A Ravishing Lady For The Rebellious Marquess (Steamy Historical Regency Romance)

by Violet Hamers

  “Wait! Where?” Lord Rockgonie asked.

  “There!” She said simply as she lifted her hand and pointed at the individual her eyes were currently glued to.

  “Leonard! he shouted, expecting his voice to be heard above the din of his surroundings.

  “Stop! What are you doing?” she exclaimed.

  “I’m trying to get his attention,” Lord Rockgonie responded. Didn’t you just say back at the house that it would be a miracle if Leonard suddenly appeared?”

  “I think we should think carefully before we find ourselves rushing into a trap out of desperation,” Lady Rose replied.

  “A trap?” Lord Rockgonie sounded surprised.

  “Yes. What Lady Anna said back at your manor got me thinking. Leonard suddenly vanishes with no trace and no one, in spite of their most valiant efforts, could find him. Lord Walsrock’s consequent arrest doesn’t make him reveal himself and come forward to help his master. And now, we find him in the middle of the protesting crowd,” she said.

  “And?” Lord Rockgonie asked with less confidence than before. The gears of his mind had obviously begun to grind.

  “And it doesn’t look like he would come along passively. It most certainly looks to me like he is actively protesting alongside the rest of the crowd.”

  There was a silence that settled on both of them once more as the insides of the carriage became still. They observed for several moments, the man who was supposed to be lost but had been miraculously found.

  “It certainly looks like he is protesting. It also doesn’t seem like he came alone,” Lord Rockgonie concluded out loud after several moments of observation.

  “What are we going to do?” she asked.

  “We? No, you are going to continue on home and I will get down and approach him,” Lord Rockgonie responded.

  What followed was an intense argument of how she had every right to approach him, just as he did, maybe even more.

  If Leonard, who she’d come to like, was acting this way in spite of his master’s incarceration, then he was breaking her heart as much as he was breaking Kenneth’s.

  The argument eventually ended with Lord Rockgonie winning this round.

  Reluctantly, she agreed to the points he’d made and let it go.

  Lord Rockgonie spied Leonard one more time as he prepared to get down from the carriage.

  He nodded at her and stepped down from the carriage. He barked certain orders to the entourage over the noise, that she could only assume was what they had just talked about.

  With one last look at her, coupled with a tip of the hat, he turned and began melting into the crowd on his way to Leonard.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Noah inched his way through the crowd in his bid to get to Leonard.

  The sheer volume of people that were currently protesting in this slowly advancing mob shocked him. If anyone had said the whole of London had emptied out into the streets, such assertions wouldn’t have been far from the truth.

  As he approached his mark, he noticed the curious glances he was getting from the common folk he passed on his way. Even with his best efforts, he certainly stood out as a non-commoner.

  He had to be careful and reach Leonard in time, before he so easily became the focal point for this antsy crowd to concentrate their frustrations on.

  He continued to make his way forward and noticed that as he progressed, the crowds possessed an increasing level of hostility. Just when he would have finally come upon Leonard, a few men stepped into his path to block him.

  “What are you doing here, Lord Rockgonie?” they demanded.

  Not only was he surprised that they knew who he was, he was also surprised at the fact that they had surrounded him in a manner that suggested they were protecting Leonard.

  For fear of not giving the right response, he stayed quiet.

  “State your business here, Lord Rockgonie. We will not ask again,” they threatened.

  In line with their warning, they began to advance on him at the same moment he cried out.

  “Leonard!” he screamed at Lord Walsrock’s valet, finally getting his attention.

  “Ah! There you are, Lord Rockgonie. How are you doing on this fine day?” Leonard said, as he turned to face him. Interestingly as well, the men who had accosted him moments ago suddenly stopped their advance and faded back into the crowd that was swarming around them.

  Interesting!

  The noise of the crowd carried on around them but for some reason, he could only hear Leonard’s comments and see his reactions.

  He had completely focused on the valet, so much so that everything else had faded into the background.

  “We all thought you were missing, Leonard. Where have you been?” He asked cautiously, trying not to get the valet all riled up.

  “Oh, you know, just running some personal errands of mine,” Leonard responded, with a wicked grin on his face.

  “Have you heard about your friend’s predicament? Have you heard about the situation Lord Walsrock is in at the moment?” Noah said, being careful to remind Leonard that Lord Walsrock was his friend.

  “Ah! The Marquess of Walsrock. So sad, I tell you. Such a bright young gentleman, found guilty of instigating the masses and inciting them to protests. Such a bright future He will be sorely missed, I tell you,” Leonard responded, the evil grin remaining on his lips.

  Noah couldn’t believe his ears. Leonard was sounding like the devil himself.

  “First things first, he hasn’t been found guilty of anything. Also, you know the accusations against the Marquess aren’t true, Leonard. You know the Marquess didn’t do any of the things he’s being accused of.”

  “On the contrary, I do not know anything of the sort, Lord Rockgonie. I wasn’t the one who investigated him. I wasn’t the one who patiently collected evidence against him. I wasn’t the one who arrested him. And I am most certainly not the one who is currently detaining him.” Leonard smiled. “That would be the fine gentlemen of the Bow Street Runners.”

  “So you are saying you believe what you heard?” Noah asked cautiously.

  “What I believe is irrelevant, My Lord.”

  After a brief pause, Noah continued speaking.

  “What did Lord Walsrock ever do to you? Did he offend you in any way, that made you disappear without a trace? Did he do something to irk you, which is making you stay away even in this moment when you are well aware that your testimony can free him?” Noah asked.

  “Oh, no. He did nothing to me. This particular cause is just more important to me now,” Leonard responded.

  “Your friend is being made to take the blame for something he did not do and you are not concerned?” Noah responded, trying very hard to control his budding rage. This wasn’t the place and time to lose his temper. Leonard was still very important to his mission. He had to find a way to get through to the valet.

  A low, earthy laugh escaped Leonard’s lips at his previous comment.

  “And so? If he takes the blame for something he didn’t do, would that make him the first or the last person that will be punished for a crime he did not commit? Do you know how many times I have been punished for a crime I did not commit? You privileged lot must think the world does revolve around you.”

  “People being punished for what they didn’t do is wrong, Leonard, and you know this,” Noah continued.

  “Oh, now you are suddenly the voice of morality because the person involved is a friend of yours? One of your kind? Your voice was conspicuously absent when thousands of us went through similar situations.”

  “What is this ‘yours and ours’ business? Aren’t we all humans first of all? Aren’t we all Englishmen?”

  “Only when it suits your agenda. When we need you to consider our rights, we suddenly are servants in your eyes. When we need you to acknowledge our existence as humans, same as you, we suddenly are beneath you and not worth the time and trouble. When we need you to fight for us, we suddenly aren’t of the sa
me social class.”

  “But the person who fought for you and continues to fight for you is who you are refusing to save. Please make me understand how this is permissible under any circumstance.”

  “The end does justify the means, Lord Rockgonie. You can’t make an omelet unless you break some eggs. If Lord Walsrock’s life is what I have to sacrifice in order to set my people free from bondage, it is a price I will gladly pay.”

  Leonard’s evil grin and unbothered demeanor began to crack, giving Noah a glimpse of the tainted soul that lay just beneath the surface.

  He is even more sinister that I could ever have imagined.

  “A price you would gladly pay? The men who tried to stop me from reaching you earlier? So you are the one pulling the strings after all,” Noah remarked in wonder.

  Worse, he actually wants these protests, even at the expense of Lord Walsrock’s freedom.

  “How perceptive of you.” Leonard faked a laugh. “I have paid more when the need arose. No more! This time, it is you people who pay. Lord Walsrock might be a good man but he is incapable of bringing about the change we desire.”

  “You have paid more? What in God’s name are you talking about? Lord Walsrock has been nothing but kind and fair to you,” Noah responded, as he began to get riled up.

  “Kenneth might have been kind and fair, but what about his father? Frankly, the extra benefit I will be getting out of this is denying the Duke his precious heir. That seems like a fair bargain for all the nonsense he put me and my mother through,” Leonard screamed, and for the first time Noah could see the monster that had lay beneath the fake smiles and the calm demeanor.

  “So the Duke was a harsh employer to you and your mother while you worked there. Does that justify your reason to start an uprising in order to seek redress?”

  Leonard laughed in response.

  “You think this is about employment conditions? Think again, Lord Rockgonie. Frankly, I am done with this conversation. My brother gets no help from me. He can rot in hell for all I care. Maybe that will be restitution enough for all the pain over the years. If it isn’t enough, I’ll be sure to send the Duke over to him sometime in the near future.”

  “Your brother?” Noah asked in confusion.

  “If you will excuse me, I have a protest to get back to. I have indulged you long enough,” he said abruptly as he turned and began moving through the crowd.

  “Wait! Wait! What do you mean by your brother?” Noah screamed after him as he struggled to keep up. The valet moved with extraordinary speed, winding through the crowd with such skill that Noah finally lost him.

  Noah came to an abrupt stop and began looking around.

  Where did he go?

  Suddenly, the men who had tried to corner him earlier emerged again in the periphery of his vision.

  He took a deep breath and began moving, hoping that his mind was playing tricks on him and that they weren’t actually following him. He was wrong.

  As he moved, so did they, all the while trying to corner him and restrict his movement through the crowd. Whatever directive Leonard had given them, he didn’t want to wait around to find out. He already suspected it wasn’t a good directive at all with their doggedness in trying to trap him.

  What did he mean by referring to Lord Walsrock as his brother?

  He looked around and saw that he had ventured quite a distance from his carriage. None of his servants waiting for him back there would be able to come to his aid if these men succeeded in getting to him. His only other option was to continue moving, probably make a beeline in the direction of his carriage so he could have some defense, as well.

  His decision made, he picked up his pace as the shadowing game continued. In order not to make his destination obvious and to avoid a situation where he was cut off, he began to zig-zag through the crowd in a haphazard manner without a definite pattern.

  Once, they came near to realizing their goal but for the timely intervention of a member of the crowd who had stepped forward, oblivious to the game around him, and blocked their line of sight. He had used the opportunity to slip back into space, where they noticed him and continued bearing down on him.

  Finally, he arrived at his carriage and salvation, but stopped only few feet short.

  There was a contingent of Bow Street Runners in uniform, led by one in plain clothes, hovering around his carriage. He paused to observe whether they had come in peace or were here to his detriment. A cursory glance behind him also showed that the gang that were in pursuit of him had also stopped on sighting the constables.

  His decision made, he stepped forward abruptly into their line of sight. If they were here to his detriment, he was going to have to deal with that eventuality when he got there.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure?” he said, attracting the attention of the one who was obviously the leader.

  “Lord Rockgonie! I am Detective Cooper. I have been looking for you.”

  “And I have been looking for you as well,” Noah said. “First off, where is my friend, Lord Walsrock?”

  “That is why I have come. Your friend mentioned your name in events that transpired yesterday. I have come to…”

  “Whatever he said happened, happened. You have got the wrong person in custody. Now where is he? I want to see him.”

  “Why do you say we have the wrong person in custody?” the Detective asked.

  “Because I just finished having a conversation with the actual person responsible for all this mess,” Noah argued. “May I see Lord Walsrock now?”

  “Patience, please, Lord Rockgonie. Who is this person you speak of?”

  “Leonard, of course, Lord Walsrock’s valet…and half-brother, apparently.” Noah thought for a second before adding the last part to his statement. “The slimy fellow played everyone all along. Even his disappearance was planned. And now he is instigating the masses to war.”

  “If Leonard Arnold is here, I would sure like to talk with him,” the Detective said.

  “Then go and find him,” Noah fired back.

  “All right, which way did he go?”

  Noah simply pointed in the direction he’d come from and said nothing else. He realized he was still panting from his near capture and needed to slow down to catch his breath.

  “All right, this crowd is marching toward parliament. Spread out and find Leonard Arnold,” the Detective ordered his constables.

  He then turned back to look at Noah.

  “Shall we take a ride down to the office in your carriage?” the Detective asked.

  Noah agreed and climbed aboard his carriage, the Detective in tow.

  “What did you mean by Leonard Arnold being Lord Walsrock’s half-brother?” Detective Cooper asked as soon as the carriage began to move again, this time headed toward the Bow Street Runners’ office.

  “I do not know. All I know is that Leonard was talking to me and lost his calm. Next thing he said was his brother could go to hell,” Noah responded.

  “If this is true, that puts a different slant to this tale. Did you know that a lot of the leaders of this uprising are bastard children of the gentlemen of Britain’s high society?”

  “I did not know,” Noah responded truthfully.

  “Well, if it is true that Leonard Arnold is the bastard son of the Duke, that explains the congregation of bastards who are running the show. And what a perfect decoy, to try and stack evidence against your half-brother, who you actually work for,” the Detective reasoned.

  “So you believe you have the wrong man now?” Noah queried.

  “I believe someone has a lot more to tell us than he already has.”

  “I doubt Lord Walsrock knows about this. I know the gentleman quite well. There is no way he would have subjected his half-brother to working for him if he had known,” Noah said in defense.

  “I wasn’t talking about the Marquess, My Lord. I was talking about Leonard Arnold,” the Detective clarified.

  “You have been talking to L
eonard?” The shock on Noah’s face couldn’t have been more obvious.

  “Yes. He, in fact, was the one who served his brother up to us as a suspect,” the Detective confessed.

  “That Devil’s spawn,” Noah cursed.

  They continued to trade stories until Noah finally pieced it together that Lord Walsrock was never really under arrest. It had all been a ploy by the detective to keep him safe.

  “Lord Walsrock isn’t under arrest, right?” Noah asked as soon as they arrived at the office.