At the least, he needed to write the woman to say his original request was unnecessary and he was sorry to waste her time.
Grabbing the brass penknife from the desk, he slid it in and cut the envelope open. The letter itself was on thin paper that crinkled when he opened it. He read the short missive which said she was happy to answer any questions he had about that 'bounder' if he called. Interesting that she referred to him as a bounder.
It went on to say Castle Garrick was an interesting character and that he should take care if he has any dealings with the man.
Caius had to admit he found the letter intriguing. Again, it wasn't necessary to follow up on this anymore, but this woman's scathing view on William Castle Garrick was curious. The man had been his friend for quite some time, until the awkwardness of it all had ruined the friendship.
Still, this woman had a poor opinion of the man, and there was a good chance it had nothing to do with his activities in England.
Perhaps he should go and see her. It would be prudent in case something should arise that would call this man's reputation into question. Not that it could have much of an impact if Eliza was pleading guilty. And it would be rude to not see the lady who’d so kindly availed her time. He would go in the morning, he decided.
So that left this evening to deal with, and he was in too foul a mood to enjoy himself, so a social engagement was out of the question—more so as he hadn't responded to any. And a night out in some gaming hell would probably lead to a drunken fight the mood he was in. No, he didn’t want to deal with people. Neither did he want to sit there and muse on the things Eliza would find attractive about that ridiculous man.
Surprisingly, there was little to do in London when in a foul mood. So he moved to the fire and sat there with a glass of whiskey that he wasn't particularly enjoying, to wile away some hours before he could go to bed.
*
The weather held nicely the next day, so he rode to Mrs. Moore's house in Highgate. In no particular hurry, perhaps because now that he was about to hear about William Castle Garrick's high jinx, he wasn't all that enthusiastic about it. Perhaps because it would bring back feelings and emotions from the past, and he wasn't particularly keen on suffering from either feelings or emotions. Concepts that had never served him well.
Highgate was a lovely town. Slow and sedate, filled with cottages and flowers. Most importantly, it lacked the chaos of London's streets.
With the help of a messenger boy, he found Mrs. Moore's house without much trouble and a nearby stable boy offered to care for his horse.
Mrs. Moore seemed like a lovely lady, although her house smelled like boiled cabbage. It wasn't large, but comfortable for an elderly woman.
She smiled as he sat down. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance. It is always fun when visitors come, particularly ones I haven't met before."
Her blue eyes were surveying him intently, and Caius knew this was a woman who paid attention. "Well, it was a lovely ride over."
"Autumn is a lovely season. One does miss it when having to live without it. The tropics are very one-directional in terms of the weather. It rains or it doesn't. Much more nuanced here, rains, showers, drizzle. They’re all very distinct."
"Yes, I suppose you’re right," Caius said, making himself comfortable in his seat and hoping this wasn't going to be the kind of visit where this woman divulged the entire contents of her head.
"Now, William Castle Garrick. Friend of yours, is he?"
"Well. I thought so. We were at Oxford together."
"Oh, I see. So he didn’t lie about that."
Caius' head twisted to the side with the statement. Clearly this woman thought him a liar. "There was an incident and we parted company."
"I am sorry to hear that, but I cannot say I’m surprised. If you don't mind me asking, I am curious to know the nature of the incident."
"It relates to my wife."
"Ah," the woman said. "In truth, I think the man is a misogynist."
Caius' eyebrows rose. The man must have changed, because from what Caius had seen of William, he charmed women inordinately.
"Was there an accusation?" she asked intently and her eyebrows now drew together. Caius stilled, feeling concerned where this was going. Had the man been bragging about his conquests?
"Yes."
She chuckled. "It seems to be what he does."
"I don't understand."
"Well, in Jamaica, he accused one of the daughters of the Governor of impropriety, but he was careless and was found out."
"Careless how? What do you mean?" Caius said a little more forcefully.
"It seemed he didn't put much planning into his campaign to destroy this girl's character and he chose a night of this supposed impropriety where she was attended by no less than her parents, the doctor and the village priest. It couldn’t have happened as he’d claimed at all. With such a grave mistake, he had to flee quick-smart, or the Governor himself would have had the man up on charges. So if you were hoping to find him, I can tell you that he will not be coming back to Jamaica anytime soon."
"I don't understand," Caius repeated, even as that wasn't true. The implications of what the man had done were sinking in, and it was the most awful feeling Caius could imagine. About as awful as being told his lovely wife had been deceptive. "Why would he do such a thing?"
"It turns out he seeks to destroy women, particularly those who spurn him."
The room was unbearably hot for a moment.
"As I said, quite the misogynist. So I’m not surprised to learn he has made such accusations before. If one were to look, I am sure he’s done so more than once. I’m sure a man like that cares nothing about the consequences of his accusations, he seeks the consequences."
"Why would a man do that?"
"Why would a man destroy a woman?" she asked as if it was a stupid question. "Because he hates women."
"No, I knew the fellow. He wasn’t like that."
She was silent for a moment as if considering. "Perhaps he wasn't. Or perhaps he didn't divulge his hatred. Men can show very different sides of themselves to women, sides they hide otherwise."
Furtively, Caius tried to think back to their time at Oxford. Yes, there had always been lewd jokes, and William had always been the one that hassled the barmaids. There had been dismissal there, but to Caius’ shame, he admitted it wasn't all that unusual, so they had never paid it much attention. Young men were dismissive of girls, but it didn't mean they would purposefully destroy a marriage.
Because it had destroyed his life as well. "No, I cannot account for it," Caius admitted. "Why would a friend do that?"
"It is hard to account for how such a man's mind works. I suppose his opinion of women is so poor, he didn't perceive the loss of a marriage. Or his hatred of being spurned is so strong, he doesn't care as long as he harms the one spurning him. Not all think through the consequences of what they do."
That was true. In the military, those men could be incredibly destructive and had to be placed where they could do little harm.
Was it true that he was actually the victim of such a man? That his marriage was felled by a hateful act?
Looking back at his memories now, there was consistency in the dismissal William Castle Garrick showed towards women, lewd talk and small acts of viciousness. His mind ran over the things he remembered, and had dismissed as drunken loutishness. But viewed as a whole, there was consistency there.
Heat pumped through his body and he really wanted to hit something, in particularly the bounder who was the cause of all this. His marriage was destroyed by this man's accusations, and he hadn’t cared if the accusations were true or not. In fact, it could be that this man's accusations only came when they weren't true. Rejection drove them.
The need to move coursed through his body, but he was currently sitting in an elderly woman's parlor and had to restrain himself.
"This is…" he started. "Thank you for your time. I appreciate it." When no
thing else worked, falling back on ingrained politeness was the best course of action. "I must go," he said, rising sharply.
"I am sorry to hear that you may have been a victim of this man," she said, but Caius was only half listening. Anger pierced him and he needed to get out of there.
"My best regards for your future and happiness." He was babbling what sounded like an adequate goodbye and found his way out of the house into fresh air. With firm strides, he walked past the confused stable boy and down the street, having no idea where he was going.
His marriage ended due to a false accusation. That bastard had come in and destroyed everything and then left a mess behind him. Years of misery. Years spent in the Far East to get away from the mess.
If William were to appear right then, Caius would probably run him through with a sword, except he didn’t have a sword. Probably he would settle for beating the man to death. And he wasn't a man to lose his temper, but right now… This was too much to dismiss.
Chapter 19:
CAIUS ARRIVED AT Denham Hall after dark. It had been a couple of days of riding, and he hadn't intended on riding all the way there, but after his meeting with Mrs. Moore and the shocking revelations uncovered, he'd needed time to think.
A complete hash. That was the only conclusion for it, and as he was riding, there hadn’t been the time to think like he’d wanted, but distraction, because this wasn't something he could defeat with logic. A despicable lie had messed up his entire life and now he had to sit with the fact that Eliza might be innocent of the charges laid against her. In all likelihood she was innocent.
Being on horseback, no one saw him coming, so he had to knock on the door to be let in. It was his sister that answered, looking searchingly out into the darkness. "Caius? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"
"Yes, fine," he lied. Well, no one was dead, which was what she was really asking. But, no, everything was not fine.
"We weren't expecting you. Did you send a letter? It must have gone astray."
"It’s more of an impulsive visit."
"Come in. Father's in the parlor. As is Julius. They'll be pleased to see you. We're discussing the plans for the harvest celebrations."
Rural things like harvest celebrations weren’t on his mind much these days. "Right," he said as he followed his sister into the warm parlor. So many evenings he’d sat there as a young man. A few of those with Eliza as his bride. Renewed unease swept through him, as it had periodically since he left Mrs. Moore's house.
"Caius," his father said. "This is a surprise. Have you been to Bickerley yet?"
"Yes, I have gone," he said as he sat down and nodded yes when Mr. Phillips enquired if he wanted a glass of whiskey. It was too late to join them for supper. And the way his stomach felt, he wasn't sure he could manage a meal. "Everything is fine there. The staff are competent and it is well managed."
"That's lucky," Octavia said. "It would be horrible to have to come in and dismiss people from their positions."
"Well, it seems the only one truly incompetent is me," Caius admitted. The time had passed when he feared admitting shortcomings to his father. A feeble person hid things and this was a big thing—too big to hide.
"And with which skill do you rate yourself incompetent?" Julius asked, echoing the competitiveness from their past.
"Marriage, it seems."
"Yes well, you chose very poorly," his father said.
"As it happens, perhaps I didn't. Recent revelations suggest that Eliza may indeed have been… innocent."
"Well, she would say that," Octavia said dismissively.
"Oddly, she hasn't, but I have it from good authority that William Castle Garrick has a habit of falsely accusing women of adultery."
"No, why would he do such a thing?" Octavia said, now concerned. "That's preposterous. You have no cause to doubt yourself."
"It seems he has been caught doing it to a rather prominent daughter in the West Indies, and was driven from the area as a liar and a bounder."
Silence descended on the room.
"Are you sure?" Julius asked, his eyebrows drawn tight.
"How am I to know? I wasn’t there in the room, but there is firm evidence that he has a tendency to lie about such things."
"Well, what does Eliza say?"
"We have not discussed it, but she has said she will plead guilty to adultery at the trial."
"There you go then. Straight from the horse's mouth. She accepts her guilt."
It was a guilty plea she exchanged for her business, an act of someone who was cutting their losses. If he was in her position, he would probably do exactly the same. "At the time, she always professed her innocence, didn't she?"
"It was so long ago, we cannot recall exactly what she said," Julius pointed out.
The truth was that he hadn't listened to her at the time as he had taken the accusation as fact. Nothing she’d said had made a bit of difference. He'd dismissed everything coming out of her mouth. But he did recall there had been a moment where she’d stopped talking. At the time he'd taken it as relief that she had finally acknowledged that she couldn't talk her way out of it. But in fact, perhaps she had simply given up.
Internally he winced. "A gargantuan cockup," he finally said.
No one said anything further.
"If that is the case," his father finally said, "and she is pleading guilty, it sounds as if the lady wants to be shot of you."
"You did abandon her for six years," Octavia said, remarkably quick at shifting the blame where a moment before, she’d been so assured in Eliza's guilt, she’d even defended William Castle Garrick against the accusations laid against him.
"I supported her," Caius stated. "She had a stipend throughout the time I was gone."
"She may have made plans in your absence. For all we know, she has an entirely different life now."
The annoying Lord Fortescue came to mind. Clearly a man who had bad intentions. Eliza should know better than to have men call at her house. Then again, she would be an unmarried woman sometime in the near future. And men were obviously sniffing around her.
This time, his groan wasn't entirely internal. Eliza had a business, and a life that did not include him. A life that actively sought his absence, it would seem. Her willingness to plead guilty only proved that she wished to cut herself from this marriage as quickly and painlessly as she could.
His mind hurt from thinking about it all. There had been too much thinking since the moment he'd left Mrs. Moore. Never had a visit to a kindly old gossip left him so disturbed and undone. "I think I will retire. I am exhausted," he admitted. Both physically and spiritually, he was exhausted.
Leaving his family behind, he took his glass of whiskey with him, back to the room he’d shared with her throughout their short marriage. All signs of her had been removed. Something he'd dictated after he'd put her in a carriage and had sent her packing.
And all along, she’d been innocent of the accusations against her. It had ended her marriage and had left her without a home. Another thing he’d been too angry to consider at the time. He'd felt it had served her right.
Truthfully, he would quite happily strangle William Castle Garrick right now if he could get his hands around the man's neck. Just the degree of heartache and misery the man had caused. It was still unfathomable that someone would do that. And to a friend. It was simply inconceivable.
If he'd owed an apology to Eliza for yelling at her in the street for baseless and irrational conclusions, how could he possibly apologize for this?
His father's suggestion to simply ignore this truth he’d learned and continue on this course had some practical merits. It could well be the best for everyone involved. Eliza had a life that did not include him, and it seemed a suitor—provided his intentions were honorable. Surely she had to know how some men would see her now. Her vulnerable state would attract a less than honorable lot, seeking to capitalize on her desperation.
But it wasn’t desperat
ion he’d perceived from her. Exasperation perhaps. No, Eliza was made of sterner things. When her life had been ruined, she’d built a business to support herself, and to find meaning in her life. She’d gone on without him, and had done so successfully. Unlikely would she fall for some bounder seeking to use her—especially as she’d already been the victim of a true bounder.
Hopefully she would show some care in her assessment of this Lord Fortescue as well. And for all intents and purposes, it wasn't any of his business who she associated with. Or it wouldn't be very soon.
Lying down on the bed, he groaned and blocked the light from his eyes with the back of his hand. Yes, this was a monumental cockup, probably the biggest in his life. And while it might be better for all to pretend he hadn't learnt what he'd been told by Mrs. Moore. The truth was that he had, and he wasn’t a man who hid from the truth, no matter how inconvenient—or how much he wanted to. It was simply not the man he was, and a principle he would not compromise.
Chapter 20:
IT WAS NICE TO BE back at work. Eliza felt good, strong compared to what she had been, but she’d had enough time sitting in her parlor being bored. Although the visits from Lord Fortescue had been much appreciated. And there was an excitement about him that she carried with her—even as she knew she shouldn't place any hopes there. She just couldn't help it.
The very idea of having a beau was exciting, particularly after six long years when she wouldn't even look at a man. But now, the end of her marriage was in sight, as was any obligation she had to her vows.
And the best thing was that Fontescue knew that about her past and wasn't scared away. That said something very important about the man, didn't it?
But it was time for some food and she tended to go across the road to the bakery at midday. They had lovely cheese rolls and occasionally she’d indulge in something sweet. Right now, she was perfectly happy to feel well in her body again. Perhaps even well in her life and prospects—once the divorce was over. As Fortescue said, this storm would pass and there often was calm, pleasant weather after a storm.
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