

  Melia fell back, faint and sick of heart. She wished that it had been her ball that had killed him, but knew it was her guardian who had fired. She was aware of being lifted gently and carried indoors. People were around her. She heard their voices but did not know what they said, nor did she wish to know. Adam was dead. He had loved another, but still she loved him and she grieved that his life was lost. She turned her face to the wall and let the blackness take her.

  * * *

  ‘It is so shocking,’ Mrs Bellingham said as she came from her niece’s bedchamber after the doctor had been. ‘To think that he might have made off with her, had you and the viscount not been there and seen what he was about.’ She mopped at her cheeks with a lace kerchief. ‘My poor niece—and it was all to be arranged for her wedding this very day.’

  ‘Yes, well, that may have to be postponed,’ Paul said, looking grave. ‘Adam was badly wounded. I am sure she thought him dead, which is why she fired. I had been wounded and it took me a moment to steady my aim and he might have killed any of us if Melia had not acted as she did—she is a brave girl, madam.’