The Cautious Maiden

by Dawn Crandall

  “He’s at his family’s offices…at Everstone Square.”

  “Good, it isn’t far; I’ve been past it before. We can send a note before us by way of my servant, Thomas, and we’ll walk.” She held out the pencil and paper for me. “Now, you write your message and Thomas will be sure it gets there in a hurry.”

  “Mrs. Duncan, I don’t know what I’d have done without you!” Before taking the items from her, I quickly hugged the dear lady, hoping that whatever we could do in what time we had would be enough, and that Rowen could be stopped. For if he wasn’t stopped, and he figured out our plan, I was convinced that he would only make things worse for all of us in the long run. But it was a chance I needed to take.

  And Cal! I wish he’d told me he knew what Rowen Steele was up to, and my poor aunt and cousin; they’d likely been avoiding me to protect me! And I’d had such awful thoughts regarding them all those weeks!

  “I can’t thank you enough for bringing up my cousin to me! I never would have guessed he knew a thing!”

  “From my understanding, he’s an undercover detective. I guess you didn’t know?”

  “I’ve only met him twice, but that does explain so much!”

  Turning back to the table with the pencil and paper, I sat down to write:

  Dearest Vance,

  Rowen Steele found me in the garden of Everthorne this mid-morning—he shot Brubaker, and Mrs. Jeffries isn’t to be trusted! He’s taken me to a boarding house called The Olde Ram where a Mrs. Duncan has taken pity on me and let me write to you in hope that you’ll be able to help me. We don’t know what else to do but to head toward Everstone Square on foot. He isn’t here now, but he’s threatened me by gunpoint and with threats to harm you and your family. He plans to take me to Bangor by train this afternoon. My cousin Cal can help, that’s who warned Mrs. Duncan. Please forgive me for last night. I’m sorry and I love you.

  Violet

  My last glimpse of Vance as I’d slammed my bedroom door flashed vividly through my mind. I’d been so mean, so heartless. I’d been hurt, and instead of patiently working out my feelings and forgiving him, I’d only wanted to hurt him in return—and the wounded look on his face had told me I’d definitely succeeded.

  What would he think when he received the message?

  I folded the paper, then wrote the directions to both Everstone Square and Everthorne upon it, and let Mrs. Duncan seal it with a glob of hot red wax.

  “Please tell your messenger to only place the missive into Vance’s hands.”

  “I’ll tell him; and you can trust my Thomas. He’ll reach your husband as quickly as he can, going to Everstone Square first and then to Everthorne only if he doesn’t find him there first.” She made for the back door. “Well, come with me—being here isn’t safe.”

  I followed her out, and we hurried to the barn where she immediately found her servant, Thomas, and gave him my message to Vance. He’d had his horse ready for some other errand, and was galloping down the street within minutes of speaking with us.

  As Mrs. Duncan and I circled around the barn and onto the street, Rowen Steele’s surrey drove up, and there were two young women sitting on the open bench seat behind him. He stopped it in a hurry and hopped off. “Dear wife, how nice of you to meet me—couldn’t wait to see me again, could you?”

  He placed his hand in the pocket with his gun, a silent, yet obvious, threat to me, as he reached out to me with his other arm and half-hugged me. I glanced at Mrs. Duncan who looked like she didn’t know what to do, and then to the two young women in the surrey.

  “These are the young ladies I’ve told you all about, darling, who we’ll be escorting to Bangor. They’ve been hired to work at The Grand Hotel.” He walked me closer to the surrey and let go of me only to then help them down. Really they weren’t much more than girls, perhaps seventeen or eighteen years old. “Miss Philomena Lassiter and Miss Sadie Martindale. This is my wife, Violet Steele.”

  They each shook my hand accordingly, and my mind buzzed with questions.

  What was he up to? But then suddenly, I had an overwhelming feeling that I knew. It was how my own brother had tricked desperate girls looking for respectable work to come to The Hawthorne Inn. He would have them recruited to work at a “hotel”, pay for their voyage up from wherever they were from, and then when he’d met them at the train station in Severville…. there was no escaping him.

  I still felt sick when I remembered finding out exactly what he’d done; what kind of monster he’d become: the same kind of awful man Rowen Steele was.

  It finally dawned on me why he’d been so set on making everything about our “marriage” and our trip to Bangor seem so reputable. It needed to seem that way if he was going to convince these girls to come up with us. And he must have had to pull everything together quickly since discovering my newly married state from Mrs. Jeffries that morning.

  I felt the burden of these two hapless girls rest on my shoulders. I couldn’t just try to escape and chance leaving these girls with Rowen.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lassiter; Miss Martindale,” I said, playing along. “Won’t you come inside? We can have some tea with the owner of The Olde Ram, Mrs. Duncan,” I added quickly and then turned to Rowen. “We have a little time for that, don’t we?”

  He smiled sheepishly and removed his hand from his pocket. “Well, Miss Lassiter and Miss Martindale can have tea with Mrs. Duncan, but I would prefer to have your help upstairs, Violet.”

  Mrs. Duncan still looked worried, her arms crossed at her chest, grasping her apron.

  “Well, gather your bags, ladies, and let’s go inside,” I insisted, trying to reassure Mrs. Duncan with my forced smile. I led the way toward the front of the boarding house. “What time is our train leaving again?” I purposefully wouldn’t use Rowen’s name—I just couldn’t bare letting him have the satisfaction of thinking he’d won me over in any way.

  Vance would come soon—I was sure of it. He had to.

  “I’d like for us to make the one o’clock train, but it’s already getting close.” With his free hand, he pulled out his pocket watch and popped it open. “It’s already noon. We’ll need to hurry.”

  Closing it, and stuffing it back into his pocket, he followed behind Miss Lassiter and Miss Martindale into the boarding house.

  Once in the front room, I had the girls take a seat. I studied them both for a moment; they were both pretty. Beautiful, really.

  As he’d come in the door last, Rowen took a hold of my hand and corralled me toward the foot of the stairs. “We’ll be right down,” he said as he stepped forward, making me take the first few stairs up. “Enjoy your tea.”

  He walked up the stairs close behind me, one hand again in his pocket with the gun and the other now on the railing, blocking me from trying to go back down. After we were about halfway up, Mrs. Duncan followed us.

  “I wanted to ask you something, Mr. Steele, before you left. Since you’re in such a hurry, I hope you don’t mind if I speak to you as you pack.”

  “I suppose you can, but we don’t have much time,” he answered impatiently as we made it to head of the stairs. “What is it?”

  “Since you seem to have connections with the hotel side of things in Bangor, I wanted to know if you knew anything about the need for boarding houses—I know the town is booming and that there are a lot of lumberjacks passing through looking for work, possibly looking for a place to stay—”

  Rowen forced me toward the first room to our left, unlocked it and opened the door. He then turned around to speak to Mrs. Duncan. “Actually I don’t have much knowledge of the hotel situation in Bangor; though I do know plenty about the lumberjacks and what they’re looking for.”

  I could tell what Mrs. Duncan was trying to do, keeping me from having to be alone with him for as long as she could. But I could also tell that Rowen wasn’t going to put up with her meddling.

  “I have a sister who had an inn that burned down last summer, and
she still hasn’t figured out what to do.”

  “I’m sure Bangor would be happy to have another inn or boarding house.” Rowen blocked the door, standing between Mrs. Duncan and I; his height and wide shoulders completely blocked her from my view. “Now, I’d like to have some private words with my wife while we pack, if you don’t mind. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Can you send her down soon, at least, so she can join the young ladies for tea before you all have to run to catch the train?”

  “Sure, we’ll see about that, Mrs. Duncan.” He slowly closed the door in her face, despite the fact that she’d practically been standing in the doorway. Then he locked it and turned around to face me with a maniacal grin at his lips. “You spoke to her, didn’t you? What all did you tell her, exactly?”

  I couldn’t answer. Upon being pushed into the small bedroom, I was already standing against the footboard of the bed, forcing myself to breathe slowly.

  “You don’t want to tell me? That’s all right. It doesn’t matter anyhow, I suppose. She seems to be just as manageable as you’ve been; and I’m sure I’ll be able to find something on her good-for-nothing husband, Rufus, that will keep her quiet.”

  I wanted so badly to tell him that he’d already lost—that Vance and Cal would be there soon because of the message I’d sent, and that they would rescue me.

  Rowen slouched out of his jacket, pulling his pistol from his pocket as he did so. Keeping the gun pointed at me, he then produced a small folded piece of paper with a red wax seal and held it up to me. “Did you happen to lose something?”

  27

  Unravelled

  “I shall do one thing in this life—one thing certain—

  that is, love you, and long for you, and keep wanting you till I die.”

  —Thomas Hardy, Far from the Maddening Crowd

  How did you—?” I couldn’t finish the question, for I could suddenly hardly breathe. All the hope I’d had of Vance coming to my rescue was gone. I didn’t even truly care how it had come about. I just wanted to get away. And I couldn’t.

  Although I felt completely disheartened by the sight of the intercepted message, I was glad that at least Rowen hadn’t read it and known that Cal had double-crossed him. Not that it likely mattered now. No matter what Cal had been doing on my behalf without my knowledge, it seemed I’d ruined his plans.

  Rowen held the unopened note in my face. “You might not have any experience with doing so, but it’s really not that hard to buy the loyalty of others. You just have to offer them enough incentive. Everyone has their price, after all.” He stepped closer, pushed the end of his gun into my ribs and handed the note to me. “I’ll let you have this as a memento; something to remind you of just how unstoppable I am.”

  I remembered my written words, and how Vance would likely now always remember me as the wife who’d rejected him and then disappeared.

  Would he arrive home soon to find Brubaker shot and bleeding and perhaps dead, and me missing? What would he think happened? Would Mrs. Jeffries lie or had she already run off? He would likely suspect Rowen, but how would he ever find me in time? Was he still at Everstone Square completely ignorant of any trouble?

  Boarding the one o’clock to Bangor with Miss Martindale and Miss Lassiter began to seem inevitable.

  Rowen moved a little closer, and peered down at me. “You will be mine, and you will like it. If someone like Vance Everstone can make you want to marry him, then it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

  “Vance is nothing like you. He’s one of the most admirable gentlemen I’ve ever met.”

  His brown eyes narrowed and a grin crept onto his lips. “Well, if that’s what he’s convinced you of, that’s a part I, too, enjoy playing, if you haven’t noticed.” And then suddenly his smile was gone, replaced by a quick, angry growl. “We simply don’t have time for everything I’d like to do—blast those girls downstairs!”

  He cupped his big, calloused hand to my cheek, and a pitiful sound escaped my throat. I stared at the wood floor.

  “I do wish Mrs. Jeffries had told me you were at Everthorne last night, it would have saved so much trouble for today.”

  “Don’t you need to pack?” I practically whimpered. I didn’t look around, but I’d seen plenty of the mess in the room upon being forced to enter.

  “Unfortunately, yes.” He let go of me harshly and stepped across the room.

  I sat on the bed with an inward sigh and watched him slip his gun into a holster tucked at the back of his trousers. Then he opened a drawer to a dresser and tossed its contents onto the bed behind me. He bent forward to grab a suitcase and a few odds and ends from the floor and threw them on the bed as well. While he worked at packing, I closed my eyes, rested my arm on the tall footboard and bowed my head into the crease of my elbow.

  The only thing I could think to do was grasp the stolen missive in my clasped hand and pray. God, please help us! I don’t know what else to pray besides—please save us from this awful man’s plans. Please return me safely to Vance.

  Rowen grabbed my arm, and pulled me to my feet. Wrapping a firm arm around me, he pressed his hand into my back, pushing me against him. Bringing his face down to mine, he whispered, “Now remember, darling, you love me. Let’s don’t let the girls downstairs think anything differently—”

  A loud crack interrupted his sentence, and I turned toward the door. Another crack, and splinters flew off the doorframe.

  Rowen let go of me, reached around his back and pulled his gun from the holster. He took a shot at the door.

  “Violet? Are you in there?” a familiar voice shouted from the hall.

  “Vance!” I screamed.

  With one more crack to the door, it burst open. Vance stepped in first, his eyes blazing with determination and fury. He had a gun drawn, aimed at my captor. And my cousin Cal was right behind him with a gun drawn, as well.

  I dropped to the floor and crawled away from Rowen’s reach for fear of his grabbing me and holding me hostage. But I couldn’t go far, only around to the side of the bed where I was prevented from seeing anything that was going on. Realizing I still held the note I’d earlier written for Vance in my hand, I quickly stowed it away into the hidden pocket of my gown.

  “Rowen, put your gun down,” I heard Vance say slowly, his voice calm, yet harsh and angry. “Toss it on the bed.”

  “What are you doing here?” Rowen asked, visibly unnerved at seeing Cal with Vance.

  “I’m here to arrest you,” Cal answered from the doorway. “For the murder of Harry Brubaker, for kidnapping my cousin Violet, and for the coercion of the two young ladies downstairs.”

  “What do you mean? What are you, the police?” Rowen asked.

  I was quite certain Rowen still had his gun aimed at them.

  “As a matter of fact, I am,” Cal answered.

  Still hiding behind the bed, I heard a scuffle of feet on the wood floor, and I had a feeling it was Rowen launching himself at Vance. But then it seemed all three of them were wrestling each other. I stayed hidden on the floor behind the bed praying Rowen would be defeated.

  Suddenly a gunshot echoed through the room, another one quickly after it, and then the unmistakable sound of glass shattering and a loud cry, followed by a thud.

  I peeked over the edge of the bed to see that the window had indeed been broken through, and that Vance and Cal were still both in the room. Rowen Steele was nowhere to be seen.

  “No, go to her. Violet needs you—” I heard Cal mutter.

  Before I knew it, Vance was around the bed, his knees hitting the wood floor beside me. “Violet, you’re safe now.” His arms came around me and held me tight, stroking my hair, his cheek pressed to mine. “I’m so sorry, Violet. I am so sorry for leaving you alone today, for lying to you yesterday.”

  I couldn’t utter a word, and instead simply put one arm around my husband and buried my face into his shoulder. I wanted to weep, but the tears wouldn’t come. How was he there? Was he real
? I could hardly think beyond the fact that his arms felt real around me. I leaned in heavily against his chest, savoring his presence. I’d been so close to never seeing him again, so close to having been whisked away by that vile man….

  “He’s dead, Violet.”

  Relief washed over me, and I began to tremble uncontrollably.

  Vance turned me to face him and looked me in the eyes. “There’s no more need to fear.”

  For as much as I wanted to hear those words, I was too shocked by everything that had just happened. I could only crash against his chest, weeping, grateful that Vance was there holding me again. As I did so, a cloud seemed to lift from me, creating an overwhelming sense of clarity. All that had really just happened, and I was now free when I’d been so sure I never would be. “How are you here?”

  “We’ll get to all that later, right now we need to attend to your cousin. He’s been shot.”

  “Oh, is he—?”

  “No need to worry, Violet,” Cal groaned from the floor on the other side of the bed.

  Vance and I stood together and found Cal leaned against the wall, pressing a wadded up blanket to the side of his thigh.

  “It’s just a deep graze. All the blood makes it seem worse than it is,” Cal insisted, his face pale and contorted from pain.

  Vance immediately stooped to gather Cal from the floor and laid him on the bed. “Violet, please go get Mrs. Duncan, he needs a doctor.” He ripped Cal’s trousers all the way up to his thigh, and I turned away at the sight of the bloody wound.

  At the same time, the door to the hall opened and Mrs. Duncan stood staring in, Miss Martindale and Miss Lassiter behind her.

  “We heard what happened. I went out back to be sure he was dead, and he most certainly is.” Mrs. Duncan entered the room, gave me a hurried hug. “I tried my best to stay with you, Violet. I’m sorry I failed. I hope he didn’t hurt—”