"If he exists."
Johanna narrowed her eyes and gazed at him in her knowing way. "He exists, my son. You may trust me on this."
Hal glanced over to where Mary sat by the window, rocking, back and forth, back and forth, trapped in a moment over ten years old.
And his mother seemed so sure of a child. He had to know for certain. He wrapped his mother in a hug and left her house without another word to gather George and the crew to prepare to sail to England. Was he going to open a door or close one forever?
Chapter Twenty Nine
She arrived unannounced at Greymere. Better to catch the murderer off-guard.
"My lady, welcome home."
"Thank you, Dudley. Did Patsy arrive home safely?"
"Yes, milady. Mr. Alex brought her home with him. He and your lady mother have been frantic for your safety."
Elspeth let Dudley help her off with her traveling cloak and she handed him her gloves and bonnet.
"Dudley, is Mr. FitzWilliam here?"
"Yes, milady."
"I need to speak to him." In a whisper she added, "Have him procure a weapon. I may need his protection."
Dudley looked properly appalled.
"Elspeth, my dear." Adelpha came toward her.
A moment of cold uncertainty swept over her. Did her mother know of the plot? Could she be involved?
Adelpha wrapped Elspeth in her arms, something she hadn't done for years, erasing all ugly speculation from Elspeth's mind. She wrapped her arms around her mother and held on.
After a long moment, Adelpha stood away from her.
"My sweet, I was so worried. Are you all right? Where have you been all this time?"
"Didn't Alex tell you Mr. Merritt took me on a little cruise to Jamaica?"
"He implied you did not go by your own will."
"I didn't."
Adelpha called to Dudley, "Bring tea to the parlor, please, Dudley." She led Elspeth into the parlor and seated her on a sofa. "Tell me what happened." A frown marred her serene brow. "Did Richard find you?"
Elspeth nodded. "He is dead."
"Mr. Merritt fulfilled his vow, then?"
"Yes."
"Did he return with you?"
"No."
"Elspeth, must I draw the whole tale from you in one-word answers?"
"I'm sorry, Mother. I'm tired."
"Of course, my sweet." Adelpha lay her hand on Elspeth's brow. "Do you need some willow bark tea? Oh, how is your injury?"
Which one, she wondered. Her arm or the lingering pain in her heart, or the heavy weight because she was about to ruin her mother's life?
"I need to speak with Alex in private, Mother. Is he here?"
"He is indeed." Alex's voice drifted into the room. "I was in the fields, my dear." He came and knelt before her. "Are you well? Your mother worried the whole time you were gone."
"And you, Alex?" Elspeth asked coldly. "Did you worry as well?"
"Of course." Alex caught her mood. He rose and took Adelpha's hand. "Adelpha, my love, would you leave us alone for a few moments?"
"Certainly. I shall see what is keeping the tea."
"Thank you, my love." Alex shut the door behind his wife and returned, taking a seat beside Elspeth on the sofa.
She couldn't bear to sit by him. She jumped up, needing space between them.
Alex's face betrayed his fear.
"I know, Alex. I know what you did."
He rose and came toward her. She stepped back, keeping the distance between them.
"Elspeth, my dear. I can explain."
"You don't deny it?"
"No. I'm sure Merritt made sure you saw only the worst side of it."
"Worst side?" she asked incredulously.
"I, well, I only did what I had to do for the good of my family."
"Having me killed is for the good of your family?"
Alex's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"Don't pretend now that the words are spoken aloud, Alex. I know you were Hal's man in black."
"No. Elspeth, I swear. I couldn't."
"I heard you on Hal's ship. You called me 'my dear'. It was your voice."
Alex shook his head. "Elspeth, you are to me as a daughter. I would never plot against your life."
"What were you confessing to, then?"
"The slaves, of course. I thought that was what you were so incensed about."
"Enslaving people is just as horrid as murder."
"I am guilty of the first, but never the second. If not for the love I bear you, how could I do such a thing to your mother?"
A shot rang out from the window behind her. Alex fell to the floor, blood blossoming on the front of his shirt.
Elspeth stared, frozen to the spot.
"Be still, my lady." FitzWilliam came around her, locked the parlor door, and dragged a large side table to block it.
Fists pounded against the door. Elspeth heard her mother's voice.
"Alex! Elspeth! What is going on in there?"
"We have a few moments of privacy before they get in."
"FitzWilliam?"
He turned to her and swept her a bow. "Yes, my dear," he said in a sure reproduction of Alex's voice.
She stared at her steward, all the pieces coming into place.
"It was you?"
"Yes. It was I."
"Why?"
It seemed silly now, with his weapon leveled at her heart, to wonder why? But she did.
FitzWilliam seemed inclined to tell her.
"To regain control of Greymere. Your father gave me a free hand as long as I supplied him with his opium. Once you ascended to the title, you showed a tiresome habit of asking too many questions. Now, my lady, it is your turn to die. I will make it look as though you and your stepfather shot each other. Your insipid cousin will become Earl and I will again have the authority, if not the title, your Norman ancestors stole from the rightful owners of this land."
"How absurd. The Conquest was eight centuries ago."
FitzWilliam smiled. "The Saxon memory runs long, my lady."
He raised the pistol again. "If you wish to pray before you die, I will give you a few moments."
"How generous of you."
He laughed out loud. "I've always liked you, Elspeth. Too bad I'm not a bit younger and unmarried. I'd take you to wife and your death would not be necessary." He glanced at Alex's body. "And so neatly done, too. Your stepfather kills you to keep his insidious secret, but of course, the faithful steward kills the murderer, while weeping for his lady. I must admit, I didn't have a way to wrap all this up. But you've provided a wonderful scenario."
A noise at the window took his attention off her.
"FitzWilliam. How nice to see you again. We have a small score to settle, I believe."
"Hal," she breathed.
"I told you, my lady, if you sent for me, I would come."
"Stay where you are, pirate."
"No, I don't believe I will." Hal hopped through the window as FitzWilliam aimed for him.
Elspeth dashed toward FitzWilliam and jerked his arm toward the ceiling as the pistol went off. Plaster rained down on them as she struggled with him for the weapon.
Then Hal was there. "Get out of the way, Ellie."
She obeyed, giving him room. The pistol fell to the floor. FitzWilliam grinned in Hal's face and lowered one hand toward his belt. When he pulled back his jacket, Elspeth gasped.
"Hal, look out," she shrieked.
FitzWilliam pulled out the second weapon and fired into Hal's body. She saw him jerk.
She screamed.
Hal didn't fall. He grasped FitzWilliam's weapon hand and forced it between them.
Another shot rang out.
She caught her breath, waiting in awful anticipation for her champion to crumple to the floor.
FitzWilliam's grin died. He stared into Hal's face and shook his head.
"No." His voice was disbelieving, pitiful. "No."
Then he fell a
t Hal's feet.
Hal held the pistol in his hand. His other hand grasped his side and he swayed. Elspeth hurried to him, throwing herself on him, kissing his face.
"Oh, my darling, you came. You came to me."
"Of course."
His eyes fluttered closed and he leaned against her.
"Come, darling. Let me help you." She helped him to the sofa and he lay down and immediately lost consciousness. Blood covered the front of his shirt. "Oh, my God, Hal. Don't you dare die on me."
She ran to the parlor door. The heavy table resisted her efforts, but she managed to drag it from in front of the door. Turning the key, she yanked the door open.
The whole household stood in the hall outside.
"Dudley, hurry, get me some water and clean cloths. Send someone for the surgeon. Cook, I need you." Adelpha stood apart, her face pasty white. "Mother, come. Alex is injured. I don't know how badly."
* * * *
A soft hand stroked his cheek. He was dreaming about her again, as he did every night.
"Ellie."
"Yes, my pirate. I'm here."
Warm lips touched his.
"Open your eyes, Hal, and let me see you're going to be all right."
Though he only wanted to drift back off to sleep and dream of her, the lady's will must be done. He forced his eyes open. Her face appeared before him. She sat on the bed next to him, holding his hand in her lap.
"What happened?"
"You don't remember?"
He shook his head. His mouth was too dry to speak.
She noticed and got him a glass of water. "Here, drink." She put her hand beneath his head and helped him.
"You saved my life again, Captain Merritt."
"Did I?" Bits and pieces came back to him. "It was FitzWilliam?"
"Yes. You were right to suspect him."
"My lady, you seem to need saving right regular."
She nodded. "I suppose you shall have to marry me, so I can be assured of a long life."
He thought his clouded brain misunderstood her words. "What did you say?"
"I said, you shall have to marry me. And we do not have much time, sir. I demand you make an honest woman out of me before our child is born."
"Child?"
A piqued expression settled on her face. "Sir, am I to beg you?" With a smile, she got off the bed and got on her knees. "I believe this is the proper position to ask for the hand of one's beloved."
"Elspeth, you can't marry me."
"Why? Are you already married?"
"No, but-"
"Then you are unencumbered. I demand you agree to marry me at the earliest possible time." She gazed at him with eyes full of love.
"The lady's will be done."
Epilogue
Greymere, April, 1841
The Queen of England emerged from the room where Elspeth labored.
"What are you men doing hanging about? Go to the library and smoke, drink, tell ribald stories to pass the time, anything, but do get out of the way." She shooed Hal and Alex from the rooms with her tiny hands.
"I'm not leaving." Hal stood up to her.
"God-damn! Bloody hell! Jesus God! Hal Merritt, I'll get you for this."
Hal stared at the room where Elspeth's voice so clearly rang out.
Victoria blushed. "Cook assures us that such outbursts are quite normal with strong women, Mr. Merritt." She smiled. "And our Ellie is a strong woman, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is."
Elspeth let go with another fount of invective. Fear, like nothing he'd ever felt before froze his heart in mid-beat. He grabbed Victoria by the shoulders.
"She's dying, isn't she? Tell me the truth."
Victoria laughed, her whole tiny body shaking with mirth.
"Certainly not. She's fine. The babe is coming along well." She looked toward her own husband, standing patiently in the corner. "Albert, please take this poor man to the library and get him quietly drunk so we women may complete our business without having to step over him when he faints from worry out here. You, too, Mr. March. You may consider that a command from your Queen."
"You're sure she's all right, ma'am?" Alex asked, his voice no less concerned that a father's should be.
"Yes. You have my word on it. Now go."
She disappeared down the hallway toward the back stairs.
Albert lay his arm around Hal's shoulders. "Come, my friend. She is in the best of hands. We certainly are of no use here. Let's do as my wife suggests and get you rip-roaring sedated."
Hal let himself be led away from the room.
"Jesus, bl-oooooo-dy, Christ! Hal, I swear to God, you'll have the next one."
Feminine laughter echoed behind this.
"Stop laughing, Mother!" Elspeth commanded to no avail. "Hal!"
He made to go to her.
"This time, sir, leave the lady to her own devices," Albert said and urged Hal away from the room.
He went, feeling more useless than ever in his life.
When Victoria came to the library a lifetime later, Hal jumped from his seat, sober as a judge. Albert, on the other hand, lay snoring on a sofa. Alex was similarly unconscious at the desk.
She smiled at Hal. "Come, sir, see your fine new son."
"A son?"
Victoria nodded and held out her hand. Hal took it and followed her in a daze to Elspeth's room.
"Here he is, Ellie."
The door closed behind her, leaving Hal, Elspeth, and a small bundle alone.
His son.
Hal approached the bed with hesitant steps and sat on the edge. He ran his fingers along her cheek. She leaned into his caress.
"You look tired, sweetheart."
"I'm exhausted. I thought cooking was beastly hard work." She smiled and her dimple winked at him. "It seems women have all the worst duties. But the effort was not without some consolation." She held the bundle out to him.
It was so small.
"Here, Hal. Take your son."
His hands trembled as he took the child from her. Pulling the covers away, he saw a small, baby boy. As perfect as his mother.
"Oh, Hal." Elspeth sat up and gently wiped away the tear falling from his eye.
"He's beautiful," he whispered.
"Like his father."
"Like his mother." Hal leaned over and kissed her. "Thank you, Ellie."
"Oh, you're quite welcome."
They contemplated their child for a long, satisfying time. Hal couldn't keep his hands from the tiny feet, each toe perfectly formed. Or the flailing hands that gripped his finger with surprising strength.
"He's a miracle."
She settled her head on his shoulder. "I'm told I said some awful things. I don't remember."
He laughed. "I believe you told me I had to have the next one."
"I didn't, really?" She chuckled. "Drina said I would be most embarrassed."
"Don't be, sweetheart. He more than makes up for it all."
"What shall we name him?"
"Matthew? For my father."
She nodded. "And I would like to add 'Coleridge' as a middle name."
"Cole will be impossible to live with." He kissed her again. "But, my lady's will be done."
The Ladys Pirate Page 27
