Fate Is A Stranger: Regency Romance

by Gay, Gloria

  "Heavy sleep, milord, heavy sleep. My mum, na'—she told me often enough I have the sleep 'o the dead."

  "That you do have," agreed Jared. "Which was the other carriage?"

  "A hired 'un."

  "A hired carriage. By whom?"

  "Same un, m'lor Souten."

  "Why would he bring two carriages to the castle?"That be a mystery to me as to you m'lor."

  "How did he bring the carriages? Both of them at once?"

  "The one with the coat 'o arms at the beginning of the house party, the other one yesterday."

  "This gets really strange," said Jared. "I believe I better wake the duke."

  Anything to do with Souten had to be suspect in itself, thought, Jared, who had inherited his dislike of Souten from his uncle.

  "I would, if you think it strange, m'lor," agreed Jiddy.

  Jared ran up the stairs and tapped loudly on his uncle's door.

  "What on earth! Jared?" asked the duke sleepily. "What are you doing up at this hour? What's going on?"

  "I'm glad you're up Uncle Perry. Some strange things have been going on and I need your advice."

  "I'm not up," said his uncle, highly annoyed as he tied the band of his dressing gown, "you practically lifted me off my bed. You woke me to obtain my advice at three o'clock in the morning, Jared? It better be an important reason."

  "Souten left the castle with two carriages, Uncle Perry. One his own and another hired."

  "And you consider that conduct out of the ordinary? Haven't you by now realized that everything that cad does is strange? Haven't we discussed countless times that Souten's behavior never makes any sense?"

  "The hostler was asleep and did not see when the carriages left, Uncle Perry. I saw them leave and that was why I went down to the stables to find out why it was that two carriages had left without their occupants saying good-bye."

  "It's hardly strange that Souten would leave without saying good-bye, Jared, as we are not on speaking terms. I suffer him only because of Arabella. He is very well aware of it and keeps as far away from me as possible. There is nothing strange in his leaving in the middle of the night. Considering his character, it makes perfect sense to me."

  "Then there was Lady Galena," added Jared. "She was wearing a cloak and walking quickly down a dark corridor just minutes ago. When I called out to her she took off running and I was not able to locate her."

  "That indeed is strange. Perhaps we should see if both incidents are related. Who is Lady Galena friends with?"

  "She has lately befriended Violet."

  "Violet—you call her Violet? You must call her Miss Durbin, Jared, do not forget that."

  "She allows me to call her Violet."

  "She does, does she?" said the duke, his mouth had turned into a grim, pressed line. Just hours ago Violet had denied him that same request, insisting that it would not be proper to address each other by their given names.

  "What else has she allowed you, Jared? You seem to be in very familiar terms with Miss Durbin."

  "Not as familiar as I would hope, Uncle Perry; I have asked her to marry me."

  There, it was out, the duke could now go ahead and yell at him and get it over with. Jared knew that Violet would not agree to marry him as long as the duke opposed the marriage so it was best he start trying to convince his uncle that he was of age to make his own decisions.

  "Go to bed, it's well past your bedtime," said the duke, annoyed. "There is nothing to worry about in the things you disclosed. Lady Galena was perhaps at an assignation and she didn't want you to find out about it and Souten is acting very much within character.

  "I see no reason for you to disturb my sleep. And as for you marrying Miss Durbin, we shall see about that. I believe as your guardian I will have something to say about such insanity."

  "Very well, Uncle Perry, but first I shall make certain Violet and her mother are all right. I don't like the look of any of this. I have noticed that that slimy package, Lord Souten stares at her in a very strange way."

  "You are manufacturing ghosts, my boy. Just close the door with yourself on the other side of it," said the duke. "I have noticed nothing of the kind."

  "Good-night, Uncle Perry."

  Once out in the hallway, Jared walked briskly. He believed the duke should not have dismissed his suspicions of Souten. He had noticed Souten’s obsessive interest in Violet on several occasions and this thought made Jared very uneasy. He could not go to bed without making certain Violet and her mother were safely tucked in bed, even if he had to wake them up to make certain of it. Luckily, he knew exactly in which rooms they were staying.

  When he reached Lady Kelly's bedroom door, for he did not deem it proper to knock on Violet's door, Jared at first tapped the door softly. Then, on getting no response, he knocked louder. He waited a few minutes after each loud knock and still no sound came from within. He then turned the knob of the door and was surprised to find it gave way; the door was unbolted!

  He went into the darkened room and almost tripped on a bulk on the floor. There was a faint light coming from the embers and he went to the fire and stoked it so that it gave out more light. He then lit the candle on a nearby table and in the dim light glanced around the bedroom. He realized that the bulk he had tripped over was a person in servant’s garb and he rushed over to her and tried to revive her. The girl appeared to be either asleep or unconscious. Probably unconscious, for what lady's maid would sleep on the floor, close to the door?

  Jared lit a candle that was on a table and shook the girl's shoulder. "Miss, wake up—wake up!"

  The girl appeared to Jared to be more drugged than asleep. Could she have taken a sleeping potion and measured more than she should have? Then Jared glanced behind the screen in the bedroom and realized that the bed was empty!

  Where was Lady Kelly?

  A fear swept through him. What was going on here?

  When he finally revived the maid, Jared gave her water from a pitcher on the table. At first the maid appeared jolted at being awakened in her room by Lord Falweir. She calmed down when Jared informed her that the door of the bedroom was unlocked and he had found her lying on the floor, unconscious.

  The girl told Jared in a faint voice that her name was Annie and she was Lady Kelly's maid.

  Jared asked her where Violet's bedroom was and the girl said that it was a few doors down. To Jared's question Annie said that she had no idea where Lady Kelly was or why she, Annie, was lying unconscious on the floor.

  "Do you think you can manage to stand up, Annie? I must have you accompany me to Miss Durbin's bedroom."

  "Yes, my lord," said Annie, "Let me just get my shawl."

  When Annie had wrapped herself in her woolen shawl she walked to Violet's bedroom with Jared. Jared knocked on the door several times to no avail. Then he tried the door handle and it gave way.

  Jared and Annie walked into the bedroom and found it empty. Both Jared and Annie were greatly alarmed.

  "Where is Miss Durbin's maid, Annie?"

  "She was to spend the night with Lady Bea, my lord, because she was feeling very ill and Lady Bea has some teas and medicine."

  Jared looked around Violet's bedroom and then the envelope on top of the dresser caught his attention. He opened it and read the elopement letter. He shook his head, his mouth grim and put it in his pocket.

  He could not believe the note had been written by Violet. She would have to tell him herself that she had written it before he would believe it. Meanwhile, he would not leave it behind to be found by anyone before he found out where Violet and Lady Kelly had been taken. He would protect Violet from scandal for as long as he could.

  "Go over to Lady Bea's bedroom and find out if Lady Kelly and Miss Durbin told her anything, Annie," said Jared.

  "Yes, m’lord, at once," said Annie and walked a few doors down. She was admitted into the bedroom and soon came out. She rushed over to Jared, who waited in suspense.

  "Well?"

  "Neither
one of them is in Lady Bea's bedroom, my lord. Maribel, Miss Durbin's maid was there and answered the door. Lady Bea continued on asleep. Maribel is now very worried, sir. Do you think something happened to them?"

  "I don't know, Annie. Lady Kelly may have become ill and that is the reason they left the castle. We won't know until I catch up to them."

  "Get back to your bedroom, Annie," added Jared, "It's cold our here. I'm going to try to find them. I only hope to God it isn't foul play."

  "Oh, m’lord. I'll pray until you get back. I hope nothing happened to them!"

  Jared shook his head. “So do I." Jared then ran along the corridor and then down the stairs, his heart about to burst.

  Hawkinston, unable to sleep, was pondering Jared's disclosures of the night.

  Drat. He would be unable to sleep now because Jared's assertion that Souten stared strangely at Violet now stuck in his mind and would not let go. He would now have to go down to Violet's room and make certain she and her mother were all right.

  He should not have dismissed his nephew so cavalierly. And there was no denying it, jealousy at having learned that Violet allowed Jared to call her by her name had been the cause of it. He should have taken his words more seriously.

  Hawk dressed quickly, the fastest he had dressed in his life without a valet and just as he was headed to the door, he heard a noise below his window.

  He looked down and was surprised to see a horse and rider shoot out from the front of the castle and headed north in a cloud of dust that in the light of the moon looked like blue mist.

  "Damn!" he said to himself, "I should have listened to what Jared said. Now he's off alone—that reckless boy!"

  Hawk stopped only to take his sword from the wall and his pistol from the case. He donned his cloak hurriedly and raced out his bedroom door and down the steps two at a time.

  He rushed into the stables and startled the watchman who had begun to again fall asleep.

  Soon he was on the same road as Jared, yet he knew that Jared, a fine rider, had at least twenty minutes advantage over him. He cursed himself for not paying heed to Jared's concerns. He must have heard something that alarmed him to have shot out of the stables in such a manner. Yet the duke could not stop to see what it was for he would have lost even more time. Jared had said that he was going to look in on Lady Kelly. Had he perhaps found her gone? A chill ran along Hawk’s veins as he realized that had Jared only found Lady Kelly gone he would have gone to Hawk with this disclosure.

  He must have found that Violet was also missing!

  CHAPTER 22

  Lady de Compte gazed at Sadie, who sat hunched up against the seat, whimpering in pain, and tried to come up with an alternative plan to Souten's.

  Vera decided she was not going to be caught in this imbroglio if she could help it. What if Lord Kelly alerted the Magistrate of this? Vera then realized that Lord Kelly was not even at the castle and what was more, no one in the castle even knew that Sadie and Violet had been whisked out of there.

  Maybe she was panicking without reason. She knew that the concoction of herbs she had given Lady Kelly to make her ill would wear out in a few hours' time and she would be all right again, albeit with some stomach discomfort for a few days. So, as it was not poison, Vera’s involvement in this was not criminal—yet.

  Souten had assured Vera that Violet would agree to marry him rather than bring disgrace on Lord Kelly, once it was obvious to everyone that she had left the castle with Souten and they had spent the night together—or several nights.

  He had convinced Vera that given the choice between agreeing to marry Souten or live in disgrace and bring disgrace to her family, Violet would not hesitate to marry Souten. There was no other choice for her.

  But what if Violet refused to marry Souten and exposed all of them? Would she do that? Maybe Souten was right that Violet would not do anything that would harm her father’s name. Marrying Souten would be for Violet the only alternative.

  But would Violet live as wife to a man she was surely to despise after being forced to marry him?

  Oh, if only she could be sure of this, it would calm her thumping heart. What if Violet instead refused to marry Lord Souten and exposed everything that they had done to her and her mother? What then?

  Lady de Compte knew that however Souten fared, his peerage and resources would keep him from the gallows. She, on the other hand, as the impoverished dowager widow of a minor baronet had no connections and no resources to draw from.

  A shiver shook her and her lips trembled. She again wished she had been able to avoid getting tangled in this mess.

  Vera realized as she looked out the back window, that the other carriage where Violet and Souten were was now not visible at all. She felt a strange feeling of liberation and relief when she realized that Souten was no longer nearby to give her orders or force her into compliance.

  But where had he taken Violet? Surely not to his estate! He was much smarter than that. He had not told Vera where he intended to take Violet. No one was to know, in fact, and that way no one could give him away.

  Vera pondered her situation further. So far, she didn't even know where Violet was being taken by Souten.

  If caught, could Vera claim ignorance of Souten's plan for Violet? And would she be believable? But perhaps she was manufacturing perils. Lord Kelly was up north and ignorant of what was going on. So far no one knew of this except the perpetrators and Violet, who by now must be getting an idea of Souten's intentions concerning her.

  Violet would soon realize that she had a choice between spending the rest of her life with Souten as Lady Souten or exposing him as an abductor. Souten intended to say, if caught, that she had agreed to leave with him and had later changed her mind. It would be his word against hers and society had already rejected both Sadie and Violet. It was not as if society would be very anxious to believe Violet over Souten.

  Perhaps everything would turn out all right, thought Vera. Lady Kelly need never find out that it was Vera who had given her the herbs that made her ill. As far as Sadie was concerned, Vera and Souten had only tried to help her.

  These and other things churned and churned in Vera's mind as the carriage ate up the miles and she tried to calm her trembling hands. She had a pounding headache and had not her powders with her so she was forced to endure not only the pain in her head but the pain in her heart from the belief that nothing in this scheme was going to go according to plan. Nothing in life ever did.

  As Sadie moaned beside her, Vera reclined a bit on the seat and tried to talk herself into believing that perhaps everything would be all right. Then she suddenly sat bold upright. She had forgotten one very important thing!

  She had forgotten the Duke of Hawkinston!

  The duke was in love with Violet. How well Vera knew the signs of a passion that would not be denied! But the duke knew nothing of what was going on this night and when he did find out it would be too late. Would he, like the rest of society find it hard to believe Violet over Souten?

  The Duke of Hawkinston despised Lord Souten, that much Cade had told her a hundred times. Why on earth would he believe Souten over the woman he was passionately in love with?

  Over and over Vera turned the problem in her mind. The duke wanted only to make Violet his mistress. If this was explained as an elopement by Violet (if she chose to take the safer course) or if she refused to marry Souten and accuse him of abduction, either way it would be a scandal and the duke's interest in Violet might wane.

  But Vera knew that this was highly unlikely. The duke was in love with Violet. A great love like that didn't die in a few seconds. Vera was certain of that. A chill wind went across the carriage as she fearfully opened the window and leaned out to see if the carriage was being followed.

  And Vera had very strong intuition. She felt certain that the duke had found out about the events of this night.

  What to do? How could she untangle herself from it? She could end up in gaol!

 
Vera glanced at Sadie and saw that Sadie had drifted off into fitful pain-filled snatches of sleep. She must take Sadie to a physician. That would be her cover. She could say that all she knew was that Sadie was ill and needed help. Yes. The first thing was to take Sadie to the physician. She leaned out the window and yelled to the driver to halt. But the driver ignored her! What was going on here? Was the driver and outriders on orders not to heed Vera's orders?

  Vera banged with her cane on the roof of the carriage to no avail. Now she felt as if she herself was being kidnapped! She would surely use this to her advantage later on if questioned, because she was certainly being taken to a destination unknown without her consent. The dark road whizzed by as she leaned out the window again and yelled to the driver until she was hoarse, waking up Sadie momentarily.

  Then Vera realized that the carriage had increased speed and was going at a breakneck speed. She leaned out the window again and saw that a rider in the distance followed! Who would be so intrepid as to follow alone a carriage that had not only the driver and tiger but two outriders, as well?

  Sadie was stirring and moaning from the noise and the increased movement of the carriage and the speed it had picked up. She whimpered in her sleep. Vera gave her some of her warm tea and helped her until she could swallow a few sips. Sadie's face was cold and clammy and her hair was plastered to her face.

  Vera looked out the window again and saw that the rider was gaining on them. Then she heard a shot from a pistol! The carriage began to slow down and finally came to a halt.

  "Who goes here?" asked the rider as he reached them. The rider's horse was in a froth as the rider alit.

  One of the outriders went up to him and angrily demanded to know why he had halted them with a pistol shot. Was he a highwayman? He asked.

  "I am Jared De More, Viscount Falweir," Jared shouted, pointing both his pistols "Identify yourself and your business or feel gun powder in your chest!"

  "I am Beacon Case, my lord," said the outrider quickly, "And this is Lord Souten's carriage. We are in the process of taking Lady Kelly to a physician as she has taken extremely ill."