A Bride for the Prizefighter: A Victorian Romance

by Alice Coldbreath

  “Please tell him his sister is in dire need of his support and his legal counsel.”

  “His sister?” Miss Tavistock quavered, looking from Mina to the outraged Riding Officer. “Of course, my dear,” she faltered. “But I could not in all conscience leave you alone with these two …” Words failed her. “Gentlemen,” she finished with barbed disapproval.

  “I assure you, not another word will pass my lips until you return to me, my good ma’am.”

  A martial light entered Miss Tavistock’s faded blue eyes. “You can count on me, my lady!” she said, whisking past the two officers and leaving the salon in a whirl of sensible skirts.

  “I apologize if we seem unduly hasty in our questioning,” Guthrie started appealingly. “But you see—”

  Mina turned her pale face away from them and stared sightlessly through the window at the dark night. Nye had been taking to St Ives. They had taken him at gunpoint. She had not even had the chance to assure him she was still in one piece. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over her cheeks and Officer Guthrie bit off his words in dismay.

  “Mrs. Nye—!” Officer Havilland started hotly, but rheumy old gentleman stumped into the room at that point in brocade dressing gown.

  “M’sister sent me,” he said awkwardly. “Now what’s this to-do?” He caught sight of Mina and gave an outraged yell. “Nellie said you was brow-beatin’ her and I thought she must be exaggeratin’! Now, m’dear, there, there,” he said scuttling into the room, stabbing the carpet with his walking stick. “Doc Hadley said you wasn’t to be harried!” He flung a look of acute dislike at the Riding Officers. “Pulling about me cellars and now distressin’ of this lady! Demned outrage I call it!”

  “I didn’t even get to see him!” Mina sobbed as he extracted a handkerchief from one of his pockets.

  “Now, don’t go upsettin’ yourself, my dear.” He turned back to the officers. “Pass me that glass!” he barked. “Can’t you fellows do something useful for once? Cursed nuisances!”

  Mina took the handkerchief with thanks and gave way to an excess of emotion. She had been knocked unconscious, threatened, prodded, poked and manhandled. She had been in fear of her life for hours and had also been tied so barbarously her wrists were cut and gagged with a rag she could only hope had been half-way clean.

  “There’s a poorly dear,” Mr. Tavistock murmured. “You cry it out. Good for you.”

  Mina who had always despised herself for showing any weakness found this was all the encouragement she needed. She gave vent to her utter misery and despair for a good couple of minutes. During this time Miss Tavistock re-entered the room and joined the battle. Her sweet, kind face had transformed into that of a raging virago and she had swept the room of officers and banged the door in their faces, informing them she had re-sent for Doctor Hadley who would likely bring an action against them.

  Mina allowed the Tavistocks’ kindness to wash over her as she drank a glass of water and took a slice of bread and butter. Miss Tavistock bathed her wrists and dressed them as well in bandages and by the time a tea tray had been brought in for her, they heard horses in the drive outside and a little maid ushered in a concerned-looking Jeremy in a many caped driving cape.

  Jeremy took one look at Mina’s swollen face and bandages and hurried to kneel at her side. “But what is this, my dear Mina?” he asked in a voice of such concern that she went off again in a storm of tears. “This is not like you,” he said, a good deal shaken, clasping one of her hands. “What has occurred?”

  “They’ve taken Nye away!” she managed to wail between sobs. “And put him in prison!”

  “Some nasty smugglers abducted poor Mrs. Nye this morning and put her in a concealed passageway beneath our cellars, my lord,” Nellie Tavistock hastened to inform him. “Her good husband, Mr. Nye as is our landlord now, he bought them Riding Officers here and bade us cooperate fully. And now she’s been restored, what do you suppose those villains have done, but taken Mr. Nye up in chains!”

  “Concealed passageway? Good God,” echoed Jeremy. He hesitated. “And the smugglers?”

  “Reuben’s dead,” Mina sniffed. “At least he looked dead. And Gus Hopkirk was shot, but only in the shoulder.”

  “Hopkirk, you say? Good Lord! He wasn’t a smuggler, was he?”

  Mina nodded, her eyes filling with fresh tears. She turned to the Tavistocks again. “But where is Edward Herney, our tapster?”

  “God bless you, miss, he’s sat in our kitchen getting the grilling of his life. They’re a-trying to pin the charge of smuggling on him too!” Miss Tavistock said with kindling anger. “And anyone with eyes in their heads can see he’s a good Christian lad with never a stain on his conscience!”

  “Herney is no smuggler!” Jeremy said in shocked accents. “He was my second footman until last week!”

  “Runnin’ amok, that’s what they’re doin’,” broke in Mr. Tavistock wrathfully. “Marching ‘round me house and tryin’ to clap everyone in irons! Why they’ll be after us next my dear,” he said turning to his sister. “Saying we were aiding and abetting criminals in our cellars!”

  “I’d like to see them try, Amos!” his sister said indignantly.

  “Jeremy.” Mina leant forward impulsively and took his hand in a firm grip. “You must help me.”

  He glanced down at her bandaged wrist. “Of course, sister,” he said comfortingly. “You must not excite yourself, for you’ve clearly had an uncomfortable time of it. “

  “Uncomfortable?” burst forth Miss Tavistock. “Someone beat her about the head so hard, it’s a mercy her skull wasn’t cracked!”

  Jeremy straightened, a martial light gleaming in his blue eyes. He shrugged his cape onto the floor and flicked an invisible piece of lint from an impeccably cut sleeve. “I believe I will now see who’s in authority here,” he drawled, every inch the fifth viscount and Mina relaxed limply back onto the sofa.

  *

  Mina was taken up to bed shortly after by Miss Tavistock herself and shown into a handsome guest bedroom. She was swathed in one of that good lady’s tent-like nightgowns and a stone hot water bottle placed at her feet. Her head ached and her eyes were heavy from something a grim-faced Doctor Hadley added to a glass of water. He gave several sharp exhortations that his patient was not to be bothered for a good twenty-four hours and left after promising to visit with her on the morrow.

  Jeremy looked in before he left, but Mina could not properly focus on what he was saying, save that he promised he would return first thing in the morning. Mina’s eyelids drooped down, and she gave way to a deep, dreamless sleep.

  When next she woke, sun was streaming through the window and she stared at the ceiling for a good few moments before recalling her precise whereabouts. Indeed, when first she had woken, she had thought herself a schoolteacher still, in Bath.

  Sitting up, Mina was surprised to see an assortment of her own items laid out on the chair by her bedside. One of her black dresses and some clean underclothing and her own bottle of lotion. Someone had been to The Harlot to fetch her things, she realized, flinging the bedclothes aside and sliding gingerly from the bed. She felt bruised and a little shaken, but her head no longer pained her except when she touched a hand to the bandage. Doubtless she had a bump there, but it could have been a good deal worse, she reflected as she padded over to the porcelain washstand where a jug of tepid water stood waiting for her. It was still warm enough for her to wash, so she set about her ablutions hurriedly and did her best with her the hairbrush around her bandaged head.

  She was dragging her black dress over her head when a knock on the door heralded the arrival of the maid Annie who was a good deal dismayed to see that Mrs. Nye had already mostly dressed herself. She helped with the buttons and hooks and laces until Mina was presentable and then ushered her downstairs to a small parlor room where she was brought tea and toast.

  Jeremy joined her as she was midway through her second cup and shut the door quietly behind himself, raising h
is finger to his lips. “The officers have been told you are under strict doctor’s orders to see no-one,” he said in a low murmur, joining her at the table. “We can count on the Tavistocks to help us avoid them.”

  “Have you been to The Harlot this morning?” she asked.

  “I have. Edna packed your things. I trust you had everything you needed.”

  She nodded. “How were they?”

  “Subdued,” he said. “They send their love. Edna’s eyes were very red, and she seems to be throwing herself into her work to occupy her mind.”

  “She always throws herself into her work,” Mina said with a small smile.

  “She says Corin is a tower of strength in her time of need.”

  Mina was a little startled by this. She thought of timid little Corin and marveled that Edna should describe her so. “Well, I’m glad of that in all events. Was Herney allowed to return there last night? Without him, there is no man present to—”

  “Do not fret,” Jeremy gave a wry smile. “He was permitted to return in the small hours of this morning. Even Officer Havilland was forced to admit he could not bring any charges against so blameless a character. I have sent Colfax along to help at the inn. He can turn his hand to most things.”

  Mina thanked him and pushed her toast away half-eaten. “Now we have skirted the subject long enough,” she said, taking a deep breath. “How stand things with Nye?”

  Jeremy was silent a moment before subjecting her to a hard look. “Tell me, sister, just how attached are you to things as they stand?”

  Mina’s heart thudded almost painfully. “What do you mean?”

  “Mina,” he reached across and took her hand. “When I married you to Nye, I did so in the throes of a - “he cast about for words. “Distempered freak.” His lips twisted. “I had been on a weeklong binge at that point and was never more than halfway sober for the duration. I was feeling bitter and disillusioned about my own personal circumstances, and you were forced to suffer for my poor judgement. I can make no defense for the role I played in—”

  She stiffened. “What are you saying, Jeremy? This is all water under the bridge now and hardly helpful! “

  “In marrying you to a man of poor moral character,” he continued as if she had not spoken.

  Mina wrenched her fingers from his. “You dare to speak to me of moral character?” she asked in a shaken voice. “Yes, I could tell you were half-cut the entire journey from Bath. Let me tell you I felt far more endangered in your company than I ever did in William Nye’s.”

  He flushed. “Mina please.” He waved his hand helplessly. “I regret my role in what has happened, most heartily. If you will only allow me to make some reparation.” He broke off, taking a deep breath. “Amanda and I are separating. Our marriage has brought us nothing but misery.”

  “And Teddy,” Mina pointed out through gritted teeth.

  “One good thing,” he acknowledged. “She talks of moving to the continent almost immediately.” He leveled a look at her. “How should you like to be mistress of Vance Park? You could take up the reins as my sister. Help me raise Teddy right.” Mina shook her head. “I’m persuaded your parents would have approved of such an outcome,” he urged.

  “But I would not, my lord. I am married to William Nye and I do not hanker for any other role,” she assured him vehemently.

  “Even our mother was divorced, Mina,” he pointed out seriously. “If she could muster the bravery to take such a step, then I am sure that you could. “

  “Divorced?” Mina burst forth. “Good God, sir! It is you who needs to procure a divorce, not I!” She gazed at him with exasperation. “Really Jeremy! You will allow that brazen wife of yours to skip off to the continent without legally severing your ties?”

  He looked suddenly tired. “Mina—”

  “No Jeremy! It is not solely I who needs to face up to harsh truths. I know that I am married to a smuggler,” she said in an urgent undertone. “But you are a fool if you let that woman flounce off to Europe with a claim still on your name and title. What if she shows up years from now, quite dissipated, steeped in infamy, demanding you give her the dower house for her old age? Only think of the vicious company she could expose Teddy to! The rumors and conjecture, the demands on your purse! Even if you never see her again, no respectable woman will ever ally herself with you when there is no possibility of marriage. Do you really mean to deprive Teddy of a decent female influence in his life?”

  “He has you for that,” he said mutinously. “I am done with women.”

  She gave a short laugh. “A pretty face like yours won’t repine for long. I daresay our mother thought she would never re-marry, but it must have been mere months before she took the plunge again!”

  It took a moment, but she saw the glimmer spark in his eye. “Think me pretty, do you?”

  “You’re vastly pretty,” she said briskly. “Just like she was.”

  “And Nye’s an ugly customer like m’father.” He sighed. “But you’re devoted to him, aren’t you?” Mina nodded, unable to speak the words. “Lord, what a mess I’ve made of everything!” Jeremy groaned.

  “Don’t you dare think of sinking into despair, or another bottle!” Mina upbraided him. “If you truly want to make amends, then help me now, my lord.”

  He nodded. “If that’s truly what you want, then gladly.”

  Mina huffed out a sigh of relief. “In that case, I need you to bring your carriage around for I need an escort to Upton Gadsby.”

  “Upton Gadsby?” Jeremy echoed, clearly mystified. “Why, what’s there?”

  “Sir Matthew Carswell, Justice of the Peace,” she replied promptly.

  23

  On the ride over there, Jeremy explained that it had been Edna who had raised the alarm. Happening to glance out of the bathroom window, quite by chance she had seen Mina struck down and bundled into the cart. By the time she had run downstairs and into the yard, the card had already trundled away. She had thought it was a local man, Tom Rowley at the reins, but as she had only caught sight of his back, she could not be certain of that fact.

  By the time Nye had been summoned from the cellars and the story told to him and the bloodied rock discovered in the yard, so much time had lapsed that there was no sign of the cart and a frantic search had found no Reuben either. Nye had saddled one of the horses and ridden first in one direction and then the next, for Edna had not waited to see which way the cart had gone.

  A grim-faced Nye had returned an hour later empty-handed and announced his intention of riding to St Ives to enlist the Riding Officers aid in recovering Mina. Everyone had been a good deal shocked, for such a step meant exposing his own involvement in the smuggling business, but Nye had remained unswayed in his determination to set forth immediately.

  At this point in the retelling, Mina wondered if Nye had known how close to death she had come. Had he had an inkling of just how ruthless Gus Hopkirk could be? She wondered if Nye too believed that Gus was the true brains behind proceedings. He could surely have not realized how deeply Reuben resented her or he would not have kept him on at the inn.

  “So, Nye confessed to knowledge of the secret passage beneath Vance House?” Mina said aloud.

  “As to that.” Jeremy shrugged. “He had only very recently taken ownership of the place. I suppose my father must have told him it existed, for I did not know.” He hesitated. “What if I said that I had been the one to tell Nye of it, on handing over the deeds?” He darted a glance at Mina. “I could say I was concerned that the passage had been disturbed of late and had asked Nye to check this. What do you think?”

  Mina nodded. “That might be a good thought,” she agreed. “Nye is far from talkative. I should think it unlikely that he told the Riding Officers much information other than that he believed I was being held a prisoner down there.”

  “If he could have,” he pondered. “Very likely he would have gone after you alone. It must have gone against the grain to get the law involved. I
daresay he thought the risk too high to do anything else.”

  “Apparently he had cut his involvement with them,” Mina admitted. “They thought by getting rid of me, they would draw him back in their circle again.”

  “Getting rid of you?” Jeremy queried.

  “They were going to fling me off a cliff and hope it passed for suicide of an unhappy wife.”

  Jeremy looked shocked. “I had thought they meant to control him in some way by ransoming your return.” She shook her head.

  “How are we to approach this business with Sir Matthew?” he asked with a frown. “Have you considered?”

  “I have,” Mina admitted. “Are you content to be guided by me in this matter, brother?” He inclined his head, gesturing for her to continue. “I would like you to take a high tone with him,” she admitted. “It is absurd that my brother-in-law should be embroiled in this matter”, that sort of thing. Sir Matthew is something of a snob and will set much store by your title.”

  Jeremy’s lips twitched appreciatively. “You also mentioned something about his being in your debt, I think?”

  “Ah yes, although in truth, that fact irks him and it would not put him in the best humor to remind him of it outright,” she admitted. “I have not precisely considered how that angle can best be used as yet.”

  On reaching Sir Matthew’s residence, however, they were told by the butler that Sir Matthew had ridden over to St Ives on business. Mina and Jeremy exchanged glances, for they both fancied they knew what business that would be.

  Jeremy handed over his card and the butler’s eyes widened. He took a step back from the door, opening it for their admittance. “If your lordship and your companion would be so good as to come inside to wait in the drawing room, I am sure that Sir Matthew will be back within the hour.”

  “Thank you, you are most kind,” Mina answered, leading the way. Jeremy fell in behind her and they were led into a handsomely appointed drawing room of blue and white.

  “I will fetch you some refreshment, my lord,” the butler said, backing out of the room, but Mina forestalled him.