This was not the time to fantasize about being naughty things with her future husband, especially not with her father sitting right across from her. Marcella had to turn her mind around, and quick.
She leaned forward to take Alexander’s right hand with her left hand. She held it tightly, and then he squeezed it back with reassurance.
Marcella decided that this was the perfect moment to apologize to her father. She wanted to have a close-knit family. Not a family that only saw one another twice a year over the holidays. She reached her right hand out towards her father’s right hand.
She held both Alexander’s right hand and her father’s right hand in her hands.
They were her past, present, and future.
Marcella looked into her father’s eyes and said, “I apologize for the cruel and unkind manner in which I have spoke to you father. You’re human after all, and who am I to judge you? I love you father, and I love you Alexander. I wouldn’t trade either of you. I know that grandfather would be proud of my decisions, as well as yours today.”
Lord Stansfield let his tears glide down his paled face. Marcella had never seen her father cry before. He then kissed her hand and said, “Marcella, I will make you proud of me again. I promise, I’ll do my best to be the father you deserve.”
As Lord Stansfield finished speaking their hackney came to an abrupt halt. They rocked back and forth, letting go of each other’s hands so that they could hold onto the sides of the vehicle for dear life. Finally, the rocking stopped, and they all took a long deep breath.
Alexander opened the door and went outside to see what had happened to the driver. Marcella had a clear view from her window. The driver had stopped the hackney behind an enormous tree on the side of the upper road. They were all completely hidden and out of sight.
Marcella craned her neck so that she could look around the massive tree, but all she could get a glimpse of was an old abandoned barn far below them.
The barn was in the middle of nowhere, there were no other houses around it, no fields to be plowed, and no animals to be taken care of.
Alexander came back to the hackney with a grin plastered upon his gorgeous face. He got into the carriage and closed the door quietly behind him. He turned around to face Marcella and Lord Stansfield.
He then said, “Good news, we are on the border of Chelmsford and Hertford. My driver saw an abandoned barn with an unmarked carriage parked right outside of it. It’s definitely Mr. Coll’s carriage, and it also happens to be tilting on its side. That storm was a godsend.”
Marcella asked, “What does this mean?”
Alexander looked said, “This means that there is a good chance that both Mr. Coll and Lydia are inside that barn right this very minute. We’ll leave the hackney here with the driver, then we three shall make our way down to that barn to rescue Lydia.”
Marcella looked back out the window, towards the barn in the distance, “How are we going to get into that barn undetected? The slightest sound could put Lydia, or even one of us, into harms way.”
Alexander nodded, “Good question my love, I propose that we sneak in there one by one. I will go first, and than you two will wait for my signal. Is that clear?”
Marcella nodded, but Lord Stansfield was somewhat confused as he asked, “What is this signal going to be?”
Alexander said “As I creep my way into the abandoned building, I’ll keep the door slightly ajar, and if I happen to see naught I will wave for you to come inside. Then we’ll go from there, are we clear?”
Before they departed the hackney, they rechecked their pistols one last time. Alexander then let Lord Stansfield exit the hackney before me, he then held back Marcella for a quick moment.
“Be very careful with that weapon. I don’t want you getting hurt in there, and yes I know that may have sounded chauvinistic, but I love you far too much to lose you. It would kill me Marcella.”
Marcella leaned forward and savored a kiss from the man of her dreams. Alexander wanted to prolong the kiss but she pulled away saying to him, “I won’t be the one getting hurt today, and that I can promise you Alexander. I love you too darling.”
With that endearment spoken, she left the safety of the hackney. Marcella then stood behind her father, who was peeping down at the barn below them. Alexander joined them and told them to follow his lead.
They slowly snaked across the open field towards the abandoned and corroding barn. Marcella wished that she could’ve changed into something far more suitable for this excursion. The field around them had not been kept. They were knee deep in wild grassland, coarse wildflowers, and prickly wild wheat. She would have to take a very long bath after this, and she would need to apply a lot of cream to her legs. Marcella was already covered in bloody scrape marks.
As they were inches away from reaching the barn door, they heard a female scream out. It was Lydia. Lord Stansfield turned red with fury, but Alexander and Marcella held him back from bursting into the barn.
In times likes these, patience was truly needed above all else. Rushing into the fire was not always the best of ideas.
Alexander kneaded the barn door open, and then craftily slipped in without a sound.
Marcella was amazed by his swiftness.
A few moments later he came back out to them and whispered, “There’s no sign of Coll inside, he might be on his way out from the back. Come in, quickly.”
A mans grunting sounded from the left side of the barn. They quickly slid into the barn, Alexander latched the door closed behind him. If Mr. Coll tried to come in from the front of the barn again, he wouldn’t be able to do so.
There were five heaps of hay in the back left corner of the barn, they rushed to hide behind them. Whimpering could be heard from the right side of the barn, so Alexander crept along the back wall towards the noise. He looked on the ground and saw a young wild haired girl lying on a bed of hay.
There was a rag tied around her mouth, and it must have caused her to look like she was in an unconscious state. Alexander inched forward to smell what was on the rag. It was strong laudanum. Mr. Coll had drugged this poor young woman to be quite.
A bruise was forming around her right eye, and there was a light cut going across her forehead. This cut would heal well, but the poor darling’s soul would need some time to convalesce after such a traumatic experience.
The things that Mr. Coll had done to this girl were unforgiveable, luckily for the girl there was no blood on her dress. Regardless, this man would reap what he sowed.
A shuffled sound came from behind Alexander. He was ready for a fight, but as he looked behind him he saw that it was Marcella sneaking towards him instead and his panic faded at a snail's pace. He was relieved that it was only her, but he was then startled by her expression.
Marcella rushed to Lydia’s side, pulling the gag out of her mouth. She then checked her sister’s pulse, and it was beating strong. She looked up at Alexander and nodded happily.
Alexander then asked her, “Where’s your father?”
Marcella pointed behind him, “He stayed in the pile of hay over there. He was too cowardly to come over here with me.”
Alexander stood up from where he was crouching down by Lydia and Marcella. He snapped his fingers, and Lord Stansfield peered out from his hiding spot. Alexander motioned harshly for him to come over to them right now.
The moment that Lord Stansfield saw Lydia unconscious on the ground floor of the barn he turned away from the sight.
At first, Alexander thought it was because Lord Stansfield was sickened by what he saw, but it was much more than that. Lord Stansfield turned slowly back around to face both of his daughters, and his face dramatically changed.
He looked vicious, and ready to kill the man who had caused his family all of this pain. The barn door began to shake violently, it wouldn’t open at first because Alexander had shut it tightly, but as they all turned to face the main barn door it burst open.
Mr. Coll had busted t
he door open with his crazily strong foot. Who would have thought that the man who could barely pick up a handkerchief from the marble floor at the Stanton’s Ball could manifest herculean strength to break down a barn door?
Perhaps the wood had been weakened over time, and that was why it had been so easily destroyed. That had to be it.
Lord Stansfield locked eyes with Mr. Coll and began to saunter towards him, without any hesitation Mr. Coll pulled out his pistol and shot at Lord Stansfield.
Marcella wanted to catch her father as he fell hard to the ground, but Alexander pulled her back from doing so, and safely hid her from Mr. Coll.
Alexander pulled out his own pistol and pointed it at Mr. Coll, as he then bellowed, “Let the lady go Mr. Coll, she has nothing to do with any of this. If it’s money that you want, then something can be arranged.”
Mr. Coll began laughing hysterically, and then screamed back at Alexander, “You think you can order me around, because you rank over me? Well, let me tell you this you spoiled pompous ass. You may have come into this world thanks to a privileged man, but you are about to go out of it by the hands of a pauper! Just like Lord Graves did. That bastard had it coming, and I’m happy that we all took him down!”
Mr. Coll raised his gun to shoot at Alexander, and Marcella went crazily mad.
She came out from behind Alexander and stood next to him as she pointed her own pistol directly at Mr. Coll.
She loudly screamed at him, “No!”
Mr. Coll looked at her and sighed, “Do you really think that you can kill me you bitch? I bet that you’ve never even held a pistol in your weak little hands before today. You know what, shoot me! I dare you, you red-haired witch from hell!”
A shot was fired, and it went right through Mr. Coll’s surging chest. Marcella looked over to Alexander in shock as Mr. Coll fell hard to the ground in agonizing pain, holding his chest, and gasping for air.
Alexander outright asked Marcella, “Did you shoot him?”
Marcella shook her head frantically, “No, I did not. Did you shoot him?”
He shook his head calmly, “No. If you didn’t shoot him, and I didn’t shoot him, then who shot him?”
They cautiously looked around the room, and to their great astonishment the daring Officer Grahams appeared from the barn’s back door with him a team of policemen standing behind him.
“I shot Coll. Come on gentlemen, get that dead tosser’s body out of here. I don’t feel like doing any paperwork for this rundown building, so pull it down men.”
The policemen listened to their head officer immediately. Half of the men went to gather Mr. Coll’s dead body, and the other half of them began pulling the barn’s lumber walls down piece by piece.
Marcella carefully placed the pistol that her father had giver her on the floor and ran over to check on him. He was grabbing at his arm as it bled through his coat.
One of the younger officer’s came over to assist her, “Lady Marcella, my name is Officer Paul. Would it be alright if I examined your father’s injury?”
“Of course Officer Paul!” Marcella said.
The young officer inspected her father’s arm, and then said, “The bullet is still in his arm, but it seems to have missed the artery. Which is good news, but we shall have to remove it and apply pressure to it right away. We’ll then take him home and call upon a doctor for further inspection.”
Officer Paul then yelled to a pair of officers and ordered them to take control of the situation. One man held Lord Stansfield down as the other one removed the shattered bullet from his arm as he squawked in pain.
Marcella looked away and then pointed to her sister and asked Officer Paul hesitantly, “Can you please help her?”
Officer Paul looked in the direction of where Marcella had pointed, and motioned for a group of officers to come to him.
“You three, come here at once! Take Lord Stansfield back to his home. Take our third carriage to drive the lord home, keep pressure on his wound, and then get the town doctor right away. Jordan you will stay with Lord Stansfield, John you will guard the home, and Louis will get the doctor. We shall join you at the Stansfield’s home shortly. Leave three of the carriages behind. One for the rest of the men, the second one for Officer Grahams and I, and the third one for Lord Westbrook and Lady Marcella. Send the four-wheeled hackney on the hill back to London and make sure to pay to pay the driver for his silence. Understood?”
They nodded in unison, “Yes Officer Paul!” Then with a great amount of strength, and caution, the policemen lifted Lord Stansfield off of the ground, out of the barn, and into their carriage.
Officer Paul followed Marcella’s to where Lydia was. He pulled out a vile from his pocket, then crouched down next to Lydia’s body, and waved the vile near her nose. Whatever in that vile was working. Lydia started coughing, and then she began to gasp for air.
Marcella knelt down and asked her sister, “Lydia? Lydia, how are you feeling?”
Lydia blinked her topaz eyes open gradually, she looked around at her current surroundings. Her eyes then focused solely on Officer Paul’s face, her complexion went very pale as she said aloud, “Oh no, have I died?”
Marcella shook her head with distress, “No sister, you are very much alive. Why would you say such a thing?”
Lydia was staring at the man hovering above her in a daze, “Is he not an angel? It almost looks like there’s a halo above his head and those eyes, they look translucent, as if he can lock away my soul.”
Officer Paul looked slightly flushed by Lydia’s words. Marcella then looked at the young Officer with a keener eye this time and she realized that he was rather attractive.
He had flowing platinum blond hair on his head, grey-blue eyes, and a scar that went from his left eye to his left ear, he was nice to look at. Marcella wondered how he had gotten his scar, but this was definitely not the time nor place to ask a true stranger about such a personal question.
Marcella decided to leave Lydia with Officer Paul, she trusted that he wouldn’t harm her sister in any way. In fact, he may be the one in need of some safety, because the way that Lydia was looking at him was beginning to raise flags for Marcella.
Leaving those thoughts aside, Marcella made her way over to Alexander, who was conversing avidly with Officer Grahams.
Officer Grahams turned to Marcella and bowed to her, “No worries milady, from what I have gathered your father will survive, as will your sister. Officer Paul is one of our best new officers. He’s young, but he will take good care of her.”
Marcella felt relieved by his reassurance, but she still had many questions for him. How did Officer Grahams know where to find them. So Marcella did what Marcella did best, give into her curiosity.
“If you don’t mind me asking Officer Grahams, how did you find us?” Marcella forthright asked the man of the law.
Grahams looked to Alexander and said, “A Russian giant came into my office very early this morning and informed me that a Mr. Benedict Coll of Ipswich had confessed to being one of Lord Graves’s murderers, and that he was ready to kill again. The man also let me know that it was Lord Westbrook here who was in need of the Metropolitan Police’s immediate help, so I swiftly gathered a team of my best men. We then went to the Pinkerton’s residence where Lady Louisa filled me quickly on what had happened. We raced up to Hertford and as we arrived at Stansfield Manor your four-wheeled hackney was racing up the road. We then saw you all sneak through the front of the barn, so we went towards the back right, and luckily avoided Mr. Coll. We heard Mr. Coll’s confession, and then we slowly surrounded the barn just in time to take him down before he killed another.”
Officer Grahams continued speaking, “There’s something else that you both need to know. Mr. Coll wasn’t acting alone. The real Mr. Benedict Coll has been dead for some twenty years now. We shall never know who this man really was. I found this out days ago, so I performed a raid on his let apartment when he went out to gamble the night away. We found a
n array of shocking things in there.”
Marcella curiously asked, “Like what?”
Officer Grahams lowered his voice and said to them, “I don’t know if I should be saying this to you two, but Mr. Coll had been corresponding with three anonymous individuals who were giving him nefarious tips. They told him how to fashion brick bombs, and that he needed to either kill or kidnap Lady Marcella Stansfield after the Stanton’s Ball. This case remains opened by the Metropolitan Police’s authority. I’m afraid to say that this is only the beginning. The real work starts now.”
Marcella looked up to Alexander with horror in her eyes. Alexander looked at her and then looked back to Grahams as he asked, “What do you suggest we do?”
Officer Grahams took out a paper from his pocket and handed it over to Lord Westbrook as he said, “I think it would be best if you hire some security for the both of your families. It would also be wise to inform your closest friends of this incident as well, for they too may be targeted for ransom or worse. I know that the Hamill’s are a wealthy ducal family with the best guards in town, but one can never be too sure these days.”
Alexander took the paper and put it into his left-breast pocket, “I’ll hire security for the rest of the Stansfield family. However, Lady Marcella and I have become engaged, so she shall have the best security in all of England. Me.”
Officer Grahams nodded, “My sincere congratulations to the both of you, I too have some news of my own. My wife has given birth to a baby girl, just as I’d hoped.”
Alexander shook his hand, “That is great news George, send my happiest of congratulations to your dear wife.”
Officer Grahams thanked him, bowed to Marcella, and then went over to help Officer Paul take Lydia over to their police carriage outside. Lydia couldn’t walk on her own quite yet, so both Officers had her put her arms around their necks as they carried her.
Marcella wanted to join her sister in the carriage, but Alexander held her back for a moment. Alexander noticed that Marcella was staring at him and waiting for him to speak, so he teased her a bit, “Marcella, you’re staring again. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that staring’s a rude habit?”
Tempted by Curiosity Page 24
