No Recourse

by Mari Carr

  “M-my name is J-Julia,” she whispered, through dry, split lips.

  Julia? This is Jack’s Lady Julia? That was impossible. This young woman couldn’t be more than eighteen. She was too young for Jack—who according to Erin—was thirty years old. This girl certainly didn’t seem to fall into the same category as Jack’s usual conquests—widows, opera singers and married women. “Julia. That’s a pretty name.”

  Her legs, tired from squatting for so long, finally gave out. Hayley sat down heavily in front of Julia, so they were both hidden amongst the bushes. Hayley was concerned that the earl may arrive any minute and she didn’t want him to find his young ward until she’d had an opportunity to speak with her. Hayley knew who had given Julia the bruises, as well as the reason why she had run away, and there was no way Hayley was going to let the earl take her back now.

  “It’s a nice day to spend in the garden, but I suspect you aren’t here to stroll. Are you looking for someone?”

  “Y-y-yes.” Julia’s grip on her legs relaxed a bit and it was then Hayley noticed the lashes across Julia’s upper arms. Someone had used a whip to beat her. Shuddering, Hayley wondered how the injured girl could have made it here from The Homestead, which she understood to be nearly ten miles away. Then she recalled the terrible storm the night she and Jack had spent in the cabin. How on earth did Julia make it so far in such adverse conditions?

  Hayley needed to find a way to earn Julia’s trust so that the young woman would let her help. Her wounds needed to be treated and soon. She’d been missing for a few days, which meant she’d already gone too long without care. However, that fact gave Hayley hope that Julia hadn’t suffered any serious internal injuries.

  “Are you looking for Jack?” Hayley asked.

  “N-no,” Julia replied vehemently. “Is Jack here? Oh n-no. I must leave,” Julia tried to rise, but her weary body resisted the effort. Hayley quickly reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder.

  “No,” she said softly. “Don’t move. We’re hidden from the house and you’re in no condition to go anywhere. Why don’t you want Jack to know you’re here? I thought—” Hayley realized she didn’t know anything about Julia and Jack’s relationship other than he was deeply concerned about her disappearance. Julia’s desperation to escape him left Hayley completely perplexed.

  A door slammed in the distance and Julia’s head jerked sharply at the sound. The terror in her eyes was more than Hayley could stand.

  “Julia,” she said. “It’s okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you or even find you for that matter. All I want to do is get you somewhere safe where we can tend those injuries.”

  Julia looked at Hayley as if seeing her for the first time. “I c-can’t go back.”

  “You don’t have to,” Hayley replied. “You can stay here.”

  “He will f-find me and m-make me go with him.” Tears began to fall down Julia’s pale cheeks and her body trembled.

  “Who will find you? Jack?”

  “No,” Julia responded softly. “The earl.”

  “I won’t let him take you back and neither will Jack. We’ll protect you.” At the mention of Jack’s name, Julia scrambled to her knees, wincing in pain, before grabbing Hayley’s hands. “J-Jack can’t see me like this. Please, I was l-looking for…”

  Julia paused, clearly unsure if she could trust her. Hayley decided whoever Julia was looking for was not as important as keeping her hidden from who was looking for her. She struggled to pull Julia back down, anxious to keep her concealed behind the bushes in case the earl was already here.

  “Listen to me,” Hayley whispered as Julia continued to try to rise. “The earl, Wilshire, he’s coming here.”

  Julia froze at the mention of the earl’s name. Hayley dragged her to the safe shelter of the bushes, while Julia repeatedly whispered “no” over and over again. The panic in her small body was palpable and Hayley fervently wished there was something she could do to alleviate it.

  “Julia,” she said soothingly. “Listen to me. Listen.” She waited for Julia to stop her anguished mantra. “I want you to stay here. I’ll go into the house and make sure he doesn’t come outside. No one knows you’re here except me. Once the earl leaves, I’ll come back. I know of a place where you can hide, a cabin in the woods that’s abandoned. No one will look for you there. We’ll go together and I’ll clean up these cuts. You can rest and get your strength back. Then we’ll decide what to do next. You don’t ever have to go back to the earl. I promise.”

  Hayley prayed she would be able to keep her promise to the terrified girl. Unfamiliar with these times, she didn’t know if it was possible to protect a woman from an abusive guardian. Somehow, she suspected Julia had no recourse in that area and whatever Hayley did, it would have to be done covertly and apparently without Jack.

  Why was Julia so adamant about not seeing Jack? The idea that Julia seemed to be afraid of him left her unsettled. Surely, Jack would never hurt the young girl or send her back to live with his uncle.

  Unless, he didn’t have a choice.

  She’d think about that later. Right now, she had to keep Julia quiet and safe until they could make their move to the cabin. “Promise me you’ll stay here.” When Julia made no response, she repeated her command. “Promise me.”

  “I p-promise.” Julia’s voice stammered with pain and fear.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Hayley gently squeezed Julia’s hand and headed back to the house, considering what to do next. Jack would be furious with her for interfering, especially when he’d specifically asked her to avoid his uncle.

  As she headed toward the library, she heard raised voices shouting. Obviously the earl had arrived and Jack hadn’t exaggerated the intensity of the animosity between them.

  “I am not leaving here without her.” Hayley could hear the earl’s deep voice shouting threats. “Maybe the magistrate won’t arrest you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep you from taking what doesn’t belong to you. You are a deceitful, conniving, son of a bitch—just like your father. How dare you interfere with my household! I will have that girl back and I will marry her.” Hayley froze at the words. The earl intended to marry Julia?

  “Dammit, Wilshire! I told you—I don’t have her. But you can be sure Hell will freeze over before I’ll ever let you marry that girl!” Jack’s booming voice resounded through the hallway.

  Hayley heard another voice, softer than the other two. Alex must be in the library as well. Suddenly, there was a loud crash.

  Before she could think about what she was doing, Hayley knocked on the door sharply and opened it before waiting for an invitation. At her appearance, all three men in the room stopped shouting and turned to stare at her. Frozen in mid-argument, the picture they painted would be almost comical if the situation were not so serious. Alex stood behind the big desk, his fists clenched on top. Jack was by the fireplace. His face flushed with fury, while the earl stood by the piano in the midst of broken glass. Apparently, in his anger, the earl had smashed a lamp with his cane.

  Hayley’s gaze stayed on the Earl of Wilshire who had been approaching Jack with his cane lifted menacingly. The family resemblance was recognizable. Both uncle and nephew had the same thick hair, though the earl’s was a dark gray. They were both tall, although Jack’s youth kept his stature more erect. The most striking similarity was in their eyes, however. Both men possessed eyes the color of darkest midnight blue when angry, but while Jack’s eyes were passionate, the earl’s seemed hard and cruel.

  The room was silent as each man reacted differently to Hayley’s arrival. Alex looked concerned, Wilshire furious and Jack—well, Jack looked terrified. For a second, he looked as frightened as Julia in the garden, but he shuttered the emotion quickly as he strode across the room to her.

  “Miss Garland,” he said smoothly. “I’m sorry if we disturbed you, but as you can see we are in the midst of a meeting here. Perhaps you would be more comfortable in the morning room.” He pretended to b
e a gentleman and stranger, but when he took her arm to lead her out of the library, his grip was tight and painful.

  “The whole house can hear what you are in the midst of. The walls are vibrating with the shouts.” She shook off Jack’s grip. In for a penny, in for a pound, she decided as she strode to the middle of the room.

  “Who is this?” Wilshire came to stand beside Jack. His previous furor was replaced by a reptilian-like charm. “I know all the beautiful women in this area and I don’t believe I have had the pleasure.”

  “You aren’t going to have the pleasure now, either,” Jack retorted. “Miss Garland, leave.” Then just for her ears, he added a somewhat desperate please.

  “Miss Garland, is it?” Wilshire took her hand in his, lifting it to kiss her knuckles lightly. His fingers were icy cold and she stifled a shudder as the impression of holding the hand of death ran through her. Erin’s words returned to her as she too felt the chill that surrounded this man.

  “My dear, if you wouldn’t mind giving me a few moments alone to complete some business with my nephew, I would like very much to make your acquaintance.”

  Jack abruptly grabbed her hand out of Wilshire’s grip and attempted to pull her behind him. Undaunted, Hayley slipped back around Jack. “Business? Is that what all the shouting is about?”

  “My nephew has something that belongs to me—a possession of mine—and I have come to retrieve it.”

  “A possession?” Hayley asked the question sweetly, although her anger built at the earl’s reference to his ward as a possession.

  “Yes, my nephew has lived his whole life coveting what is mine. He is very much like his father in that regard. This time, he went too far and took something that wasn’t his. I have come to reclaim it.”

  “My goodness, what kind of possession,” Hayley started again, emphasizing the word that caused her outrage, “would be worth such a fuss?”

  She sensed the overwhelming tension in Jack as he stood quietly beside her. She had no doubt he was barely restraining his great rage. Briefly, she worried what he would do or say to her later, but Julia’s terrified face kept her talking.

  “My betrothed,” Wilshire said wrathfully, looking once again at Jack.

  “Your betrothed?” Hayley asked. “You did say betrothed, as in a woman?”

  Wilshire, hearing the anger in her voice, looked more closely at her. All of his previous charm fled as he took offense at the audacity of her questioning. “Yes,” he barked, “of course, a woman. He took her and I have come to take her back.”

  “Well, how interesting,” she said. “I had no idea a woman could be a possession. Your soon-to-be wife is a living, breathing, human being, right? Or are you one of those guys who’s in to blow-up dolls?”

  Wilshire’s attempt at controlling his rage failed as he narrowed his eyes. “Doll? She’s no doll. She’s mine and no one else’s. She is my ward and betrothed, which makes her my property and I keep what is mine, despite my nephew’s interference—and yours.”

  “How dare you!” Hayley shouted. “No wonder she left you. For your information, a woman is a person with feelings, thoughts and opinions. Not a possession. Not something you can own like a house or a horse. It’s no wonder you couldn’t keep her, you arrogant, insufferable, self-import—”

  “Hayley.” Alex came around the desk quickly. “That’s enough.”

  “Oh no, Alex. It isn’t. This man,” Hayley said as if the earl were unworthy of even that title, “believes he can own a person. That he has the right to—”

  “Hayley, dammit, stop talking. Now!” Jack moved between Hayley and the earl.

  Wilshire, momentarily shocked by her comments, quickly came to himself. He raised his finger, pointing it in her face. “You impertinent, saucy, little chit. Someone needs to teach you to respect your betters. I would be happy, Lord Dorset, to teach her that lesson.” With his words, he raised his cane menacingly.

  “Get out!” Jack roughly grabbed his uncle by the lapels and shoved him toward the door. “I don’t have your ward, so this conversation is at an end. If you ever threaten or come anywhere near Miss Garland again, I swear I will kill you as slowly and painfully as possible. Now, get the hell out of this house!” With that, Jack continued to push his uncle out of the library and down the hall. The earl—his face purple with rage—managed to escape the worst of Jack’s blows.

  As he reached the front door, he turned to Jack, his face distorted, his voice malicious. “You will pay for this outrage.” Then he looked at Hayley with malevolent eyes. “You will both pay.” With that, he turned and left.

  For a moment, no one said anything. Jack struggled to get control of his emotions, while she fought to control her shaking. She grasped the doorframe in an attempt to remain standing. Her life had been endangered numerous times at the abuse shelter, but something in the earl’s eyes scared her more than any threat that had come before.

  “Jack,” she said softly.

  “No,” he said sharply, not looking back. “Not—a—word.” She remembered the terror in his eyes those brief seconds in the library. What had happened to cause Jack such fear? Having now met the earl, she imagined Jack’s childhood had been every bit as violent and painful as hers. She wanted to reach out to him, to explain that she understood, but before she could say anything, Jack walked out of the house, without a backward glance, slamming the door behind him.

  Bewildered, Hayley felt a steadying hand on her elbow.

  “Come into the library and sit before you fall down,” Alex said gently.

  “Alex, I’m sorry.” She recalled Alex’s earlier rebuke.

  “I understand,” he replied. “Wilshire brings out the worst in everyone.”

  “What happened between Jack and his uncle to cause such intense hatred?”

  “I’m afraid the seeds were planted in that family long before Jack was even born. I don’t know the whole sordid tale. Jack lived with his uncle for a brief time after his parents died. He and I had been playmates before that, but when he went to live with his uncle, I didn’t see him again for two years, not until we entered school.”

  Alex crossed to the front window to make sure Wilshire had truly gone and to look for Jack. “I recognized Jack right away during our first week at Eton, and I had looked forward to renewing our friendship as we had always gotten along well, but he was different. More closed-off with a quick temper I’d never seen before. He wasn’t as carefree, though deep down inside, I sensed he was still essentially the same boy he’d been all those years before. Before the years with Wilshire changed him. It was as if something had been taken from him.” Alex paused as if trying to put words to his thoughts.

  When he couldn’t, he changed the subject. “He’s always been a loyal and true friend to me. There is no man I respect more. I’ve tried on numerous occasions to discover what happened during those years he spent at the Homestead, but Jack won’t talk about it. I suppose you have come to realize he is a very private person.”

  Weary after the heated encounter with Wilshire and Alex’s revelations, she felt the urge to return to the bedroom that only an hour ago had seemed boring and burrow there for a week, but she needed to get back to Julia. She stood and turned to leave.

  “What is it? Where are you going?” Alex was clearly confused by her hasty exit.

  “I forgot there’s something I have to do. I’m sorry for my interference. If you’ll excuse me—” Hayley inched closer to the door.

  Just as she was about to step into the hallway, Alex stopped her. “Hayley, wait. About Jack, give him time. Don’t push him to talk about his uncle.”

  “But—” Hayley began.

  “No,” Alex interrupted. “Trust me, if you push him on this, you will push him away.” He rose and met her at the door. “I wouldn’t go after him, if I were you.”

  “After him?” Alex thought she was rushing out to find Jack. “Oh no, that isn’t where I’m going. Even I know not to pull on a tiger’s tail when he’s
angry.” Then with a mischievous grin, she added, “Most of the time, anyway.” Hayley shrugged slightly and walked away.

  Alex simply shook his head as she departed and she clearly heard him say, “You could have fooled me.”

  Chapter 12

  Hayley quickly made her way down the path where she’d left Julia. She stopped short, however, at the sight of a man’s back, looking down at the very spot where Julia was hiding.

  She gasped and the man turned to look at her. Relief flooded her system. “Oh, Simon. I can explain.”

  Simon raised a hand to stop her, his face angry. “You knew she was here and you left her alone? Look at her.” He pointed to Julia cowered behind the bushes. “She’s injured.”

  “I know.” She was offended that Simon would think her so heartless. “But I had a very good reason for leaving.”

  “What reason could be good enough to leave a woman alone in such a state?”

  Julia, her voice weak with pain, interrupted the argument. “Stop.” Her breath was coming in short, harsh gasps. Hayley suspected she had some bruised—if not broken—ribs. “Is he gone?”

  “He’s gone. Both of them.” Hayley was unsure if Julia was asking about the earl or Jack. She bent down to place a reassuring hand on Julia’s shoulder and looked back at Simon. She wasn’t sure how he fit into her plans to help the young girl.

  Julia answered that unspoken question. “Simon has offered to help me hide.” She attempted to continue her explanation, but her energy was spent. She’d expended every bit in the effort it had taken to walk to the Grange on her own.

  Simon, sensing her waning strength, knelt beside her. “Julia told me your plan to put her in the old hunting cabin where she may remain safe until her wounds heal. I cannot convince her that she will be safer at Fernwood Grange.”