The Lady's Fate (The Reluctant Grooms Volume II)

by Anne Gallagher

  “I gather your meeting did not go as planned,” Bailey said.

  She glanced at Bailey.

  “Forgive, my dear. I did not mean to sound crass. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  There was nothing he could do. Nothing anyone could do. She wanted to run away from London where no one would find her. She needed solitude, comfort, and time to think. Where could she possibly find that? The perfect place came to mind.

  “Lord Bailey, do you mean that?” Violet asked.

  “Certainly, my dear.”

  “Would you have any money you could lend me?”

  “Money? Whatever for?”

  “Forgive me I do not want to tell you. Tis only a few pounds I require. Would you lend it to me?” Violet prayed he would say yes.

  “Of course,” he said. He reached into his jacket pocket, took from his wallet a ten-pound note, and handed it to her. “Will that be enough?”

  Violet folded the bill and slipped it into her reticule. “Yes. Thank you,” she said.

  “Violet, I must say this to you.” Bailey searched her face. “After our last weeks together, I have grown rather fond of you, and if you wish, I will marry you. I realize this is not the most romantic of offers, nor is it what you truly desire in your heart, but I cannot see you spending the rest of your life cast aside. You are everything any man could ever want. Haverlane is a fool to throw you away. And I know there is very little affection between us now, but in time perhaps we would rub along well together.” Bailey leaned forward on the seat. “I am sure you need some time to think it over, but I shall not have the banns canceled. I will leave the wedding as planned.”

  Violet stared at him. An extremely generous offer and likely, the only one she would receive. How could she refuse? Lord Bailey might have a few annoying character flaws, but he was kind and considerate, and lived in the far-off reaches of Scotland. She would never have to live in shame.

  “Lord Bailey,” Violet said. “Your offer is exceedingly generous. I do not need to think about it. I know my prospects. If you are sure, my answer is yes.”

  Grateful the carriage had arrived at Caymore House, Violet wanted to put her own plan into action and was sure she had little time to do so.

  In the hall, Bailey asked if she would care for a brandy before bed.

  “Thank you, my lord, no. I should like to get out of this costume and retire. Forgive me I’m afraid I have a headache.”

  “Of course, my dear.” He nodded to her. “I shall see you on the morrow then. Good-night.”

  Violet raced up the stairs. She tore out of the costume as soon as she closed the door to her room. Opening the closet, she slipped into another gown Penny had given her. Taking two calico dresses from the back of the rack, her boots, two shawls and a bonnet, she stuffed them into a carpetbag, along with her hairbrush, a few undergarments, and her nightgown. Then she sat down at the little escritoire and wrote two notes. She left them on the dresser for the maid to find and slipped down the back stairway.

  No one was about. She placed the black shawl over her head and draped it around her shoulders. Opening the back door, she stole into the darkness of the gardens and made her way through the mews. She ran down the dusty lane and cut through the next alley. She could not risk the main roads. Someone might recognize her. She hoped she had enough time to make it to the Bainbridge Hotel.

  Half running, half-walking, she made it to the Bainbridge just as the midnight coach pulled in. She paid the fare and waited outside behind the huge fence until the horses were changed and the cargo loaded. When the coachman called, she was thankful she was the only passenger. She hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath until the horses took off. She was safe, for now.

  *****

  Ellis heard his father call for him among the din. He searched the crowd for Violet, but knew she had gone. He strode to the corner where Lady Olivia stood.

  “I will expect you to remain here and listen with both ears open to what I am about to say.” He turned on his heel and marched to the front of the crowd.

  “This announcement has been a long time coming,” James Smith, the Duke of Chesnick said loudly. He smiled widely at Georgiana Baxter and her father. Lady Marion stood to the left of Georgiana holding a glass of champagne. “My son, the Marquess of Haverlane, has finally found a woman with whom to share his life.”

  The crowd cheered. Ellis stepped forward.

  “Yes, I have,” he said. “As most of you know, I have been in mourning for my beloved wife, Anne, whom I lost a little over two and a half years ago. The shock of her loss was something I could not fathom, the weight of my grief unbearable. However, last year I found a woman whom I believed could take some of that weight from my shoulders, help me overcome my sadness, and assist me in my responsibility to my precious daughter, Jane.” He paused and looked at Lady Olivia.

  “That woman is not Georgiana Baxter.”

  The crowd erupted into a thousand voices at once. Lady Marion dropped her glass and ran from the ballroom. Georgiana swooned and hit the floor with a thud. Lord Axminster staggered back into a chair clutching his heart. His father looked as if he might explode. Ellis didn’t care. He shouted over the raucous assembly.

  “I needed Georgiana’s father’s signature on a contract for a new factory I’m building and he would not give it to me. I somehow thought squiring Lady Baxter would help me gain the standing I needed with Lord Axminster. However, it did not work. The old badger refused to budge until I came up to scratch with an engagement with his daughter. Georgiana has also threatened me with a Breach of Contract suit, to which there is no foundation. I never once gave those two any reason to think I would ever propose to Georgiana Baxter.” He stopped and looked at Lord Axminster. “Keep your money, keep your daughter. I do not want or need either.”

  The crowd was silent.

  “Now because of Lady Baxter’s unconscionable jealousy, she has circulated rumors among you that Lady Violet Flowers and I were having an illicit affair. These rumors are untrue and I should have stopped them as soon as they started. Only I was too blind, foolish, and greedy. I thought a factory was more important than love. I was wrong. Lady Violet has done nothing to deserve these slanderous lies. She has loved my daughter as a mother would, shown true devotion to my family, my tenants, and the villagers of Fairhaven, and cared for me even with all my faults. Lady Violet is a paragon of virtue, charity, and kindness, and I, too caught up in my own selfishness to see the error of my ways, have let her down. However, I swear to all of you now, when I find her and if she will have me, I will make her my wife. She and only she will become the next Marchioness of Haverlane.”

  Ellis stepped off the small stage and marched over to Lady Olivia. “Check mate,” he said.

  Ellis fought his way through the crowd as people congratulated him and tried to shake his hand. Ellis shrugged them off. His only thought was Violet. He would take her forcibly if he had to and they would ride to Gretna. Nothing would stop him. Nothing.

  At Caymore House, Ellis pounded on the door. Quiggins answered.

  “Please ask someone to fetch Lady Violet from wherever she is,” Ellis said. He strode into the house.

  Quiggins closed the door and said to a footman. “Have Nella wake Lady Violet. Tell her she is requested downstairs.” He turned to Ellis. “Would you care to step in, my lord?”

  “No, thank you, Quiggins. We shall be leaving as soon as Lady Violet comes down.”

  “As you wish.” Quiggins stood at the bottom of the stairs. Lord Bailey ambled up from the hall. Ellis looked at him, but said nothing.

  The front door opened. Penny, William, and Lady Olivia entered.

  “Oh, Ellis,” Penny exclaimed. “That was the most magnificent thing I have ever seen.” She gave him a hug.

  “Brother, I did not think you had it in you,” William said.

  “Yes, well.” Ellis looked at Lady Olivia.

  She nodded once. “Very well played, Haverlane, very
well done indeed.”

  “I am glad you enjoyed it.” Ellis said.

  “It seems I have missed something grand,” Bailey said.

  Nella came down the stairs alone. She held parchment in her hands.

  “Where is Violet?” Ellis asked.

  She curtsied. “I am sorry, she is not in her room, but I found these.”

  Ellis grabbed the letters out of her hands. The first he handed to Penny, the other to Bailey.

  Penny broke the seal. “Oh my,” she said. “Oh no.”

  Ellis grabbed it from her hands and read –

  Dearest Penny,

  Forgive me for running away like this. I can bear London no longer. Rest assured I will be safe where I am going. I just need some time alone. Lord Bailey has graciously offered for my hand and I have accepted. We will wed on the day we had decided. I will return from where I am on that morning. I hope you, Lady Olivia, and Lord Caymore will come to the wedding. I have no one else to call family. Please, do not try to look for me.

  Your friend,

  Violet

  “What does she mean, Bailey has offered for her hand?” Ellis asked.

  “It means,” Lord Bailey said. “After your disastrous meeting in the garden tonight, I could not let the poor girl think she was unworthy, so I asked for her hand.”

  “You were already betrothed, why did you ask again?” Ellis tried not to be confused.

  “I arranged for Bailey to come down from Caithness as a ruse,” Lady Olivia said. “I needed to do something drastic to get you to find your way. I knew I could never ask any of the fops in Town.”

  “Would you mind opening yours,” Ellis asked.

  Bailey read it aloud –

  Dear Lord Bailey –

  I am sorry I lied to you this evening. I had to leave London. I will return on our wedding day, fully prepared to marry you. If you still wish it. Thank you again for the money you lent me. I do not know when I shall ever be able to repay your kindness, perhaps during the course of our marriage.

  Violet

  Ellis reached into his trouser pocket, pulled out a wad of notes. “How much does she owe you?”

  “I gave her ten pounds,” Bailey said.

  Haverlane peeled off two five-pound notes. “Consider her debt repaid.” He looked at Penny. “Where on earth could she have gone?”

  “I do not know.”

  “Quiggins send someone to Olmstead House,” Lady Olivia said. “Perhaps she has gone there.” Quiggins bowed and strode down the hall.

  “This letter says she has left London,” Ellis said.

  “Yes, and that is how we hid from you all those weeks. Hiding in plain sight.” Lady Olivia smiled. “It seems I may have taught our girl a thing or two.”

  “Well, come in, then,” William said. “Quiggins will return with news shortly. Let us have a brandy. I know I could use one.”

  The group moved as one to the library. William poured his brother a brandy. Bailey already had one. Ellis walked over to Bailey, his hand extended.

  “I wish to apologize to you, old man. You were an innocent pawn in all this. I am heartily sorry for any distress I may have caused you.”

  “Quite all right,” Bailey said. “Although, I should say, my offer to her still holds if she does not want you on her return.”

  “That will not be necessary.” Ellis didn’t care how he did it, he would get Violet to marry him, even if he had to kidnap her.

  They did not speculate as to her whereabouts while they waited for Quiggins to return. When he finally arrived, they all asked at once if he had found her.

  “I am sorry to say, Lady Violet was not there. I took the liberty of using the back door key and went throughout the entire house. There was no sign of her.”

  Ellis felt the same way he did the night Anne had died. Bereft.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The trip took almost six hours, as the coach had to deliver and pick up cargo, and the sun had already risen when they pulled into the village. Violet picked up her carpetbag, and opened the door to the coach. The coachman handed her down.

  “Sure you be alright here, m’lady?” the coachman asked.

  “Oh, yes, thank you. I’m home now,” Violet said. She stretched her aching limbs and started the walk through the village and up the long road.

  Just as she remembered, the verdant fields were filled with sheep and cows, flowers bloomed behind every gate, and she heard the sounds of the blacksmith’s hammer. She passed the church, and wanted to stop, but she could not. Violet had only one thought in mind.

  Finally, she walked across the cobblestones down the tree-lined drive and tears sprang to her eyes. She was here at last. Violet heard a shout and saw Mary and Jane in the gardens.

  “Imma, Imma you came back!” Jane screamed and ran across the grass.

  “Oh, Jane, I have come back,” Violet said. She scooped the child up in her arms and kissed her. “I have come back.”

  *****

  At half-nine the next morning, Ellis sat in the yellow salon with Bailey, Lady Olivia, and William. They waited for Penny to return downstairs.

  “I’m sorry, I do not see where she could have gone,” Penny said as she entered. “Only one gown was taken, along with her hair brush. Everything still remains as it was in her room.”

  “One gown,” Lady Olivia said. “Where on earth would she go with only one gown?”

  “Which gown was it? Do you know?” Bailey asked.

  “The one we decided she should wear to her wedding,” Penny said.

  “I do not understand. Where would she go with no clothes?” Ellis asked.

  “Home would be the obvious choice,” William said.

  “Yes, it would. I wonder if her mother attended last night to hear what I had to say,” Ellis said.

  “I do not know, but there is only one way to find out,” Lady Olivia said and stood. “Come Haverlane, you and I shall pay a visit to dear Countess Flowers.”

  Arriving at the little house so early in the morning put the Flowers household in mild uproar. Violet’s mother could not apologize enough to Ellis. He said nothing and let Lady Olivia do the talking.

  “Where is Violet?” the dowager demanded.

  “I do not know. I thought she was with you. What has happened?” Lady Flowers looked from one to the other.

  “Do you have any relatives with whom she might take refuge?”

  “Relatives? Refuge? No, there is no one, unless she has taken it upon herself to contact my sister. Although we have not spoken these last twenty years, Violet has mentioned on occasion she has written to her. I do not believe she has ever received a response.” Lady Flowers wrung her hands around a handkerchief. “What has happened? Why are you looking for her?”

  “Where does your sister live?” Ellis asked.

  “In Norwich.”

  “Have you spoken to Violet?” Ellis asked Lilly.

  “No, my lord. I saw her last night at the masque, but by the time I made my way to her, she was gone.”

  Lady Flowers turned to Lilly. “You saw Violet last night?”

  “Of course, Mama, I would know my sister anywhere.”

  Ellis looked at Lady Olivia. He nodded to Lady Flowers and Lilly. “Thank you for your time.” He strode out of the house.

  “You will let me know if she turns up,” Violet’s mother said to Lady Olivia.

  “That is for Violet to decide. After what you have put her through, I dare say she may never speak to you again.” Lady Olivia thumped her cane as she left the house.

  In the carriage, Ellis clenched and unclenched his fists.

  “’Twill do you no good to worry. She has ten pounds. That is more than enough to find a good inn and hole up for the next week. Or get her to Norwich and back,” Lady Olivia said.

  “I cannot help but think seeing her body floating in the river wearing her wedding dress.” The knot in the pit of his stomach tightened.

  “Do not be daft,” Lady Olivia hiss
ed. “Violet would never fling herself off a bridge. She knows Bailey will marry her.” Ellis saw the look of concern cross the old woman’s face.

  “I suppose you are right, Bailey could give her all the things she desires.” Ellis paused. “Perhaps I should let her marry him. After everything I have done to her, I wonder if she would still have me anyway.”

  “She will have you. She loves you. She has said she will marry Bailey because she did not think you cared for her.” She looked at Ellis. “Did you tell her you loved her?”

  Ellis looked up. “No. I wanted to last night, but our discussion turned into an argument and she left before I had a chance to explain. And then with my father…”

  “So, she does not know you renounced Georgiana.”

  “Not that I know. She left with Bailey before I gave my speech.”

  “Hmm. I suggest you send someone to Norwich then. And scour the inns. She told me once she had a fondness for the sea. Perhaps she has gone to Brighton, or Bath. You may also want to check with George. He would never refuse her refuge.”

  “Yes, of course,” Ellis smiled. She must be with the Prince. “Thank you, Lady Olivia.”

  “Well, it is only a suggestion. She may very well wish to remain hidden until the wedding. That poor gel has a lot to think over.”

  Ellis wondered if she would ever forgive him.

  Four days later and still no word about Violet, Ellis sat in his library massaging his temples. He had sent Manning to Norwich. She wasn’t there. He had run the Prince to ground himself, and George listened to the story with amusement. But he had not seen her either. Ellis called upon Bow Street to see if anyone matching her description or the description of the dress had turned up in the river or the morgue. There was no one. For that, he was thankful. Penny had mentioned the gown could fetch money if Violet had decided truly to run away. Any modiste would pay at least fifty pounds for it, which was more than enough for Violet to travel.

  Ellis leaned back in his chair. Where the devil was she?