Hopes and Brides: Regency and Mail Order Bride Historical Romance Collection

by Joyce Alec

  Miss Preston had been fighting to get away from the man who was shoving her in the direction of a hackney, and before he had known what he was doing, he had planted the gentleman a facer and had practically knocked him to the ground. Miss Preston had almost gone with him, had it not been for James’ reaching for her. He had held her as though he would never let her go, afraid for what might have occurred had he been but a minute later.

  And now, discovering that this gentleman was not only known to Henrietta, but was, in fact, her cousin, was all the more astonishing. Henrietta sat down carefully on the couch opposite Mr. Statton, whilst James chose to remain standing beside her. He said nothing but waited for the maids to bring in the trays of sweet tea and brandy, setting them down carefully with each maid sending an uncertain glance in the direction of Mr. Statton.

  “Brandy, Carrick,” Lord Ancrum muttered, handing him a glass just as the door opened again to reveal Oliver. He was looking just as normal, aside from a slight paleness of face, and fixed Mr. Statton with such a furious gaze that James knew that one of the footmen had informed his brother about what had occurred.

  “I think you will find, Mr. Grieves, that this is the man who assaulted you,” Henrietta said, her voice clear and determined, cutting through the silence. “I am sorry for it, for Statton, here, is my cousin.”

  James turned back to look at Mr. Statton, whose lip was curling in a most ugly manner. He was glaring at Henrietta, who ignored him entirely and kept her gaze fixed upon Oliver, who came to sit down in a chair to her left, between herself and Lord Ancrum.

  “Is that so?” Oliver muttered as Lord Ancrum handed him a brandy. “Then I look forward to hearing the explanation for his actions, for I cannot understand why he has been so eagerly searching for you, Miss Preston.”

  Much to James’ surprise, Henrietta smiled at his brother. “You must call me ‘Henrietta’, I think,” she said gently. “For we are to be brother and sister soon enough.”

  This brought a very strange reaction from Mr. Statton, for whilst Oliver appeared delighted, his anger and upset chased away for a moment, Mr. Statton’s brow lowered over his eyes, his face went scarlet with anger, and his jaw worked furiously.

  “It appears that you do not wish for Miss Preston and me to wed, Statton,” James began, when the congratulations were at an end. “Is there a reason for your anger? Is this why you have been pursuing my betrothed?”

  Statton snorted in derision and turned his head, clearly refusing to answer.

  “You are going to have to explain, Statton,” Henrietta said firmly, showing more strength than he had expected from her. “For I know that it was you who sent a note to me, stating that my mother had been taken.” This, James knew, was nothing more than a guess, but it seemed that Henrietta was correct, for Statton muttered something under his breath, his countenance growing darker still.

  “Why did you do it?” Henrietta pressed, when he said nothing. “There must be a reason, Statton, and I would know it.”

  “There will be consequences if you do not say a word,” James warned, folding his arms over his chest and narrowing his gaze at the odious gentleman. “There are to be consequences anyway, but should you be willing to speak of what you have done and give an explanation, then there may be—”

  “You should have lain there until morning.”

  Statton’s voice was low and angry, his gaze fixed upon Henrietta and his jaw clenched.

  “You mean that I was meant to be discovered in the morning as nothing more than a lifeless corpse,” Henrietta said steadily, as James reached down to press her shoulder gently, wondering at her strength. “That is what you mean to say, is it not?” She tilted her head just a little, only for Mr. Statton to laugh harshly.

  “It is,” he said with a slight shrug. “I had what I wanted and was to get all the more. And then you—”

  “I did not capitulate as you wished,” Henrietta interrupted, with only a slight shake to her voice betraying her emotions. “And what did you do then?”

  Mr. Statton took in a long breath, sniffing in a most disdainful manner. “I returned to the docks in the morning, expecting to hear a commotion. But, of course, there was nothing whatsoever. Everyone was just continuing as they were, with ships prepared and cargo being loaded. No one mentioned a young lady of quality being discovered. There was nothing that seemed to concern anyone and I knew then that you had been discovered. I thought my blow had ended you and that, if it had not, you would be taken by the cold.” He sneered at her as though it was her fault that she had not been found dead at the docks. “And so my search for you began in earnest.”

  Henrietta shook her head as James fought to keep his composure. There was so much anger coursing through him that he felt himself shake, such was his fury. He wanted to stride across the room and shake Statton until his teeth rattled before flinging him from his house and demanding that he be taken to the Bow Street runners.

  “Might I ask, Statton,” he said though gritted teeth, “why you had such a desire to bring an end to Miss Preston?” He did not remove his gaze from the fellow, even though he stared back at him with a look of derision on his face. James was determined to have answers from this man, even if it meant mockery and ridicule being spat from Statton’s mouth.

  “She did not wish to marry me,” he said eventually with a small shrug. “I was quite insistent—as were her parents—but Miss Preston seemed to think that she knew best.” He rolled his eyes and cackled in a most derogatory manner, making James squeeze Henrietta’s shoulder again for reassurance. She put her hand up to his and, to his surprise, gave him a small smile. He realized then that she no longer had anything to fear and certainly was not upset by Statton’s harsh words. This was something that she would endure simply because she had to find out the truth. She was quite reassured of her safety and free entirely from worry.

  “No, I did not wish to marry you, Statton,” Henrietta replied smoothly, looking away from James and back at her cousin. “My parents were slow to trust me again and it was only with the reassurance that I would not allow a gentleman to treat me so poorly again that I was allowed back to town. And that, I fear, included you, Statton.”

  “What do you mean?” The man’s voice was harsh, his expression angry. “I could have given you some semblance of respectability again, Henrietta!”

  “I had enough respectability of my own,” she demurred, “for I had no stain to my reputation and forgiveness from those whom I had hurt.” She sent a quick look towards Lord Ancrum, who lifted his glass in a small toast. “Therefore, I determined that I should not allow your demand that I marry you to sway me. I rejected you, Statton, for you are not at all a gentleman.” Her voice grew quieter. “Do not forget that I have seen your behavior on a most intimate level.”

  This made Statton narrow his eyes, before he snorted out a breath and looked away. “A lady cannot expect a gentleman to remain singularly devoted to them,” he retorted, sending another spiral of anger through James. “I will take my pleasure wherever it suits me.”

  “And that is precisely why I refused you,” Henrietta said immediately. “And yet you seemed to be unable to accept my rejection.”

  James opened his mouth to say more, but a commotion outside the drawing room prevented him from doing so. Striding to the door and seeing Lord Ancrum rise to his feet at the sound of Lady Ancrum’s voice, he threw open the door, ready to engage with whatever this new disaster was—only to see a grey-haired older lady standing directly before him, her eyes red-rimmed and filled with tears. It was a lady he had seen only once before, but immediately he knew who it was and knew just how important the lady would be to Henrietta.

  “Mama!”

  Henrietta jumped to her feet the moment he stepped aside to let the lady in. Lady Cuthbert hurried forward, her arms outstretched as she clasped the girl to her, sobbing in a most distressed fashion. Behind her came Lady Ancrum and an older gentleman who was very tall and almost regal in his manner. He
bowed low, greeting James in a low voice. James bowed in return, realizing quickly that this must be Lord Cuthbert.

  “The most extraordinary thing!” Lady Ancrum exclaimed, gathering her skirts and hurrying towards her husband. “I went home to collect one or two things, as you know, only to see this carriage appear! Within it were Lord and Lady Cuthbert, who were desperate to speak to me.”

  “I see,” James said, blinking rapidly in confusion as he gestured for Lord Cuthbert to come further into the room. He watched as the gentleman embraced his daughter—the first sign of emotion he had seen from the man. Lady Cuthbert, pulling out a handkerchief from her sleeve, sat down beside her daughter whilst Lord Ancrum invited Lord Cuthbert to sit where he himself had been seated only a few minutes earlier.

  “Goodness,” he breathed as Lady Ancrum shook her head, clearly as confused as he. “This is quite extraordinary.”

  “And who is that?” Lady Ancrum asked, her voice filling the room as Mr. Statton seemed to shrink back in his chair, no longer the picture of arrogance but one of fear and dread. “And why is he tied so?”

  Before James could answer, Lady Cuthbert rose to her feet and walked, somewhat unsteadily, towards Mr. Statton. She looked down at him for a long moment, her whole frame tense. And then, without warning, she reached out and slapped him hard, her free hand balling into a fist.

  “How dare you?” she hissed as Lord Cuthbert rose to take his wife back to her seat. “How dare you tell us our daughter was dead?”

  “Dead?” James repeated, just as Henrietta said the very same. He saw his betrothed look at him, her eyes wide, and felt himself grow a little weak with all that had gone on. “I do not understand.”

  Oliver cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention as James came to stand beside Henrietta on her other side.

  “Mayhap we should allow Lord and Lady Cuthbert to explain,” he said quietly, as a silence began to settle over room. “For I believe there is more to this story than we are aware.”

  Lady Cuthbert threw a glance towards her husband, who gave her a small but determined nod. Clearly ashamed, Lady Cuthbert dropped her head and took her daughter’s hand in hers.

  “It is all my doing,” she said sorrowfully, unable to even look into Henrietta’s face. “I was too afraid, Henrietta, dear. I was much too afraid that things would go awry and so I determined to enter into a scheme with Statton that would ensure you would marry as you were told.”

  James saw Henrietta whiten and moved closer so that he might put an arm around her shoulders. She jerked at his touch but looked up at him at once.

  “If you would explain, Lady Cuthbert, I think all might soon become clear,” he said, giving Henrietta a quick smile. “And from the beginning, if you might.”

  Lady Cuthbert nodded, whilst a small groan came from Mr. Statton which, thankfully, everybody ignored.

  “From the beginning,” she said, before taking a deep breath and starting to explain.

  13

  Holding tightly onto her mother’s hand, Henrietta waited for her to begin. Her heart was beating so quickly that she felt a little dizzy, grateful for Lord Carrick’s supporting hand on her shoulder.

  “Mr. Statton and I decided that you and he would be very well suited,” Lady Cuthbert began quickly. “I wanted you to wed him very much, Henrietta, because I was afraid that someone might hear of what had occurred with Lord Kingsley and that all would be at an end.” She shook her head, clearly regretful. “Even though you reassured me that you would be quite all right and that you had learned from your mistake, I could not bring myself to believe it. Therefore, I spoke to Mr. Statton and we agreed that he would seek to court you.”

  “But I refused to even consider him,” Henrietta interjected, seeing her mother quickly lift her head to glance at Mr. Statton. “Believe me, Mama, there are things about Statton that you do not know and that, should you become aware of them, would make you quite determined to set our family away from him.”

  Lady Cuthbert nodded slowly, her hand tightening in Henrietta’s. “I am aware of that now, of course,” she said hoarsely. “For if a gentleman can tell such an untruth…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “But I am speaking much too quickly.”

  Lord Carrick cleared his throat. “You were speaking of the agreement between yourself and Mr. Statton.”

  “I knew of it also,” Lord Cuthbert interrupted, clearly unwilling to allow his wife to take all of the blame. “It had my blessing.”

  Henrietta glanced at her father, knowing him to be a man of few words but being glad also of his willingness to admit to such a fault.

  “Mr. Statton was to come to London to court you, Henrietta,” Lady Cuthbert explained shakily. “But it became evident, within a day or so, that you would not allow him near you. Being as determined as I was that such a match should go ahead, Statton made a suggestion that I could not refuse.”

  Feeling Lord Carrick’s hand tighten on her shoulder, Henrietta felt herself grow tense as her mother took a long breath, her eyes closing as she sought to explain herself. “He was to elope with you.”

  Henrietta caught her breath, seeing her mother’s guilt etched into her face as she looked across at Henrietta.

  “I did not know the details of his intentions, only that he was to ensure that you and he would be in Scotland and would marry over the anvil. He solemnly swore he would not hurt you, Henrietta and, mayhap in foolishness, I believed him.”

  “So the night that you went back to play cards, you knew very well that Mr. Statton intended to ensure that I would be gone from the house by the time you returned,” Henrietta said slowly, recalling how the servants had seemed to vanish from the house when she had received the note. “You told the staff that—”

  “They were to allow Mr. Statton in and were not to prevent what was to follow,” Lady Cuthbert confessed sorrowfully. “I believe he entered, and was allowed in by the butler. I do not know what followed, for when I returned, you were gone.” She lifted one shoulder and turned her head away from Henrietta, clearly ashamed. “I thought all had gone well and that you were safely away to Scotland. I expected to hear from Statton very soon once I returned to the estate.”

  “And so you returned home the following day,” Lord Carrick interrupted, looking down at Lady Cuthbert. “There was no longer any reason for you to remain in London.”

  Lady Cuthbert dared a glance up toward Lord Carrick, clearly hearing the anger in his voice and accepting it as best she could. “Indeed,” she admitted, so quietly that Henrietta had to strain to hear her. “I met with some acquaintances before I left, to ensure that they knew that my daughter was to be married. I told them that she had returned home to prepare so that she might be married from there.” She shook her head. “Unfortunately, Lady Millington made the somewhat pertinent suggestion that my daughter had been left to travel alone and she hoped the gentleman in question was not too eager to wed, else he might catch up with her carriage and run away with her!” Sighing heavily, Lady Cuthbert took Henrietta’s hand in both of her own. “It was a foolishness for me to not have thought of such a thing before, but in my eagerness to have you married and settled, I did not think of it.”

  Henrietta’s throat began to ache as sadness overtook her, covering her with a cloud. She had always known that her mother had not trusted her, for even though Henrietta had told her everything about Lord Kingsley and Lady Starling, her mother had not seen it as an error in judgment or mere mistake that would never be repeated. She had seen it as a flaw in Henrietta’s character, thinking that she would behave in much the same way again, given the chance. Despite Henrietta’s repeated assurances that she would not behave so and that she had been thoroughly ashamed of her own foolishness, her mother had not accepted it. Therefore, that fear had led to desperation and an action that had brought with it a good deal of trouble.

  “Might I ask, Lady Cuthbert, Lord Cuthbert,” Lord Ancrum gestured towards Mr. Statton, “was there some encouragement for
Mr. Statton to marry Miss Preston? Some enticement?” Seeing his wife’s warning look, he gave a self-conscious smile. “That is not to say that Miss Preston is not entirely lovely without an enticement or the like, but it appears that if she was set against a fellow, then it would take a good deal of determination on the part of the gentleman to continue to pursue the lady.”

  Henrietta looked from her father to her mother and then back again. Both of them were looking at each other without a single word being spoken.

  “I have my dowry,” she said slowly, still continuing to look from one to the other. “Is that what you offered him, Mama? I did not think that it would be—”

  “You were to have an increase in your dowry,” Lord Cuthbert interrupted, his expression dark and his face gaunt. “I agreed to this as I knew that Statton could do with a little extra income. That was all it was to be.”

  Lady Cuthbert shook her head and leaned closer to Henrietta, her eyes searching her face. “It was to be substantial,” she admitted, making Henrietta close her eyes tightly. “Your father offered a good deal more in order to secure the match.”

  “And what of the rubies?” Lord Carrick asked as Henrietta groped for his hand, which was resting on her shoulder. She needed the strength of his grip so that she might feel centered in the midst of a confusing whirlwind. “Why were they to be taken?”

  Silence met his question. Henrietta opened her eyes to see the lady looking up at Henrietta’s betrothed with a look of great confusion in her expression.

  “You do not know about the rubies, Mama,” she said softly, seeing Lady Cuthbert dropping her gaze to Mr. Statton before turning back to Henrietta. “Where do you think they are at present?”

  Lady Cuthbert looked about her as though that might provide the answer. “They are—they are in my bedchamber in our townhouse,” she said eventually. “They are secured in that very same place where I have always kept them.”