by Rebecca King
“Georgiana,” Will murmured, refusing to give in, but Georgiana was having none of it.
“I am tired,” she said. “I am sure that Simeon has gone now and won’t bother trying to come back.”
“You should not stay here alone now,” he said firmly.
“I will be fine, I am sure of it,” she assured him, desperate to avoid having to talk about anything right now.
“I will swap rooms with you,” he offered. “If he tries to get in, he will get the shock of his life when he finds me here.”
“But he knows where your room is as well,” she protested.
“Yes, but I am not a beautiful and very attractive young woman,” Will argued.
Georgiana opened her mouth to argue but snapped it closed again. She would rest properly somewhere else. The prospect of getting undressed and climbing between the sheets again in this particular room would not bring her any comfort.
“If you are sure then thank you,” she murmured. It was then that a something suddenly occurred to her. “Why are you here by the way?”
Will paused beside the door and looked at her. “I asked Ruth where you had gone.”
Georgiana’s brows lifted. She doubted that Ruth would tell him and Simeon where to find her–would she?
“I wonder if she told Simeon where to find me as well,” she murmured with a shiver. Even saying the man’s name gave her the creeps now.
“I have no idea but I fully intend to speak with her about it when I get back,” Will warned.
“Please don’t,” Georgiana replied. “I will speak with her. She is my aunt. If she has, I need to find out why, and what she wanted to come of it. It is something I should do, not you.”
Now that her initial fear had subsided she was starting to feel a little more like herself and suspected that if she wanted to get through this she needed to take a little more control. If Will started to take over, and spoke to Ruth on her behalf, she would find herself being ushered back to Cranbury before she drew breath.
Will reluctantly nodded. “I will go and fetch my things. You wait here. I will knock three times when I get back. Don’t answer the door to anybody while I am gone.” He disappeared before she replied.
Once alone in the room, Georgiana’s worry grew. In an attempt to keep her mind off just how vulnerable she was she placed her bag on the end of the bed and sat down beside it to wait for Will’s return.
Will closed the door to his room, his bag clutched tightly in his hand. He walked down the hallway toward Georgiana’s room, his thoughts locked on her and how he could get her to consider a future with him. He didn’t realise he was no longer alone until a figure emerged out of the darkest shadow in the hallway and lunged toward him. Will knew immediately who it was but, before he was able to duck, a heavy fist landed on his jaw. To his disgust, he was embroiled in a fight for the second time that night. This time, he was a little more focused on what he was doing because he didn’t have Georgiana presence nearby to worry about. She was safely tucked away in her room leaving Will free to focus all of his attention on his enemy.
“I will damned well kill you,” Simeon snarled. “I’ll teach you for stopping me from getting what I want.”
“She isn’t yours,” Will snapped and successfully dodged the wild swing Simeon threw at his head.
“She isn’t yours either,” Simeon growled.
He landed several punches, waited until Simeon was winded, and hauled the man up by his collar.
“Stay away from her,” he snarled only to wince when a sharp stabbing pain pierced his side. He glanced down and watched Simeon take another wild stab at his side. The tell-tale warmth of rushing blood began to spread down his side. Aware that he had just been stabbed, he looked up and saw the small blade Simeon held in the palm of his hand.
“Damn you,” Will snarled.
“I told you I won’t have you stand in my way,” Simeon looked almost gleeful as he lunged forward again.
“Murder is illegal in this country,” Will growled as he dodged the flashing blade.
Simeon merely lunged forward again, this time horrifyingly close to Will’s side again. Will grabbed the hand holding the knife but struggled to fight Simeon’s fury. There was something in Simeon’s eyes that warned Will the man wasn’t in full possession of his faculties now and was incredibly strong because of it.
“Just what the Hell is wrong with you?” Will snarled. “Are you drunk or just stupid?”
He didn’t give Simeon the opportunity to answer before he landed several punches that put the man on the floor. While his opponent was temporarily winded, Will removed the weapon from his hand by stomping hard on his fingers. Simeon’s howl of rage was almost pitiful, but was quickly followed by a snarl of contempt which resulted in him lunging awkwardly to his feet and surging forward once more.
Will held the weapon and used it to force Simeon to keep his distance.
“Get away from here or I swear to God I will shout for help. I don’t care if I rouse all the guests out of their beds. I will have you arrested for this,” Will snapped.
“You won’t steal her away from me. I am going to show you that you can’t. How dare you challenge me?” Simeon snarled. “Don’t you have any idea who I am?”
“You are an attempted murderer,” Will snapped in disgust. “I don’t care who the Hell you are, you are a criminal.”
“Go to Hell,” Simeon snarled. “Dead men don’t speak.”
With that he launched into a wild frenzy of kicks and punches that were difficult to follow. Eventually, Will realised that they would continue to fight like this all night because neither of them were prepared to back down. He fought until his back was to the corridor he had just left, and continued to back away until he was level with Georgiana’s door. Keeping his gaze firmly fixed on his attacker; Will thumped three times on the door, and silently prayed for Georgiana to be quick about opening it. Before she did, Simeon was upon him again.
Georgiana yanked the door open, wondering what the strange noises were outside. She had little doubt it was Will who had knocked, but was stunned at the scene that greeted her when she yanked the door open.
“Will?” she cried in alarm when she saw the blood soaking his shirt. Her eyes widened when Simeon appeared and began to kick wildly at Will.
“Get your bag,” Will ordered as he fought him off.
Georgiana lifted her bag to show him she already had it, and found herself promptly yanked out of the room. She gasped when she saw that Simeon was right behind them and stepped away when the men traded blows for several minutes.
“Go!” Will ordered her once Simeon was busy trying to climb to his feet. “Don’t stop. I will catch you up.”
Georgiana hurried to the stairs. When she realised that Will wasn’t behind her, she hesitated and looked back in time to witness Simeon kick Will in the stomach. Will barely flinched, and instead kicked Simeon’s knee hard from the side. The loud cracking of the joint made Simeon scream and clutch the appendage protectively as he fell to the floor.
“Quickly.” Will ushered Georgiana down the stairs toward the main reception desk. “Let’s get out of here.”
Half way down the stairs he realised he had left his bag behind.
“Wait a minute,” he called and went to fetch his belongings.
Whatever had gone wrong with Simeon’s mind had left him rocking on the floor of the hallway, mumbling incoherently beneath his breath and sweating profusely. Will wondered if he had taken an opiate, or was genuinely insane. Whichever, it was down to the magistrate and the doctors to sort the man out. His priority right now was getting Georgiana to safety.
“What is it?” She demanded when he returned to her.
Will lifted his bag to show her and escorted her hurriedly down the stairs. Once at the reception desk he informed the manager what had happened, and gave the man instructions for the magistrate, along with his direction before he swept Georgiana out of the door. Within minutes, they found
themselves safely within the confines of a carriage on their way back to Mecklemerry.
“We need to pad that with something,” she said softly.
“Leave it,” Will ordered dismissively. “It is not deep.”
Georgiana, who had been leaning toward him, froze. She looked at the closed expression on his face and saw that he was coldly furious. Even in the darkness of the carriage, the tension in him warned her that he was not in any mood to talk.
“You need to see a doctor.”
“It’s fine,” he said more sharply this time.
Without causing another argument, Georgiana had to accept that he didn’t need help and settled back against the seat.
CHAPTER TWENTY
She must have fallen asleep during the journey because the sudden jerking motion of the carriage suddenly stopping made her jolt in alarm. She opened her eyes in time to watch Will disembark. Confused, she studied the building outside of the window. She looked hesitantly at the hand he held out to her and reluctantly took it. The cold night air made her shiver, but it was insignificant against the deep sense of foreboding that swept through her when she stepped down from the carriage and studied the front façade of the tavern in front of her.
Will paid the driver and removed their bags from the carriage. Georgiana watched it trundle away and then turned to him.
“Come on,” he ordered with a nod to the tavern door.
“I can’t come in with you,” she replied.
“You are going to come in here,” he declared flatly. “I am just going to pack the rest of my things and then we are leaving.”
“Leaving? For where?” she asked, struggling to understand. She looked at her aunt’s door longingly. “I will go on ahead.”
She started to walk toward her aunt’s house only for Will to stop her. “No, you are coming in here with me. Then we are leaving the village.”
“To go where? Simeon is back in town, most probably with the magistrate by now. There can be no further threat tonight. Ruth is at Mrs Merriweather’s house but she won’t mind that I have returned home early given what has happened,” she protested.
Will sighed impatiently. It was clear that his battles weren’t over yet.
“You cannot stop in this village any longer, Georgiana,” Will snapped. “Now, I have spent a lot of time here waiting for you to get over whatever issues you have and stop these shenanigans but I have just about run out of patience. It is time all of this stopped, right here, right now. It is not a game. There are no second chances if anything goes wrong–like it has done tonight. It is time you returned to Cranbury. Get the rest of your things–we are leaving.”
Georgiana watched him disappear into the tavern, completely aghast. He had clearly expected her to lose interest, or get over whatever tantrum she was having, and change her mind about being here. It was clear from both his tone of voice and his high-handed behaviour, that he still intended to override her wishes and get her back to Cranbury. It frustrated her that after all the times she had repeatedly told him she had no intention of leaving here he completely refused to listen.
Arguing with him was futile. There wasn’t anything more she could say to him. If he didn’t want to listen, he wasn’t going to listen it was as simple as that. With that in mind, Georgiana walked to her aunt’s house. By the time she reached the front door she was positively shaking from the force of her anger. Once inside, she closed and bolted the front door and carried her bag up to her room where she promptly unpacked it and pushed the empty bag under her bed out of sight.
When the dull sound of knocking broke the silence of the night, Georgiana ceased her pacing before the fire and marched to the front door.
Once inside, Will looked around the empty hall.
“Where are your things?” he demanded with a frown.
Georgiana crossed her arms. “I am not going back to Cranbury. Why do you persist in considering me incapable of making decisions for myself? I am an adult. I have told you all of this. You might ignorantly refuse to believe what I have told you, but take it or leave it the truth is there. If you are going back to Cranbury, you are going to go alone and that is final.”
“I have to go back to Cranbury, Georgiana. I can’t stay in the village any longer, there are matters back at home that need my attention,” Will said calmly.
“Yes, you have a wedding to prepare for, and a bride waiting for you,” she whispered.
Will tipped his chin up proudly and kept his face impassive. He wasn’t going to beg. “You truly want to stay here?”
“It is what I need,” she whispered.
“You need to be with people who love you,” he replied harshly.
He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he wasn’t sure that he did. He didn’t want his reluctance to let go of a childhood friend to be clouded by his need to take care of her, which had been a part of him since the day they had first met. He wanted to love her because it was her he wanted to be with–the woman, not because he was afraid to let go of the past.
“I am. Ruth doesn’t just love me, she respects me and my decisions in life,” Georgiana replied sadly.
“I respect your decisions in life. I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Will countered.
Georgiana sighed. She knew what he was going to say even before he said it. When he began to speak, something inside her died.
“Just consider how close you came to total destruction with Simeon. While you acted in good faith, you have to understand that there will be people–men–who will take advantage of your youth,” Will replied.
“Because I am too stupid and naive to understand how the world works,” Georgiana finished for him, a hint of cynicism in her voice.
“I am just saying that you need someone to watch over you,” Will said.
“No, I don’t,” Georgiana replied. “I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. Why do you not see that? I had no idea Simeon is dangerous. How could I? Ruth has been in this village for years and had no idea about what lay beneath the surface with him. If she doesn’t see him for what he is how on earth could I? That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t speak with people, or should stay inside where it is safe in case someone decides to be cruel. You won’t be happy until you have stuffed me back inside that box of a room at my parent’s house so they can dictate my life. You want to do that for you, not me. You are constantly telling me what to do and are continually trying to make me do what you want me to do. What I want doesn’t even feature in your world. I can’t live with that.”
“Alright then,” he murmured with a sigh.
Walking out of the door and leaving her behind, maybe to never see her again, was the hardest thing Will had ever had to do. But it was clear from the expression on her face that it had to happen.
“You are not coming with me then,” he tried one last time.
“I can’t,” she whispered, too choked with emotion to say anything else.
Will nodded. Everything within him was screaming at him to do something or say something to persuade her to stay with him, and at least try to live in Cranbury again.
“Maybe if I spoke with your parents, they would allow you to make a few more decisions for yourself,” he offered.
Georgiana shook her head. “You cannot ever make my mother change her ways,” she replied sadly. “You and I both know that. It is a waste of time trying to reason with someone like Cecily. It is best all round if I stay here.”
Will stepped toward her but then hesitated. If he held her he might do something foolhardy and rash like bed her just to ruin her so then she would have to marry him, and return to Cranbury.
“I am sorry, Georgiana,” he whispered.
He had no idea if he was apologising for having to leave her behind, or promising her hope for a future he couldn’t offer her right now. It had been the most foolish thing he had ever done to kiss her knowing he might be engaged to someone else. He had just created more problems and heartache, not just for himself b
ut for Georgiana too. He suspected that Georgiana cared about him, but he had no idea how much. Now he couldn’t ask her, and might never know for sure if she did or not.
“It is alright,” she whispered offering him a brave smile that belied the wounded look in her eye. “You need to go.”
He had to accept defeat. Will turned to the door. He suspected that the time he would have to be away sorting matters out in Cranbury would bring about a lot of changes for Georgiana. She would undoubtedly take her life by the horns and turn it into something she wanted. While he applauded her for that and silently willed her to do it, he was deeply worried that he might not have a place in the new life she forged for herself.
He yanked open the door and studied his horse waiting for him at the end of the path and hesitated. Once in the doorway he turned around and hauled her into his arms for one last kiss. He poured every ounce emotion into that kiss he couldn’t speak about, silently promising her everything while offering her nothing. Before she could do anything more than whimper, he released her and slammed out of the house.
The dull thud of the door closing behind him sounded like the death knell of his position in the life of the woman he had come to know and, he suspected, love. He hated it.
Georgiana listened to the clip-clop of his horses’ hooves fade into the distance and slumped dejectedly on the stairs. She stared blankly into space and allowed the numbness to slide over her. It was bearable, until she slid beneath the covers in bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Whenever she tried to focus her thoughts on something other than Will, her mind went blank and all she could do was think of the ache in her heart. In the end, she gave in to pain and allowed the tears to fall.
Six weeks later
Georgiana swung on the seat beneath the huge oak tree at the end of Ruth’s garden. The gentle scent of baked pie and boiled potatoes wafted through the air toward her. Her stomach rumbled hungrily, but she remained outside, savouring the warm morning sunshine and gentle breeze on her cheeks.
