by Gloria Gay
Violet closed her eyes and for a few minutes she let her mind wander through phrases and conversations in the jumble of the past.
Then she remembered part of a conversation. She tried to place her own age at the time, to recallwhat she had worn that day, what time of the year it wassummer or winter? This way she might remember more clearly what her mother had said.
Sadie had been talking to her friend Millie:
“Yeah…I've seen Kelly too, Millie. He gets beet red when he sees me and tries to get away from me as fast as he canhightail it back to Grosvhey, who's making that racket?”
“I think its Sam's dog trying to get in the back door.”
GrosvGrosvenor Square! Violet jumped out of her bed. Grosvenor Square. That was where Lord Kelly lived when he was in London!
But Grosvenor Square was big and although in plain daylight she might not have any difficulty in asking which house was his, in the middle of the night it was an altogether different proposition.
And how was she to get to Grosvenor Square at four o'clock in the morning? What if Shackel came back and found her gone? And even if she did get to Grosvenor Square and found Lord Kelly's house, why on earth would Lord Kelly agree to see a strange woman?
Well, she could write a note to him. She would tell whoever answered that it was an emergency. Even if they slammed the door on her face at least he would read her note. But would he read her note? Would the butler or footman or whoever answered the door give it him?
Well, she couldn't think about all these ifs because if she did she would never go. She was risking a lot just by doing it. She would not think of failure or she wouldn't have the heart even to leave the house at this hour.
Violet got dressed in the dim light of the single candle. She would have to wait for another hour before knocking at Lord Kelly's door. If she did before dawn they would think she was a mad woman and slam the door on her face without bothering even to take the note. Besides, from what she had heard, Shackel's men were not going to abduct the girl until shortly before they reached The Blue Raven Inn. Yes. She would wait until shortly before dawn.
Violet sat by the window waiting for the dawn and thought of Jake Lindel. She would do this for him too. Tears slid down her cheeks. She was certain she would never see Jake again. Where was he? What had Shackel done to him? She felt a lead weight in her heart.
Finally, it was nearing the hour. The clock struck four. Violet put on her sturdy half boots, took a knife from the bottom drawer of her chest of drawers and slipped it with its sheath inside her boot. She then put on her dark cape and hood and then tiptoed down the stairs.
Once outside, she stayed close to the house, so that she would not be seen from the upstairs windows, just in case anyone was up. She walked quickly down the sidewalk and hoped she would find a hack that would take her to Grosvenor Square.
* * *
Lord Kelly had had a fitful night. He was certain he was coming down with something. Or perhaps he had old age to thank for the way he felt and nothing more. He remembered his father often saying that he had a “bad night” now and then. Why did people get “bad nights? In advanced age his father neither drank nor overindulged in food, so why did he have “bad nights?”
And besides, thought, Lord Kelly, miffed that he should feel that way, fifty was hardly old age. Or was it? Well, it was certainly not young age. He got down from bed and his brain registered a faraway noisethe clanking of the doorbell. Why, it wasn't even dawn. Who could be calling at this hour?
He strained to hear if anyone was answering the doorbell. He knew that neither the butler nor the housekeeper were up before dawn. Lord Kelly donned his robe and went out of the room. He would find out who it was that needed to bang his doorbell before dawn.
He opened the massive door and saw a hooded lady. He couldn't see her face because the hood fell over her eyes and she was looking at him from under it.
“Lord Kelly?” Violet couldn't believe her good luck. She did not confuse Lord Kelly with a butler.
“Yes,” said Lord Kelly, “What is it? Who are you, Miss?”
“I have some urgent news concerning your nephew's fiancé, Miss Sentenell.
“Who are you?”
“You don't know me, your lordship, but you knew my mother, Sadie Welsh.”
“Sadie. Yes, I knew Sadie. Come in.”
Lord Kelly led Violet into the library. It was chilly so he lit the fire that was prepared.
“Sit down, please. Would you like to sit here by the fire? The rain has made the day very cold.”
“Yes, thank you.” Violet pulled down the hood of her cloak and looked into Lord Kelly's eyes. Lord Kelly had pulled up a chair before her. He noticed that she had very beautiful eyes and that they were faintly familiar. She must look a lot like her mother, he thought, and that's why she looks so familiar.
“Do you look like your mother?”
“No. I look more like my father.”
“Ah.” Lord Kelly looked at her again. “And what is this about, Miss Sentenell? What is the urgency?”
“I came to warn you that Miss Sentenell is in grave danger.”
“Grave danger! How come you to this knowledge?”
“I overheard a conversation, my lord. She is to be kidnapped by vandals contracted by her father's heir and cousin, Alex Shackel, who is travelling with them to Nottingham. He has arranged to appear to be overpowered by the kidnappers. I have no idea what follows next but I can surmise that he will then chase after them, pretend to rescue her. But these are only suppositions, I only overheard the part about her being kidnapped and Shackel arrange with some men to pretend to be overpowered by them, promising them compensation if they did as they had practiced. I do not know what will happen next but since he ruined my life I know that he as similar plans for Ms. Sentenell.”
“He ruined your life?”
“My story is not important, sir, it is Miss Sentenell that is in danger now. Do you know where Lord Arandale can be located? Can you get word to him?”
“Yes. His house is in St. James. Wait for me here while I get dressed, miss, I won't be long.”
“Yes.”
CHAPTER 39
“You are a brave girl, to concern yourself in this dangerous matter, Miss Welsh. I am extremely grateful, and Lord Arandale will be immensely so.”
“I hope we can get there soon, my lord so that I can get back home. I'm still not sure if Shackel planned to go back home before leaving with Sir Geoffrey and Miss Sentenell.”
“If he has we'll have to go after him. At least I will. But tell me, what is your connection to Alex Shackel?”
Violet hesitated, then thought that since her virtue was non-existent now, it was silly to act prudish.
“My mother was his mistress, sir,” she said, turning away from Lord Kelly. “When he discarded her he forced me to become his mistress. I tried to get away from him. I told my fiancé and we decided to leave the following morning when we would be able to get a little more money for the coach that would take us to Gretna Green to get married. We should have left that night. Time made a great difference. Had we left on that moment we might have been able to escape him. When he caught up with us he gave me a letter from my mother where she promised that if I returned, nothing would happen to Jake. I agreed in order to save Jake. But I wasn't able to save him even then. I haven't heard from him in three weeks and I fear the worst.”
“Have you reported it to the Magistrate's office?”
“Sir, Alex Shackel is not a man to be crossed. Should he find out I went to the authorities, my mother would be in danger. Even now, I was deathly afraid he would find out I had come here and prevent me from reaching your house.”
“Well, we'll deal with all this afterwards. Let's hope we can reach Arandale in time. I dare not think what would happen“
“If we cannot find him, will you notify the Magistrate?”
“They are terribly inept. It is better that we handle it ours
elves. Leaving Miss Sentinel's fate in the hands of the Magistrate's soldiers would surely seal her fate. Bow Street Runners would be better, but there's no time. No, we must find Arandale, there is no other way.”
When they reached Arandale's imposing mansion in St. James, Lord Kelly rushed out of the carriage, followed closely by Violet.
“Lord Arandale is out riding his horse, Fargo, my lord,” said Arandale's butler, Fenly. He always goes to the park before dawn when he's in London.”
“And for how long does he usually go?”
“Several hours, my lord. I would not think of expecting him before mid-morning.”
“Green Park, is it?”
“Yes. That's where he usually goes.”
“Come, Miss Welsh, we mustn't waste any more time.” Lord Kelly turned to Fenly. “Should my nephew return in the following hour, Fenly, tell him we have gone in search of him to Green Park but will return here if we do not find him. Tell him it is of extreme urgency.”
“Very well, my lord. I shall be on the lookout for him.”
“Well, my dear Miss Welsh, this chasing around has made my heart go faster. I shall have to rest a bit in the carriage before we take off again. I cannot think this can be good for me.”
“Certainly, Lord Kelly. Please, you must not over excert yourself. I would not do to have you become ill. Do you think perhaps we should ask Lord Arandale's butler to bring you some water?”
“No. We cannot lose any more time, Miss Welsh. Let's go the carriage now.”
Once their driver had pulled the carriage out from the mews in back, with instructions to go as fast as possible, Lord Kelly turned to gaze at Violet, who sat demurely before him.
“You speak well, Miss Welsh. Your education gives you credit.”
“Mama saw to it that I obtained an education. For that much I am grateful, although“
“Yes?”
“Although it is a two sided sword.”
“An education must always be of benefit, my dear. You do have a very familiar look about your eyes. Are you sure we have not met before?”
“I am certain, sir.”
“If I can be excused for meddling, Miss Welsh, how old are you?”
“Eighteen, sir,” said Violet, adding three years to her age, which would place her three years beyond the time when her mother had been Lord Kelly's mistress. They had been together only a few months. But Violet had always been drawn to Lord Kelly. Sadie never forgot her past lovers and pointed them out on the street whenever she saw them. From a young age, Violet had liked Lord Kelly's kindly face and did so even more now. She would never burden him with the truth about her birth and the fact that she was his daughter. Who wanted a bastard daughter, anyhow? No one that she knew or didn't know. She had read often in the newspaper about this or that bastard son of an aristocrat who demanded being acknowledged. In the great majority of the cases they got nothing for their efforts. The nobles habitually denied them recognition. Had they done so, they would have had to acknowledge a veritable army. Lord Elmer Castershaw was reputed to have sired twenty-five sons! It was a common practice that when their mistresses had their offspring, the better of them recognized them in at least some form, by providing anonymously for them, even if they did not acknowledge them as their own sons or daughters.
Suppressing a sigh, Violet turned toward the window. It would not do to start feeling regret that Lord Kelly would never know she was his daughter.
“Here we are, Miss Welsh. Now,” he said banging on the roof with his cane for his rider to stop. “I believe I know just about where Justin would ride. When the driver stopped, Lord Kelly called out to him. “Head to the south edge, Will, toward where the pond is.”
“Yes, sir.”
For a while they rode in silence, with both Lord Kelly and Violet tensely looking out the windows.
“There, that's him. See, Miss Welsh? And he has seen us already. I believe he's turned his horse around and is heading back here.”
“Yes, he is,” said Violet, feeling a rush of relief.
Lord Arandale had soon caught up to them and reaching the carriage door he dismounted.
“Uncle Harding! What is it? What's wrong?” He glanced briefly at Violet.
“Something is terribly wrong, nephew! This is Miss Welsh, Miss Violet Welsh. She is the daughter of an old friend of mine. She has come to my house in great haste to inform me that she overheard Alex Shackel speaking with some characters about abducting Miss Sentenell!”
“Abducting her! Abducting her from where? From her London townhouse?”
“No, Justin. Miss Sentenell and her father have left London. They are on their way to Nottingham to procure the services of a physician Shackel has arranged for. But he has made other, diabolical plans for Miss Sentenell. I cannot comprehend why he would do so, what reason has he for this?”
“A very obvious reason,” said Arandale, his face grim. “He is to get the estate from Sir Geoffrey but he wants Miss Sentenell's fortune to go along with it. He apparently cannot get it through marriage with her so he will try to force it.”
“Miss Welsh says he has arranged for her abduction by pretending to be overpowered by the kidnappers, shortly before they reach The Blue Raven Inn.
“He will then chase after them and once he “rescues” her, she will be left alone with him. In the morning Miss Sentenell will have no choice but to wed him. Now I can understand why Sir Geoffrey's man was mugged at The Blue Raven Inn,” Arandale added. “I'm now certain it was Shackel that time, too. I frustrated his plan then but I had no cause to suspect him at the time.”
“Miss Sentenell must go to the authorities,” said Lord Kelly.
“Uncle Harding, be realistic.”
“No, you're right, said Lord Kelly, “she would never make her tragedy public.”
“I'm wasting time here,” said Arandale, “I'm going after them.”
“In my carriage?”
“No, Uncle Harding. If he has planned the abduction for shortly before reaching The Blue Raven Inn, a carriage would not get me there in time.” He was buttoning his jacket as he spoke. Then he tightened the saddle on his horse.
“Take Miss Welsh back home, Uncle Harding. Thank you, Miss Welsh, you will never know how grateful I am for your help. I will be indebted to you always. I will see you again when I return.”
“Take some men with you, son,” said Lord Kelly. “Shackel has several outriders with him, apart from those criminals he contracted.”
“No. There's no time. I would lose too much time getting them together. I must leave now. He leaned over and embraced his uncle.
“I cannot be happy you are going alone, son,” said Kelly. “Take my sword at least.”
Lord Kelly never went anywhere without his sword.
“I have my pistol with me“ said Arandale.
“Please, Justin“
“Oh, all right, Uncle. And now, farewell, I cannot waste any more time. I will have to change horses along the way.”
Lord Kelly and Violet gazed at Arandale for a while, until he was only a speck in the distance, then they turned back to the carriage.
CHAPTER 40
Cecilia changed her position in the carriage. Tension had made her head and muscles ache and she felt light-headed from having slept little the night before and not being able to even take a nap. She worried that while she slept her father might worsen. She must be awake and alert to help him.
She was glad that both Sir Geoffrey and Martha were asleep. If she could not sleep at least they could. It would not do for all of them to be tired and bleary eyed.
She gazed out at the dark passing countryside, illuminated only dimly by the three-quarter moon. The moon seemed melancholy to her now, worried as she was for her father. Would that physician that awaited them in Nottingham be able to help her father? Would Shackel procure the medicine for them? She heard a distant sound that she could not place and felt that their little entourage was slowing. Why were they slowing
? She knew they were still some miles from The Blue Raven Inn where they were going to spend the night. She knew this road well, for she had made it many times with her family.
Something seemed not right.
She leaned out the window to see if she could see Jonathon. And come to think about it, she had not seen Jonathon the last ten minutes or so. She could usually see him if she leaned out the window, if he was not riding alongside them. Now, even leaning out the window she could not see him riding, far ahead or falling a little behind. What was the meaning of this? Where was Jonathon?
A shiver of fear ran through her body as Cecilia shook Martha awake.
“What is it, dear? Are we stopping?”
“Martha, quick, hand me Papa's pistol.”
Martha took the gun from the small portmanteau that belonged to Sir Geoffrey on which she had been reclining and handed it to Cecilia.
“What are you going to do with it,” she asked, her hand trembling as she handed the pistol to Cecilia.
“I don't what anyone to get a hold of it, Martha,” Cecilia replied. “Something is not right.” She now turned to her father,
“Wake up, Papa.” She shook her father's shoulder. “Martha and I are worried. Something is going on outside. I have not been able to see Jonathon for some time now. He promised me he would always be where I could see him.”
Sir Geoffrey awoke from fitful slumber and looked around fearfully.
Cecilia put on her cloak and gazed out the window once more. Then she saw a few riders come out from nowhere in a sudden violent approach.
She leaned out the window to better see whoever was approaching and was able to see four or five riders alongside the coach.
“Papathe riders are masked!”
“Upon my word! Are we being robbed?”
“Dear Lord!” exclaimed Martha. Outside the sides of the road were black by thickets of dark wood.