by Rebecca King
“What will you do now?” Aaron asked from beside her.
Elspeth sighed. “I am going to live my life,” she replied quite frankly. “I didn’t stay here because I was content, I stayed here because I truly thought Thomas wanted someone to run his house while he worked on his investments.”
“There weren’t any investments,” Aaron replied. “He lied.”
“What was he doing then?” Elspeth cried in frustration.
“He was writing correspondence, working on how he was going to spend your combined fortunes no doubt. Who knows what he was doing? He certainly didn’t invest his money from what I have seen of his withdrawals. The amounts he took weren’t large enough to be invested in anything of note. Besides, from searching through the desk, there is no paperwork detailing any investments at all. He has to have spent the money he took out of the bank, including yours, on frivolous exploits,” Aaron warned.
“Like whores,” Elspeth said frankly.
Aaron lifted his brows but didn’t deny it because he had absolutely no idea.
“How much is left? Of the money I inherited?” she whispered.
Now that the brandy had settled in her stomach, Elspeth began to feel sicker and sicker. She paled and stumbled over to a chaise upon which she slumped into with a heavy sigh.
Aaron promptly sat down beside her and clasped her hand in his. He had to have some form of contact with her, if only to reassure himself that she really was physically unscathed by her ordeal.
“You know there was the three thousand locked in that coffin. When you come to think about it, it was a very clever plan. Nobody would stop to think that the money might be in there. It was withdrawn. We all thought Thomas had done something in London with the cash. There is no reason why it should ever have been found, which meant Thomas, if he had gotten away with thieving this property off you, could have come back whenever the dust had settled, dug up the coffin, retrieved the cash, and nobody would ever have been any wiser. It’s the perfect crime, really.”
“It is disturbed of anybody’s mind who came up with it,” Elspeth snorted.
“He just got too greedy and had two buffoons helping him,” Aaron replied with a disgusted shake of his head. He slid a look at her. “If Thomas does have any money stashed in any bank accounts anywhere, unless he has left a last will and testament that states otherwise, which I doubt, everything he had will come to you. There won’t be much, though, given what the bank have said. The three thousand Sir Hugo put back into the bank is yours now anyway. I doubt anybody will contest it is rightly yours.”
Elspeth nodded. “There isn’t anybody to contest it, is there?”
“Frederick won’t,” Aaron confirmed. “He is going to be behind bars for a long time.”
He bit out a curse and began to pace in front of the fire.
“What?” Elspeth asked as she watched him.
“I cannot believe he would leave you destitute like that,” he burst out. “It makes me livid that he could actually be that cruel. You were practically starved, of heat and food.”
“That is what they wanted, though, wasn’t it? If they couldn’t try to romance the house out from under me, they would have to force me to sell it. By doing that they had to make life here unbearable,” Elspeth whispered. “I am struggling to believe that the man I thought I knew could really be that callous.”
“He took us both for fools, Elspeth,” Aaron grunted. “I, for one, shall not grieve for his loss.”
Elspeth nodded. The ordeal she had just been through would forever be linked to the dark days of suffering she had endured prior to Aaron riding to her rescue. She would always link that desperate time to the man she had once called her brother – the traitor who had turned on her through nothing more than greed.
Elspeth carefully placed her goblet onto the table at the side of the chaise and stood. Without saying a word, she crossed the distance between them until she stood before him.
“I want it made perfectly clear, here and now, that I don’t regret a single moment of what we shared,” she declared boldly. “After what I have been through, I know now not to ever take life for granted. Even if I don’t take foolish risks, it is the foolishness of others that might still cut my life short. I therefore intend to enjoy every single day I have been given and make the most of every available opportunity I have to be with you.” She waved a hand toward the man of her dreams. “Unless you have any objection, of course.”
“I can’t think of anything I want more,” Aaron assured her. He slid his goblet onto the mantle beside them and drew her gently into his arms. “Of course, it is going to mean you need to relocate.”
“I do? Why?” Elspeth challenged.
“My house is closer to London. I can get there in an hour if I am called in to work,” he murmured.
“But you said you hardly ever get home? What should I do with my time when you are away?” Elspeth asked. “Like Thomas, you will consider me an albatross if I do nothing more than sit at home and bake cakes.”
“Running a house takes a lot more than cake making, don’t you agree? Now, I know you are financially independent, but I was hoping you would be able to spare some of your life for me? I am independently wealthy as well, so money will never be an issue for us. As far as I am concerned, so long as you don’t get involved in anything dangerous, or get involved with any other man, you are at perfect liberty to choose what you want to do with your days,” Aaron murmured. “I do, however, have a few stipulations?”
“Stipulations?” Elspeth leaned back to look at him with a suspicious squint. “Such as?”
“Well, I insist that we have at least four children,” he murmured lovingly.
When Elspeth opened her mouth, Aaron placed a very thorough kiss upon it to try to stem her objections should she have voiced any, which she didn’t.
“Four?” she whispered. She pursed her lips while she pretended to contemplate that but couldn’t prevent a smile from breaking out on her face. “I think that should keep me busy for a while, if not out of trouble.”
“You plan to cause trouble, do you?” he mused wryly, with a teasing glint in his eyes.
“Children do, you know,” she replied with a confident nod. “Especially four of them.”
“I can cope,” Aaron assured her.
“I hope so,” she whispered. “Because I fully intend to turn your life upside down. I love you so much that I will do whatever it takes for us to be together. Just promise me you will come home whenever you can.”
“I promise that nothing will keep me away from you. If Sir Hugo is true to his word, changes are afoot within the Star Elite. If there is any good to have come to me from Thomas’s deceit, it is that it has at least forced Sir Hugo to allow the men more time off to be with their families. If he doesn’t, losing us all is going to render him out of a job anyway,” Aaron replied. “The planned changes will pave the way for me to be able to spend a lot more time at home. I will be there for you, I promise, Elspeth.”
“I know you will. You have been my veritable knight in shining armour. You have ridden into my life, saved me from destitution, looked after me, kept me safe, and given me the world. What more can a woman ask?”
“Marriage?” Aaron asked hopefully.
Elspeth looked at him and planted a very loving kiss on his lips that left him smiling.
When Aaron stood back and began to roll up his sleeves.
“What are you doing?” she laughed. She tried to tug him back up when he knelt on the floor, but he refused to budge.
“Man’s work,” he mused with a smirk.
Elspeth’s cheeks flooded with colour. She clasped his hands when he was before her, and looked down into the most wonderful adoration she could ever hope to see shining back up at her. Tears gathered on her lashes.
“I promise you here and now, Elspeth, that we shall have a good life together. I will be there whenever you need me. I shall never lie to you, or willingly put you in danger. The
re is nothing you cannot tell me, or share with me, that will ever change the way I feel about you. I adore you, and if I am honest, have done for years.” Aaron looked at her sheepishly. “I was just a bit of a coward about admitting it.”
Elspeth laughed. Deep inside, what remained of a dark cloud of doubt suddenly lifted. In its place was a brilliant new ray of sunshine which flooded her world with light and colour, and an abundance of joy. She knew then that she had left the dire days behind her and couldn’t wait to see what the future held for them both.
“You? A coward? You could never be a coward, Aaron. It isn’t in your blood.” She looked lovingly at him and felt confident enough to have no hesitation in letting him know just how much she adored him back. “You are the strongest, bravest, cleverest man I know. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t share with you; home, body, soul. My entire life is yours. I love you now more than ever. While I must confess I refused to acknowledge it at the time, I think I have known I have loved you all along. It is why no other man has ever attracted my interest, and why I was happy to stay at home and wait for you to come and visit. I will always be yours.”
“God, I love you,” Aaron breathed. She had just handed him the world, if only she knew it.
“Get up,” Elspeth urged. When he was upright again, she slid her arms around his shoulders.
“You still haven’t answered me,” Aaron chided.
She smirked at him. “You haven’t asked me anything yet.”
Aaron stared at her and replayed the last several minutes. With a theatrical wince, he sighed and tried to kneel again.
“No. No. No.”
“Look, will you marry me? I love you, adore you, and have for years. I think that’s why my friends all came with me to your rescue. They knew what a mess I was when I learned you were all alone, and grieving. I think they worried I wouldn’t get here in one piece. You have always had the ability to render me completely distracted whenever your name is mentioned. I just cannot live without you in my life. Will you? Will you be my wife?”
“I cannot think of anything I want more,” Elspeth breathed.
“Forever?” he pleaded.
“Together forever,” she promised, and sealed it with a very loving kiss.
EPILOGUE
One month later
Elspeth watched the coffin being lowered into the ground and clutched at her husband’s hand as she was assaulted with memories of that painful day three months ago. It had been one of the worst days of her life, while at the same time, unbeknown to her, a pivotal turning point in her life that had brought about many changes, the first and most important of which was standing right beside her: Aaron.
She looked up at her husband and smiled when he winked at her. He had also spent the last month busy, and in his own way coming to terms with the real death of his friend. However, neither of them felt any real grief because neither of them really felt as if they had known who Thomas was when he had taken his own life in the graveyard a few short weeks ago.
“Are you all right?” he murmured when they had thanked the vicar and were watching the grave diggers work to fill the grave.
“I am fine,” she replied with a soft smile. “I will just be happy to get home again.”
“Do you miss it here?” Aaron asked.
Elspeth looked all about them and contemplated his question. “No. I don’t. Not really. It has memories of the past here, but it isn’t who I am now. There was something that changed within me through that time of destitution. I don’t know what it was. At the time, I was angry and frustrated that I could be plunged into such a pit of despair by life so unexpectedly. It made me want to not only fight but strive for something more. Only at that time, I had no idea how much I would need to fight to have the future I wanted. I think I knew, even back then, that it was you I wanted to be with. I just had no idea that you cared.”
“Well, I do,” Aaron said. “I wish now I had told you sooner.”
“I doubt it would have changed anything really,” Elspeth replied.
“How so?”
“You always worked. One thing Thomas did always grumble about was just how hard you were to get hold of. He was always chuntering that trying to speak to you was like trying to talk to God,” Elspeth sighed. “When you think about it, if Thomas had been here, and the person we thought he was, we would have had to have a long courtship, undoubtedly extended because of your work. I could have been old and grey before you ever got around to proposing, even if you survived your job with the Star Elite.”
Aaron caught the rueful chiding in her eyes and burst out laughing.
“I suppose so. Then we would have had to walk each other down the aisle – slowly. Very, very, slowly,” Aaron mused with a thoughtful nod.
“At least this way we get a lifetime together,” Elspeth replied.
She threw him a loving smile and snuggled against him when he slid an arm around her to haul her closer.
“Well, he is definitely at rest now,” she sighed when she looked over her husband’s shoulder at the grave. She took one last look at the grave site and turned away. “I don’t know about you, but I never want to set eyes on this place again.”
“We will all be glad to put this place behind us, eh, Aaron?” Sir Hugo said as he came to join them.
“Thank you for coming,” Elspeth murmured warmly. “I know it was a long journey.”
“We all offer our condolences, my dear,” Sir Hugo smiled. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but he will be missed, it will just take time to come to terms with what really happened.”
“There is one good to come out of it,” Aaron murmured lovingly with his gaze fixed firmly on his new wife. He couldn’t prevent his proud smile from breaking out, despite the drizzle and chill wind whipping around them.
“Well, it is best to look to the future, isn’t it? What is done is done. There is no point ignoring it because it has forged the future for all of us,” Sir Hugo mused thoughtfully.
“That’s true,” Aaron agreed. “While we have all had our nightmares from what happened, we have all gained something as well.”
“Yes, the other two more fortunate individuals have a lifetime behind bars,” Sir Hugo smiled with satisfaction.
“What about Horvat? Have you managed to find anything out from him yet?” Elspeth asked, mostly because she knew Aaron had been with her every second of every day since the day Thomas had killed himself.
Sir Hugo’s face changed instantly. “No. But we will get there. We expect him to break any day now. When he does, we can return the unfortunate souls who are still missing to their families. Let’s hope they are still alive, eh?”
“I hope so,” Elspeth whispered.
There was a sudden pall which hung over everybody that left none of them in any doubt they all suspected the victims had been murdered. It was difficult to believe, given the amount of time that had lapsed since they had vanished, that they were still being kept captive somewhere. Nobody wanted to openly admit it, though, because it damaged hope that they might one day return home where they belonged, alive, if a little traumatised from their ordeal.
“We will keep the men searching for them. Never give up hope,” Sir Hugo mused. “Aaron knows all about that, don’t you?”
Aaron grinned and scratched his ear. He slid a look at his wife and nodded. “Yes, I suppose I never truly gave up hope that my wife would recognise me as worthy husband material.”
“You just needed a nudge in the right direction,” Sir Hugo murmured wryly. He winked at Elspeth. “Thank God you realised what a find he is.”
“He is the find of my life,” Elspeth assured him.
“Is the house all closed down now?” Sir Hugo asked as he fell into step beside them.
Together, they all made their way down the path that would take them back to Elspeth’s former home, and the carriage that would return Aaron and his wife to their new home.
“Yes. The keys have gone to the solicitor who will
oversee the sale. I have already signed the paperwork, so it is no longer mine really,” Elspeth replied.
“Onward we go to our new life together,” Aaron added with a contented smile.
“You have several more days off yet, Aaron. I am on my way back to London to find out how the trainees are doing. For now, enjoy your time together. I suspect it is going to be very busy,” Sir Hugo grinned.
With a casual wave, he mounted his horse and set off for home. After the life and death disasters he had witnessed over the last several weeks, Sir Hugo had a driving need to see his own beloved wife and family. Before he turned out of the end of the road, he looked back over his shoulder at the man who had found his world and smiled. He knew that light would always come out of the darkness, it would always bring happiness, joy and life to people, and happy ever afters.
The End.
GHOSTLY ENDEAVOURS
RELEASED 14TH OCTOBER 2018
When someone in the village of Snethwick begins to dig up dead bodies, the local magistrate, Perry Mitterton, is called in to investigate. He firmly believes ghost don’t exist – they are a creation of superstition – right? The last thing he expects is for a ‘ghost’ he sees at the scene of the crime to lead him to the rather spooky local manor house, and the curious, slightly eccentric occupant, Miss Bettina Kingston.
Bettina is already struggling to understand what is happening in the house she has lived in all her life. She thought it was a place where she could be safe; a home to relax in. When things start moving seemingly of their own accord, footsteps wake her in the night, and cold hands appear out of nowhere, she truly starts to fear for her life. If that wasn’t bad enough, Perry’s arrival throws her world into chaos. He makes her yearn for a different life, one in which she isn’t all alone with only the dead for company. What she doesn’t expect is for Perry to think she is guilty of the macabre goings on in the village but struggles to find a way to prove her innocence.
What connection could grave robbing possibly have with Camberwell Grange? Why does Perry continue to doubt her honesty, even though she is living in the house all alone? Determined to get some answers, Bettina must work with Perry to get some answers, if only so she can sleep peacefully in her bed at night.
