A Sense of Purpose

by Soliman, Wendy

  ‘What the devil?’ Charlie asked, looking as panicked as Luke felt.

  They strode into the hall and heard voices coming from the drawing room.

  ‘That’s Flora,’ Luke said, hearing her ask why Matthew had murdered Defoe. Oh, Flora! He held Rom’s collar to prevent him from leaping to the rescue. For now.

  Curious to see how Matthew responded, Luke hesitated for a moment too long. He heard a slap, then Flora’s scream. With murder running through his veins, Luke barged into the room. He found a bloodied Matthew standing over the prostrate form of Flora while Miranda huddled in a chair trembling, scared witness. Matthew’s sneering expression turned to horror when he looked up and saw Luke and Charlie.

  ‘What the hell…’

  Luke’s fist connecting with his face prevented Matthew from completing his sentence. He crumpled to the floor as Rom growled and exposed his fangs. Luke ignored Matthew’s inert form and crouched beside Flora.

  ‘Are you badly hurt?’ he asked gently, smoothing tangled curls away from her face. ‘Can you move?’

  ‘Thank God you came,’ she replied in a whisper, pushing herself into a sitting position. ‘He was going to…’

  ‘Shush, it’s all right.’

  ‘Miranda?’ Flora asked, turning to look at the other girl.

  ‘I’m fine, thanks to you.’

  Luke swept Flora from the floor and placed her gently on the chair beside Miranda’s. Charlie fetched both ladies a small measure of brandy each from the decanter on the sideboard.

  ‘For the shock,’ he said, forcing a glass upon each of them.

  ‘Now then, what happened here?’ Luke asked.

  He listened as the story spilled out in disjointed bursts, first from Miranda and then Flora. He face had already swelled where Cooper struck it. Luke was required to quell the murderous rage that gripped him every time he observed the damage. Romulus stood over Matthew, still baring his teeth and growling. Luke would happily let the dog at him, but for the fact that he planned to use this opportunity to coerce a confession out of him and rid Miranda of the Coopers presence in her life once and for all.

  ‘Let me see if I have got this right,’ Luke said slowly, conscious of Rom giving a louder warning growl when Matthew sat up and clutched a handkerchief to his battered face. ‘Not so keen on a taste of your own medicine, are you, Cooper?’ he rasped. ‘I hope it hurts like hell, but that’s the least of your problems. I understand that you and Christina deliberately contrived to leave Miranda here unprotected so that if she failed to accept your proposal, you could force yourself upon her.’

  Charlie growled almost as loudly as Rom, but at a signal from Luke, remained otherwise silent.

  ‘But Flora arrived unexpectedly and…’ Luke glanced at Flora. ‘What did you hit him with?’ he asked, glancing at the dried blood on the back of Cooper’s head.

  Flora flashed a smile that clearly pained her sore face and picked up her stocking purse. Luke took it from her and was tempted to laugh aloud when he found it full of rocks. But there was nothing even remotely amusing about this situation, so he quelled the desire. If he and Charlie had not arrived when they had…

  ‘I miscalculated,’ Flora said, her hands trembling. ‘I thought he was out cold, so I turned my back on him to attend to Miranda, just for a moment. That was when he attacked me. He was going to…’ She swallowed. ‘Well…you know. But he admitted to Miranda that Philip masterminded Mr Defoe’s murder and Christina carried it out.’

  ‘Did you hear that confession, too?’

  When Flora reluctantly shook her head, instead of being disheartened, Luke felt admiration for her honesty. She could easily have claimed to have done so. Matthew had attacked her and it was only natural that she would be thirsting for revenge. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to tell an outright lie.

  ‘It seems to me, Cooper,’ Luke said, leaning casually against the door jamb with his arms folded across his chest, ‘that you have two choices. You can either take your chances with the local magistrate when you come before him accused of assaulting these two ladies, or you can save your own hide by telling us precisely how Defoe died, and at whose hands.’

  ‘Go to hell!’ Matthew sneered.

  ‘Good. I’m glad you have decided upon family loyalty. It’s tidier that way.’

  Matthew’s head snapped up. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You are going to gaol for a long time after what happened here this afternoon. I shall make sure of that. Attacking two innocent females with a view to robbing them of their virtue is an abhorrent crime. And since Christina left Miranda unchaperoned, I shall also ensure that she is deemed an unfit guardian.’ Flora smiled with satisfaction, then winced with the pain it caused to her damaged face. ‘Your opportunity to get your grubby hands on Miranda’s fortune is lost. I wonder how Philip will react when he realises his carefully laid and very patient plans have been scuppered thanks to your ineptitude. How much loyalty do you think he will show you then? He’s been supporting you all these years instead of making you work for a living.’ Luke shrugged. ‘Can’t see that situation enduring myself, but then it’s your choice.’

  Matthew opened his mouth, presumably to defend himself, and then closed it again without speaking. Even he must have realised his position was indefensible.

  ‘However, if you are willing to tell us exactly what happened to Defoe, who planned it and who carried out the crime, then I might be able to persuade these ladies to let you escape the wrath of the courts.’

  ‘You can hardly expect me to turn on my own family.’

  Luke shrugged. ‘As I have already made clear, it doesn’t matter to me one way or another. Miss Defoe will be saved from your family’s greedy manipulations and you will have the pleasure of calling a prison cell your home for an indefinite period.’

  Luke turned to wink at Flora as he gave Matthew time to mull the situation over. It didn’t take long for self-preservation to kick in.

  ‘I will not be charged with anything if I tell you what happened?’

  ‘That is up to the ladies to decide, and also depends upon whether you were a-party to murder.’

  Miranda nodded without hesitation. ‘He didn’t have a chance to hurt me, or do anything else, so I am comfortable with that decision. Provided I learn what really happened to my father.’

  ‘I am not badly hurt either,’ Flora said.

  Matthew grumbled and muttered, but eventually the story came spilling out. It was much as Luke and Flora had already surmised. Christina married Defoe for his money, then met Philip and they fell passionately in love with one another. The two of them devised the plan to do away with Defoe when a suitable opportunity presented itself. They figured that it would enable them to live in style and for Philip to honour his father’s deathbed wish by making a success of his failing business and reinstating the family’s good name.

  ‘It must have come as quite a shock when Christina didn’t inherit,’ Luke said.

  Matthew curled his upper lip. ‘You have no idea. I have never seen my brother half so angry. He ranted and raved for three whole days, then got roaring drunk. He seldom loses his temper, and almost never over-imbibes. It’s not his way. He prefers to mull a situation over, come up with a solution and bide his time until he can act it out.’

  ‘The outbreak of influenza was your opportunity,’ Charlie said, touching Miranda’s shoulder. ‘Christina fed arsenic to him.’

  ‘She did, slowly, making it seem like he’d reacted adversely to the influenza.’

  ‘Your brother Philip encouraged her?’ Luke asked.

  ‘Yes.’ He closed his eyes and groaned. ‘He supplied the arsenic, convinced that the old fool of a doctor we called in when it was too late for Defoe to be saved wouldn’t notice anything suspicious.’

  ‘Philip was determined to have his revenge,’ Luke said, disdainfully.

  ‘He was. As young men we heard constant laments from our father about the manner in which he’d been so unfairly
treated by Lord Felsham. He called in his loans when our export business underwent a lean spell, you see. And then…’

  Luke listened with half an ear to the man’s whining.

  ‘I didn’t especially want any part of his plans, but—’

  ‘But you were willing enough to live at Miranda’s expense,’ Charlie said in a mordent tone.

  ‘Yes, well—’

  ‘What about Theo?’ Miranda asked. ‘Was he part of this?’

  ‘No. He advised against getting caught up in a situation that wasn’t of our making. He felt convinced that no one cared about our father’s and grandfather’s failures. He said it was the here and now that mattered and that our father should accept the blame for his failures rather than expecting us to make amends for them.’

  ‘That’s the first sensible words I have heard spoken in this room,’ Luke muttered.

  ‘Philip flew into a rage whenever he spoke like that, which is why Theo is now trying to make his own way. He doesn’t know anything about Defoe’s death, and thinks it was from natural causes.’

  ‘Why now?’ Miranda asked, swallowing. ‘Why the almighty rush when you had waited for so long?’

  ‘Philip wanted us to remain abroad, where you wouldn’t be close to friends, until you agreed to marry me.’

  ‘But Emma’s marriage brought her home, against your wishes,’ Flora added. ‘You were starting to exert yourself, Miranda. That must have come as quite a blow to Philip’s plans.’

  Matthew nodded. ‘He didn’t like the fact that you were so intimate with the earl’s family. And then yesterday, you told us that Miss Daley would be returning permanently. Christina was furious. Something had to be done immediately. She knew that lady would stand guard over you night and day and the opportunity to persuade you to marry me would be lost.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have married you anyway, Matthew, no matter how persuasively you argued your cause.’

  ‘Yes, well, we shall never know now.’

  By the time they’d extracted all the information from Matthew that he possessed, the servants had returned from the fair. Luke sprang into action, sending a groom to fetch the local constable and sending someone else to Beranger Court with orders for one of his carriages to be summoned for the ladies. Flora was in no condition to drive the gig.

  Luke saw them safely on their way, escorted by a devoted Romulus, and assured them that he and Charlie would soon return too. Luke and his brother then got down to work. They followed Matthew, who had been placed in the back of a police wagon, to Swindon police station. It was their second visit to that establishment in the same day.

  Matthew made a voluntary statement regarding Defoe’s demise, insisting that he had had no hand in it. Since it could be proven that he had no direct access to either Defoe or arsenic, and since he was willing to give evidence against Christina and her husband, he would not be charged with aiding or abetting. Nor was any mention made of his attack upon the ladies. But Luke had impressed upon him that if he developed a convenient case of amnesia when the case came to trial then he would be charged with those offences. Matthew was held in custody for his own protection, since he had confirmed that Christina and Philip were planning to return to Ashton Lodge that evening, hoping to find Miranda and Matthew engaged to be married. The police inspector, keen to oblige Luke, assured him that his men would be waiting to take the miscreants in charge.

  Satisfied that he could do no more, Luke and Charlie returned to Beranger Court. His siblings were full of curiosity, since Miranda’s debilitation and Flora’s injured face couldn’t be hidden. His sisters fussed over Miranda while Charlie gave them a sanitised account of events.

  ‘Oh you poor thing!’ Emma cried, tears in her eyes. ‘You suspected all this time that your father had been murdered by the wicked people charged with your care. And then, to cap it all, Matthew attacked you. I am so very glad that Charlie rescued you.’

  But it had been Flora’s quick thinking that saved the day. Luke and Charlie had arrived to rescue them, it was true, but Luke suspected that the two of them would have found a way to get the better of Matthew without their interference. The man was strong and angry but not overburdened with intelligence.

  Wondering what had become of Flora, he went in search of her and found her with his grandmother.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.

  ‘Attending to my duties,’ she replied, looking up at him, one side of her face badly swollen. The bruises would make themselves apparent by morning.

  ‘You ought to be resting.’

  ‘That is what I told her, but she will have none of it,’ Grandmamma replied, flapping her hand. ‘Irresponsible child! And she accuses me of stubbornness.’

  ‘You constantly complain that people keep things from you, so I knew you would want to receive a first-hand account of all the excitement,’ Flora replied.

  ‘Take her away, Luke. It hurts my eyes to look at her face.’

  ‘In that case I will ring for Sandwell to sit with you.’

  ‘I don’t need mollycoddling, girl, but you do.’

  Zeus jumped onto her mistress’s lap. The countess closed her eyes, but Luke would bet his last penny that she wasn’t actually asleep.

  ‘There’s no arguing with her,’ he said softly to Flora, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. ‘Or with me, for that matter. Come along. I expect you have questions.’

  ‘Where are we going?’

  Luke sensed that she was suffering from the after effects of shock and felt a great deal weaker than she was prepared to admit. His point was proven when she took his arm without protest and allowed him to lead her to her room. He opened the door and ushered her through it, closing it firmly behind him.

  ‘Now, sit down and tell me how you are feeling after your ordeal. I have sent for the doctor.’

  ‘I don’t need one, although Miranda is still in shock. She might benefit from his attentions, and something to help her sleep.’

  ‘Why am I not surprised that you first thought is for someone else’s welfare?’ He shook his head, full of admiration for her goodness. ‘What of your face?’

  ‘I have treated it myself with a cold compress and witch hazel. It will bruise but soon heal. Fortunately, I am not afflicted by vanity.’

  ‘There must be something I can do.’

  ‘There is. If my father should call again, or anyone connected to my family, make an excuse. If they see me looking like this then my father can legitimately demand my return.’

  He sent her a soft smile. ‘Consider it done.’

  ‘What happens now?’ Flora asked.

  Luke explained that Christina and Philip would be arrested upon their return. ‘It’s all over. Miranda is perfectly safe now. She can live comfortably with Miss Daley as her chaperone until she decides what she wants to do with herself. Fenchurch will ensure that the Coopers never get near her again. They won’t be able to. Christina and Philip will have an appointment to keep with the hangman. Theo wasn’t involved at all, and I suspect that Matthew will disappear abroad as soon as he has given evidence.’

  ‘A very satisfactory outcome all round.’ Her eyelids fluttered as she struggled to remain awake. Luke wasn’t sure if she should be permitted to sleep when she might have a concussion. Her head had hit the floor with considerable force and there was a lump the size of an egg on the back of her skull. The doctor would attend her whether she liked it or not, and a maid would sit beside her all night, just in case. Luke wasn’t taking any chances when it came to her wellbeing. ‘What brought you to Ashton Lodge?’ Flora asked him.

  ‘I was about to ask you the same question.’

  She shook her head. ‘You wouldn’t believe me.’

  ‘Your heightened perceptions?’

  ‘Absolutely. We had all supposed that Miranda would be safe for the time being, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that we had overlooked something of significance.’ She lifted her chin. ‘And before you dismiss my senses as
being…well, insensible, bear in mind that I was right. Things would have turned out very badly for Miranda if I had ignored the warning signs.’ Luke accepted that whatever her reasons for going to Ashton Lodge—and he still wasn’t sure that he believed in the powers of her sixth sense—she had indeed saved Miranda from being violated. ‘You don’t necessarily have to search for a rational explanation, Luke.’ She reached out and briefly touched his hand. ‘Some things are beyond our understanding, and we must simply accept them for what they are.’

  ‘Your timely intervention saved Miranda’s virtue, but at what cost to you?’

  ‘I am stronger than I look.’ She sent him a wan smile. ‘Now, why did you call at Ashton Lodge?’

  ‘Credit Rom for that. He saw your gig and barked up a storm. Charlie and I would have ridden straight past it.’

  Her smile widened. ‘He recognised it, I expect. I was driving it when I rescued him.’

  ‘Well, he was glad to return the favour.’ Luke scowled. ‘When I saw what Matthew had done to you, it was all I could do to prevent myself from letting Rom rip him apart.’

  ‘You did a fairly good job of that yourself.’ She clutched the hand that he had hit Matthew with and tutted over his grazed knuckles. ‘I can give you something for your hand,’ she said, stifling a yawn.

  ‘Always putting others first,’ he said gently. ‘My hand is fine but you are struggling to remain awake. I am going to ring for your maid—’

  She laughed. ‘I don’t have a maid. I am a servant myself, in case you had forgotten.’

  ‘As if I could. But tonight you will have your own maid.’ He raised a hand to halt the objection he sensed her formulating. ‘I insist upon it. Behave yourself, or I will write to your father and tell him to come and fetch you.’

  She gasped. ‘You would not!’

  ‘No,’ he said, his voice a rough whisper. ‘I rather think I couldn’t manage without you. Nor could Grandmamma.’ He leaned over her and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Her eyes widened as he reluctantly pulled away again. ‘Behave yourself if you possibly can,’ he said, walking towards the door, ‘and try to stay out of trouble.’