Leonard snorted contemptuously at her word choice.
“Gift?” he echoed. “It is not a gift to be robbed of both your beloved and your hard-saved money.”
“It is only money, Leonard,” she told him softly. “Father often said—”
“You need not speak to me about Father’s philosophies, Catherine. I remember them all quite well. I remember when he taught me to be unwavering and not bow down to those bent on destruction. I remember when he told me to follow my passions and never stop. Giving Cooper this ransom is failing, particularly when I am convinced he does not have her.”
“It is not failing if it brings Elizabeth home safely. You cannot be certain unless we try everything we must. She is your responsibility now, Leo. You brought her here and you swore to protect her.”
He turned and looked at her, the corners of his mouth pulled down into a frown. She was right, of course. He would use any means necessary to bring Elizabeth home. Catherine’s eyes fell upon an item atop the dresser, her brow furrowing in confusion.
“Why have you Elizabeth’s shoe here?”
Leonard glanced at it. He had forgotten he had brought it to his chambers after finding it on Lord Cooke’s property. The Duke had spent so little time inside his quarters, he had all but forsaken it there.
“Why does it matter? It is the one we found out Lord Cooke’s manor.”
“You found that shoe on his property?” Catherine asked dubiously.
“That is what I said, Catherine. What is the issue?”
Catherine’s mouth parted to speak but for the third time, someone dared knock at his door. Leonard’s wits were frayed on end yet before he could shout out in anger, Herbert howled for him.
“YOUR GRACE!” the barrister yelled, bursting inside the chambers, his face flushed red with excitement.
“How dare you, Herbert!” Leonard snapped. “Have you no shame—”
“Miss Elizabeth is home! She has returned!”
Time seemed to cease as the words sank into Leonard’s fragilely balanced mind.
“Herbert, that is a cruel joke!” Catherine cried indignantly, tears springing to her eyes. “This is no time for such things!”
“It is no joke! She is here! She is unharmed and she has returned!”
The barrister barely finished his sentence before Leonard was sprinting past him and into the hallways, his footsteps echoing throughout the house.
“Is it true?” Frances screamed from the doorway of her room but he could not stop to address her. His heart was close to exploding as he ran, bouncing down the steps two at a time until he landed in the entranceway among the dozens of servants who gasped in awe at the pale woman in the doorway. Elizabeth’s wrists were heavily bandaged, her dark hair hanging in strings along her face. She still wore the same dress she had from the night of the gala but it was stained with blood and dirt, the rips and frays interlaced with twigs and debris.
“Elizabeth?” he choked, forcing himself to move toward her. “Oh, thank God! You are alive!”
She lifted her head upward and met his eyes with hers and his chest filled with love for her. To his utter amazement, a wan smile touched her pale, cracked lips.
“Had you any doubt that I would make it back to you, Leonard?” she asked teasingly and relief nearly brought him to his knees. He stumbled forward to embrace her, holding her exhausted body to his.
“Beatrice!” he barked. “Run a bath at once. Get her some food! Fetch a doctor! Fresh water!”
The orders fell from his lips easily, possibly because he had envisioned the very moment so many times before in his mind’s eye. Leonard was having difficulty understanding that it was not a dream but he did pray he did not wake if it were. The servants jumped to attention, each rushing about to tend to Elizabeth as Leonard swept her up into his arms.
“I can walk!” she protested, albeit weakly.
“Why would you wish to?” he murmured, emotion jumbling his words. “From this day forward, you will never do anything yourself. I will be at your beck and call.”
“Elizabeth!” Catherine moaned, rushing toward the pair. “Will you ever forgive me for letting them take you?”
“Hush now, Catherine,” Elizabeth told her gently. “What happened was well planned. Nothing you could have done would have stopped them. I am relieved that you are unharmed. Is Frances well?”
Catherine sniffled, reaching out to squeeze Elizabeth’s hand in hers.
“She will be better when she casts her eyes upon your face,” Catherine mumbled. “Oh, praise God you are home!”
“LIZA!”
Leonard was knocked back as Frances barrelled down the stairs, the trio landing in an unceremonious pile against the wooden floor. Elizabeth gasped, laughing as Frances embraced her, blubbering foolishly.
“I knew you would not leave me!” Frances whimpered, holding fast to Elizabeth. “I prayed for you every night.”
“I heard your prayers,” Elizabeth told her gently but when she spoke, her eyes were fixed on Leonard who managed to untangle himself from the siblings.
He nodded solemnly, his own eyes burning as tears threatened to fill his sockets. Leonard did not care if his face was flooded in that moment.
“Where were you?” Frances demanded. “What happened?”
“No!” Leonard said firmly, reaching to lift Elizabeth once more. “There is time enough to recount the horrific details later. For now, she must bathe and rest. Please, Frances, allow her some time.”
To his relief, Frances nodded, moving aside for Leonard to reclaim her sister without a word of argument. He placed Elizabeth back into his arms and studied her face with loving disbelief.
“I had thought I had lost you,” he confessed softly. “I will never let you out of my sight again.”
She managed a small laugh.
“Well, perhaps on occasion,” she replied but the pain in her amber eyes was clear. Leonard knew she had seen unspeakable terror in their time apart and he swore she would never again be hurt, not as long as he held breath.
“Elizabeth?”
Percival’s voice was a strangled whisper, as though he was unable to reconcile what he was seeing before him. Leonard moved his head toward the staircase as the Viscount descended.
“Y-you are here!”
“Indeed, Father,” she chuckled. “I am not one to be easily stolen away, it seems.”
He did not speak, his face wan as he slowly made his way to her. His eyes traveled over her bandaged limbs and his eyes darkened.
“They hurt you!”
“I will recover,” she insisted. “My spirit is very much intact.”
Leonard tightened his hold upon her, again overcome by awe at her good humor and bravery. He wondered if he would have held up as well under the circumstances.
“Please, Lord Gordon, permit me to take her upstairs. I will send for a doctor,” Leonard begged. “She needs to collect herself.”
Percival stepped back, his face still etched in the surprise he was experiencing.
“Of course,” he mumbled, moving aside and Leonard strode toward the stairs, Elizabeth’s arms encircling his neck.
“I will join you,” Catherine announced firmly.
“Me, also!” Frances declared and Elizabeth tittered again.
“I daresay, I have never been so popular,” she jested.
“We are relieved you are well, darling,” Leonard told her sincerely, his voice low. “My heart has never been fuller than this moment.”
Catherine rushed ahead to open the door to her suite where Beatrice had begun to run hot water up for her bath.
“It will not be a minute, Miss Elizabeth,” Beatrice promised. “Food will be along promptly.”
“Thank you, Beatrice,” Elizabeth said gratefully and Leonard placed her gently onto the floor. He wanted nothing more than to remain at her side but of course that was not feasible.
“I will remain outside until you are finished,” he told her. “When you
are strong enough to discuss the details of what happened, we will.”
“I am strong enough,” Elizabeth assured him. “But permit me to bathe and dress first.”
“Of course.” He was awed at how collected she appeared, how composed in spite of all that had happened.
“I will be back to brush your hair, Liza,” Frances promised. “If you will permit it.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth replied. “But for now, I would like to be left alone.”
“Yes,” the trio chorused, moving back into the corridor.
“Oh, Your Grace!” Frances squealed happily. “You brought her home as you promised.”
Leonard did not bother to correct her. He was grateful that he was no longer the object of Frances’ ire. Tentatively, he was hopeful that Elizabeth’s arrival marked the beginning of normalcy at Brookside but it was too soon to make such guesses. Only time would dictate such matters.
“Why do you not see if there is cheese for Elizabeth in the kitchen, Franny?” Catherine suggested and as always, the mention of cheese did cause Frances’ eyes to widen.
“She will like that!” Frances agreed, skipping off toward the servant’s stairs.
“I must discuss something with you,” Catherine said urgently, the moment that Frances was far enough away that she might not overhear.
“It can wait, Catherine. I am overwhelmed with emotion right now. I am not certain I can bear another thought in my mind.”
“You must,” she answered shortly. “The shoe in your apartment—the one you claimed was found at Lord Cooke’s manor?”
“What of it, Catherine? I have not thought yet how to deal with Cooke, if that is what you are asking.”
“I am not and I do wish you would permit me to finish,” Catherine retorted. “That shoe…”
She paused and looked at him, shaking her blonde curls nervously.
“Out with it, Catherine. You are making me antsy with wait.”
“It is the same shoe I found when the highwaymen took Elizabeth.”
Leonard did not understand.
“Yes, of course it is. I suspect she wore a matching pair when you left that evening, did you not?”
“No, brother, you are not heeding what I am telling you. It is the very same shoe, not its match. Whoever put that shoe on Lord Cooke’s property had taken it from here.”
Leonard peered at her, his mouth falling open slightly.
“Catherine, are you certain?”
“Indeed. That is the right shoe. I recall thinking how uncomfortable Elizabeth would be hobbling about in only her left. Moreover, if you return to the study, you will see that the shoe from the scene of the kidnapping is not there. I checked myself.”
“Wh-what does this mean?” Leonard asked but he suspected he knew precisely what it meant—Lord Cooke had never been responsible for Elizabeth’s capture.
“Someone wished you to think Lord Cooke was the man responsible and went through great lengths to ensure you thought as much.”
Leonard’s breaths grew slightly shorter.
The ransom letters coming to the house without detection, Jasper being paid to stall the coach and now the shoe being put on Cooke’s land—it can only be surmised that there is certainly someone inside the house working against me.
Footsteps approached them quickly through the shadows and David’s face appeared before them.
“Is it true?” he demanded. “Is Elizabeth home?”
“It is.”
David knew of our intention to examine Lord Cooke’s home. He loathed to share his sister’s affections with any man, particularly me. Lord Cooke also showed Elizabeth undue attention.
But he was just a boy. Was he capable of such treachery, of hiring men to harm his own sister, the sister who had always been like a mother to him? Leonard’s mind journeyed back to the day the first ransom note had come in and how the boy had brazenly asked the Duke for the money when the Viscount had been unable. Beatrice arrived then, a pot of boiling water in her hands.
“Pardon me,” she murmured and Leonard stepped aside, permitting her to enter the chambers.
“May I see her?” David asked. “Has she said who did this to her?”
Leonard glanced at his sister and he wondered if she had reached the same conclusion. It was difficult to gauge her expression but from what he could see, Catherine did not seem to regard David with any wariness.
“You may see her after she has bathed,” Catherine answered when Leonard did not volunteer a response.
“Please send for me when she is ready,” David implored but Leonard could not bring himself to agree.
“Of course, David,” Catherine spoke again and cast her brother a strange look as the youngest Follett reluctantly ambled away.
“Why do you stare at him like that?” Catherine asked. “He only wishes to see his sister. You cannot monopolize her, as much as you feel that is necessary.”
Leonard remained silent, weighing the idea of telling his sister his suspicions.
“Leo!”
“I have my reasons,” Leonard replied enigmatically, staring down the hall pensively. If his theory was correct and David had done the unthinkable, he would not be happy about the ransom being unpaid and about Elizabeth escaping. He only just sent another ransom demand minutes before Elizabeth had arrived. Dread and fear twisted in Leonard’s gut.
Is David foolish enough to attempt to finish what he started?
Chapter 30
Elizabeth closed her eyes but when she did, a flash of Cooper’s cold blue eyes flashed before her face and her lids would jerk open as though she had been shocked.
Cooper is gone. Mark is gone. You are safe in Brookside now with your beloved family and the man you are bound to marry.
She tried to hold fast to the comfort of those thoughts but it was difficult when she knew Cooper was still at large, possibly seeking revenge for her escape.
What if he does return for me? Will he kill me as he promised?
Elizabeth knew that all the words Leonard had spoken were true, that he would never again let anything befall her while in his care but if it had happened once, it could happen again. She could not spend her life looking over her shoulder, wondering if Cooper might appear at any moment.
And if he should return and Leonard is hurt?
She sat forward in the tub, having forgotten that she was in the company of another.
“All is well, Miss Elizabeth,” Beatrice told her softly. “Permit me to wash your back.”
Elizabeth granted her a weak smile.
“Thank you, Beatrice but I would rather finish on my own if you do not mind.”
“Of course, Miss Elizabeth.”
Beatrice rose from her stool and ambled toward the door, wiping her damp hands on her apron as she walked.
“The household is so grateful you have returned to us unharmed, Miss Elizabeth. Every night we prayed and hoped for your safe return. We will blow out the candle we lit in wait for you.”
“I am relieved to be home.”
Beatrice’s face brightened.
“Will this be your home now, Miss Elizabeth?”
The girl blushed, realizing her phrasing too late. She had not meant to imply that Brookside was going to be her permanent residence.
“I do not know what the future holds for me, Beatrice. I am merely living each moment as God delivers it to me.”
The maidservant nodded, her smile faltering slightly.
“Forgive me, Miss Elizabeth. You already have so much on your mind. I did not mean to cause you distress with my query.”
“You did not,” Elizabeth reassured her. “I simply do not have an answer for you.”
Beatrice excused herself and left Elizabeth alone in the tub as the water cooled. She knew that Leonard anxiously waited for her in the corridor and she wondered if she did not purposely extend her bath to avoid their inevitable conversation.
He will undoubtedly ask for my hand in marriage, she thought an
d the idea filled her with hope and sadness simultaneously. There had been nothing she wanted more than to return to Brookside, to see Leonard again in those awful moments when she had been held captive. Yet a part of her could not wait to leave Pembroke and return home to Gordon. The idea of her family leaving her alone in another duchy was unbearable in the wake of what she had experienced.
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