“Are you alright?” he asked her. “Your eyes…” he started, extending his hand to her eyes which she knew must have reddened all of a sudden.
“I think I got dirt in it,” she replied, blinking rapidly.
“Well, then I guess that means I need to take you home. I do not want anything to hurt you.”
“Alright. Please, take me home.”
Chapter 30
Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington
Christopher was riding on one of his horses when a servant approached him, behind him was a man he recognized instantly.He was Ophelia’s cousin.
“My Lord, you have a guest,” said the servant while taking a bow.
‘Thank you Timothy, you may go,” he said, dismounting from his horse. “Mr. Doddleton,” he said as he walked closer to the man. “Quite a surprise to see you. I hope you are here to mock me for I know you never wanted me to have anything to do with your cousin, miss Campbell.”
The man sighed. “My Lord. I know I never liked you but I am not here to mock you.”
This further surprised him. “Really? Then, what are you doing here?”
“I am to speak with you and to ask you why you would treat my cousin the way you treated many of your sluts!”
This surprised Christopher. “So, you are here to fight me, then?”
“Yes, I am here to fight you! She loved you! She disobeyed me because of you and….”
“She never loved me!” he shouted back at him. “If she did, she would have given us a chance to talk things through! I abandoned my old ways because of her and what did she do? She cast me away! Now you stand there, judging me?” he snorted. “Mr Doddleton, I appreciate your concern but your cousin hurt me too.”
“I do not understand you both,” replied Charles. “First of all, you were head over hills with him and now, somehow, the past has managed to tear you apart.Tell me,” he demanded, walking closer to him. “What was your intention for her? To sleep with her or to marry her?”
“To marry her of course!” Christopher retorted. “She shamed me, in front of my parents who were waiting for me to introduce her to them. I have neverexpressed my interest to marry any woman until she came in the picture., she was supposed to be the only but she pushed me away. Look, Mr. Doddleton, I love Ophelia and I still do and that is why I have decided to give her what she wants, which is to let her be,” he said and turned to mount his horse.
Charles shook his head. “To let her be? Without fighting for her? What kind of love is that? You had to hand her over to your friend like a used object that is passed to another!”
Christopher stopped and turned around. “What did you just say?”
“Exactly what I said!”
“No,” replied Christopher. “I did not really get that. Can you please come again. Tell me what you mean by that.”
“You passed her over to Lord Gibbs, your friend! Or do you not know that they have been spending a lot of time together?”
Christopher could not believe his ears.
“Benjamin visits Ophelia?”
“Yes, he does,” replied Charles. “He still came yesterday. I thought that was your plan. To toss her over to your friend!”
“Never!” replied Christopher almost in a whisper. “I will never treat her like that. I never knew she is courted by Benjamin. It has been a while since I saw him myself. So it is true! Everything my sister has always been saying is true!Oh that scoundrel!”
He gasped and ran a hand through his hair.
* * *
Mr. Charles Doddleton
Charles did not expect what he was hearing. He had thought the worst of Christopher but now, he was speechless. He could see how clueless he was about the whole thing and a part of him actually felt sorry for him.
“What are you going to do?” he asked after a while.
“I am going to ask him. He must tell me why he would do such a thing! He has always been after Ophelia, my sister told me but I trusted him so much!”
“And what if he says you cannot have her, what would you do?” Charles asked.
“Then, I have to speak with her father,” said Christopher.
“You do know he has been unwell for some time?”
The man looked at him in surprised again. “I never knew, no one told me.”
“Not even your sister?”
“She does not know.”
“I thought she is close to my cousin.”
“That was before,” Christopher replied and continued. “Ophelia made it known that she does not want anything to do with my family again.”
Charles sighed. “You need to do what you have to do on time. Who knows? Find a way to redeem yourself and get back into her good graces.”
“Thank you, but I must ask, why are you doing this? I know you hated me and do not trust me.”
“I still do not trust you but I don’t hate you,” Charles said. “I believe I know you and I know what you are capable of. I have spoken with you and I know you care for her, him, I do not know. I do not trust him and I am not interested in him. If you need my help, come to the Milian Park in the evening. I always take a ride there, everyday.”
Christopher smiled. “Thank you very much, I am so grateful.”
* * *
Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington
After Charles had left, Christopher summoned his sister. He was really angry. Some hours later, Rebecca came over.
“I told you so,” she said as she got to his room later that day.
“I know you must have been dying to tell me that,” he said as he buttoned up his shirt.
“I never trusted that man, Christopher, I told you he is tricky!”
“He lied to me!” Christopher stated, still thinking about the whole things Charles had told him. He was boiling with rage and he could not wait to say everything in his mind to Benjamin.
“He lied about not knowing who she was on that very day that I saw you both…he lied about so many things. No wonder he kept on telling me to go back to my old ways and to find someone else. He had his own plan all along!”
“Well, now that you have seen him for who he is, you need to let him know how angry you are!” said his sister.
“Yes, sister, you can count on that!”
* * *
Miss Ophelia Campbell
It was the second day after she had gone on a picnic with Benjamin. She was still reflecting on why Charles has been a bit surprised with the recent development between her and Christopher.
“He never liked him,” she explained to Emily that night. “So, why was he suddenly interested in speaking about him?” They were both in her room, lying on her bed.
Emily shrugged, “He might just be hoping that you would give him another chance. You told me they got along at the party, didn’t they?”
Ophelia nodded. “Yes, but that was before the whole thing under the mistletoe,” said Ophelia in a whisper. Only Emily and Charles knew about the kiss. “And he made his contempt for him really obvious with the way he spoke that night.”
“Well, enough about Charles, what do you think of Lord Gibbs?”
Ophelia snorted. “I do not think everything is right with him, Emily.”
“What do you mean?”
“The man creeps me out,” Ophelia confessed. “First, he lied about not remembering me, then it happened that it did remember. Although he gave me a good reason for lying about it.”
Emily frowned. “Did he? What reason did he give? I am sure it has to do with Christopher.”
“Of course,” replied Ophelia, turning to her side. “He told me he has a problemm of jealousy and he did not want to cause any trouble since Christopher had already started telling him of his intention for me.”
“Then that should not creep you out,” replied Emily. “It totally makes a lot of sense.”
“What about the accident then?” asked Ophelia, straightening up. “I still do not believe it was an accident.”
“Well, did y
ou ask him?” asked Emily.
“Well, I tried to but he made me feel bad for asking. He said I was thinking the worst of him.”
“Then maybe you are!” replied Emily.
“Emily! How could you talk so? I am telling you, that man should not be trusted!” Ophelia warned.
“But then, you need to stop comparing him to his friend!” Emily snapped. “Seems you two hardly have any conversation that has nothing to do with Lord Crampton.”
“That is not true!” Ophelia retorted.
“Well, then why don’t you tell me what else you spoke of?”
Ophelia thought for a while, desperate to have something tangible to say. But then she realized that her friend was right, indeed, everything she had to say to Benjamin was all about Christopher.
“You are not saying anything,” Emily stated.
“You made your point, Emily,” she replied. “I am moving on already.
“You need to stop talking about Christopher if you want to move on. Talking about him will not help you especially with Lord Gibbs.”
Ophelia frowned. “What is so bad about that?”
“Well, he likes you…”
“As a friend,” Ophelia put in.
“As a friend?” asked Emily. “Did you ask him why he is interested in you?”
“Of course not. I believe he should have no intention aside friendship.”
Emily shook her head and stood up. “I have to go, I forgot I have an errand to run.”
Ophelia frowned. “We are still talking….”
“Well, we shall continue some other time. Would you mind seeing me off?”
Ophelia shook her head and stood up to see her friend off. After she has left, she was walking back to her room when she decided to check on her father. His health was already improving but not as fast as she had hoped.
When she got to his door, she was about to open it but stopped upon hearing “Gibbs” being mentioned. Ophelia stopped and waited in front of the door, hoping to catch every word that would be said.
“But, he has only been coming to see her,” said her mother to her father. “He has not really made his intentions known.”
“And you are certain that his name is Gibbs?” asked her father.
“Certainly,” her mother replied. “Do you know him?”
“I do not know the young man but I know of the grandfather. He is also the one in charge of all the merchants in the province. He is a terrible man, Mabel.”
“I am certain that there is a kind of mistake,” said her mother. “This Baron is a kind man. He treats our daughter with utmost respect and…”
“If he is the Baron of Salsbury, then we are talking about the same person,” her father said consistently.
“But that cannot be,” continued her mother. “Why would his grandfather impose a tax on every merchant in the province?”
“I do not know, but the word is that he wants to centralize the business and control everything. If that happens, you know I haven’t been working for some time. I am afraid, it will ruin us.”
Her mother gasped. “Oh, my goodness! What are we going to do?”
“I do not know, Mabel and I need you to stop crying. Our daughter must not know about this.”
“But, don’t you think that if she marries this person, it might save our family from the debt?” asked her mother.
“It will but do you think it is right for us to use that?” asked her father.
Ophelia has heard enough. She ran all the way to her room and closed the door behind her. She has heard more than enough, clearly, there were lots of things she was yet to know about Benjamin.
She slumped into her bed to have a soft cry. So many things were happening so fast around her and she was feeling like she had no control over her own life.
First Christopher, now Benjamin and now, she just got to know of her evil grandfather. What were the odds that he would not be as evil as his grandfather? One thing was certain, Benjamin could not be trusted!
Chapter 31
Christopher Crampton, Viscount Barrington
That very night, Christopher wrote a letter, summoning Benjamin that they needed to talk. After two days and not getting a reply, he decided to track him down.That night, he went late to the gambling hell and waited in the carriage.
“Let me know anytime you see Benjamin,” he said to his servant, the one he had sent on the lookout for his friend. The servant nodded and took his leave. Minutes later, he came back.
“My Lord, he is right inside, at the bar.”
“Look out for him and wake me up when he is about to take his leave.”
The servant nodded and left.
* * *
Lord Benjamin Gibbs, the Baron of Salsbury
“So what exactly is your plan now?” asked Luke as they sat at the bar, smoking and drinking.
“I have realized that whatever thing she has for Christopher is stronger than I imagine and she is not really forthcoming about her feelings for me,” Benjamin replied. He was not really pleased that night. Ophelia has been treating him as a stranger and he was no longer comfortable with taking things slow.
“So, you desire to force her into wanting you?” asked Luke.
“Yes. I do not want her to have a choice. I need to be the only option she has,” he continued.
“May I ask how you plan to do that?” Luke inquired.
“I already set the plan in motion,” replied Benjamin with a wide grin. “As you know that my father is the head of all the merchants in the province and I am his hand, I can do anything I so desire, and make it seem as if it is his order.”
Luke frowned. “I do not understand. What have you done, Benjamin?”
Benjamin chuckled. “I may have forced Ophelia’s hand in making a decision by doing this, I may have founds a means to quicken her decision to the proposal I am about to make.”
Luke waited for a while as if trying to understand everything that has just been said. Then he burst into laughter.
“You are the most brilliant man I have seen,” he declared. “So, what exactly have you done?”
“Well, I imposed a 70 percent compulsory tax on all the merchants in Havenwood, Ophelia’s father is a merchant and with her father’s sickness, there is no way they would not be ruined. Their only means of survival is by getting Ophelia married…”
“And you just created the best opportunity to save them,” Luke added for him. “You are going to be their hero! Wonderful! The family will definitely have no choice.”
Benjamin chuckled excitedly and gulped down his drink. “I shall send the proposal to her parents tomorrow.”
Luke’s smile reduced and he frowned. “What if they later find out that you have orchestrated the whole thing?”
Benjamin shrugged. “By then, it would be too late, and besides, there is nothing they can do about it.”
Luke laughed more and they kept on drinking.
Meanwhile, Christopher waited in the carriage. His plan was to find out where Benjamin stayed. All the while, he has never visited him in his house. Benjamin had always been the one who visited him and if they were to meet somewhere, it was either at the gambling hell or some other place.
That night, he was determined to find out and then the next day, he would come back very early to ask him everything.
He had only closed his eyes for a while when the servant woke him up. “My Lord, he is just taking his leave.”
“Get in, quickly, and tell the coach to follow him.”
They followed the carriage for a while until the carriage finally halted in front of a large manor. Because it was dark, Christopher could not really see how the manor looked like but he was certain that he could come back here on his own the next day.
He waited in the carriage, hidden from Benjamin who appeared to be drunk and was laughing hysterically into the house.
On an impulse, Christopher decided to leave the carriage to check through the window. So he got down from
the carriage and quietly walked towards the manor.
Some curtains were drawn but he saw another that was raised up. He was certain that, that was the room Benjamin had entered. He walked towards the window but stopped as heard noises.
“You are nothing but a disappointment!” shouted an older man.
“Do not say that to me!” came a voice which Christopher knew belonged to his friend.
“You do nothing but gamble your useless life away!” he continued. “You should have been dead instead of your parents!”
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