Chapter 19
“Where is she?” Nicholas raked his fingers through his hair.
“Who are you talking about?” said the Duke.
The captain hurried down the gangplank and handed a Nicholas a letter. “This was left in her cabin and addressed to you, Lord Rutland.”
He ripped open the note and forced his eyes to the missive. Alexandra’s elegant scrawl confirmed the worst of his suspicions. “She’s left. The fool woman deserted me.”
“What woman?” Lady Susannah huffed.
Nicholas spun around, scanned the crowded port. “She was kidnapped with me.”
Lady Susannah narrowed her eyes. “You mean to tell me you were alone on an island with a woman. When were you going to inform me?”
Nicholas pushed aside the driver, scrambled on top of the Rutland coach, his blood pounding, eyes darting. She had just been there. She couldn’t have gone far. But…why? He curled his hands into fists. Why did she leave him? “Alexandra, come back. Right now.”
Lady Susannah gasped. “Nicholas stop shouting and come down. People will think you’re a lunatic.”
Nicholas jumped to the ground. Wide-eyed, the Duke stared. Anthony raised an eyebrow. His wife, Rachel smiled.
“Your behavior is appalling,” Lady Susannah said through her teeth. “Nicholas, think of the scandal you may create…yelling and screaming on the docks, acting like an ape from that wilderness where you were stuck for so long.”
She was right. No doubt they all thought he was mad.
He grabbed his brother’s arm. “Anthony, help me. It is too dangerous for her on the docks. Who knows what unsavory hands she may fall into?”
The Duke tipped his hat back. “Nicholas, slow down. Give me her description. I will have my men comb the docks.”
“She’s golden-haired, blue eyes, the most beautiful woman in the world. I’m not leaving until I find her.”
“You must look for her,” Lady Rachel Rutland concurred.
Lady Susannah glared at her, turned on her heels and steamed toward her carriage.
“Alexandra,” Nicholas shouted, bumping aside one person and then another as he pushed through the throngs, his brother and father keeping up directly behind him. If he wasn’t so frightened for her well-being, he would have thought it absurd his behavior, and the fact his father and brother broke decorum, following him was equally absurd.
After several hours of searching the docks and nearby streets, darkness fell and his father convinced him to go to the townhouse.
In the library, Anthony and Rachel sat opposite him, silent.
“Oh, no.” Nicholas shot to his feet. “Abby. I almost forgot. We must arrange a prisoner exchange for her. The Governor-General in the Bahamas said she was kidnapped by the dangerous privateer, Captain Jacob Thorne during an invasion by the Colonials. We must free her of those cruel ruffians.”
Rachel laughed.
He glared at her. “I don’t see what is so funny. I can only imagine what Abigail has suffered at the hands of those uncivilized savages. I will kill Captain Thorne if he touches her.”
“There will be no killing, and all is well with your sister,” said the Duke.
“Is she back in England? I must see her.”
Anthony winked at his wife. “I take exception to you calling my wife an uncivilized savage. Rachel is a Colonial and Captain Jacob Thorne’s cousin.”
“What madness is this?”
His father placed a hand on Nicholas’s shoulder. “Although I don’t know the full story, Abigail was saved by Captain Thorne. That terrible night when both of you were abducted from Belvoir and Anthony’s lab exploded, she was put aboard a ship where she suffered at the hands of a cruel English slaver until Captain Thorne rescued her. I am indebted to him.”
“Where is she?” Nicholas demanded.
Lady Rachel Rutland smiled. “She is living in Boston and happily married to the uncivilized savage, Captain Thorne. Did I mention you are an uncle?”
His father told him of the eyewitness on the docks the night of his abduction. How he’d recognized Nicholas and gave the names of the ships they sailed on. How his father had ships sent out to search for them.
Nicholas dropped into the chair, astounded by the extraordinary course of events.
Alexandra had told him Abigail was alive. That his father and brother were alive.
She had always given him hope.
Like you, Nicholas, she survived. You must count on that, live with that thought. Alexandra’s prediction and faith came true. His eternal optimist.
He held his head in his hands. Without Alexandra, London would never be home again, no place would be. He remembered her smell, her laugh, and gentle mocking to rouse him out of his moods. Everything about her was perfect and without her, his soul withered and scarred.
“Nicholas, someone must have seen Alexandra leave. There must be a trail. I’ve given her description to runners to pursue her. We will find her. What village does she come from?”
Nicholas fell back into the settee. “I don’t know. All she ever told me was southern England.”
“We could search for her father by name,” said the Duke.
“Elwins. Samuel Elwins, a sea captain. But he is not her real father.”
“Go on,” said the Duke.
Nicholas looked right at his father. “She is Lady Alexandra Sutherland and she saved my life.”
“Oh.” Everyone said in unison.
“Did you say Alexandra Sutherland? I thought she was dead,” said Anthony.
“She is not. Lady Alexandra is alive, spirited away by the Elwins when Lady Ursula Sutherland murdered her husband, Baron Sutherland and planned to do away with his daughter.”
Lady Rachel Rutland gasped.
Anthony jerked his head back and his father nodded, taking it all in. “Baron Sutherland was a great friend of mine and I always thought it strange he died when in vigorous health.”
Nicholas further recanted the rest of Alexandra’s story, explaining her unfortunate life, including her stepmother, Ursula, and how she had taught him to survive on the island.
“I’d like a private moment to talk,” said the Duke.
Anthony handed Rachel up. At the door, Rachel peered at Nicholas over her shoulder and said, “Keep your hopes up, Nicholas. I can tell this woman is very special to you.”
Nicholas was just getting to know Anthony’s new wife who he hadn’t met until a few short hours ago. He liked her. She was far from Anthony’s selfish first wife.
The door closed with a light snap. Alone now, Nicholas waited, dreading his father’s new demands. “Don’t tell me—
His father raised his hand. “I’m not going to tell you what to do, Nicholas, ever again. You cannot imagine the dreadful hurt and pain of not knowing if you were alive or dead. Time became tenuous, and cruelly oppressive, thinking of your fate.”
Nicholas slumped in the chair and rubbed a hand over his unshaven face. “I want to become a great duke, but you cannot tie my hands anymore. I can’t be the person you want me to be. I want to bring progress to the estates. I cannot go back to the stagnant—”
“I’m a different man now, son. I admit after your mother’s death, I became detached and morose. It is no excuse and I hope you can find forgiveness in your heart for my distance. I have not been a good father, but from now on, I will be at your side. You can do anything you desire to do with the estates. I give you free rein.” His father poured a brandy and handed it to Nicholas.
“I don’t want to marry Lady Tomkins. She is ill-suited for me.”
The Duke smiled. “With you turning London upside down and…after a year on an island with a certain Lady Sutherland, I gathered nixing your relationship with Lady Tomkins might be in your future.”
“To think Alexandra wanted me to be free of her. That daft woman. When I find her, I’ll drag her back to London and chain her to me.”
The Duke swirled the amber liquid of his brandy. “
Despite what she said in her letter of not wanting you, Alexandra Elwins, or Lady Sutherland is in love with you, Nicholas. Looks to me like she sacrificed her happiness for what she believed you wanted most.”
“And how do you know so much?” Nicholas retorted. He was tired and touchy as a bear.
“Your mother was the same.”
Nicholas took a deep swallow. “I made the mistake of expecting children. She left because she could not produce an heir due to a childhood injury and any of your protesting about producing an heir, I will not hear. I want Alexandra.”
“I am not protesting at all. I told you, I’m a different man, Nicholas. Anthony can produce the heir.”
Nicholas exhaled. “I must be delusional.”
“You are not.”
“I expected you to object, to disinherit me.”
“No, son.”
Nicholas was silent for a few minutes locked in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. All this time he’d believed what his father had wanted and it caused Alexandra to leave. Now, just like that his need for an heir was gone. The fear that cut him was eradicated. Gone. But in its place, and even worse fear because Alexandra…for no good reason…was gone. If anything happened to her…
The danger Alexandra had mentioned, her stepmother’s desire to have her killed, meant her life could be in danger at this very minute.
Or what if dockworkers grabbed her or a nefarious highwayman. She was vulnerable on the streets alone. He had to get to her. Now.
Nicholas raked his hand through his hair. Never had he been so scared in his life. If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.
“I want you to ask the King to help her get back her title and lands and whatever is owed to her. And we must find a way to ferret out Lady Ursula and Willean and have them punished for their crimes.”
The Duke went around his desk and sat. Picking up a quill and dipping it in ink, he said, “I will do it immediately. In addition, I keep a sensitive finger on the pulse of London. I want you to go over everything again about her past. Her connections. The people who moved her away from the stepmother. Any detail you can give me to trace Lady Sutherland. We will find her.”
Chapter 20
Alexandra reread the paper from four weeks earlier, heralding the miracle of Lord Nicholas Rutland’s return from the Portuguese slaver, the Santanas—and with a mysterious lady by the name of Alexandra Elwins who had vanished. She sniffed and then wiped at her nose. If that wasn’t enough sensationalism, the next day’s paper trumpeted the upcoming nuptials between Lord Nicholas and Lady Susannah Tomkins, long separated and finally reunited. The article detailed the wedding arrangements with all the grandeur and splendor to accompany the happy event.
She sniffed. “It certainly didn’t take you long to forget me, did it, Nicholas?”
“What did you say?” said Samuel.
“Nothing,” she mumbled, numb from crying. She had fallen into her adoptive father’s arms upon returning to Deconshire, and begged his forgiveness for running away and not telling him where she had gone. But his cheerfulness at having her back couldn’t change the enduring misery. Without Nicholas, Deconshire became a prison.
The people of Deconshire had read the papers, assuming the worst. The Cornett sisters had a holiday of their own, spreading their vicious gossip and accusations.
What if Nicholas because of some misplaced reason or guilt used his resources to find her? Guilt had a strange effect on some people, but then why would he risk his future wife finding about her…about their life on the island. No, it was a stupid to think that. And even if there were a remote chance, she’d never mentioned the name of her town, but she had told him Samuel’s surname and his rank as sea captain. She shook her head. There couldn’t be any records that would lead him to Deconshire, could there?
Chills ran up her spine. Lady Ursula must have read the papers. Thank heaven, the journalists didn’t know where she and Samuel lived. But Lady Sutherland had passed Molly on the streets in London and had her followed to her hotel where she was murdered. What if Lady Sutherland followed Alexandra’s journey from London to Deconshire? If anything happened to Samuel…
With that thought, her stomach rolled. She blew out a breath to make the nausea go away, an affliction she had possessed for many weeks. No doubt, an illness she contracted at sea.
She dropped the paper and took a sip of her tea. The familiar cottage she’d grown up in wrapped around her like a warm quilt. Shiny copper pots hung from the ceiling, a slab of smoked bacon suspended from a hook on the stone wall, her hat, and coat hung next to the door, and a savory beef stew she had made earlier, simmered on the stove. She rubbed the heel of her palm against her chest. Everything spoke of Molly.
“Enough,” said Samuel. “Let’s go out and get a spot of air.”
Visiting Molly’s grave had been a daily event, an excuse to forget Nicholas. She didn’t blame him for restarting his life and didn’t hold him to the promises he made on the island. To leave had been her decision. Lady Susannah Tomkins. She wanted Nicholas to be happy. But knowing Nicholas as she did, she doubted that he’d be happy with Lady Tomkins. He’d have the perfect life, but would he really be happy?
Alexandra had told Samuel about her abduction and life on the island but remained vague about Nicholas. If Samuel understood what really had occurred between the two of them, he would have demanded that Nicholas marry her. Neither did she want Samuel to know how humiliated she was when replaced, once they’d reached the shores of England.
Although she had left so Nicholas could pursue his former life by fulfilling his promise to marry Lady Susannah, she should have not been surprised that the woman he was supposed to walk down the aisle with would show up. It was just that Alexandra didn’t really expect him to act so quickly. She folded her arms around her, holding herself. To assume anything else to occur that would include her was dust in the wind.
At the graveside, Alexandra knelt and lay flowers. How she missed Molly. Samuel said nothing. With a ragged sigh, she rose and looked over her shoulder. Two men, leaned against a stone wall that edged the cemetery. One smoked a pipe and the other looked at his nails, a rake and shovel laying at their feet, probably new graveyard workers, waiting for them to leave.
She laid a hand on Samuel’s shoulder. “I want to be alone so, I’m going to hike to the cliffs. I haven’t been there since I’ve returned.”
He nodded. He liked to have private time to talk to Molly. Her heart heavy, she left using the opposite gate.
Pewter clouds hung low beneath a sunless sky and dense gray fog cloaked several thatched-roof cottages. Alexandra crossed an ancient stone stile and followed a pony trail northward to her favorite place. Moisture beaded on her from the somber mist and she buttoned up her cape to ward off the late spring chill. The path, a rather dubious and uncertain one, led her along the high bluffs of blood-red sandstone that bordered the darkened sea far below.
She’d never been skittish about the narrow path before, but why the sudden wave of dizziness? Her foot slipped on the grassy path and she bent, clutching her knees until the light-headedness passed. Rising, she noticed the two men from the graveyard coming toward her. “I’m fine,” she said, waving them off. She wanted to be alone.
But the men didn’t turn back. they kept on coming.
Never would he have searched in this tail-end of the world, traveling for three days over impossible roads, reaching the southern coast of England. He pushed his horse hard, leaving the Rutland Coach that broke an axle, and his guards, his father had insisted on far behind.
Weeks had eclipsed and the runners in London had come up with nothing. His father had suggested the maritime offices. Night and day, clerks searched records of sea captains. Nothing. Then Nicholas remembered Alexandra telling him, Samuel served in the Royal Navy. At the admiralty’s offices, a clerk produced an address for Samuel Elwins, to where his pension check was to be delivered located in a village named Deconshire.
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Nerves rattled up his spine. Alexandra was in danger. He had read the papers, and with certainty, so had Lady Ursula Sutherland, recognizing the ship, Santanas she had paid to take Alexandra away. If he could find where Alexandra lived then so could Lady Ursula. He had to get to Alexandra first.
Deconshire was a sleepy little harbor village dotted with a row of stone, thatched roof cottages. He inquired of a village man who directed him to the Elwins home at the end of town. Dusty from his travels, he leaped off his horse, met an older man, bowlegged from years at sea and setting his pipe between his teeth.
“Captain Elwins?”
He looked Nicholas up from toe to head. From anyone else, Nicholas would have been insulted, but he surmised the old salt knew who he was. “Aye. And what business do you have?”
“I’m Lord Rutland.”
“And?”
Nicholas gritted his teeth. The sooner he got to Alexandra and shook some sense into her… “I wish to speak to Alexandra.”
The old man let him squirm. “Depends.”
Nicholas’s hands curled into fists. For four weeks, he had pushed himself beyond human endurance to find Alexandra. No one was going to stop him. “Excuse me.”
“Depends on what your intentions are.”
It dawned on Nicholas, Captain Elwins read the papers too and had read about his betrothal to Lady Tomkins. Had the sea captain incorrectly surmised, Nicholas was there to ask Alexandra to be his mistress?
“Captain Elwins, my request is honorable. I’m asking for Alexandra’s hand in marriage. I’ve torn up half of England and won’t take no for an answer.”
Captain Elwins adjusted his pipe. “I have my pension delivered to an address in London and a friend forwards the allowance to me from there. When I saw how bereaved Alexandra was on her return, I had a hunch there was more to her story. I had my pension delivered to Deconshire…just in case you wanted to find her. Took you long enough.”
“Where is she?”
He pointed the stem of his pipe. “You’ll find her up the line along the cliffs.”
Nicholas sped down the path for a mile with no one in sight, and then Alexandra’s screams ripped through him. He dug his heels in the path, sweating into a full out run. Two roughs wrestled with her. She clawed at them, slipping inches from the cliff’s edge. Two hundred feet down waves thundered against sharp rocks. Nicholas pitched his full weight into the first man, his inertia and force, pushing the trio away from the rim.
Only You: Duke of Rutland Series III Page 17