The Earl's Regret_Brides and Gentlemen

by Joyce Alec

  She heard Charles laugh once more, and she looked over at him.

  She enjoyed looking at him, just as she always had. He was kind, and he made her laugh. And his adventurous spirit, though frustrating at times, was one of the reasons she fancied him in the first place.

  “But I…I do care about him,” she replied quietly. “I think this is what I want, and…I couldn’t bear to hurt him.”

  Madam Stewart studied her without speaking for a few minutes. Eventually, she closed her eyes and sighed once more.

  “All right, but if you change your mind, remember…” she placed her hand gently on Lady Harriette’s shoulder as she stood to her feet. “You can always go home.”

  5

  The Letter

  It was the second day that Lady Harriette was missing, and it was nearly nightfall again.

  The Pangborn estate had yet to sleep, except for those who had made the mistake of sitting down on a couch to catch their breath or write letters to various people in the area asking if they had seen either Lady Harriette or Mr. Barnes.

  Lord Henry was one of the few who had remained awake for the entire time, because worry would not allow him to rest. He found he could only stand and pace if there was nothing to be done, for sitting made him frustrated easily, and at least standing he knew he could be off at a moment’s notice.

  He spent much of his time in little villages and towns outside the Pangborn estate. Going with her brother, they investigated each and every shop they could find, and when they found nothing, no hints or anyone who had even seen them, they returned to the estate to cross them off from a long list that Lord Pangborn had created.

  The fear was building, and was nearly palpable in the room where they all were. They had still not seen anything or heard anything, and just as darkness was starting to fall outside the windows, Lady Pangborn called them all to the dining hall for something to eat.

  Lord Henry didn’t realize how hungry he had been until he smelled the fragrant soups and meats from the table when he sat beside Lord Terra.

  No one spoke for the first half of the meal, for what was there to say? Everyone was thinking the same thing, and they had all quickly come to realize that discussing it did not help or put anyone at ease.

  Mr. Walters returned to the room a few moments later with a thin letter on the silver tray in his hands. “Lord Henry, a letter arrived for you.”

  Lord Henry sighed. “I assume it is my mother, wondering why I have not yet returned home.”

  “You didn’t send your mother a letter?” Lord Terra asked.

  “It didn’t cross my mind, honestly. I just now realized I should have.”

  He thanked Mr. Walters before sliding the letter from the tray.

  His heart skipped a beat when he saw the handwriting.

  “It’s from Lady Harriette!” he exclaimed, feeling as if all of the color had left his face.

  “What?!”

  “Are you sure?!”

  “Can it be?”

  He quickly opened the letter, ignoring the cut that formed on his finger from the force of the motion.

  Everyone fell quiet as he quickly scanned the first few lines.

  “Well, read it out loud to us, man!” Lord Pangborn cried. He had gotten to his feet, and his palms were flat on the table in front of him. Lady Pangborn who sat beside him had begun to cry again, the tears falling silently down her cheeks, bright in the candlelight.

  “All right,” Lord Henry said. He cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn’t shake. His heart was hammering. “Dear Lord Henry, I suppose that you will be surprised to receive this letter from me. I cannot imagine that you will be pleased to hear this, but I have run away with Mr. Barnes.”

  Everyone around the room groaned, and Mr. Barnes, his father, shook his head sadly.

  Before anyone’s tempers could rise again, Lord Henry continued. “If you see my parents, please tell them that it has nothing to do with them, and this is not my way of disobeying. I have made this decision on my own.”

  He looked up at them, and he could see the disappointment was evident on her parents’ faces, as well as her brother’s and younger sister’s.

  He decided to read on. If she had no intention of coming home, why write the letter at all?

  “If it makes you feel any more at ease, we have taken separate rooms at the inn where we are staying. I insisted, though he didn’t seem bothered one way or another. He might still be downstairs for all I know. I am exhausted, and wished to be alone.”

  “Oh dear,” he heard her mother say.

  “What is it?” Lord Henry asked.

  Lady Pangborn sighed and looked around the table. “Why would Harriette want to be away from Mr. Barnes already? And how does she not know what he is doing unless she doesn’t particularly care?”

  They all looked around at each other.

  “She isn’t happy,” Lord Henry said rather quietly.

  “Oh, Richard, we have to go find her. We have to!” Lady Pangborn cried, grasping her husband’s hand tightly.

  Lord Pangborn looked over at Lord Henry. “Is there more to the letter?”

  “There is,” he answered, and swallowed hard. “Apparently he used to go to this place often when he was a child, and he was insistent that I see it. It’s called the—”

  “Golden Goose!” exclaimed Mr. Barnes, saying it at the same time that Lord Henry read it. “Oh, I should have known that was the one place he could have gone to. It’s one of his favorites, really.”

  They all turned and glared at Mr. Barnes, who, looking up, shrunk back into his seat. “What?” he asked.

  “You could have told us about this place all along, and you somehow…forgot about it?” Lord Terra asked, his voice cold. “We could have ended this fiasco today, if only you had remembered one of your son’s favorite places?”

  “In my defense, we haven’t gone in several years, not since his mum died,” Mr. Barnes said, his eyes wide with fear. “I am very sorry, my lord. It never crossed my mind. I thought the place would remind him of his mum too much to ever go back.”

  Lord Pangborn sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Very well, Mr. Barnes. I think we can look past this drastic oversight. Forgive us for all feeling…on edge.”

  Mr. Barnes looked down at his hands in his lap.

  “Lord Henry, please continue reading,” Lord Pangborn said, attempting to keep his voice even.

  “The Golden Goose, but I must confess that I have no idea where we are, or what town we might even be near. The last place I recognized was Fair Haven, and I believe we headed east from there.

  I believe that he is keeping his plans secret in order to surprise me. I had no idea we were coming here, and he seems quite pleased to be a in a place that he enjoys so much. I have met some very interesting people, including a Madam Stewart, who has been very kind to me. She and her husband own the inn here.

  I do hope that you can forgive me. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I lost you as a friend. Tell my parents I will write to them soon as well. I am sure we will return home shortly after our marriage to see everyone. All my love, Harriette.”

  They all looked around at each other in disbelief.

  “I don’t know what I expected in that letter, but that was not it,” Lord Terra said rather calmly.

  “I wondered if it was a cry for help,” her mother said, dabbing at her eyes with her napkin. “I thought perhaps she regretted her decision and was on her way back here.”

  Her father sighed heavily and stood up straighter. “Well, we have something to go on now. We should leave for this town right away. Mr. Barnes, where is this Golden Goose inn?”

  Mr. Barnes shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “It’s in Cheshire, my lord. Almost a full day’s journey on foot from here.”

  “On foot?” he asked. “We will be taking the carriage, and be there in half the time.”

  “Gentlemen, you have to get some rest,” Lady Pangborn said,
getting to her feet. “You cannot travel on such little sleep.”

  “We can sleep on the way,” Lord Terra said, getting to his feet. “There is no time to lose. If we leave now, we can still make it by morning.”

  Lord Henry was pleased they had a lead.

  Lady Pangborn insisted that they take more food with them on the road, and she made sure that they brought Lady Harriette’s traveling cloak so she had something to keep her warm on the journey home.

  The idea that this could all be over by this time the next evening lifted everyone’s spirits, especially Lord Henry’s.

  Just before he left the house, Lady Pangborn stopped him.

  “I hope you know how much my daughter loves you,” she said very quietly.

  He felt as if he had a frog in his throat. “My lady, what do you mean?”

  She looked up into his face, for he had been taller than her for several years now. “She chose to write to you. Not to me, not to her father. She knows that you remain levelheaded in these situations, and she knew that the situation would be best handled if you were the one to receive the letter.”

  She wore a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “She was right, you know. You were the right one to receive the letter.”

  “But we were all in the room together. It would have been no different had any of you read it.”

  “That’s not the important part. The fact that she chose to write the letter to you is.”

  She squeezed his arm gently before returning to the dining room to sit with her youngest daughter, who had been beside herself after discovering that Harriette had gone missing.

  He watched her go, and he clutched the letter he still held in his hand even more tightly.

  As he stepped outside into the darkness, the final words of Lady Harriette’s letter that he had kept entirely to himself echoed in his mind.

  I’m afraid, James. I don’t know if he has thought this all the way through, and it is quickly turning out to be something I did not expect. Please don’t share this with my parents, it will frighten them, and I think my absence will be hard enough for them to handle. But I can tell you, because I can trust you more than I trust anyone else in my life. You were the one I was most afraid to tell, and that is why I decided to write to you.

  I am not saying that I have made the wrong choice, but I am saying that I wonder if I could have thought it through a little longer. Perhaps spoken with you about it.

  He joined the others in the carriage, feeling the knot in his chest grow tighter. Would they be there in time? Would he be able to rescue her from a fate that she was now afraid of? It made him sick to his stomach, but he didn’t let it show on his face. He knew that her family now had hope that they could get her back, and he didn’t want to burden them any further with that part of her letter.

  He tucked it into the front pocket of his jacket, close to his heart.

  6

  The End Of The Trail

  With the help of Mr. Barnes, the first, they were able to find the inn before the sun had risen too high the following morning. They had been held up by a herd of sheep crossing the street in the country around four in the morning, and Lord Pangborn muttered about wishing he had brought his hunting rifle in order to speed up the process.

  The little inn came into view and they all stared up at the dilapidated building. Shingles were loose on the roof, and the wind whistled as it passed over the wooden and stone siding.

  “This is where my daughter has been staying?” Lord Pangborn asked, looking questioningly down at Mr. Barnes.

  “It has seen better days, certainly,” Mr. Barnes replied, wringing his hat in his hands.

  “I don’t know, father, I think that it is quite charming,” Lord Terra said, grinning at his father.

  The ride over had been rejuvenating in the part that they all were able to get some sleep. Lord Henry didn’t sleep much, but eventually, his exhaustion was able to win over his worry, and when he awoke, it was to Lord Pangborn yelling at the shepherds.

  “Well, come on then,” Lord Pangborn said, walking toward the entrance.

  The bell inside the door signaled their arrival, and a moment later, a rotund woman approached, her face bright and gentle.

  “Good afternoon, gentlemen, what can I do you for?” she asked, and when her eyes fell on Mr. Barnes, she lit up like the morning sun.

  Once she greeted him, she turned and looked at the group. “Let me guess, you are looking for your boy and that lovely lady he had with him?” she asked.

  They all gaped at her. “Why, yes! That is precisely the reason we are here!” Lord Pangborn said. “I am Lord Pangborn, Lady Harriette’s father.”

  “Oh my heavens, her father?” the woman repeated. Her face fell. “I am so sorry to tell you that they left this morning, just a few hours ago.”

  “They what?” Lord Terra said.

  Lord Henry felt his heart fall to his feet. They had missed them.

  “Those blasted sheep,” Lord Pangborn said under his breath.

  “Madam Stewart, where were they headed? Did they tell you?” Mr. Barnes asked, stepping in.

  The name rang a bell in Lord Henry’s mind, and after some thought, realized that this must have been the woman that Lady Harriette said had been so kind to her. It made him grateful to her immediately.

  The woman shook her head. “They didn’t. I didn’t get a chance to speak to her at all. I suppose she was waiting outside already, or was getting herself ready. He just told me that they were moving on, and that he wished to say goodbye to me.”

  “Did you ask him?” Lord Terra asked calmly.

  She seemed startled. “Well, at the time, I didn’t think it to be any of my business, my lord. He is a grown man, after all, and it isn’t proper for me to go snooping around in his business.”

  Lord Pangborn was pacing now, crossing the entire length of the tavern in just a few strides. It made Lord Henry anxious just watching him.

  “I gave him money for a proper carriage for the lady. I told him he couldn't have her walking all over the place. I told him that he needs to hurry up and make things right with her.”

  “That’s for certain,” Lord Terra said. He let his arms fall to his side in exasperation. “What must people think, the two of them running all over creation unwed. It would be better if they were married at this rate. What if he…”

  Madam Stewart shook her head. “If you are to imply that Charles had done something to damage the lady’s reputation, then take heart. He is acting more like a child on an adventure than a man who has stolen a woman to have his way, if you understand me.”

  Lord Henry sighed and closed his eyes. He had been trying to avoid these sorts of thoughts, and he wanted more than ever to find her as soon as possible before anything unbecoming of her could happen.

  “So we are at another dead end then,” Lord Pangborn said, exasperated. “We came all of this way and we have no idea at all.”

  No one knew what to say. He was right, after all. They had achieved nothing, and Lord Henry felt even more hopeless than he did before he received Lady Harriette’s letter.

  “So what do we do now?” Lord Terra asked, collapsing into a chair beside him.

  They all quietly looked around at one another, none of them daring to speak. Lord Henry was sure they all felt the same as he did; any idea that was coming to mind either seemed utterly impossible or an enormous waste of time. The trail had run cold, and there was nothing more to be done about it.

  Lord Henry glanced around the room, past the gentleman who looked as downtrodden as he felt himself. She had been here, been in this very room not long before. He wondered how she felt, if she was still frightened. He wondered if she had been treated well, if Charles had been kind to her and taken care of her in the way that she deserved to be cared for.

  The idea that he might have been his usual, selfish self-made Lord Henry’s skin crawl, and he shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

  “Might I
make a suggestion, gentlemen?” Madam Stewart asked, her hands folded in front of herself.

  They all looked over at her.

  She smiled hesitantly, and then took a step toward them. “I did talk to them quite a lot while they were here, and one thing I realized is that Mr. Barnes does not seem to have much of a plan. Honestly, I am not even sure he has completely thought this whole thing through.”

  Lord Pangborn glanced angrily over at Mr. Barnes, as if he had something to do with his son’s poor decision making.

  “My suggestion would be to return home and wait there for news. She seems homesick already. I do not think you will have to wait for very long.”

  They all remained quiet, considering her words.

  “You do not think she wishes to go through with the elopement?” Lord Terra asked, and Lord Henry was grateful; he had been about to ask the very same thing.

  Madam Stewart shook her head. “No, not at all. She seemed lost, and I made sure to tell her that she had the choice to leave and go home whenever she wished to.”

  Lord Henry swallowed hard, and he saw Lord Pangborn’s jaw tighten reflexively.

  “I truly am sorry that I could not be of more help to you. I wish I knew more.”

  They discussed various options they had at that point, and none of them seemed viable. In the end, they agreed that going home was their only realistic option. They lingered in the village for some time, asking various shop owners who had seen them if they had any idea where they were headed. Apparently, Charles had been awfully tight-lipped about his plans, and no one had any idea where they were going.

  They had no leads, so they agreed that they had no choice but to return to the estate and wait. It was obviously the least desirable option they had, but they couldn’t see an alternative. So they all piled back in the carriage and headed back to the estate.

  Lord Pangborn spent much of their trip home interrogating Mr. Barnes about his son and places that he could have possibly gone. At this point, even Mr. Barnes was unsure of his son or his intentions.