by Mary Nichols
‘What a pity,’ he said. ‘You have ruined your dress. But never mind, I shall buy you dresses, as many as you like. We shall deal well together, you and I. Just so long as you give me an heir.’
‘How did you get here?’ she croaked. ‘And where is Alex?’
‘Viscount Malvers, my dear, is counting his losses.’ He laughed, filling her with dread. ‘He should know better than to try to best me. He thinks he has bought you, bought you with good money, but he does not have the experience in the world of commerce that I have. He is too trusting.’
‘Bought me?’ she echoed.
‘Oh, yes. He drove a hard bargain too. I wanted fifty thousand but he did not value you as high as that. Beat me down to thirty-five, but I had the last laugh. And what a stroke of luck to find you here, that was something I did not expect. I am doubly fortunate; I have the money and my bride.’ He turned to Annie, who was edging towards the door. ‘Stand still, you. Make one more move and you will regret it. I have a pistol in my pocket.’ And to prove it, he produced the weapon. ‘It is unlawful to come between a man and his betrothed. Viscount Malvers has discovered that to his cost. Now my coach is ready, so we will depart. Walk ahead of me.’ He waved the gun at Emma.
She stood her ground. ‘I will not. I am not your betrothed, I never agreed to any such thing and never would, though I die for it.’
‘Foolish, foolish child. I shall simply have to carry you.’ He walked forward. She backed away until the wall behind her stopped her. He went to grab hold of her and she flinched. It was enough of a distraction for Annie to dart forward and seize his arm. He wrestled with her. The gun went off. Annie crumpled to the floor and Emma screamed.
And then there was pandemonium as the door burst open and Alex and Joe rushed in to be confronted by a man with a gun. For a moment no one moved, as they eyed each other. Emma was afraid Alex would do something foolish. She wrenched herself out of Lord Bentwater’s grasp and knocked his arm just at the moment he fired. The shot went wide and then Alex and Joe were on to him. They wrestled him to the floor and Joe sat astride him while Alex took off his cravat and tied the man’s hands behind his back. He accepted Joe’s neckcloth to tie his feet together. When this was done, he turned to Emma. ‘Sweetheart, are you hurt?’
She shook her head. ‘Mrs Yates…’
‘Winged,’ said Joe, who was bending over her. He turned to the innkeeper, who had come into the room when he heard the commotion. ‘Fetch a doctor, quick as you like. And tell your wife to bring some bandages.’ To Mrs Yates, he said. ‘We shall soon have you looked after.’
Emma had not moved; it was as if she had been turned to stone. It had all happened so quickly and her head was in a muddle. The room began to spin and grow dark. Her legs started to buckle. ‘She’s swooning,’ Alex said. It was the last thing she heard.
When she regained her senses, she was on the floor and Alex was beside her, cradling her in his arms. ‘My poor, brave darling,’ he murmured, stroking her hair away from her brow. ‘You know you could have been killed tackling that madman like that.’
‘I had to do something after Mrs Yates was so brave.’
‘And so are you,’ he said fervently. ‘And for that I give thanks. You are quite safe now. He won’t bother you again.’
‘Are you sure?’ She turned her head slowly to look at the man who had so terrified her. Even now, when he was trussed like a chicken ready for the oven, she could not repress a shiver.
The doctor arrived and went straight to Mrs Yates. He was followed by the two Bow Street Runners, who took in the scene at a glance. Bentwater grunted, straining against his bonds. ‘There you are, Salter. Untie me for God’s sake and take these men into custody. They set about me…’
‘Only because you were threatening Lady Emma and fired your pistol at her maid and at me,’ Alex said. ‘If anyone needs taking into custody, it is you.’ He turned to the Runners. ‘I am accusing this man of common assault, of fraud and forgery. That will do for a start.’
‘For a start, yes, my lord,’ Salter said with a grin, taking charge of the pistol. ‘But there is another, even more serious crime he will have to answer for.’ He turned to Bentwater. ‘You made a grave error calling in Runners to find you a kidnapper, my lord. It gave us an opportunity to stay close to you. I am here on behalf of another person altogether, someone who has been seeking justice for two years.’
‘Another crime?’ Emma queried.
‘Yes, the murder of Lord Bentwater’s third wife. The lady’s brother always suspected him, but he was clever that one and we could prove nothing. We heard by this morning’s mail that a witness has been found and so we came post haste after him. You had a lucky escape, my lady.’
She shuddered, then looked up at Alex. ‘He said…he said you bought me. He said you beat him down.’
Alex gave her a wry grin. ‘I didn’t buy you, my love—how could I when you are above price? There isn’t enough money in the world to buy you. What I did was try to buy Sir George’s vouchers, hoping that if I gave them to him he would be free of the hold Lord Bentwater had over him and consent to let you marry me. I had to beat the rakeshame down because I did not have any more free cash available.’ ‘Oh.’
‘The trouble is that the vouchers he gave me were forgeries. I have no doubt the real ones are somewhere safe. Probably at his home in London.’
‘If they are, we will find them, my lord,’ Salter said, turning Bentwater’s coat pockets out. ‘In any case, they ain’t worth the paper they’re written on now. You ain’t under any obligation to pay for them.’ He winked at Alex and handed him a piece of paper. ‘But if I was you, I’d take charge of this.’
Alex took the draft and stuffed it in his pocket without looking at it. He stooped to help Emma to her feet. ‘Do you feel strong enough to go home now?’ he asked, with his arm about her. What he wanted most was to have some time alone with her, to reaffirm his love for her and satisfy himself all over again that it was returned, but it would have to wait. ‘I am sure your mother and my aunt will be overjoyed to have you safely back with them. And we have a great deal to talk about.’
‘Yes, I am perfectly well now, but what about Mrs Yates?’
The lady herself was sitting up. Her upper arm was heavily bandaged and she was looking pale, but she pronounced herself ready to leave. Alex paid the doctor and the innkeeper and sent Joe out to fetch the carriage round to the front. Salamanca was hitched on behind and in that way they travelled back to Highhead Hall.
The first person they saw as the carriage rolled into the yard was young Sam, who tore out to throw himself at his mother as she stepped down. ‘Hey, young feller,’ Joe said. ‘You will have your ma over.’ Emma and Alex left them in the kitchen with Lizzie, all talking at once, and made their way towards the drawing room, where Lady Tasker and Mrs Summers were waiting anxiously. They were no sooner in the hall with the door to the kitchen shut than Alex pulled Emma to a halt and turned her to face him. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked.
‘Nothing. Nothing at all. But I don’t think I can wait another moment.’ And he put his arms about her, drew him to her and kissed her. He kissed her long and hard, then he drew his head back so that he could look into her eyes. They were wide and shining with her own love. ‘Oh, Alex. Do you think everything will be all right now?’
‘Oh, no doubt of it.’ He took her face in his hands and kissed her again, lightly this time, then smiled. ‘That is, if you have not changed your mind about marrying me.’
‘Of course I have not. Whatever gave you the idea I would?’
‘That business with the vouchers…’
‘You thought I would be angry? No, Alex, how could I be angry when you were prepared to impoverish yourself for me?’
‘That’s all I wanted to hear.’ He chuckled. ‘For the moment. Now let us go and show ourselves.’ He led her by the hand into the drawing room, where Mrs Summers, Sir George and Lady Tasker were in desultory conversation. It stopped im
mediately they entered.
‘Emma!’ cried Lady Tasker, running forward to embrace her daughter. ‘I have been so worried about you. Are you all right?’
‘I am well, Mama, and so pleased to see you. I am sorry for worrying you. I had to run away, you see. There was no other way to avoid Lord Bentwater.’ She heard her stepfather grunt, which confirmed her belief that it was better to maintain the fiction that her mother had not known where she was. He would never forgive her if he thought his wife had had a hand in her flight. ‘Am I forgiven?’
‘Of course you are. Now, tell me everything that has happened to you. How did you travel? How did you meet Viscount Malvers? What have you been doing with yourself? Oh, I have been so worried about you.’ There was a great deal more in like vein before she was satisfied she had learned all there was to know about Emma’s adventures.
‘I could never have managed without Lord Malvers,’ she told her mother, looking at Alex with an expression that clearly told anyone with eyes to see that she loved him dearly. ‘He has been my knight in shining armour, never more so than today.’
‘What happened today?’
‘Alex will tell you.’
Alex relayed everything that had taken place since he last left that room with the forged vouchers. He was addressing Lady Tasker because it was she who had asked the question, but he was aware that Sir George’s indolent posture had stiffened and he was sitting forward listening intently.
‘Always knew there was something havey-cavey about him,’ he said when the recital was finished.
‘It did not stop you bargaining away your daughter’s happiness, did it?’ Alex could not help the riposte.
‘Didn’t have a choice, did I? The man said he would ruin me.’
‘Better you should be ruined than your wife’s daughter.’
‘Well, I am sorry for it. Can’t say more than that, can I?’
Alex could think of a great deal more he could say, but decided, for the sake of family harmony, not to press matters. ‘There is one thing you can do, Sir George, and that is give your consent to the marriage of your daughter to me.’
‘You are sure Bentwater is safe in custody?’
‘Certain. And those vouchers will be destroyed. I have the Runner’s word for it.’
‘Then I have no objection, if she is agreeable.’
‘Oh, yes,’ breathed Emma. ‘It is what I want most in the world.’
Alex lifted the hand he had never relinquished to his lips, looking at her over their joined fingers and smiling with a promise of more to come, much more. ‘Thank you, my lady.’
Mrs Summers, who had been sitting by the hearth, suddenly jumped up and rang the bell for a servant. When Lizzie arrived, she sent her for champagne and glasses. ‘We must toast the happy couple,’ she said. ‘When and where is the wedding to be?’
Alex looked at Emma. ‘What do you say, my love? London, Pinehill, Buregreen or here, on the shores of Windermere?’
‘Here, among all my new friends,’ she said. ‘But what about your mother?’
‘I will send for her. And Aunt Augusta, too, and anyone else you would like to attend. Shall we say six weeks from now? That isn’t too soon, is it?’
‘Oh, no,’ she said laughing. ‘Not too soon at all.’
‘Oh, wonderful,’ Amelia said, clapping her hands. ‘It will be a delight to see my sisters again after so long. And you can ask Lady Standon and your friend Harriet and her husband to come up. I am sure we can find room for them.’
‘And Mr Maddox,’ Emma added to the list. ‘And Mrs Yates and her family and Joe Bland, and the Hurleys, and Pettifers, and Mr Dewhurst and his family. Do you think the Reverend Griggs will perform the ceremony? It is not his fault his son is so objectionable. Anyway, I have forgiven him. I cannot be out of sorts with anyone today.’
‘Bless you,’ Mrs Summers said, as the champagne arrived and Alex dispensed it. ‘I wish you both all the happiness in the world. You deserve it.’
And so it came to pass. Lady Emma Lindsay married Viscount Alexander Malvers in the church at Waterhead, attended by Harriet Graysmith and Lizzie Yates, with almost the whole village and many from Ambleside to witness it. She was dressed in a gown of oyster satin trimmed with pearls. About her slender neck was a string of pearls that Alex had bought her to replace those her father had left her. She was given away by her stepfather, who, relieved of his crippling debts, had vowed never to gamble again, which promise was accepted, even though Alex knew he would have to keep a close eye on him in the future to make sure he kept it.
The fact that Fanny Draper was not Fanny Draper but Lady Emma Lindsay was a nine-day wonder in the area, but so many said they knew all along she was an uncommon sort of lady’s companion, they were not in the least surprised she turned out to be someone of Quality.
The plans for the workshops and the school were all progressing satisfactorily and the newly married couple set off for a wedding trip to Paris and then they would make their home at Buregreen and Alex would take his place in the Lords and campaign for his soldiers, aided by Andrew Graysmith from the Commons. But they would return to the lakes often, they promised, to visit Mrs Summers, whom Emma had come to love, and Annie and her children, and to go walking on the fells hand in hand, to admire the scenery and remember all they had been through and give thanks it had all ended happily.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3464-6
RUNAWAY MISS
Copyright © 2007 by Mary Nichols
First North American Publication 2009
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