Tempted by Curiosity

by Angeleke Kaldis

  She was angry with him.

  Inside, she was a raging volcano ready to erupt and destroy absolutely everything that was around her. She had nothing to lose.

  As the carriage made it’s way out of the city, Marcella knew that she had to say something. She knew that what she was about to say would be hurtful, but the truth had to be said.

  “Father, all my life mother has made excuses for you, but enough is enough. She deserves better, in fact we all deserve better. I have finally realized who you truly are.”

  Lord Ernest looked perplexed, “Who do you think I am?”

  Marcella took a deep breath, and stared right into her fathers pale eyes. Those eyes resembled Lord Graves’s the night of his murder. They were cold and lost, and that fact alone gave Marcella the ultimate chills.

  “You’re a weak man who will never understand what it truly means to be loved, because you only love yourself. I’m so disappointed in you, as a person, and as a father. This is beyond heartbreaking.”

  Lord Stansfield was shaken by her striking words, “Marcella, please…”

  Marcella put her hand up to stop him, as her mother had done to her many times before, “Please, let us just sit in silence father. There is nothing more that you could say to me right now that could resolve any of our current problems.”

  The conversation was left at that.

  The carriage ride to Hertfordshire felt like a punishment. The only good part about any of this was that Marcella would be seeing her entire family soon, but the reasoning behind seeing them was not one that made her happy. She had wanted to save them, and make them proud, but her father had stolen that moment from her.

  As their carriage came into the Stansfield Manor’s driveway, Marcella noticed that there was an unmarked carriage parked right in front of her family home. A prickling sensation came up her spine. The carriage that she was in came to a halt, and she forced the door open with all of her mite.

  Marcella burst through the front door, she heard a crashing sound from within, and went running about with dread as she looked into each room on the ground floor. She then fell upon a room where she saw her family’s scared faces in her father’s study. They weren’t alone, Mr. Coll was with them.

  Lady Rowena was hugging her four daughters close to her in a huddle, she looked up at Marcella with large tear-filled eyes. Mr. Coll looked like hell with his hair everywhere and his shirt ripped open to reveal scars all about his neck. He had a gun pointed at the Stansfield women.

  Marcella could tell that he wasn’t in a kidding matter at all, his large angry body was heaving with rant and rave. This was the devil incarnate.

  Marcella didn’t know what he could have said or even done to frighten her mother and her sisters before she’d arrived. They all looked absolutely terrified, and she didn’t know what to do.

  So she let Mr. Coll speak first.

  He laughed as he looked at Marcella, “Well hello there cousin, you’re just in time. I was about to pick which one of my pretty little cousins I was going to kidnap for a generous ransom, or maybe even something far more devious.”

  Marcella was thoroughly disgusted by this man, she spat at him, “Ransom, for what? You won the card game Mr. Coll!”

  Mr. Coll turned red as he repositioned his gun towards her instead. Her mother and sisters were safe from his harm, for now.

  Marcella would die for them all, but she sincerely hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that. She prayed that he was a bad shot, if he shot the gun, and missed, she could do her best to tackle him to the ground.

  “Liar! I lost the game! It was that Lord Westbrook who won the game because the dealer claimed that I cheated by throwing down three Aces instead of a pair of Aces. It was all lies, lies I tell you!”

  Marcella put her hands up in a pleading manner, “Please Mr. Coll, do not be brash. I can help you. Take me instead, I shall cooperate. I promise.”

  It was in that moment that Lord Stansfield walked into the room and looked around in utter horror. He had brought this misfortune upon his own family, his own flesh and blood.

  He whimpered out his own words, “Why are you doing this Benedict? You won the card game!”

  Mr. Coll looked absolutely irritated as he barked at his so-called distant uncle, “I did not win the game you fool! You left before you could even realize that I was caught cheating! Can you believe it?”

  Marcella could believe it. A sweat began to pelt down from Mr. Coll’s temples, and veins started popping from his forehead as if they were trying to escape his head for dear life. He was a madman, a crazed individual.

  The day was only about to get worse.

  Lord Stansfield was quite befuddled, “Cheating? You didn’t win?”

  Mr. Coll huffed like the big bad wolf that he was, “No, I did not win you old buffoon! Lord Westbrook won, enough of this asinine banter! You have five daughters, and I will take one. At the moment I am enticed by one in particular, that one over there. The one who will not stop glaring at me with those absurdly large topaz eyes.”

  He pointed towards Lydia and everyone turned around to stare at her. Lydia was still glaring at Mr. Coll as if she was coming face to face with the devil himself.

  She wasn’t afraid of him, Lydia was a fighter, and she would drive him to the brink of true insanity if she had to.

  Lydia could do it, she was the strongest of them all, that’s why she said, “You win Mr. Coll, you can take me, but I hope you know that I will make your life a living hell every single moment that we’re together. Mark my words.”

  That was not only a threat, but a fact as well. People often underestimated Lydia, but she was a force to be reckoned with. Out of all the Stansfield sisters, she was the least shy and the most brave of them all.

  Nothing could ever break her.

  Lydia stood up from the floor, and began walking towards the enemy without any fear in her eyes. Mr. Coll looked taken aback at first by Lydia’s boldness, but then he coyly smiled as he grabbed Lydia by the waist tightly.

  “There we go puppet. We are going to have a good time you and I. Now listen hear, if any one of you follows us I will just kill this one, and come back to collect another one of your daughters. Maybe that darker haired one in the middle. Do I make myself clear Stansfield?”

  Mr. Coll looked directly at Lord Stansfield as he said that last part. Lord Stansfield only nodded once, thus letting Mr. Coll drag Lydia outside with him and into his unmarked carriage.

  Just like that, Lydia was gone and Mr. Coll was on his way to getting everything he’d ever wanted. This wasn’t right.

  It was too easy, and way too fast.

  Lady Rowena stood up slowly and sauntered over to her husband like a panther ready to pounce. Her face was the color of her hair, she sized him up with her delicate eyes, and before any of them could think about what could happen next, she slapped her husband right across the face without any hesitation.

  She then calmly said in a serene voice, “How could you let him take Lydia like that? Is it that simple for you? To let one of our precious daughters be taken away like a cow for the slaughter! What kind of a man are you Ernest?”

  Lady Rowena shook her head in disappointment, then walked away from him without a word, she then went right back to comfort her three youngest daughters. They were all bawling their beautiful eyes out, and Lady Rowena was doing her best to comfort them.

  Marcella looked desperately at her father, “What are we going to do? This is your chance at redemption father, you can fix all of this.”

  Lord Ernest Stansfield did his best to stand tall and strong in front of his daughters. This was his moment to do something good. He could regain his family’s love once and for all. He ran out into the hallway and called to the footman, who had been hiding behind the steps like a coward.

  “Get my pistols Jerry, and make sure that they are fully-loaded. Now!”

  The footmen ran as fast as he could to find the objects that his master so required. />
  Thuds could be heard throughout the house as the footman ran about the house.

  Marcella walked over to her sisters and crouched before them. She put on a small smile, “Do not fret darlings, everything will be alright.”

  Flora looked traumatized, her green eyes aching with a wanting of succor. The little girl threw herself towards her elder sister. Marcella hugged little Flora back, tears forming in both of their indistinguishable emerald green eyes.

  “Marcella, where is the bad man taking Lydia?” Flora asked.

  Marcella heaved a long sigh hoping that the right words would come to her in that pause of a moment.

  She didn’t want to lie to any of them, so she told them what she believed, “We do not know where he is taking Lydia, but we will stop the bad man. I will not break this promise to you, and you know how I feel about promises. Remember?”

  Flora nodded as Marcella kissed her little sister’s bright pink cheeks and put her forehead to hers.

  They needed a miracle…

  “I remembered Marcella, I haven’t broken any of my promises to you.”

  A deep male voice sounded from the threshold of her father’s parlor.

  Marcella turned around and looked up from the floor to see her saving grace in the room. Lord Alexander Westbrook looked like an angel that had descended from the heavens to help this lost flock of sheep.

  He was here, in her childhood home.

  She had wished for this day, the day where he would come to her home, and they would explore the grounds together. They could walk along the thistle fields, hand in hand, but at the moment he was not here for any sort of those pleasantries. He was here for something else altogether.

  He looked outright exhausted, but clearly he was on a mission. His eyes gleamed as her eyes met his. That connection, as simple as it was, went far beyond physical, it was soulful and spiritual. He took a step into the parlor, keeping his sight straight on her.

  Alexander had gone to the Pinkerton’s home in Kensington to find her after he left Circe’s Palace. He was hoping to find her there and tell her about the great news, but when he arrived there he was met with an eccentric Louisa who was frantically spouting information at him.

  Louisa had told him that Lord Stansfield was going mad because he lost everything and that he took Marcella with force into the carriage and back up to Hertfordshire before daybreak.

  Thank goodness Louisa knew how to comprehend proper sentences even when stressed or else Alexander would have never made it to Stansfield Manor minutes after he saw Mr. Coll’s unmarked carriage racing up the road.

  He would tell Marcella about Louisa’s help later, but for right now there were far more important things at stake. Like Lydia’s life, and the Stansfield family’s reputation.

  “I won the game at Circe’s Palace, but your father didn’t have the patience to stay in the room for the final reveal. I won back everything for your family, I promised you that I would, and I did.”

  Marcella stood up and ran over to him with opened arms. Alexander welcomed her embrace, her arms went right around his waist and she squeezed him as hard as she could. She never wanted to let him go. He’d just saved her family from financial ruin.

  Tears began to spill from her eyes as she whispered against his chest and towards his heart, “Thank you my love, for everything.”

  He hugged her back, and then looked to Lord Stansfield who was absolutely bewildered by the whole situation. It was safe to say that this man was having the worst day of his life.

  “Lord Stansfield you may have lost the game at Circe’s Palace, but Mr. Coll was disqualified because the dealer caught him with three Aces instead of a pair, which resulted in my win over the both of you.”

  Lord Stansfield looked at the man in front of him as if he were his own son, “Thank you Lord Westbrook, I should’ve waited. Nonetheless, we are in even bigger trouble now than before my boy.”

  Alexander looked around the room, he knew that there were five Stansfield daughters, and yet he had only counted four of them, including Marcella, when he’d walked into the parlor room.

  He knew which one was missing, and Alexander surveyed the room once more before asking, “Where is Lydia?”

  The Stansfield’s looked shocked by his words, but little Flora rushed up to him and grabbed his coattail as she spoke, “Please sir, you have to help us. The bad man took her, but you’ll help, won’t you?”

  The little girl standing before him was like a little sprite. This was obviously the youngest Stansfield daughter, Flora.

  He recalled that she shared similar features with Marcella. The plea in the little girl’s voice caught at something inside of him. Perhaps, it was his heartstrings.

  Since Marcella came into his life, he could feel his heart beating at a whole new pace. For the very first time since his childhood, he could sense happier times were once again coming into his life.

  Taking walks in the countryside with his mother and playing games in the backyard with his father were the moments that he cherished the most. He knew that the hardships that his parents had faced in the past were the reasons why he had feared living in the present.

  Alexander looked down at the little girls face, tears began to form in her big round eyes, and he could feel his heart being tugged on like a puppeteer maneuvering strings to get his puppet to move around a small wooden stage. He felt useful here, and for once in his life he felt needed.

  So Alexander looked deep into those grassy-green eyes and promised, “I will do anything, and everything, in my power to bring back your sister. I promise you this, and I am a man of my word. I never, ever, break my promises. If you don’t believe me, ask Marcella.”

  For the first time that day, Flora cracked a genuine smile as she looked up at him with hope. Marcella maneuvered herself so that she could put a gentle hand around his arm, she then whispered in his ear, “I think she likes you.”

  Alexander turned from the smaller green eyes below him to the larger ones right next to him, and smiled, “You really think so?”

  Marcella nodded, but behind her eyes there was worry. He had to act quickly, before something horrible did happen to one of his future sister-in-law’s. There was still a chance to save Lydia, and her reputation. There was a chance to save the entire Stansfield family name from ultimate ruin, and from an unrecoverable scandal.

  A footman came into the room with two pistols, one in each hand, facing down. Lord Stansfield took both pistols and checked to see if they were in fact both loaded properly. Lord Stansfield offered his second pistol to Alexander who shook his head as he patted his coat, “Thank you sir, but I already have my own.”

  The older gentleman nodded, and turned to Marcella then offering her one of the pistols. She took the weapon without any hesitation. Did she even know how to use it? There wasn’t time to learn, but Lord Stansfield decided to brief her quickly on what to do if she had a clear shot to shoot.

  Alexander took this time to rush outside towards his hackney to inform his driver of his time-pressing plan. Lord Stansfield and Marcella were right behind him as he opened the hackney door,

  With pistols in hand, they all climbed into the hackney and they jilted a bit inside as the driver drove off right as soon as the door had closed behind Alexander.

  Marcella realized that Alexander must have explained the dire situation quite well because they had already wasted enough time talking, and they could not spare to lose anymore.

  Since Mr. Coll lived in Ipswich, they would have to drive through Essex to get there. The road was clear, but as they traveled the weather took a turn for the worse. The rain poured hard and they just hoped that the hackney wouldn’t turn over or break a wheel. Marcella looked over to her father who was staring out the window at the rain, his deep breaths were fogging up the window.

  Her father must have sensed that she was looking at him because he turned to look right at her, “Marcella, I know that we may not be on the best of terms at the mo
ment, but you are my first born. I do love you, and I am capable of love. If we don’t rescue Lydia, and Mr. Coll hurts her, I’ll never forgive myself. I could never face your mother, or your sisters again for that matter, if anything bad happens.”

  Marcella didn’t want to shed tears in front of Alexander or her father.

  She had to keep a clean mindset, “Father, this is a private matter. I do not think that Lord Westbrook wants to hear about any of this.”

  Alexander’s eyebrows shot up as he looked up at Marcella, who was sitting across from him. When they sat in the hackney the men had decided to occupy one bench together, with Marcella occupying the lone bench across from them.

  Lord Stansfield looked at Alexander and said, “I disagree with Marcella, if you are to be her husband, and my future son-in-law, then you truly deserve to hear about our private matters. You will become a part of our family, and a true family needs to be united. Especially, in times like these.”

  Marcella looked to Alexander who had become quite flushed at her father’s words. She out of all people knew how important having a family was to Alexander, and what her father had just said to him must have truly connected with his inner feelings.

  In that moment, Marcella understood that Alexander had told her father about their engagement.

  Alexander looked back to Marcella and frowned as he caught her stunned gaze, “I know that you wanted to tell your family about our engagement first Marcella, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I truly appreciate the sentiment Lord Stansfield, and I want you both to know that we will win against this evil. I know it in my heart, and I will not fail my new family.”

  Marcella understood Alexander very well, and if her father hadn’t been sitting right across from her in the carriage she would’ve easily thrown herself at Alexander with hugs and kisses.

  Marcella wondered to herself, could love be made in a moving carriage? She shook her head, where had her thoughts gone?