A Graceful Swan for the Fearless Marquess: A Clean & Sweet Regency Historical Romance

by Fanny Finch

  “Well, it is just as well. Now that we have everything we need, and we know the wedding is under false pretense, we can reveal all that we need to on that day. It’s perfect! Everyone would be there for the wedding. They would all be humiliated and unable to run away.”

  “Would they now? Tell me, what have we got?” Sebastian asked.

  “Everything!” Ramsey chimed. “On my end, I found our golden goose. The investigator whom Hanson hired. It would appear he has been in hiding since Hanson’s death, afraid for his own life. He found me out, during the week. Apparently, he had gotten wind of the fact that we are trying to bring this men down. Sadly, I am a difficult man to catch. He has helped us with the remaining pieces of the puzzle. He saw it all happen- Hanson’s death.”

  This time, even Sebastian gasped. He took his seat then, knowing he needed to sit down for this.

  “He is willing to testify, now that he knows we too have powerful people behind us. Hanson was as we know, investigating them. It started with noticing irregularities in ledgers. And then gold mining. Hanson was never let into that from the start. Oh no. He had found out on his own and that had broken the straw. He had been livid that Rothwell would be so despicable. So, he confronted Rothwell. Here, in this study. The crossbow had been involved. It had been a little intense and there had been more than a few witnesses. Rothwell had denied it all, of course. However, he had known that he could not let Hanson walk freely now. But… if Hanson ended up dead...”

  “He would naturally be the first suspect,” Sebastian finished.

  “Precisely. So, he sends someone to choke Hanson here in his study, with a kerchief supposedly poisoned- or not. What he did not know was that our investigator had been coming to see Hanson for they had a meeting. But he had heard muffled sounds and stopped at the door. Saw it all happen and afraid for his life, disappeared into thin air.”

  “No wonder… Walsh… he had mentioned Hanson choking. Of course, because that was how they had killed him. We had believed it was simply his heart, but Walsh had known better.”

  “Yes. But wait, there’s more… the investigator said he believed whatever evidence Hanson had lying around would have been destroyed. To be fair, they never got as far as we did. However, Hanson kept a journal that contained all his thoughts. It was kept in a secret place.”

  “The journal must be somewhere around. But we have searched everywhere.”

  “Have you? Remember, hiding in plain sight. What did Hanson treasure most?”

  Sebastian thought long and hard. Funnily, all that came to mind was the crossbow. It had to be involved some how.

  Unless one of them had wished to shoot the other, how did the cross bow get into the quarrel? And when he had been given…

  Yes! That was it! He had noticed a jewel missing! The same jewel that now graced Rothwell’s quill. No wonder it had appeared very familiar.

  Rothwell had probably taken the crossbow and kept the jewel for keeps. It meant the crossbow had meant something or perhaps… led somewhere…

  Sebastian looked up to where Hanson used to keep the crossbow and he saw it then.

  Of course. Oh but of course! Hidden in plain sight!

  He stood up to walk towards the wall where the crossbow used to hang. He saw it then. The secret safe they had been looking for.

  The wall had been carved to create a hole… not big, but enough for a small book to fit in. Sebastian lifted his hands and pushed and it came out. Just like that. A single man wooden drawer, containing a book that looked very much like a journal and of course, other documents. A quick look through told him what it was.

  He turned to his guest.

  “It would appear that not all the evidence was destroyed. I believe whatever more we need to condemn this men beyond reasonable doubt is all here. Hanson’s own account, and letters… letters of threats from Rothwell and Walsh. The crossbow must have kept this safe hidden.”

  “Perhaps, Rothwell thought it was a key.”

  “He did not know that it was simply a veil. We have him now. He cannot escape this.”

  “Great news! I would say this has all come together so well, has it not? I have news too. From the messenger sent to Widmore. It was hard, but he managed to find the truth. There was a young man. He remembered a man coming to the church for confessions. The man who had come in for confessions, confessed to killing a man, making it look like a robbery, and taking his wife and properties for himself. Now, the priest would have been bound not to tell this truth to anyone else. Not to mention, the priest is now dead. Only, on that day, the priest had been away. So, a page boy had been playing priest in the confession box. When he heard this confession, he had been so shaken, he had snuck out to catch a glimpse of the man as he left the church. He never spoke a word of it to anyone. There was no use of any recent deaths around Widmore, so he assumed the man had come from another village. The lad is all grown up now and goes by the name Bradley. He too is willing to testify. Having a messenger from the crown helped him make that decision. They have returned but like the investigator, are being kept safe until it is time. We are certain that man and Rothwell are one and the same. He has confirmed it by himself, at an orchestrated sighting, yesterday at Grovesnor Square.”

  It all sounded easy, too easy, but Sebastian could not deny that all of it had come together so well, and he was glad. Perhaps, they had God on their side.

  “Thank you, Sam. You have proven very valuable. Who would have thought that I would find such great friends in unlikely places? Thank you, everyone. Now that it is all almost over, we must keep ourselves safe until Saturday. Sam?”

  “A letter from the crown has just arrived this morning. We have their full support. Efforts are underway to cease the mine, thanks to the map you recovered. The workers will be arrested and questioned. They too shall testify.”

  Sebastian nodded. He was happy. So happy that this was all finally coming to an end.

  “Ramsey?”

  “The authorities are ready. They wait only for our word.”

  “Very well then… now, all we have to do is wait.”

  “Well, I know no one asked but Evelyn is going to put herself to use. I am certain that Liliana would be present at the wedding, only as Nora. They cannot keep her away from her sister’s wedding. It would arouse suspicion. While everything goes awry, I shall take her to a safe place and keep her there. I would not put it past these men to grow desperate and try to use her to get away. They know she is your weakness. They have been trying to use her in her sister’s stead. Desperate men do not have the patience for such civility.”

  The happiness Sebastian had been feeling a while ago quickly turned sour. He had not considered that. They were right. This could go wrong very quickly and none of them were safe. Especially Liliana.

  “You are right, Evelyn. It is just as well then. Thank you. You shall keep her safe until the madness is over.”

  “Yes, I shall.”

  Sebastian nodded. Hands-on his waist, he took a very deep breath. This was it. The end was here.

  Chapter 36

  The wedding day could not have come any quicker for Sebastian. He truly could not wait for it all to be over.

  It was a beautiful day, truly. The parish had been lovely decorated. The church, filled with guests who had come either for himself and his parents, or for Lord Rothwell.

  Anyone who was anyone in London was present. After all, this was a union between two great houses- or so they thought.

  Sebastian stood, his nerves threatening to get the best of him as he anticipated what was to come. It seemed like they had been waiting forever and it was taking great will to keep himself from tapping his feet.

  His palms grew sweaty and he resisted the urge to rub them against his suit. What people did not know was that in the crowd, they were constables, ready to make an immediate arrest as soon as things went wrong.

  Where were they? Why were they taking so long?

  He caught his mother’s eye
in the crowd and she was smiling at him. Urging him to breathe. Brides always take their time, she had said.

  Oh… they were so clueless. He wondered. Wondered how he had been able to keep all of these away from them for so long. Oh, she would be so heartbroken to hear of her cousin’s betrayal, but Rothwell would be exposed for the filth he was.

  As though he had summoned her with his thoughts, the door comes open and the bridal march begins.

  Liliana steps in first, as Nora, the bridesmaid. But he knew, he knew this was his Liliana. He tried to catch her eyes but she kept her face lowered. The hat she wore did not help either.

  Soon, she took her place in front of him, and he tried to catch her gaze, to let her know that he had something planned, and all would turn out fine. To let her know that he knew, but she avoided his gaze still.

  It broke his heart.

  Oh well, his bride was beginning to walk down the aisle and he had to look at her. It would be expected.

  He turned then… wishing it was truly Liliana walking down. Oh, she would have looked so beautiful. So beautiful. He sighed, reminded of the famous bible story.

  Oh, how Jacob must have felt to learn of the deceit. Thank God he knew before hand.

  His supposed bride was finally by his side, and the priest began the solemnization.

  Nora too would not look at him. Whence was this shyness from?

  “Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to celebrate the joining together in holy matrimony…”

  Sebastian did not care to listen to the words. He was simply waiting for the perfect time, and it came soon.

  “Do you, Sebastian Leighton, take this lady, Liliana Swan to be your wedded wife, to have and to hold, to cherish, in plenty and less, in illness and health, till death, do you part?”

  This was it. Sebastian looked around, sharing nods with all the men they had in the crowd. All was in place. All was in order.

  “No, I do not.”

  Gasps erupted from the crowd. Even the priest was not left out.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I do not take this woman to be my wife. I cannot. For she is not Liliana Swan. This is Nora Swan! I have been deceived!”

  More gasps from the crowd but before all would go to hell, the constables were on their feet, ceasing all the culprits in the crowd.

  Just then, the woman in front of him threw her veil open and looked up at him.

  Sebastian was instantly stunned for he saw it then and knew without a doubt that this was Liliana. His Liliana.

  “Liliana?”

  “Yes! It is I! father had us switched again this morning. He suspected something would go wrong. I don’t know what he has planned…”

  “Never worry, Liliana. He doesn’t know what we have planned either.”

  There was a gunshot then and the crowd went into a mad frenzy. They all went to the ground as another shot was heard. It was over as soon as it began. Sebastian knew what that had been, a distraction. Enough to shake the crowd.

  “We got him, we got the shooter!”

  As he recovered, he saw that Liliana was no longer on the altar, but neither was Nora.

  Oh God! Where was she? He could only hope that Evelyn has realized who was who and saved the right girl!

  He rose to his feet then and to his great relief, he saw that the constables had not let go of all the culprits they had arrested, Rothwell included. The distraction had only done so little.

  “We have got the shooter!” Someone called from the crowd. They all turned to see who it was.

  Sebastian rolled his eyes, not surprised in one bit. Of course, Walsh. He had decided to sacrifice himself, had he not? It was just as well. They were all going to go down, anyway.

  “Can someone please tell me, what is going on here?”

  That was his father, visibly shaking, and holding on to his dear wife.

  “I would love to know too!” Rothwell roared. “What is this madness?”

  Oh, Sebastian was more than too happy to tell him. Climbing down the altar, he walked right to the man who was now held in cuffs.

  “Lord Rothwell, in the name of the crown, you have been found guilty of quite a number of crimes. Theft. Fraud. Swindling. Mining a national gold reserve and keeping the profits for yourself, as well as the murder of two men. Lord Swan and Lord Hanson Leighton.”

  What was left of the crowd- which was a lot, broke into gasps and murmurs yet again.

  Lord Rothwell looked Sebastian in the eye, his anger flashing red flames.

  “This is preposterous! I have done no such thing! I am an upright man! I am innocent!”

  “The evidence found against you plead otherwise. Oh, might I also add kidnapping and imposing? You kept lady Liliana locked up in her chamber and had her twin sister pretend to be her, drugged me and led everyone to believe that I offered a proposal, drunken. All to get me to get married to Lady Liliana and quickly at that. God knows for what reason! The game is over, Rothwell. Frankly, I wonder how you have managed to win so far. You are not quite as good at playing as you have led yourself to believe. You could not listen to your own advice. You underestimated me, Rothwell. Finally, you have lost. You shall pay for all your crimes this time. I promise you.”

  Rothwell must have known this was truly the end, for he suddenly looked defeated. Very defeated.

  “I did what I had to do, I did! I had nothing! Nothing! Do you know how many people rise from being the lowly baron with no inheritance to what I am now? Not many! If it was so easy, there would not be so many poor lords, in debts. I did all of these! I made myself!”

  “Yes. By putting others down, sadly. Take him away.”

  “No! No, you can’t! You see, I have Liliana and I am going to hurt her if you do not let me go! I knew you would try something, so I had them switched up and cause a distraction. Of course, you would have taken Nora in her stead… you have kept the wrong girl safe, Longcross. I simply needed the distraction for that.”

  Just then, Evelyn and Sam joined the church with the twins by their sides. And other man, ceased by the constables.

  What was left of the fear Sebastian nursed quickly faded away. A full-fledged grin spread across his face.

  “It would appear that all your plans have failed, Rothwell. The two girls are safe and whether you realize it or not, you have just admitted to all the crimes you have been accused of. No more is needed. Take him away.”

  Ramsey, Evelyn, Sam, Liliana and his parents came to stand beside him as they took all the men away. All six of them. No one would be spared. No not one.

  “Sebastian… I still do not understand all of these. Would you mind telling me?”

  “Of course, mother. Not here, though. Let’s go home.”

  And so, they all did.

  _

  They arrived at the Leighton’s townhouse all in one piece. Everyone who mattered gathered in the drawing-room. There, Sebastian told his parents everything.

  How it all began and how he discovered the truth.

  Liliana also shared her own story. The confessions Rothwell had made to her.

  There was so much tears. Even Rothwell was not spared.

  Evelyn explained that she had suspected Liliana was indeed, the bride. So, she had kept her eyes on her, sending Sam after the man that had taken Liliana, and going after Nora, herself, for she feared the girl would do something silly.

  Nora, learning the truth, confessed what she knew of Rothwell’s crimes. She admitted that indeed, she had known of Rothwell’s crimes, but she had not known that he was also a murderer and the one who had had her father killed.

  She cried the most, hurt, betrayed, and devastated to learn that she had been lied to and used as a pawn for that man.

  Ashamed, she offered sincere apologies to her sister who forgave her immediately, accepting her with opened arms.

  Sebastian’s mother was just as devastated to learn that her cousin had killed her son, and his father? He seemed to be taking it bett
er than the rest of them but Sebastian could tell that he was shocked.

  It was indeed a trying day for all of them but they all parted, knowing that there was much left to be done. Court hearings would follow and the judge would finally decide what sentence would befit those men, after carefully considering all the evidence.

  In the mean time, his mother suggested that the girls be brought to live with them in their house. They were happy to agree.

  Ramsey promised to return and Sam and Evelyn promised to visit often.

  It was as the sun set, that Sebastian finally had some time alone with Liliana. He found her in the garden, looking up at the skies.