by Anna Edwards
“I’m free.” The concept is alien to me. I test it on my lips and like it. “I can be your wife?”
He nods.
“Yes, but only after you learn to be yourself.”
“I thought you’d hate me.”
“Never.” Theo pulls me into his arms, and we settle back against the bed. My eyelids grow heavy with the exhaustion of telling him everything. Theo continues, “No, the person I hate is my father. He’s gotten away with too much for too long now. As soon as we find out where he is, we’re putting a stop to this. His reign of terror is over. It’s about time he learned the correct way to treat a woman.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Theodore
Joanna and I rest for no longer than half an hour before the need to find my sisters gets the better of both of us. We make our way down to the office where William is surrounded by papers, which he’s frantically searching through for any evidence of where my father could be hiding. Nicholas follows us down with a baby monitor in his hand and immediately picks up a pile of his own papers. He looks exhausted, and I can see the love both men have for my sisters. They may be quiet and tired of waiting, but they’ll be vicious when it comes to the rescue. A mobile sits next to William within easy access for when the call we’re all longing for comes through. In total, the girls have been missing for an hour, and it’s been the longest hour of all our lives. I know what my father is truly capable of, now. I would like to think his paternal nature would kick in and protect Tamara and Victoria, but after hearing the way he treated Joanna and ordered my execution, I know he’s incapable of compassion.
“I’m going to see if the chef can get us all a sandwich and a drink.” Joanna stands up on tiptoes and kisses my lips. “We need to keep our energy up.”
Nicholas looks up from his papers and signals it’s a good idea before asking, “Would you mind checking on Rose as well? She’s sleeping but is unsettled. I think she knows her mummy is missing. A feminine touch might help.”
“Of course.” Joanna lets go of my hand and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.
“How is she?” William looks up from where he’s been studying a piece of paper that looks like a bank statement.
“Ok.” I pick up a couple of the sheets he’s yet to examine and start looking over them. “It’s going to take a while, but she’s strong.”
We fall into silence for a short while. Each of us are lost in our own thoughts as we search for something, anything, to tell us where my father could be. The paper I have lists financial transactions from his bank. Different amounts relating to donations, household expenditures, and a couple of costs for properties he owns.
“Has someone checked our property in Yorkshire?”
“Yes,” Nicholas replies. “It seems he moved Joanna’s keeper, Camilla Fentress, up there. She’s dead, killed by a bullet to the center of her forehead. He’s obviously been cleaning house, getting ready to take over from me.”
I remember the woman who was there when I was married to Joanna. She seemed kind, but I know better now. I won’t mourn her death. I hope she suffered.
“We’ve got to be missing something.” William throws down his pile of papers. “I need to get Tamara back. She’s pregnant, and Joanna warned Victoria about the Viscount and his fascination with her.”
“He made Joanna dress up as Tamara,” I blurt out.
“What?” William is on his feet and thumping his hands on the desk.
“She told me it was you, and you had a wig made like Tamara when she had long hair.”
William and Nicholas look at each other.
“Fuck!” Nicholas exclaims. “He’s sicker than I thought.”
“What?” I question.
“Tamara was taken by an old associate of the society, a perverted man named Lord West. We were late rescuing her, and the Viscount got there first. I didn’t understand it at that point, but I do now,” William explains.
“Sorry you’ve lost me?”
“While she was kidnapped, Tamara’s hair had been chopped short, but we never found the hair that was removed. We assumed it had been thrown on the fire, but I’ve now got a feeling perhaps it was taken by the Viscount.” William goes over to the corner of the room and pours a glass of what looks like brandy. He waves the decanter at me, and I nod to say yes.
“Perhaps what he did to Tamara’s mother twisted his mind. I wonder if it was the first time he’d raped a woman?” Nicholas joins us, and William pours him a glass.
“First time?” These two brothers know so much more of what is happening around me than I do. I’ve been kept in the dark and am catching up quickly.
“When he raped Elsie and conceived Tamara,” William informs me, and we all remain silent for a moment and take a sip of drink.
“I can’t help but think it was more. Possibly a result of the trials and what his parents put him through. If it wasn’t for Victoria, I’m not sure my mind would have survived what our father ordered me to do.” Nicholas muses into the bottom of his glass.
“I don’t understand how they’ve been able to get away with treating women the way they have for so long. When my father bought Joanna, he just assumed the marriage between me and her would take place.” Nicholas shrugs at me. “And it was never suggested I should be allowed to choose my own bride. Have generations of our families been so warped that they haven’t been able to see right from wrong?”
“Eight generations,” William mulls into his brandy glass.
“How many women have suffered at their hands?” I query and take another mouthful of the amber nectar.
“That we know of? Over the centuries, the sum total of the chosen ladies given to a Duke on his thirtieth birthday is…forty-three.” Nicholas answers before shutting his eyes as the pain of the number sinks in with William and me.
“You know?” The younger Cavendish is shocked at his brother’s answer.
“I went through all the papers shortly after I took over as the Duke. I learned the name of every single girl. Our mother,”—he looks at William and then at me—“your mother. They are both on the list. Nearly all died young. Your mother, Joanna and Victoria are the only survivors.”
“My mother was one?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I know my parents have never been a romantic couple, but it makes sense now why she’s never really been around. She escaped as soon as she could, and my father was too busy tormenting other women to care. “Tradition was followed in my father’s case and in mine. A rejected girl bought to marry?”
“Yes, every Hamilton is descended from one of the girls since the inception of the society.” Nicholas shakes his head at me.
I stand there dumfounded at what I’m hearing.
“I can’t get my head around this. How have they got away with it for so long?”
“By having the right people in their pockets. People who’ll turn a blind eye to what has been happening. Judges, police, senior politicians, even members of the royal family in the past. The aristocracy has been rotten for years, but I won’t let it be that way for Rose.” Nicholas slams his now empty glass down onto the table in a defiant response.
“Too much sex of the wrong kind, if you ask me,” William adds, and that earns a chuckle from Nicholas. “Small dicks with no ability to please a woman properly.”
“You always have a way of putting things, brother, that lightens the mood.” Nicholas slaps his brother on the back.
“I’m just saying it takes a real man to treat a woman properly and earn her respect. You don’t get that by abusing her or ordering her around like a dog. You worship her and love her with as much affection as you can give even though men are shit at stuff like that, and they’ll make mistakes. Or as in my case where their brain doesn’t work the same as everyone else’s, and they’ll end up telling their wife she doesn’t look good in the new dress she’s just bought.” William smirks
“Some women will say that’s a good thing,” Nicholas points out, and I n
od in agreement.
“Not when you say she looks like the bride of Frankenstein, because the outfit was far too black for my liking.” William screws his face up and then finishes his brandy.
“You didn’t,” I gasp.
“She thought I meant her hair and make-up as well as the dress. It was an honest mistake. I make them often. She should know by now.”
“She does. Don’t worry.” Nicholas slaps his brother on the back again, and we all go quiet, hoping Tamara will get a chance to spend more time being told the honest truth about her outfits by her husband.
“I’m sorry I doubted you two.” I finally break the silence. “I can see you both adore my sisters. I’m glad they have you. What you’re trying to do for the society is going to help so many people. It will help to right the wrongs of the past.”
“It will.” Nicholas pushes away from where we are congregated and goes over to a safe in the wall. He punches in a code, which I don’t see, and pulls out an old parchment.
“Is that what I think it is?” William cocks his head.
“The original society deeds. I think it’s about time we wrote a new one.”
Nicholas places the aging paper down and scribbles through the middle of it with the words, ‘Null and Void.’ He then turns it over and starts writing.
It is hereby claimed on the eighth day of the eleven month of the year twenty nineteen that a new charter for the society of Oakfield is to be adopted. From this point forth, all violence against women will result in summary expulsion from the society. The purpose for the society will now be to educate future generations of women who wish to learn the creative arts such as painting, literature, drama, and music. We will all work together to ensure they have the necessary skills to help them find their own way in life. Past wrongs will be righted. Hope is our new motto.
Underneath, he signs his name, Nicholas Cavendish, Duke of Oakfield, with a flourish and hands the pen to William, who signs as the Earl of Lullington. William hands me the pen, and I look at him.
“You were born a part of this, remember. Together, we are the ones who can change it.”
I take the pen and sign my name, Viscount Theodore Hamilton, Earl of Linton.
A soft clapping comes from behind us, and we turn to see Joanna standing there with a big smile on her face.
“I love the idea. I hope I’m going to be allowed to help.” She comes over to us and stands at my side. I look down at the pen, then back to her, and then to Nicholas. He nods. I look to William, and he does the same.
“Woman are now a part of the society and not in the way they were before.” I hand her the pen, and she looks at me confused.
“I don’t understand?”
“Sign it.”
“But?”
“Sign it,” Both William and Nicholas tell her at the same time.
“There are no more unequals in this society. We are all one.”
Joanna takes the pen from me, and next to my name she signs, Lady Joanna Hamilton, Countess of Linton, and then places the pen down.
“Now we just need to bring the Duchess of Oakfield and Countess of Lullington home to sign it as well.”
At the same time, we all turn our heads to the mobile phone sitting on William’s desk. It must hear our silent prayers because it starts to ring.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Joanna
“They’re at Seven, Winchester Place. My men are on the way. See you there.”
The phone goes dead, and I watch Theo as he stumbles backward and down into a chair. He knows the address—I’m certain of it.
“Theo?” I stroke his shoulder while Nicholas and William retrieve guns and other weapons from within a locked cupboard. “What is it?”
“My mother.”
He’s gone as white as a sheet and pulls his phone out of his pocket. Nicholas grabs it off him before he has a chance to call anyone. The elder Cavendish brother drops the phone onto the floor and stamps on it with his foot. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Hey.” Theo scrambles to pick up the pieces of his broken mobile. “I need to warn her.”
“They’ve been there for over an hour now. It’ll be too late.” Nicholas hands Theo a gun. “The society girls all die young. Let’s hope your mother is the last one, and we can save my wife and your sister before it’s too late.”
I’m looking between the two men, wondering what’s going on. What has Theo’s mother got to do with this? William appears at my side and hands me a gun. I look down at it and back up at him as if to say ‘what am I supposed to do with this?’
“Seven, Winchester Place, is just down the road. It’s where Theo and Victoria’s mother lives…lived. We’ve got to hope he sent her away rather than the alternative.” He nods at the gun in my hand. “You know how to use it?”
“Yes,” I say, stunned. The Viscount has spoken to me a few times about his wife, Lady Celia, during my time in his captivity. I know she was one of the ladies who was given to Nicholas’ father. She wasn’t chosen and was sold to the Viscount’s father. Apparently, they were instantly married that night. She never had to experience the year of being hidden away and tortured like I did. No, she was taken the first night and conceived Theo. I remember the Viscount telling me about how he planned Victoria’s birth to ensure she was one of the chosen for the next generation. She was nearly not born. The Countess had fallen pregnant with another child, originally, but an early test showed it to be a boy. She was forced to have an abortion, and then the Viscount had spent all his time ‘fucking her hard’, his words not mine, to ensure she conceived a girl. He took great delight in being rewarded with Victoria a month before the cut-off. His wife’s job done, he set her up in her own house, so he could continue with his business of being a Viscount and raising his daughter to be as virtuous as possible, ready for her debut into the society. He told me he hated his wife. She was weak and cried for her lost son all the time. She’d found out about Tamara as well and had berated him so much he’d been forced to break her jaw, so she’d shut up until it was fixed. Prior to him taking me, I don’t think he’d seen her in years. He’d told Theo and Victoria she’d met another man, and she’d limited her contact with them. This will be another story I’ll have to tell my husband—another truth I’ll have to deliver to him, which will break even more of his spirit. He looks a defeated man at the moment, standing there looking at his gun as if he’d rather point it at his own head than anyone else’s.
William breaks me out of my thoughts by handing me spare rounds and a bulletproof vest.
“What are you doing?” Theo steps forward and grabs the vest.
“Making sure she’s safe during the assault.” William looks at Theo as though it’s obvious what he’s doing. It is really, but I can see my husband has other ideas.
“She’s not coming with us. She can help look after Rose along with your nanny now she’s returned.” Theo takes the gun from me, and I stand there compliant. It’s still my nature not to argue. I think that will take a long time to recover from.
“We don’t have time for this.” Nicholas, who has finished preparing, sticks his head out the door to the office and calls for his car to be readied, “Let’s go.”
William places his hand on the document we’ve all just signed and points out the signatures. “All for one, Theo. She needs this more than we do. She needs closure. Don’t stop her from getting it.” The younger brother goes to stand with his sibling, and they both look impatiently back at us to make a decision.
“Do you want to go?” Theo asks me.
I hesitate over an answer. I want to see the Viscount die. I’d love to be the one to kill him, but what if I get in the way or get captured again? I realize I’m scared, but that’s only natural. There’s a bigger picture here than my fear: Tamara and Victoria. They need to be rescued, and my joining them may be the distraction needed.
“Yes,” I respond to Theo and hold my hand out for the weapon and vest. He sighs heavily but hands
them back to me.
“Stay close to me.”
“I will.” We follow the Cavendish brothers out of the house and into a Range Rover. Nicholas drives, and his foot is instantly put to the floor, and we speed out of his estate and onto the roads of the suburbs of London. It’s almost lunchtime now, but it seems like so much more time has passed since I woke this morning and found Viscount Hamilton in the house and Theo’s butler dead. God, I haven’t even told him about that yet. Turning, I squeeze his hand, and he looks down at me, his brows furrowed in concentration.
“Your butler is dead.”
“I know. A clean-up crew has been to the house. He was a good man. I’ll make sure he gets all the honors he deserves.”
“Good.”
We all fall silent again and contemplate the possible outcomes of the next few hours. Eventually several other vehicles join us. I don’t need to ask, but I know these are the men who work for the mysterious Matthew Carter. I hope they are as well trained as those of the Viscount. I think we’re going to need it. I try my hardest to think of the men around the Viscount. I’ve been with them, and I’ve seen them all. I could be of help here but remembering them means remembering my time with him. Sitting next to Theo, knowing we’re heading to save Tamara and Victoria from the same fate, helps me conquer my fears, though.
“I remember him normally having two other men he kept with him all the time.” William turns around from the front seat to look at me.
“Go on,” he encourages, and Theo, who’s sitting next to me, squeezes my hand.
“They aren’t all properly trained, not the men closest to him, anyway. I think they are society men.” I bite my lip. “One of them was old, very old. He has other people, ones he calls dispensable for better protection. They’ll probably be outside. I remember seeing them from my window when I was transferred to a proper bedroom.” I look to Theo. “After about nine months, he decided my training was complete, and he trusted me enough to move me out of the basement because I wasn’t a flight risk. It’s true, I wasn’t. By that point, I didn’t remember a life before being beholden to the Viscount. I do now, and I want it back.”
