“I also know that you murdered Marian. I saw you slip the poison into her wine that night. You didn’t see me, but I saw you. I know you beat her often. I saw her bruises and welts. I have just been waiting for you to beat Katherine, too. You are not going to kill Katherine. I am going to take Katherine away from here, and also the child. Sarah will have a loving, happy home with Katherine and me. You will sign dissolution papers for your marriage and you will never come after us, or I will turn you over to the authorities for the murders of our parents and Marian.”
“I also know that Susanna’s daughter, Mary, is still alive and living in London. I will tell Susanna so that she doesn’t grieve any longer for a daughter whom she believes to be dead. You will not say one word to her, except to give her leave to go and visit her daughter now and twice a year hereafter. You will pay her fare to travel to London and back again from now on. I will check with Mary every year to make certain that you are following through with these instructions. Do you understand?”
Percy just sat there open-mouthed, unable to speak.
“Do you understand?” Oliver asked again, his voice calm but deadly.
Percy managed to nod his head.
“Good. I thought you would, when I explained it to you. Now, Katherine will be given time to pack her things, as will I. I will take my carriage and my horses, and we will leave Loneshire. You will confine yourself to your rooms until we are gone. I will instruct Reginald to bring your meals to you. Any callers will be told you are ill and you will see them later. Emma will go with Katherine to help with the child. I will pay you fifty pounds for her. That is more than a fair price for you to release her to Katherine. She will not know that money exchanged hands for her.”
Oliver paused for a moment to think about what he had said and to see if there was anything he had left out.
“If you try in any fashion to come after us, or if you send someone after us, I swear to you that I will turn you over to the police. Now, will you let us go peaceably, in the manner in which I’ve described? Or shall I just call the constable now and have you arrested. Then Katherine and I will stay at Loneshire because you will be executed for three murders.”
Percy would not let it go. How dare his brother accost him like this? How dare he threaten him? Anger welled up inside him as he stood and took a swing at Oliver, knocking him into the wall. “Sarah and Katherine are mine. I will not allow you to take them and pay me off with a bribe. I did nothing to our parents nor did I do anything to Marian. You can and will not ever prove anything. You stood by and watched Marian die and did nothing about it. Except, you did not have feelings for her like you do Katherine. Now, you will have to watch your beloved Katherine suffer the same fate.”
Oliver took a swing at Percy but missed. Percy swung at Oliver with the whiskey bottle, knocking him down, as glass shattered around them. Percy got up from the chair, leaving the room and locking the door from the outside. Oliver was trapped in the room with no way out. Fear welled up inside him as he feared what Percy would do to Katherine. He pounded on the door, calling for Roger or anyone to let him out. No one came.
He heard Percy shout for Roger to bring him another bottle of whiskey. He had no idea how much time had passed but then Percy pounded on the door. “Katherine has been told that you left. That you came to your senses and realized that you had made a mistake and that you never loved her. Of course, she didn’t take it well. Perhaps another beating will knock some sense into her.” He laughed derisively as Oliver shouted that he would kill him if he laid a hand on her.
“I’ve made arrangements for you to be taken out late at night and taken out of the county. You are never to return here, Oliver, or you will meet the same fate as Mother and Father. Now do YOU understand that?”
“Roger, draw my bath and bring me a new bottle of whiskey,” Percy slurred. “I need to get all cleaned up for Katherine. I’ll give her your regards, Oliver, as we’re tightly wound in passion,” he sneered, walking away.
Silence ensued. Oliver desperately pounded on the door. “Roger? Susanna? Please, I fear what he will do to Katherine,” Oliver cried out. “Please find the key and let me out!”
He could hear the bath water being drawn and Percy drunkenly dismissing Roger. “Come back in one hour with warm towels,” he demanded of Roger. “Now get out and leave me in peace.”
“Roger, where is he?” Oliver heard Katherine’s frantic cries. “Please, did Oliver leave as Percy said? Where is he?”
“Go back to your room,” Roger gently ordered. “Percy is in the bath. Please, go back to your room.”
Oliver heard Roger lower his voice, and Katherine’s footsteps faded away down the hall.
There was a soft knock on the door. “My lord, I have the key. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, Roger, please, let me out.”
“Not with Your Grace two rooms away. Once he is asleep, I’ll be back. You have to trust me.” There was silence before Roger quietly spoke again. “Mister Oliver, I heard you say you knew that he murdered your parents, God rest their souls. I could feel it in my soul that he harmed them.”
“I will alert the authorities, Roger. My brother will pay for what he did to them and to Marian.”
“Marian? My God,” Roger cried out.
“Roger!” Percy slurred angrily. “Get those towels warmed up. NOW. And keep track of the time…” His angry words were replaced with snores as Percy had passed out in a drunken stupor.
“Yes, Your Grace,” Roger shouted. “I shall be back in 30 minutes.”
It seemed an eternity had passed before he heard Roger heading down the hall to deliver the towels to Percy.
“My God, someone help!” he heard Roger shout. Footsteps ran past his door, and he heard more screams.
“No!”
Oliver heard crying and “Get him out of the bath NOW! Hurry!”
He heard a key in the door, and it was flung open. “Mister Oliver, I’m so sorry. It’s your brother; he has drowned in his bath!”
Oliver ran down the hall and peered into where Percy lay on the floor, the maidservants and Roger trying desperately to revive him. But it was too late.
Katherine appeared behind him, her face white with shock as she gazed at her dead husband. She tried to make herself feel something, anything, but she felt nothing. Not sadness or joy, not even relief. She wondered what would become of her. Would her parents disown her? Would she be welcomed back home? Would she be forced into another loveless marriage?
***
The next several days were a blur. While she and Oliver made the arrangements for Percy’s burial, they never spoke of their affection for one another. Somehow, it didn’t seem right.
One week later, Oliver approached Katherine. “All of this is yours now, Katherine.”
She nodded. She didn’t want any of Percy’s wealth. She wanted Oliver. But he had grown distant since Percy’s death.
“It’s not mine, Oliver. It’s yours. Yours and Sarah’s.”
“And yours, Katherine. Sarah has lost both of her parents. If you left, she would be devastated.”
He paused, looking at the floor before continuing. “And I, well, I would surely die if you left, Katherine. I have loved you from day one, and I will always love you. Sarah, you and I…we could be a family, Katherine. You know how Sarah loves you…”
Katherine said nothing, only nodded as she looked deep into Oliver’s eyes. God, how she loved this man. But staying here, in Percy’s house, the monster of a man, she could not do it. Even for love.
“We can bring your mother and father here, Katherine. They can live on the East wing of the estate. Katherine, please, just give us a chance…”
Katherine slowly nodded. She finally felt at peace.
Ten days later, Katherine, Oliver and Sarah made the trip back to Katherine’s parents’ home to tell them the news of Percy’s death and of Katherine’s and Oliver’s plans to wed. She thought she saw relief in her parents’ eyes but she could
n’t be sure. She knew, however, that she would never speak to them about the beatings that she had endured with Percy as it would break their hearts.
Arrangements were made for her parents’ estate to be put up for sale and for them to go to Loneshire when all their affairs were in order.
Katherine and Oliver planned to wed as soon as her parents arrived at Loneshire.
When Oliver and Katherine returned to Loneshire, Oliver told Susanna about Mary being alive along with the boy, and she broke down and wept, but they were tears of joy. And when he told her that Mary and her grandson would be moving back to Loneshire, she wept all the more.
For the first time since she had arrived at Loneshire, Katherine finally felt loved and at peace. And it was all due to the man by her side, Oliver.
She smiled softly and took his hand, placing her other hand on Sarah’s head, ruffling her hair. How she loved them both; her family. Tears rolled down her cheeks but they were not tears of fear and regret this time; they were tears of joy for a love she had always yearned for but never thought she would get.
Epilogue
A baby’s cry awakened Katherine from the sweet dreams she had been dreaming. She got up and padded over to the baby’s cradle just a few feet from her and Oliver’s bed. Picking up the hungry infant, she cradled his tiny body against her own and carried him back to bed. Oliver slept on, as he usually did.
She fixed her pillows so she could sit up in bed, then got in and prepared to suckle the babe. A handsome boy he was. The exact image of his father, with curly red hair and green eyes. And a voracious appetite. They had named him Alexander Allan Oliver Clarke after both of his grandfathers and his father. They called him Alex.
As the baby nursed, Katherine sighed contentedly. How her life had changed since she first arrived at Loneshire. She had Oliver, Sarah and her parents close by. That was all she needed. Oliver was doing well for himself with his fine line of horses. Her parents were able to help with Alex and Sarah.
She was married to a fine, upstanding man who loved her desperately and told her so daily. She knew she could never live without him. She knew now that she had to go through hell to get to where she was now with Oliver. If it wouldn’t have been for Percy, she would never have met Oliver. There would be no happiness, no love and no Alex. She realized that everything did happen for a reason.
Just as Katherine was certain that she could not be any happier, Oliver roused, looked at her and his son and smiled. He, too, was finally happy and at peace. He could finally put the nightmarish years behind him and look forward to a future filled with love.
Oliver had told Katherine what had happened to his parents and Marian. Although Katherine had been disgusted, she was not shocked. She had witnessed life with the vilest man that she had ever met. She wondered where she would be now if Oliver had not been sent to escort her to Loneshire. What if Percy had sent Roger, or Reginald, instead of Oliver? She shivered. Her life would be a living hell without Oliver.
Oliver had spoken to the authorities. He wanted them informed of what had happened to Marian and his parents. The authorities had heard rumors of Percy being involved in the deaths, but no one had stepped forward with proof. Oliver felt a burden had been lifted from his soul. Three fine people gone due to the actions of his brother. At least the secret was out now.
“Our sweet boy.” Oliver reached out to tickle the baby’s chin. “How blessed we are, Katherine.”
Katherine smiled. “Alex is getting big, isn’t he? Sarah loves to mother him. She’s already asking when she would get a baby sister.”
Oliver laughed. “It will happen, in due time, of course.”
“Will you be attending to the horses today? Sarah has taken a liking to them and was asking me if she could help you. What do you think?”
“I’ll be honored to help her learn, Katherine. She can be my right-hand girl.”
“Thank you, Uncle Oliver”, came a voice from outside the door. “Can we start now?!”
Oliver and Katherine couldn’t contain there laughter. “Give me a few moments, Sarah, and we’ll be on our way.”
Oliver leaned down to give Katherine a kiss on her forehead. “We shall return, my love.”
Katherine smiled. She knew he would return and never leave. It had taken her weeks after Percy’s death to finally believe that Percy was gone and would never return again. But she had reached a point where she could freely breathe again. She had her family, and that was all she ever needed. She need not fear anyone ever again.
The End
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The Duke’s Deception Page 6
