My Deceitful Marquess

by Amaya Evans

  Sonia did it because she thought she could get help. Upon entering, she saw that it was a clean and even cozy place, which made her imagine that the owner would be a good man who could help her.

  “Good evening,” Sonia said in front of a counter. A plump man came out the back door and smiled.

  “Good evening, milady.”

  "Give us a room," said Leopold.

  “A single room lord?”

  “Yes, the lady is my wife.”

  Sonia tried to protest. Leopold took her arm hard to shut her up and put a gun to her back. She went cold at that and did not make a single noise. She looked at the owner of the inn asking for help with her eyes, but the man did nothing. Leopold pulled her toward the room.

  Upon entering, he looked around and smiled. “Look how pretty.” Leopold was drunk. “I do not think the bed will be uncomfortable for the both of us.” He locked the door.

  Sonia swallowed hard. “Where will you sleep?” Sonia asked as she grabbed a bottle that was nearby.

  “With you of course.” Leopold pounced on her and Sonia hit him with the bottle on his head.

  When she saw him lying on the floor she went out through a window and risked her life due to the height. Sonia ran to ask the owner of the inn for help but he did not pay attention.

  “I do not interfere with things that are not my business. My inn is known for the discretion with which we serve our customers.”

  “You intend to leave me with a man who is going to rape me?”

  The man looked at her with some remorse. “The coachman is dining out there. If he sees that I have helped you I will get in trouble. I can only help you by saying that I have not seen you while you take advantage and run away. She looked at him scornfully and ran into the thick forest. Sonia could not believe her luck when she saw a horse tied to a tree, and she took it to flee. She rode fast and aimlessly in the hope of being able to find a house or find a person to help her, but it was so dark that she couldn’t find her way. After several hours, she stopped and sought refuge under a tree. It is better to continue tomorrow, she thought, tired.

  Hours later Sonia opened her eyes. She was freezing cold, and it was drizzling. Sonia noticed that it was morning and tried to get up without success. Her whole body hurt, and the horse was happy grazing. An elderly woman approached her.

  “Dear, what are you doing here alone? Did you sleep here?”

  Sonia could barely talk. “Where am I?”

  “From what I can see far from home, girl.” The woman looked at her for a minute. “I cannot leave you like this. You do not look well. I will take you to my house, but I warn you that it is nothing like what you are used to.” She smiled.

  Sonia trembled and her teeth chattered.

  “You’ll have to help me get up.” The woman took her by the arm. Between the two they managed to help Sonia stand.

  “Make an effort to get on the horse. It is the only way to take you to my house.”

  Sonia tried several times but could not until she finally succeeded. They traveled about ten minutes and arrived at the woman’s house. The woman helped Sonia off the horse and brought her inside.

  “Let’s go to a room. I will give you dry clothes girl because I feel that you are going to catch a cold. Maybe my daughter’s clothes will fit you. They are not beautiful clothes, but you will be more comfortable with them on.”

  “Thank you,” Sonia whispered.

  While Sonia was changing clothes, the woman warmed up some herbal tea and took it to the room. “You have to lie down girl. I will tuck you in as best I can and you will drink this tea.”

  Sonia who had no strength, agreed and went to bed, took the tea that tasted horrible and almost immediately fell asleep but not without first telling the woman her name, and asking her help to get back home.

  *****

  Robert looked for his cousin desperately, unable to find him. Several hours later he heard from one of the men who accompanied him. It seemed that they had seen Leopold in an inn very close by. When they arrived at the inn, they found him completely drunk, but it was his driver who spoke and told them what Leopold had done with Sonia. After that Robert left quickly to look for Sonia. She can’t be very far, he thought somewhat relieved. But before he left, he met with the inn’s owner who told him he had no idea where his wife could be. Robert knew it was a lie.

  “You should know that the woman is the Marchioness of Wilmington who had been abducted by a man who is a client of your inn.” The owner of the inn almost urinated in his pants. He knew that this would bring him problems and he blanched completely. He told Robert everything that had happened.

  After that, Robert left to look for Sonia in the thick forest. Not caring that he hadn’t eaten, nor drunk anything. It was raining, and the hours passed. It was almost dark, when, after much riding, he spotted a small house that seemed inhabited. Smoke came from the chimney and he went to ask if they had seen Sonia.

  An old woman opened the door. “At your order, sir.” She looked a little nervous and distrustful.

  “Good night, Madame. I apologize for coming to bother you, but I am looking for a young woman. She is my wife, and she has disappeared.”

  “I am only with my niece who is a little sick.”

  Robert knew that the woman didn’t trust him. “Ma'am, I swear to God, that I am just looking for my wife. Her name is Sonia, and she disappeared from my house with a man she thought was good but he deceived her. That is why she fled from him, but I am afraid that when she escaped one danger, she fell into another. I only ask you to tell me if you have seen her.”

  The old woman felt compassion for how desperate he looked and thought that no man so desperate for the whereabouts of his wife could be bad. The moment she was going to tell him that she had seen her, Robert looked beyond the woman and realized that in a chair there was a shawl which he had seen his wife wear.

  “She is here, isn’t she?”

  The old woman nodded. “Are you a good man, sir?” She asked standing in front of him and noticed that if he was not, he would have been able to push her and hurt her. He answered affirmatively.

  “I am ma’am, do not be afraid. I do not want to hurt her. I am just very worried because we had a misunderstanding, and she fled.”

  “Well, I’ll let you in so that you can see her because I’m also somewhat worried. She has a fever.” The elderly woman opened the door, and he immediately entered.

  “Where is she?”

  “Over there.” She pointed, walking behind him. They entered a small room which smelled of herbs and there was a pot in the middle that was steaming.

  “I have boiled eucalyptus leaves and put them here so the vapors can help.”

  Robert approached Sonia and touched her forehead. She was burning up. “Sonia, my love.”

  She didn’t answer him. Sonia trembled and seemed to be delirious. She asked to see her mother in her delirium.

  “I am going to take you with her, my love.” He looked at the elderly woman. “I thank you for helping her. You do not know how much I have looked for her and only to think that she could have died in this forest without anyone to help her ...” Robert did not finish the sentence.

  “It is nothing, my lord. You are a noble?”

  “I am the Marquess of Wilmington, ma’am, and she's my wife, Sonia.”

  “Yes, Sonia, that was the name she told me before falling into bed with a fever.”

  “I should take her home right away.”

  “You will have to wait if you are going to take her on a horse. It is still raining a lot and can harm her.”

  Robert agreed. “How did you find her?”

  “She was lying under a tree. She spent all night there because she did not know where to go. She had almost no strength and used the last of her strength to come with me to the house. I gave her dry clothes, and I took care of her as best I could, but a poor old woman like me does not have many resources.”

  “I greatly appreciate
your help and I will see that you are rewarded.”

  “Do not worry. Any good Christian would have done the same.”

  They heard several horses and Robert leaned out of a window. His men had arrived, and he immediately went out to meet them and tell them to bring the carriage. Soon he was carrying Sonia in his arms and taking her home.

  *****

  Upon arriving at Redwood Manor, Robert sent for the doctor. When he arrived half an hour later, she had gotten worse and Robert was going crazy. When the doctor left, he gave Robert a series of instructions.

  “It is not serious, Robert. She is only weak and has some pneumonia for having been out in the open. The fever will come down shortly. I have given her some willow bark, but I will leave you more. Make sure that it is given at least three times a day. In a few days, there should be no pain, and her lungs will be less congested. I also want her to rest a lot and no arguments, or situations that bother her, do you understand me?”

  Robert nodded. “I understand.” Dr. Benley had been a friend of his family for many years. Robert knew him as a child and he was present during his mother's illness. Robert had a lot to thank him for. It was him and not his father who accompanied her until the moment of her death.

  “I am going, but I will come tomorrow to see how she is.”

  “I will tell someone to accompany you to your house.”

  “No need. I have my carriage here.”

  “It is late and I would feel better if one of my men accompanied you to town.”

  “Very well, I will not argue with you. You have always been a stubborn boy.”

  That made Robert smile. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You do not have to thank me,” the doctor said as he descended the stairs.

  Two days later, Robert had not left Sonia’s bedside and Sonia saw him like this. Robert slept sitting next to her. He, sensing that she had woken up, opened his eyes, took her hand and kissed it. “How do you feel?”

  “Weak, I thought that I was dead and I was somewhere strange.”

  “Do not say that, sweetheart. I cannot conceive of my life without you. You are the light that illuminates every corner of my soul. I know that I did not tell you before, but believe me when I tell you that it will never happen again. I will always tell you what I feel, because I do not want you to make a mistake in thinking that I am someone cold and heartless, Sonia. Maybe I am with others, but never with you.”

  “I don’t think that we can talk about this calmly. We’re always going to argue.” Sonia was still a little tired to talk.

  “You and I will have a talk when things improve, and we will clear up all this.” Sonia looked at him, but could barely focus on his face due to her weakness and went back to sleep.

  Weeks later, Sonia was eating better and her mother was there for her. Robert went to her room all the time and read to her for a while each day. Then he went down to attend to his business. At night he kept her company. He was very attentive and did not mention anything about what happened until one day when it was she who started talking.

  “It’s been a while since I ran away,” Sonia said sadly.

  “I know. I went through hell and I swear I do not want to go through something like that again.”

  “I didn’t know that Leopold was so dangerous. He made me believe that you were the bad one, and he was just a victim of your hatred and arrogance. He told me that you had stolen everything from him since he was very young and not happy with that, you had taken away the love of his life.”

  “That is not true, Sonia. He spent his whole life with his mother, a widowed woman with few resources and made her go into debt to please him in everything. She gave him the best education, clothes, travel and even paid for the gambling when he lost a lot of money. He asked my father for money and he gave it to him, but when my father saw that Leopold was gambling in the same place where my father was gambling. My father told him that he would never help him again.” Robert gave a bitter laugh. “It is funny how we can see the defects in others but not ourselves. After that, he was interested in a debutante at one of the dances at Almack`s but her father did not want to see him because by then Leopold’s reputation as a gambler was known by everyone, but she was not a saint either and had been in many of men’s beds. While pretending in front of her parents to be a proper society lady. One day when I left a dance to get some air, I found her outside, and she told me clearly that she wanted to be with me and very contrary to what everyone would think, I said no because I knew that although I did not like Leopold, he was my cousin and I would not fall so low, as to have an affair with the woman he liked. She then kissed me unexpectedly and to my bad luck one of the guests was nearby and saw everything. The rumor was everywhere before the night was over. Her father demanded that I answer for my actions the next day. I was not going to get caught by a spoiled little girl so I told her father what happened. He challenged me to a duel, but shortly after that the girl ran away with a sailor who by then had stolen her heart and her father had to suffer the shame of retracting the challenge and focus on what to do with his daughter. Obviously, her reputation was ruined and Leopold because of his hatred for me, preferred to blame me for that too, just like he blames me for all the bad things that happen in his life.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I was so desperate and I cannot deny it, I still am. I do not want a life like this, for me. Don’t make me stay with a man who will put anything first before me. And then will turn his head away when he runs away in search of a lover. You just married me for that dowry. How can a good marriage start that way?”

  “I will not do that, my dear. I know you are afraid. I am not that kind of man. That will never happen.”

  “Robert, it happened when we were fighting.”

  “I apologize for that.” His face looked sad and somewhat ashamed. “I let myself get carried away by anger and the fear of losing you. I ask you for an opportunity to prove that we can live together and that I will not forbid you from doing the things you like, nor will I demand that you sacrifice what you love for me.”

  “I don’t know...”

  “I do not like to talk about this, but I want to open up to you. I do not want to be like my father. I saw a lot of suffering in my mother’s face, because of his indifference. While he went crazy gambling away his fortune and sleeping with whores. For that reason, I decided to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. To have women everywhere, but never to fall in love with anyone. My life was fine that way until I met you and then you slowly entered my heart with that spontaneity that you have always had and your way of saying things openly. I also needed the dowry to solve my economic problems and then I wanted to have both; the woman and the money.” Robert walked from one side of the room to another. “It is terrible to admit it, but I convinced myself that I was doing it for the money and that I would give you a good life, but deep down, I did not want you to make that proposition to another man. I did not want you in the arms of another man because you already felt like you were mine.”

  “You loved me?”

  “I did, but I did not know.” Robert approached her again and caressed her face.

  Still distrustful, she nodded.

  “It’s okay. I don’t know if I’m going to regret this, but I do not want to stop trying and we can live together.”

  Robert smiled and kissed her passionately, then took her in his arms. “This is the first day of our lives. The past does not exist and the future will be beautiful because we will make it so. Sonia saw his eyes and knew he was sincere. At that moment a flame of hope burned in her heart.

  Epilogue

  They were back from a ball and Sonia was resting against her husband’s chest.

  “It was a wonderful evening.”

  “It was. I had so much fun watching all those future romances that are forming.”

  “By God.” Robert let out a laugh. “You are a romantic with a big imagination.”

  “You know it’s in the d
ances where many marriages form. It was what happened to us.”

  “Not when we first met. If I remember correctly.” He stroked her hair.

  “The important thing is what happened after.”

  Robert took her chin in such a way that she was left facing him. “That is true.” He took her lips in a deep kiss full of promises.

  They looked out of the carriage window as they passed the houses and neighborhoods of the city. It was a beautiful night, and she felt happy. Gone were the worries about marrying a man who did not love her, or who didn’t value her. Robert, after everything that happened with his cousin, dedicated himself to giving her the security she needed. And to think that she had been about to lose everything because of a bad decision and that cretin Leopold. Thank God, Leopold had been imprisoned for defrauding a man in Devonshire. After that, Leopold left England for Australia to seek better luck, but after arriving within the two months he was there he developed a fever and died alone, far from his homeland. Sonia felt sorry for him because Leopold seemed to be a man confused by his longing for power and money, but she was grateful that he was no longer in their lives.

  “Are you tired?” Robert asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

  She knew why he was asking. Her husband could not keep his hands away from her, nor Sonia from him.

  “Never for you.” Sonia felt his hands, opening her bodice and taking one of her breasts.

  “I want you now, wife.”

  Sonia also wanted him and returned caress for caress and kiss for kiss. While thinking about how Robert had fulfilled every promise made and now they had a stable marriage of which many people spoke of and set as an example. Against all the odds an American heiress with different customs and character had been able to fall in love and live happily with the Marquess of Wilmington, a man who previously did not believe in love.

  Her husband chose that moment to pinch a nipple, and she forgot to think. Sonia just wanted to feel at that moment and dedicate the rest of her life to live fully and happily.