An Inconvenient Trilogy - Three Regency Romances: Inconvenient Ward, Wife, Companion - all published separately on Kindle and paperback

by Audrey Harrison

  Miss Fairfield pulled herself away from the comfort of Charles’s arms and looked into his serious face. It was as if the last months had not taken place. “I do trust you,” she said simply.

  With a nod Charles was through the door, Mr Dawson on his heels and the sounds of horse hooves on gravel indicated that they were on their way.

  Phelps returned inside and approached Miss Fairfield. “A brandy Miss Fairfield, to enable you to be ready for her Ladyship’s return?”

  Miss Fairfield nodded mutely and followed the butler into the drawing room. She could not consider any other outcome.

  *

  Elizabeth and Charlotte had gripped each others’ hands as the carriage moved forwards. George saw the action and sneered. “You’ve brought this on yourself my dear Elizabeth. If only you had agreed to marry me at the start, but no, you had ideas of grandeur. Just look where it is has got you, living the last few moments of your life in a carriage, racing away from your husband. He won’t save you this time.”

  Charlotte had gripped Elizabeth’s hand even tighter at George’s words. Elizabeth had felt sickened, but squeezed Charlotte’s hand in return to reassure her. She looked at George squarely “You will not get away with this,” she said. Her voice sounded calmer than she felt.

  George laughed, “Elizabeth, I don’t want to get away with it. Have you forgotten that because of your husband I am a wanted man? If I get caught, I hang. If I don’t get caught, I live on the streets until I starve, or I catch some deadly disease. No, I have no future here or anywhere! So, my dear, I have nothing to lose, but you and that interfering husband of yours will be brought down to my level before I go. You will know what it is like to know that you have no future, to know that you have lost everything!”

  “It isn’t our fault that you are in this situation,” Elizabeth insisted. “If Miranda and Herbert hadn’t lived beyond their means they would have never made contact with me. Neither of them held any affection for me. I did not seek them out; I just wanted to be left alone to live my own life.”

  “Yes, you wanted to manage the estate. Herbert’s estate, but when it needed help you did not want anything to do with it. If you had agreed then, we would all be living happily in Lancashire.”

  To Charlotte’s horror Elizabeth snorted. “You may have been living happily, but I certainly would not have been.”

  Charlotte was surprised and breathed a sigh of relief when George laughed at Elizabeth’s outburst. “You always did have spirit. I would have liked to tame it; I see your husband hasn’t been able to.”

  Elizabeth fell silent for a few moments and then looked at George more calmly. “Your argument, if that is what you can call it, has always been with me. Charlotte has nothing to do with this. She is only involved because of her friendship with me. She shouldn’t suffer because of that.”

  Charlotte did not know what Elizabeth was going to say, but she gripped Elizabeth’s hands. “Stop Elizabeth, we are in this together.”

  “How sweet,” George sneered at Charlotte. The young girl gulped at the man sat before her, she was convinced neither of them would leave the carriage alive.

  Elizabeth turned to Charlotte. “You should not be forced to face this. It is my fate that is being decided, not yours.” She turned back to George. “Please let her go.”

  George laughed, “While your little friend is here, you will behave yourself.”

  “I will do everything you ask me to do, you don’t need Charlotte,” Elizabeth said firmly.

  “If I don’t need her, I should kill her now,” George said, aiming his gun directly at Charlotte’s head. It had been hanging a little loosely over his arm, but now he was gripping it tightly.

  “No!” Elizabeth said quickly. “If she lives, I will do anything you ask, but not if she dies.”

  “It doesn’t really matter either way, but I feel generous. Stand up.” George commanded Charlotte.

  Charlotte was convinced he was going to shoot her; he had convinced them that he had nothing left to live for, so why would her life be of importance to him? She felt strangely detached as she struggled to stand in the fast moving carriage, letting go of Elizabeth’s hand in the process. If she was to die in this carriage, she would do it bravely. She fought against the fear she felt and focused her mind on those blues eyes that she craved so much to see again, and the rosebud mouth that had given her so much pleasure when it had kissed her. Stephen would be her last thought, the only thought that took her into the afterlife.

  George placed one of the guns down, but threatened Elizabeth. “If you move I shoot you in the stomach, understand?”

  Elizabeth nodded. She would have acted already if not for expecting a child. She wanted her baby to live and had to do anything she could to try to make that a possibility. She sat still, hoping that George would release Charlotte.

  What happened next happened so quickly that Elizabeth barely had time to take in a breath in horror. George seemed to push Charlotte against the carriage door, Charlotte lost her balance and George moved quickly, unlocking the door and releasing the handle in one easy motion. Charlotte’s body tumbled out of the carriage, obviously unable to save herself because of the speed and the way she had been pushed. There was no scream as she fell to the ground.

  One of the rear footmen shouted something and the carriage slowed. George cursed and grabbed his second gun. He raised it to the roof of the carriage and pulled the trigger. The shot went harmlessly through the roof, but it was enough to scare the horses and the men at the front and rear of the carriage. It confirmed to them all that something was very wrong and their mistress was in danger. George shouted through the open door to keep going. As the carriage rumbled along at speed, he grabbed for the door as it swung, and slammed it shut.

  Chapter 18

  Elizabeth sat motionless. She had just killed her friend. How could she ever live with herself after this? How could she ever face Stephen again, if Michael had been right and Stephen had real feelings for Charlotte? She had just been the cause of her death and he would never forgive her. She would never forgive herself.

  “That’s quietened you. I should have done it at the start!” George gloated at the expression of horror that was fixed on Elizabeth’s face.

  “Have you no feelings?” Elizabeth said bitterly.

  “No,” George replied with a sneer.

  Elizabeth looked at the man before her. She had no idea how he had gained access to the carriage, especially the way he looked, dirty, unkempt and wild. He must have been determined in his aim; he must have the same madness that Miranda had suffered from. Miranda. Elizabeth thought back over the actions of the brother and sister; she did not feel any pity, just anger at the way they had presumed they could use her as a commodity, and then discard her when she was no longer useful to them.

  She realised that George was right, he had nothing to lose, which put her and her baby in an unenviable position. He was going to kill her, whether he forced himself on her before or not did not seem to matter to him. It had mattered the last time, but then he had needed her to marry him, but this time there was not that option. She had discussed every eventuality with Michael in detail; they had both wanted to be prepared for the worst. Elizabeth set her shoulders; she knew what she had to do.

  George flicked the lock on the door when Elizabeth slid across to the window. “Don’t get any ideas!” he snarled.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Elizabeth replied calmly. “I am merely trying to get closer to look out of the window. I am feeling rather sick from being jostled around. A side effect of being with child.”

  George grimaced, “Why is nothing ever easy with you?”

  Elizabeth actually smiled at that comment, in genuine amusement. “My husband would have some sympathy with you in that regard,” she said. George grunted, but was not drawn. Elizabeth had to keep in control; she did not know how long she had to act before he decided that the moment was right to kill her. “I am sorry about Miranda
.”

  “She may be on the other side of the earth, but she will soon have the people around her dancing to her tune!” George said with a little pride.

  Elizabeth knew that once she started there was no going back. She took a breath, “George, Miranda died when she reached Australia.”

  “You lying bitch!” George spat and smacked Elizabeth across the face.

  Elizabeth’s head spun, but she continued. She put her hands on the seat to steady herself. “I’m not lying. She survived the journey and was able to gloat to her captors that you had escaped, but she died soon afterwards. They wrote to Michael and informed him that you were on the loose.”

  George’s face had twisted at Elizabeth’s words, but he paused before speaking. “I wondered why you were so well protected.”

  “Did you watch me for long?” Elizabeth asked, a chill creeping down her spine at the thought of being watched by such a man.

  “A little while. Enough to know it was going to be difficult to get to you, but I still did it, and today I will get my revenge once and for all.”

  “I’m sorry George that things worked out the way they have, but it is time you gave up. No one else needs to die today if you stop this now,” Elizabeth said coaxingly.

  “I decide who dies and when!” George snapped.

  “I’m afraid you don’t, George, not anymore,” Elizabeth said with determination.

  *

  The shot rang out of the carriage and the horses once again were frightened by the sound. James the driver struggled to maintain control, which was not helped by him being overtaken by three men on horseback. He was about to curse the riders until he recognised that one was Lord Dunham and another his man of business, Mr Anderton. He pulled the carriage to a halt, but shouted to Lord Dunham that gunshots had been fired.

  Michael had heard the shot and for the second time in his life he had thought he would faint. He had had to grip hold onto the reins while the feeling passed. He had no idea what was going on inside the carriage, but he could not wait to find out. If Elizabeth was dead, it would not matter if he followed the same way. He had jumped off his horse, almost before it had come to a halt and grabbed the carriage door.

  John and Charles both shouted to Michael, but he had not hesitated and yanked the door open. He had clambered inside immediately. The two men followed and both visibly sagged with relief to see Michael holding onto Elizabeth as if he would never let her go and the slumped body of George Watson on the opposite seat. The pool of red was spreading from his chest; his gun lay loose, unused across his lap.

  Eventually Elizabeth moved, to look at Michael, “I want to go home, but we have to find Charlotte first,” she said, her eyes threatening tears, but her will refusing to let them fall.

  “Where is she?” Michael asked, stroking his wife’s hair.

  “I don’t know; somewhere along the route we have taken. He threw her out of the carriage while we were travelling at speed, Michael. I asked him to let her go and he pushed her out! She must have been killed, but we must find her body. I’ve killed her, just as if I had pushed her out myself,” Elizabeth choked.

  Michael was appalled by what he heard, but continued to stroke Elizabeth’s hair. He rested his head on her forehead. “We will find her,” he said gently.

  Michael helped Elizabeth out. “James, the carriage contains the body of George Watson. Please take it to the magistrate and inform him what has happened. If he needs to speak to me, I shall be at Dunham House. Lady Dunham will be travelling back on my horse, at a slow pace. Which route did you take?”

  “We came around the estate on the East road and then followed the Melksham Road, my Lord,” James explained.

  Michael turned to Charles and John. “Charlotte was purposely thrown from the carriage by Watson, we are looking for her body,” he said quietly, hoping that Elizabeth did not hear. Both men looked grim, but nodded and mounted their horses. “If you go ahead of us and look for her, we will follow in your wake. I don’t wish to travel any faster than a slow trot with Elizabeth on the horse. I think she had suffered enough exertion for today.”

  The group split and Michael and Elizabeth followed the others at a more sedate pace. For a while, neither spoke, each in their own nightmare. Eventually though, Michael squeezed his wife and kissed her head. “I would not have got through this day if anything had happened to you. When Charles and John burst into the church, I thought it was too late then. You are so precious to me Elizabeth, and yet I feel so helpless sometimes.”

  Elizabeth leaned back into Michael’s shoulder. “I knew there was real danger this time, but we had prepared. I just wanted to protect Charlotte....” she sobbed.

  “They will find her,” Michael soothed, but he had little hope of her being alive. The human body did not often survive being thrown from a carriage at speed.

  They arrived back at Dunham House to see John and Charles’ horses still at the front of the property. This gave them hope, if they had brought her, they would want to go straight inside, rather than to the stables. Michael gently lifted Elizabeth down and led her inside. There was a lot of bustle in the house. Phelps, as ever, met his master at the door.

  “Phelps where are Mr Anderton and Mr Dawson?”

  “They are in the drawing room,” came the reply. “I shall supply refreshments, my Lord.”

  “Thank you,” Michael responded walking with Elizabeth into the room, his arm never leaving the hold it had on her waist. He was not sure that he could ever let her out of his reach again.

  Miss Fairfield was sat on a chair facing the door, with Mr Anderton standing over her. Mr Dawson was near the fire, with a glass of brandy in his hand. Violet and Edward sat next to each other on a sofa.

  “Elizabeth!” Miss Fairfield cried, almost leaping across the room to her mistress. She acted completely out of character by grasping Elizabeth and holding the younger woman to her. “I thought I had sent you to your death! I am so sorry that I obeyed him; I keep going over what happened again and again. I should have taken the risk and acted!” Miss Fairfield babbled, so far out of character that Elizabeth smiled at her companion.

  “Martha, I am returned safe. You did the right thing. He had a gun pointed at us, he was determined to shoot if he thought it needed,” Elizabeth soothed. “Please do not concern yourself. You could not have acted in any other way. I would have hated for you to have been hurt by being foolhardy.”

  “It will be a long time before I can bear to let you out of my sight again,” Miss Fairfield said with feeling.

  “Elizabeth, sit,” Michael commanded gently.

  Elizabeth did sit down, without argument at her husband’s command, an unusually meek action, but she turned to Mr Anderton and Mr Dawson. “Charles, John, did you find her?”

  A look was exchanged between the two men, Mr Anderton spoke first. “There was no sign of her.”

  “No sign of her?” Elizabeth asked in disbelief. “How can that be? Where could she possibly have gone?”

  “Elizabeth,” Mr Dawson said gently. “We cannot be sure, but the only sign of anything was some blood on a large stone. We checked the area thoroughly, but there was no sign of her. We have no idea where she is.”

  “She can’t just have disappeared!” Elizabeth almost wailed. “Oh, how am I going to tell Stephen?”

  “Tell Stephen what?” came a voice from the doorway.

  Elizabeth gasped, “Stephen! We were not expecting you yet.”

  “Obviously,” Stephen said abruptly. “Now can you please explain what has happened that is so bad that you are afraid to tell me?”

  “Halkyn, my wife has been through enough today,” Michael said sharply.

  “And I see that Miss Webster is missing, so am guessing she has had some involvement with the events of the day,” Stephen responded brusquely. He could not help himself; his feeling of panic was increasing by the minute.

  “We were taken by Mr Watson,” Elizabeth started to explain quietly. “He was d
etermined that I was going to die today and I didn’t want Charlotte involved, so I asked him to release her.”

  “So, where is she?” Stephen persisted, his heart pounding with apprehension, but the only outward sign of his discomfort was a deep frown as he stared at Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry Stephen, he pushed her out of the carriage!” she sobbed.

  “He did what?!” Stephen shouted. “Where is she?” He felt as if a hand had gripped his chest and was squeezing the breath out of him.

  “We don’t know,” Mr Dawson intervened.

  “You don’t know?” Stephen said incredulously. “A girl is pushed from a moving carriage and you can’t find her?”

  “They saw some blood,” Elizabeth sobbed.

  “This gets worse,” Stephen ground out. Mr Peters had stood behind him the whole time, but took the opportunity to step forward.

  “Where was the blood?” he asked.

  Michael looked at the stranger. “I presume you are the Bow Street Officer?”

  “Yes, my Lord. Peters, at your service. I’m presuming that the threat from Mr Watson has been removed?”

  “Yes, he was shot and killed today, when his attempted kidnap of my wife and Miss Webster failed,” Michael explained.

  “Good, at least there is no further danger from him. If someone could direct us to the location where the blood was seen?” Peters persisted.

  “I will take you,” Mr Dawson said, moving towards the door.

  The three gentlemen left the room and the remaining occupants fell into a silence that was broken by Violet. “I don’t understand, how was he killed?”

  “Not now, Violet,” Michael said gruffly, still trying to protect Elizabeth from going over the events of the day.

  Elizabeth moved slightly away from her husband. “It’s fine, I will need to speak to the magistrate at some point anyway. He was going to kill me, he said that he was. As he said, he had nothing to lose anymore. Michael and I had talked through every possible eventuality we could think of, one of which was if I was in one of the carriages with him.”