Invitation to Passion

by Bronwen Evans

  His touch was soothing and gentle. However, he avoided her eyes. They sat together on the ground, hugging each other.

  It must have been no more than a few minutes later when the door opened to show Rufus standing in the entry, but something was wrong. He stood at the entrance, unmoving, and as silent as the grave. Richard cocked the pistol he held and gave Maddy Sarah’s gun. “Keep it hidden but trained on Sarah.”

  Richard stood and moved to put Maddy, who still lay on the ground, behind him, just as Rufus was pushed further into the room, with Samuel behind him.

  “I see we are all here then, how nice. Richard, throw your weapons toward me. Sarah, check him for any other hidden arms, such as knives.”

  Maddy gritted her teeth as Sarah searched Richard thoroughly, her hands lingering a little too long, but she was surprised at Sarah’s silence. She did not mention the pistol Madeline was holding. What was she up to?

  Richard’s two pistols and a wicked looking knife littered the floor.

  Once Samuel was satisfied all weapons were accounted for, he said, “Rufus, kindly walk to the shackles where you, Richard, are to chain him.” When Rufus did not move, Samuel yelled, “Now, or Maddy dies.”

  Richard ensured he was blocking Maddy from Samuel’s line of fire. “If you shoot Maddy, I’ll kill you even if it’s with my bare hands. Your pistol has only one shot.” Richard prayed it would be enough. Samuel merely picked up Richard’s gun from where it lay on the floor. “I now have two shots.”

  “You’ll need three hands, for if you shoot Richard and Maddy, I shall kill you. Then where will your revenge be?”

  “Do you really think I care if I live or die? All I care about is that you lose your precious sister. That will be my revenge. To take someone you love, just as you took Christopher Hale from me.”

  Rufus looked at Samuel. “Can you live with her death on your conscience? Maddy was never involved in this. Hale was hardly blameless, he had tried to rape and kill me. He also killed my father-did you know that? I find I was totally justified in sending him to face his Maker.”

  A flicker of doubt flashed across Samuel’s face. Rufus continued, “You deserve to die too and you know it. You knew Hale was killing those boys you sodomized and tortured.”

  Samuel’s lips parted in surprise. “I didn’t know you knew about that part of our little games.”

  “When I hand you to the magistrate, you’ll hang.” Rufus added, “And I will be there to watch.”

  “We shall see. Now, if you don’t want Maddy, dear sweet, Maddy, touched by my hand, then you’ll do what I say.”

  “Or simply kill me instead.”

  “Don’t provoke him, Rufus. You must survive. You have a wife-a wife who could be with child. They need you.” Maddy pleaded with her brother.

  “I need you, Maddy, and you could be with child” Richard said quietly. “Rufus, do as he asks.”

  “No!” Maddy screamed even as Rufus made his way toward them and the discarded shackles. Without thinking, she found the strength to lift the pistol hidden beneath the coat she was wearing and she fired it at Samuel. She had no idea if she had hit her target. Her actions had taken the last of her strength and she flopped to the floor unable to move.

  Samuel screamed an obscenity and lunged at Maddy, his gun raised. She’d wounded him, shot him in his stomach, but he was charging forward like a rampaging bull. Rufus picked up the shackles and threw them at him just as Samuel was raising one of his pistols. The heavy metal hit his gun hand and Samuel’s shot went wide. With a roar, Rufus was on him, his hands round his neck, strangling the life out of the perverted monster.

  Madeline must have fainted because when she came to she was being carried in familiar strong arms out through the dank, cold stone corridors of the ruin until she found herself in the fresh air. She breathed in deeply, the chilly night reviving her a little. Night had fallen and there were many people milling around.

  She was safe.

  “Daniel, take Maddy up to the house and ask Meg to take care of her. I’ve got to go back and help Rufus.”

  “Take my men with you,” and with that Daniel mounted his horse and held out his arms to receive Richard’s precious bundle. Richard couldn’t bear to think about what may have been done to Maddy. To see her chained, naked, her skin glistening with that putrid oil had been too much. He’d never known such rage. He’d almost broken down and cried at the agony and humiliation he’d seen written on Madeline’s face.

  Rufus better have killed Samuel by now or by God he’d rip him limb from limb.

  As he made his way back through the maze of corridors, the coldness fed his anger. Sarah. What was he to do with Sarah? She’d not told Samuel about the hidden gun. Why?

  He couldn’t believe how the woman he once thought he had loved had duped him. He’d brought Sarah into Maddy’s life. If not for Sarah, Madeline, would never have been taken. She would not have fled the park, and would not have tried to sacrifice their marriage for a child who had never even existed.

  Richard all but drove his wife into Samuel’s arms and he’d never forgive himself.

  He kept imagining what Samuel must have done to her. He had heard what Samuel and Hale had almost done to Rufus. His stomach churned and he fought down the bile. Had he saved her from that most foul fate? Christ, would she forgive him if Samuel had, he could not say the words rape or sodomize, let alone think of them either.

  When he got back to the dungeon, the door was wide open and Rufus sat slumped on the floor next to Samuel’s inert body.

  Rufus looked up at him with tears streaming down his face. “Did you see the state of her? I wish I could kill him ten times over.”

  Richard struggled to swallow. He needed something to focus his rage on. “Where’s Sarah?”

  “She fled while I was killing Samuel. She won’t have got far, we have all the exits covered.”

  Richard held out his hand. “Come on, let’s see if she’s been rounded up. I want to leave this place now and never come back. Daniel’s men can take care of the body.”

  Rufus took his outstretched hand and rose to his feet. “I can’t face her.”

  “Who, Sarah?”

  He shook his head. “Madeline. I have failed her.”

  “We have both failed her. I failed her worse than you. She was my wife and I was so busy protecting another woman whose evilness I didn’t see right in front of me. God help me if she doesn’t forgive me.”

  “She will forgive you, Richard, because she loves you.” He embraced Richard and whispered, “But she will need time to heal. What if she’s been…”

  “Don’t say it, don’t even think it. She’s still our Madeline and we both love her. We have to be strong for her.” At Rufus’s raised eyebrows, Richard added, “I think I’ve always known my destiny was with Maddy by my side. I just didn’t understand the emotions entangling me. My upbringing didn’t teach me about real abiding love.” Richard cleared his throat. “Maddy’s my soul mate. I’m so goddamn thankful she honored me with her friendship and now I hope to earn her heart too.”

  “It takes almost losing the woman you love to understand how empty you’ve been without the one person who completes you, doesn’t it?” Rufus clapped him on the back.

  They walked back up through the crumbling ruins, and as they meet Daniel’s men at the entrance one of them shoved Sarah at them. “We caught her trying to slip away. What do you want us to do with her?”

  Rufus asked Daniel’s men, “Does Deal have a gaol, a place where we can lock her up? She masterminded her husband’s death.”

  Sarah pleaded with Richard, “May I have a private word before they take me away?”

  Wary of any tricks, Richard walked a slight distance from the rest of the men. “Well?”

  “They will hang me and you know it. I saved you back there. I could have told Samuel that Madeline had my gun hidden in the coat, but I didn’t. Surely that must count for something.”

  Richard wanted to
hit someone. Sarah had helped them. “Even if I wanted to help you, I can’t. You can’t kill a Marquess and get away with it.”

  “No one knows of my plot except you and your band of merry men. If I promise to go to America and never return, will you help me escape?” Her eyes welled with tears. “Charles was no saint either, and you know it. I killed him for…”

  Richard pushed her away. “Don’t say you killed him for me. You did it for yourself. You used me to get you with child, hoping to claim the estate after Charles’ death. What would you have done if the child had not been a boy?” He looked at her with repugnance, his eyes widening. “You would have ensured you had a boy. Any baby boy would have done. If you didn’t have a boy, you would have substituted another woman’s child. Would you have killed the mother to keep the scandal quiet?”

  She reached out to him.

  He turned away. “You disgust me. Hanging is too good for you.”

  “Then do it for your precious Madeline,” she spat at him, her hand pulling him back to face her. “If I’m put on trial, I shall give explicit details of exactly how Samuel raped and sodomized your wife. How she screamed and screamed until she could scream no more. Society will lap up each gory detail. She’ll never be able to show her face again.”

  Richard thought he had understood pain, but the knife-like wounds her words inflicted within his heart would never mend. His sweet Madeline had been sent to hell and he’d held open the door. He couldn’t bear to see her humiliated again in a courtroom with the lascivious ton lapping up every terrible indignity perpetuated against his beautiful Maddy.

  “You are such a bitch.” He stood with his head in hands thinking.

  “We all pay a price for love. I guess I’ve found yours. You’ll do anything for your wife. Even if it means letting me go.”

  “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this but you’ve left me no choice.” He grabbed her arm. “Come, I have a ship in Portsmouth about to sail to Boston. Is your carriage here?”

  “Yes, I came prepared. I have most of my belongings. I plan for all eventualities.” Richard all but dragged her back toward Rufus and the rest of the men.

  “Bring Lady Sarah’s carriage round, I’m taking her to Portsmouth.”

  Rufus’s mouth dropped open. “What the hell is going on? She killed Wrentham, would have killed Madeline…”

  He gave Rufus a pitying look. “Trust me, you don’t want to know. I have agreed that Sarah may travel to the Americas on the condition that if she ever sets foot on English soil again, I’ll kill her myself.”

  Rufus strode up and down cursing into the breeze.

  “Can you see to Madeline while I’m gone? I want to ensure Sarah gets on the bloody ship. I’m not taking any chances. I’ll take four of Daniel’s men with me. “

  Rufus ran a hand through his hair. “You can’t leave. What will I tell Madeline when she ask where you are?”

  Richard could barely speak and when he did his words came out with a rasp. “Tell her I love her and I’m sorry.” He brushed the tears from his eyes. “I’ll see you in two days.”

  Rufus stood watching Richard depart in disbelief at what had just happened.

  Chapter TwentyOne

  Dearest Maddy,

  I shall certainly be at the ball, and I shall insist on the first waltz. I’m not sure I trust the intentions of all the young bucks that will likely swarm round you. You’ve grown into a beautiful young lady. I wouldn’t miss seeing the ton bow before you, for all the world.

  I also look forward to introducing you to Sarah, I’m sure you will be firm friends. She’s a lot like you—intelligent, gentle, and kind. However, her father is applying pressure on her to marry Lord Wrentham. We both know marrying a Chesterton would be hellish.

  Wish us luck. See you soon.

  Yours truly,

  Richard

  The smell. Maddy could still smell the sickly sweet scent of the opium. She could feel Samuel’s hands invading her body, and smell his perverted stench in her nostrils.

  She bolted upright in the darkness waking from her nightmare screaming, her body coated in sweat, the space in the bed beside her empty.

  Where was Richard? Her chest was tight and she looked frantically round the room. She brushed her damp hair off her face; that’s right, he was escorting that woman who had almost seen her killed to freedom. Traitor…

  The door to her room softly opened. “Maddy, it’s me Meg. Are you all right?”

  No, she wanted to scream. I’m not all right. I’ve been abducted, stripped, almost raped, and my husband has let Sarah just sail away. Betrayal blanketed her to the point she could barely breathe. Once again, she had come second.

  Meg lit a candle and came to sit on the bed. “Would you like me to stay with you until morning?”

  “Thank you, Meg. I’m fine—really. I just…thank you for taking care of me.”

  When Daniel had arrived at his house with Maddy still shaken from her ordeal, Meg had drawn a hot bath for her and helped her bathe the opium off her skin. She’d also made her drink many cups of tea as she was parched from the laudanum that had been forced down her throat.

  Then she’d found Maddy a nightgown, one of Rheda’s since she was in Rheda’s old room, and Meg had then stayed with her until she’d fallen asleep. Now here she was, comforting Maddy in the early hours of the morning when it should have been Richard.

  Meg hugged her. “Richard will be back in the morning. Use this time to get some sleep before your husband starts fussing over you. I doubt you’ll get a minute to yourself when he returns. He’s unlikely to let you out of his sight ever again. I’ve never seen a man in so much pain when he couldn’t get to you.”

  “That’s why I can’t understand why he has agreed to let Sarah go, after everything she’s done to us—to me!”

  She took a deep breath and tried to get her anger under control. She’d learned her lesson. This time she would wait to hear Richard’s side of the story before jumping to the wrong conclusion.

  There had to be a good reason; she just couldn’t think what it could be.

  Meg made her another cup of tea and they sat chatting, Meg was trying to take her mind off her nightmare. They talked about Meg’s forthcoming wedding until Maddy could barely keep her eyes open.

  Dawn was starting to peek over the horizon when she heard Meg slip out of the room and she fell back into a fitful sleep.

  Richard entered Maddy’s room and only then did the tension drain from his body. She was here, safe, his to love for the rest of his life.

  He moved silently to stand at the side of the bed, content just to watch her sleep. The effects of her ordeal where etched on her beautiful face. Even now he could see the dark circles under her eyes, her lips were still dry and cracked, and he clenched his fists and willed the anger to leave him, as he saw the scraped and damaged skin round the one wrist above the blanket.

  He wasn’t fooled; the anger was helping to cloak the stark fear and knowledge he had almost lost her before he’d had a chance to pull her into his arms and profess his love for her.

  Now he had to face her and beg her forgiveness for the terrible ordeal she’d endured. What she must have gone through, to be—raped—by such a monster in that way. Tears fell freely.

  He’d talked with Anthony upon his return from Portsmouth half an hour ago. He’d sought out his twin, desperately needing advice on how to help his wife. Melissa had been assaulted when Rothsay had abducted her over eighteen months ago. Anthony tried to appease Richard’s fears, telling him it would take time, and mentioning that some women took months to recover. Some did not like to be touched, some had nightmares, some needed to talk about it, while others bore their ordeal in silence. He warned Richard it might take a while before Maddy would be able to share herself with him, and that he should be patient.

  He didn’t care how long it took before Maddy would let him back into her bed; he’d wait for Maddy forever.

  He lay down beside her,
not wishing to wake her. She needed sleep to heal, but he wanted to be here when she woke up.

  He tried to sleep yet the exhaustion draining his body wasn’t enough to induce it. Richard found himself staring at the light dancing patterns on the ceiling. He shut his eyes to cover the surge of emotion clawing inside him. He had never felt so worthless, nor so unworthy. Because of his cowardice and his foolish pride, Maddy had paid a terrible price.

  Now she knew the type of man he really was, he’d likely lose her forever and it was just as he had come to realize she meant everything to him. She was his light, his love, and his soul mate.

  He inhaled slowly drawing air into his tight, aching chest. He would give everything he owned, even his life, to have undone the horror of the last few days He hoped God would forgive him because he knew he never could forgive himself.

  Maddy slowly awoke, her body still stiff and sore. She turned her head at a noise, her heart beating faster. However, it skipped with happiness when she saw Richard, still fully dressed, lying on his back, beside her, softly snoring. He looked tired. He would be exhausted after traveling to Portsmouth and back in less than two days.

  She quietly left the bed, needing the necessary. When she came out from behind the screen, she was half way back to the bed before she realized Richard was awake and staring at her, his face drawn and pale.

  She didn’t know where to look. She felt as nervous as she had on their wedding night. Here she was, his wife, the woman who had calmly ridden off with another man…

  “I’m so very sorry,” her voice choked on the words and her eyes filled with tears. “I only went home with Christopher, I mean Samuel, because I needed time to think about you and the fact that Sarah was carrying your child. I knew what that would mean for you. To not be able to claim your child…”

  Richard was off the bed before her words were finished and he tenderly wrapped his arms around her. “Shush. Only one of us carries the guilt and blame for your ordeal, and it is I. If only I’d had the courage to tell you about the babe, but I was a coward. I’ve been a coward about a lot of things, but most of all about our marriage.”