“If you take one step, then you are a fool…”
Ophelia was shocked that he would dare speak to her that way. She turned around to be certain that, that had come out of his mouth.
“And if you decide not to marry me, then you are a bigger fool,” he said, looking at his nails.
Now, Ophelia took a better look at him. There were bags below his eyes. His moustache with his beards was unshaven. His hair was uncombed and he looked like someone who had not slept in days. She was suddenly aware of how dangerous he could be.
“Christopher is not going to marry you,” he went on. “And if you think he is going to marry you, then I will be so disappointed. If you even try to consider his proposal or speak to him, after all the things he has done, then I will be very angry. You do not want to see me angry.”
“Is that a threat?” she demanded, trying to calm her heart that was beating really fast.
“No, not all, my love. I have no reason to threaten you,” he said, shrugging. “Consider it a warning.”
“Well, I am happy to tell you, that I know your secret! she blurted, hoping to get him to back off.
“What secret?” he asked.
“I know you are the one that has been sending those letters, my secret admirer….”
She watched as his face turned from confusion to that of relief.
“Well, that is disappointing. I was supposed to make that a surprise but I meant to impress you. You have no idea how it felt all those times when I had to keep my own feelings inside and had to listen to that bastard, talking about how much he loves you, on and on. It was frustrating. I could not bottle up the feelings inside, I had to send them to you one way or the other.”
Ophelia scoffed. “That is not love, that is something else. That is something, dangerous and sick, and twisted. I do not want to be part of it…” she said. She could see Emily walking towards her from afar and she was relieved.
“Well, you do not have a choice, darling. A lady, has no choice when it comes to whom to marry. I am certain that your parents will make the right choice of you, I do not have anything to discuss with you. By the way, if you think of doing something to ruin my plans, just know that I can ruin your reputation!” he then leaned closer. “I saw you under the mistletoe that night, kissing him…”
Ophelia’s could feel her heart thumping very hard against her throat as he walked away, leaving her perplexed.
“Oh, my goodness!” said Emily as she rushed towards her. “Was that…was tha…?” she stammered.
Ophelia swallowed and shut her eyes before she slowly nodded. “Yes, Lord Gibbs. He just threatened me, Emily. He saw us when Christopher and I kissed and he is planning to use that against me, if I do not marry him.”
Emily gasped. “Oh no! That man is extremely dangerous, Ophelia. We need to tell your parents everything.”
Ophelia nodded before they went their way. She was ready to tell her parents everything, including about the kiss, since Christopher was ready to marry her. However, each time she thought of Benjamin, fear overwhelmed her consciousness and she could tell, that she was no longer going to be safe.
Chapter 36
Miss Ophelia Campbell
The outing Ophelia had gone with Emily had not turned out the way it was supposed to. She was jittery and terrified.
The next day, Ophelia thought the best thing to do would be to tell her parents about everything. So that morning, while she thought of everything that he had said to her the day before, a maid came in to inform her of Lady Egerton’s arrival. When she was finally able to speak with Rebecca, she told her everything that happened at the park.
“He is beginning to show his true colors,” said Rebecca. “I am surprised that it took him this long.”
“What do I do, my lady?” asked Ophelia. “He terrifies me and I have this feeling that he is devising already an evil plan to avenge my family, if I do not marry him.”
“I do not think he is capable of doing anything that will harm you in any way,” Rebecca said, walking close to her and holding Ophelia’s hands. “Do not allow him get under your skin. I believe he is only bluffing and trying to get you to marry him by all cost.”
Even though she knew Lady Egerton was only trying to make her feel better, it was not working at all. All through the night, she kept having these strange dreams about Lord Gibbs chasing her with a knife.
When she explained the dream to Rebecca, she only laughed.
“You are only nervous. Do not worry about anything and if it makes you feel better, I think you should tell your parents.”
Ophelia could not have agreed more.
“Let them know that Benjamin is not to be trusted, tell them all the things he has done, including the creepy letters he had been sending you, posing as some secret admirer. Make sure to tell them all. Then afterwards, let them know that Christopher is set to marry you. He has actually sent me here to give you this letter,” she said, dipping a hand into her reticule and handing her a letter.
“If they still do not believe you, show them this. It says in the letter that he is coming to propose to you tomorrow and then you can all come together to fix a date to meet my parents.”
Ophelia inhaled a deep breath as she opened the letter.
“Dear, Miss Campbell,
I do hope you are doing well? I apologize for taking so long before coming to see you but I assure you. It is for a good course. I cannot tarry any longer and I have decided to come tomorrow to reveal my intentions to your parents. I cannot wait to see you again. Please bear it in mind that Benjamin is doing everything possible to hinder our plan and I am equally doing everything to make sure that he does not get in the way.
Be safe and be rest assured that I am coming for you and I shall protect you.
Sincerely Yours,
Christopher.
Ophelia found herself fully relieved at the end of the letter.
“So, you see. You have nothing to worry about, Ophelia.”
Ophelia nodded. “I understand what I need to do and I trust your brother but don’t you think that my parents would be a bit suspicious about the rush of everything?”
“I do not think your parents would mind anything that will get Benjamin off their business and their back.”
“I think I should tell my parents about everything just like you have suggested. And when my mother begins to get absolutely worried, I shall show her the letter.”
Rebecca agreed with her plans and minutes after she was gone, Ophelia decided to go ahead to her parents, she wanted to tell them everything.
She walked to her parent’s chamber and knocked on the door.
“Yes, come in,” came her mother’s voice and she opened the door to go in.
Her father was sitting on the bed, going through a stack of papers while her mother was busy sipping from a cup of tea.
“Morning, father, mother,” she greeted.
“Ophelia,” said her father. “I hope there is nothing wrong?”
“I need to talk to you,” she blurted.
Both her parents exchanged looks.
“Well, if you must see us then you need to take a seat, child. You do not want to make us nervous,” said her mother.
Ophelia took a seat and sat while her parents listened.
“This is about my marriage,” she started. “Father, mother, I do not want to marry Lord Gibbs,” she declared.
“Nonsense!” said her mother, standing up.
“Do you mind listening to her for a while?” her father said to her mother who paid him no attention but was focusing on her daughter instead.
“How can you declare such thing, Ophelia? After everything your father and I have done for you? Would you not save our family this one time?”
“I need you to stop being so dramatic, Mabel!” shouted her father to his wife. “I am only being reasonable, not being dramatic at all!” retorted her mother. “How can she just decide that?”
“She can decide t
hat because we are talking of a life she will live for the rest of her life!” his father trilled.
Ophelia watched both parents, talking as if she was not in the room with her.
“She is going to ruin us if she takes this step. And not only that, who is going to marry her? She is too young to be this selfish?”
“I think she can as selfish as she wants to be. It is her life, afterall.”
Now, they were both quiet and looking at her. Ophelia had purposely remained quiet to give them time to say all they needed to say before she would finally tell them the rest.
“Well, now that you both are giving me the necessary attention again, I think I should tell you other things that you do not know. Lord Gibbs is my secret admirer.”
She waited for a reaction from both of them but there was none. Did they not hear her?
“What secret admirer are you talking about?” asked her mother, she still seemed a bit angry with her.
“Mother, those letters I used to receive from a certain admirer, with no specific address and no name?”
The mother stared at her with a blank expression on her face but then she gasped. “Oh my goodness! It was him? How did you find out and why would he do such a thing? Did he tell you?”
“No, he did not,” Ophelia replied and explained how she was able to find out on her own with Emily’s help.
“This man is really dangerous, I must say,” said her father after a while. “Our daughter cannot marry him.”
“That is not all,” continued Ophelia. “He has resorted to threats,” she said and went ahead to explain all the things he said at the park the previous day.
Her mother’s mouth opened in shock and she sat wide-eyed. “What are we going to do?” she asked her husband. “I never knew he is this dangerous.”
Ophelia slumped her shoulders in relief. She would need to wait for what they would come up with before she would tell them of her own solution.
Her father stood up and began to pace. “We cannot arrest,” he said more to himself than to the rest of them. “We will need enough evidence to put someone like that away.”
“But, surely, there must be something we can do,” cried her mother in terror. “The four days he gave our daughter is almost running out.”
“The only thing he can do right now,” said her father, finally stopped and facing them. “-would be impose the tax on us. We can still manage till the end of the year…”
“I think I have a solution,” said Ophelia all of a sudden, seeing that her father’s plan would not be so helpful.
Both her parents stared at her.
“When you had a better plan, why did you not say so all along?” asked her father.
“Well, I wanted to see what plan you would come up with and if it would be better than the one I currently have but seeing it might not work, I think I should just tell you.”
“Then out with it, child!” snapped her mother. “We do not have al the time.”
Ophelia hesitated for a while. “Lord Crampton wants to marry me.”
“Lord Crampton?” asked her mother. “But I thought he was no longer interested in you all this time…”
Ophelia nodded. “I actually have informed him that I won’t be accepting his courtship anymore.”
Her parents exchanged glances again.
“What are you talking about, Ophelia?” asked her mother. “So are you saying, Lord Crampton has been interested in you all the while?”
Ophelia nodded. “We had a terrible misunderstanding and I misjudged him,” she explained. She was never going to tell her parents about the kiss. “So I had to put a stop to whatever was going on between us.”
“So, does he have any idea why Lord Gibbs is doing all these?” asked her father.
“No, he does not, father,” Ophelia replied. “As a matter of fact, he never knew Lord Gibb’s intentions at all, not until Charles had to go tell him.”
“Our own Charles?” asked her mother in surprise and she nodded.
“Now, he is doing everything that he can to help us and I think marrying me would help a great deal.”
Everyone was quiet.
“But, is this what you want?” asked her father, walking closer to her. “I want you to be certain that this is what you want.”
“I have only cared about one man, father. And you know this. It has always been Lord Crampton and this is what I want. So you do not have to worry about our finances. I think we shall do just fine.”
“Fantastic news!” cried her father happily before embracing her.
“So when is he coming to talk to us?” asked her mother.
“Tomorrow,” Ophelia replied after pulling away from her father.
“We shall be able to receive him,” said her mother. “Congratulations daughter.”
Ophelia hugged her mother and later returned back to her room.
She was more than relieved after talking to her parents. Everything has gone even more smoothly than she had expected.
While she lay in her bed, she could not stop smiling. The only that remained would be to wait for Christopher and now that she knew he was close to coming to see her, she was more anxious to see him.
* * *
Lord Benjamin Gibbs, the Baron of Salsbury
The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the Campbell’s cottage and he stepped out of the carriage.
He was just walking to the front door and was about to knock when the door opened suddenly and Mrs. Campbell stepped out. She looked really surprised to see him and Benjamin could tell she was only going out to do something for herself before running into him.
“Mrs. Campbell,” he said with a warm smile. “Good morning. I hope everyone is well?”
“Yes, Lord Benjamin,” said the woman coldly. “May I ask what you are doing here?”
Benjamin was surprised. “I am here to pay your daughter a visit just like I have always done,” he replied. “I hope that is alright?”
“No,” replied the woman. “It is not alright at all and as a matter of fact, you are no longer welcomed here.”
This came as a shock to Benjamin and he waited for a while before giving the woman a reply.
“I do apologize, Mrs. Campbell if I have offended you in anyway but I assure you, all I do, I do out of love and concern for your family.”
“We do not want your love and concern again, Lord Gibbs. You can stop trying. My daughter is not going to marry you and we do not care how hard you make our life because of that. She will never marry you and she has our full support. We know about your threats! You are no longer welcomed here and I think you should leave.”
Benjamin blinked thrice as all the words sank in. He chuckled and then said, “Well, send my regards to your husband and my undying love to your daughter. Tell her we shall see very soon.”
After this, he picked his leave.
Chapter 37
Miss Ophelia Campbell
Ophelia opened her eyes but a feeling of fear overwhelmed her when she realized she could not move, neither could she scream. She was lying on her back with her legs and hands, bound.
The worst part of it was that she seemed to be moving and looking at the only thing above her, she could tell she was in a carriage, a moving carriage. She wanted to scream but all that came out of her gagged mouth were a lot of ‘hmmphs.’
At first, she could not understand and she tried to remember how she had gotten there in the first place. While part of her tried to remember how she must have gotten into the carriage, the other part of her was trying to remember where she had seen the exact carriage roofing before.
“Great! You are awake! Morning,Sunshine!”
When she heard the voice behind her, terror overwhelmed her. She turned her head sideways just to see Benjamin smiling at her.
She could feel the silent screams vibrating in her own ears. Her whole body began to shake violently.
Benjamin leaned back, crossing his legs and brandishing his index finger a
t her while shaking his head. “Do not do that, it is of no use, darling.”
Her bound hands were curled into a fist, with her nails digging into her palm. She could not hear her rapid breathing but she could feel the air flooding in and out of her lungs.
She could not speak or talk and she was struggling with all her might. At the same time, she realized Benjamin was looking at her, enjoying every bit of her struggle, finally she gave up, her chest rising and falling.
A Lady to Redeem a Rakish Lord: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 26