“Of course not. I sent her on ahead when I heard footsteps coming upon us. She completely caught me off guard. I never expected to see her coming at me with a shovel.”
“Her? Who hit you?”
Paul looked directly into Charles’s eyes. “Baroness Shalley.”
Stumbling backwards, Charles had to catch himself on the wardrobe behind him. Gloria? Why would she do such a thing? He suspected she had been hoping to have a relationship with him for a few months, but this was beyond a need for one night’s pleasure.
“I’m not surprised,” Madam Hershal admitted. “I sensed evil in that woman from the first time I laid eyes on her.”
“She’s also always around,” the magistrate added as he walked in. “In every murder and every attempt on Lady Dunmore’s life, she was there.”
Charles swallowed. A similar statement could be said about a number of them. Surely Gloria was incapable of something like this. Then her words from after Miranda’s death floated to the top of his mind.
“I know she’s gone now, and it hurts. But I shall never leave you. I’ll protect you and keep you safe. For her.”
Ice slowly moved through his veins, freezing his body. He used it to become the emotionless piece of stone he needed to be to keep Rebecca safe. If Gloria was responsible, they’d find her, and she’d pay.
“Does anyone have any idea where the countess could be?” Charles asked them.
Paul pulled himself up to a sitting position and blinked as he wobbled on the bed. “I do, but I’m going with you.”
“No you’re not,” the doctor commanded. “You haven’t healed yet.”
“You won’t get to her without me,” Paul promised.
As Paul filled the men in on the part he played with the old coroner and his wife, Charles felt his anger seeping through. Had the tenant uprising not tried to handle matters in their own way, Rebecca would still be here on the manor with them.
Before long, Charles, Paul, and the magistrate mounted their horses and headed off to go search for Rebecca. Charles hoped his wife had made it to Mrs. Harrow before Gloria caught up with her. He still had trouble believing the person he called friend for so long had done this to him.
Reaching the agreed-upon location, Charles dismounted with shaking hands. Mrs. Harrow’s home was down the street from them, but it wouldn’t do to have anyone see them approach.
“Wait here,” Paul instructed. “We need to find out who’s in that house. If anyone.”
Standing there in the alleyway was one of the most difficult things Charles had done. Restless energy flowed through him, demanding he march to the house and kick the door in.
Charles punched the wall to help relieve some of his fight. “I don’t understand why we can’t just go up there.”
“We don’t know what’s in there,” the magistrate answered. “Who knows how many people she’s working with. We could be fighting with one, while the other is . . . It’s just not a good idea.”
Feeling bile rise in his throat, Charles swallowed it down. They couldn’t think like that. After all, Rebecca could be safely hidden away by Mrs. Harrow. They could neutralize the threat before she was retrieved.
“All right,” Paul said breathlessly as he reappeared. “As far as anyone can tell, Mrs. Harrow received two female visitors today. Beyond that, no one has noticed the comings and goings.”
“That’s Rebecca and Gloria. We can easily overtake one woman,” Charles said, anxiety biting his heels.
“True, unless she sees us coming and follows through with her plan before we get to her.” The magistrate wiped a hand over his greasy head. “Paul, you should go up there and see if you can get in. My presence would definitely attract attention.”
“I can’t. If the baroness sees me, she’d know why I’ve come. And we still don’t know if Lady Dunmore has been moved.”
Charles’s hands shook. “I’ll go. With Mrs. Harrow, I can claim to be doing a check up on the tenants, then I can signal Paul. If it is Gloria, I can keep her occupied while the two of you find a quiet way to search the house.”
After a few more whispered plans, Charles left the shadows and made his way to Mrs. Harrow’s house. Several people waved or called out greetings, which he returned. His excuse wouldn’t hold up if his target saw him focusing his attention solely on them.
By the time he reached the front door, his nerves were wound so tight, he knew he would explode at the slightest provocation. Knocking on the door, he used all his strength to calm himself.
He froze as Gloria answered the door. Part of him hadn’t believed the truth until this moment. Red clouded his vision, but he smothered it.
“Charles,” she gushed. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I heard you were here, so I came for a visit,” he forced out.
A smile spread across her face, but didn’t diminish the wildness in her eyes. “You did? And here I look a fright. Please come in.”
She lifted her hands to smooth her hair, and he sucked in his breath to see one holding a pistol. He followed her in and quickly reached out to take the weapon, but she turned around so swiftly he missed his opportunity.
“What are you doing with that?” he asked, adopting a conversational tone to play off his failed attempt to grab the pistol.
She glanced down at her hand. “Oh, this. You’ll see. I have a plan, and I think you’ll love it. It’s in there.”
After she motioned for him to enter a room to the left, he turned his back on her to comply. In the center of the room sat Mrs. Harrow, tied to a chair with the gag in her mouth. His eyes widened as anger filled him.
“What is this? If this is your plan, I don’t like it. Release this woman.” His normal authoritative tone fell flat.
Gloria moved behind the woman, and faced him. “Don’t dismiss it until you hear my thoughts first.”
He gritted his teeth, wishing he’d been able to disarm her. It was too risky now with a chance of a stray bullet hitting Mrs. Harrow. “Very well.”
“Sit, and I’ll tell you.” She waited for him to comply. “Now, Mrs. Harrow here has a son who will soon be an orphan.”
Muffled sounds came out of the woman as she pulled on her bonds and tears flowed down her face. Charles clenched his fists so tight, he felt his nails digging into his flesh. This went too far. She was torturing the woman.
“Have a care, Gloria. Can’t we have this discussion in a different room?”
“And give her another chance to escape? I don’t think so. She’s already caused me enough trouble. Now, be quiet and let me finish. The boy needs a family, and he would provide you with a good heir.”
The coldness of her plan made him shake. How could anyone even think of something so vile? And where was Rebecca? Had she already killed her? Sweat beaded on his forehead and slid down his face.
“What about Rebecca? She carries my heir.”
“But you don’t need her anymore. You should thank me, you know. Just like with others, I saw how miserable they made you, so I made them go away. Just like Rebecca.”
Something snapped inside him, and he jumped to his feet. “You killed her?” he growled as he reached his hands out to grab her.
She pressed the pistol into Mrs. Harrow’s temple. “Careful, my lord. If the blood spatters all over you, I can’t see Prinny being able to help you out of this one.”
He didn’t care about himself. For the first time in his life, he truly wanted to commit murder. He wanted to kill Gloria. The only thing holding him back was Mrs. Harrow. He refused to let another innocent person die. No more blood would stain his hands.
“What do you want?” he asked, although simply uttering the question infuriated him.
“Leave the room, and let me take care of this.”
Before he could respond, the shattering of a window echoed in the room. Taking advantage of her surprise, Charles jumped on Gloria and knocked the gun from her hand. He secured her arms above her as his body held the rest of her down.
Her big, teary eyes watched him. “Why Charles? Why are you doing this?”
Many reasons came to his mind, but one remained in the forefront. The one that hurt him the most.
“Because I love Rebecca.”
Because I love Rebecca.
The words reverberated through Rebecca’s mind and pumped the life back into her body. Charles loved her. He had come to save her, although she hadn’t trusted him.
Remaining in the doorway, she watched Trevor bounce into his mother’s recently freed lap, as the magistrate took over holding Gloria. The threat was over. But she and Charles couldn’t live happily ever after like the stories. She had betrayed her husband.
Charles didn’t turn to face her. Instead, he stared at Gloria, rage in his eyes. Feeling detached from the scene, she continued to wait as the magistrate whispered something to her husband. When he whipped his head around to face her, her breath caught at the love in his eyes.
An unbidden smile seized her lips as her husband crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. She snuggled her face against his chest as she drew in his scent. His warmth melted away all the pain and fear from the day.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said as he pulled her into the hallway and wrapped his cloak around her.
“How did you find me?”
“Paul told us where to find you, then insisted he join us regardless of his injury. We owe him much.”
She nodded, feeling lucky to have someone who was a true friend. Paul certainly would be pleased to see an end to this. Now Anna could rest in peace. She sniffed, thinking of all the unnecessary loss.
Charles stopped when they arrived at the horses. “Are you all right?”
The tenderness in his touch as his finger ran down her cheek brought tears to her eyes. Nothing but goodness flowed through him. And she had tried to turn him in for murder. When he found out, he would never look at her the same.
“I’m well.” Her tears overflowed at the lie.
“Come.”
He set her on the horse and mounted behind her. The sensation of his strong arms around her only furthered her torment. She had no right to take pleasure in him.
The horse’s movement combined with the wind in her face dried her tears. Recently, she had not had an easy time of it, and her emotions sat to close the surface.
Once back to the manor, Charles brought her into the drawing room where Sylvia sat with the doctor. Judging from the way they were staring at each other, the interruption hadn’t been welcome. Then her friend’s eyes widened as they fell on her.
“You are safe.” Sylvia jumped up and enveloped her. “So, the baroness was . . .”
Rebecca nodded as a lump formed in her throat. They had welcomed Gloria and treated her like family. This is how she repaid them.
“You don’t look well, my dear.” Sylvia guided Rebecca to a chair. “You need to rest. Nigel and I will take our leave.”
Astonished, Rebecca snapped her eyes to the doctor who bowed, then followed Sylvia out. In all this time, Rebecca had never heard the doctor’s name uttered. What had occurred between them?
“Nigel?” Rebecca repeated as the door closed.
Charles chuckled as he sat beside her. “Apparently the tense situation brought the unlikely pair together.”
“So it would seem.”
Reaching over, Charles grabbed both of her hands and pulled her to face him. “Rebecca, my love, please tell me what is wrong. I can fix it. I promise to make everything right for you . . . I love you.” The last word came out thick with emotion.
The honesty in his eyes brought tremors to her chest. She wanted to throw herself in his arms, to tell him she loved him too, but she couldn’t. That wouldn’t be fair.
Standing up, she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around herself before turning back to him.
Charles stood as well. “I’m not telling you to make you feel guilty, or so that you feel you must return my feelings. I just wanted you to know.”
The sorrow in his voice nearly broke her.
“You don’t understand,” she whispered. “Do you know why I left here? Why Gloria almost killed Mrs. Harrow and myself?”
He swallowed loudly and shook his head.
“I betrayed your trust. I truly thought you killed those women. I ran away from you.”
His sorrow seeped into his eyes. “Why? What did I do?”
Turning toward the fireplace, she took a deep breath. She couldn’t look at him while she admitted this. In addition, she couldn’t bear to watch his heart breaking.
“I found Anna’s necklace in your bedchamber. The only way it would have come off her neck is if she struggled. Then, when I went to your study to ask you about it in front of the magistrate, I heard you say you killed them. I must have misheard, but I just . . .”
Feeling his hands on her shoulders, she fought the urge to lean into him. His lips grazed her neck.
“Am I to blame you for this?” he asked, his voice soft.
She nodded.
“Clearly the necklace was placed there for you to find. And my confession . . . Well, you heard correctly. I carry around a lot of guilt for what happened. In a way, I am responsible.”
Spinning around, she wrapped her fingers around the lapels of his jacket to pull him down to look into her eyes. “No, Charles. None of this is your fault. Gloria had gone mad.”
“Dearest Rebecca, you want me to hold the blame over you and not keep any for myself. Your generosity is just one of the many reasons why I love you. Which reminds me, is any of this going to show up in your sheet?”
She released him as her body tensed. “My sheet?”
“Yes. The Unscandal Sheet. Are you going to write our story again?”
“You know about that?”
He nodded, the smile never leaving his face.
Taking a deep breath, Rebecca tried to keep her heart from bursting. He knew she wrote the sheet, and he didn’t care. This was more than she could ever hope for.
“I don’t deserve you.”
He slid his arms around her. “No. I am the undeserving one. I will spend the rest of my life proving myself and trying to earn your love.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “Well, you’ve already succeeded. I love you.”
He squeezed her tight as he closed his eyes. “Heaven has blessed me on this day.”
“So, since you don’t need to spend your life winning me over, what do you intend to do with your time?”
“I’m sure we will think of something.”
With that Charles captured her mouth and proceeded to make her forget about everything else but him.
Epilogue
Charles paced the hallway as terror climbed up his throat. Rebecca screamed, her voice louder this time. Judging the distance to the bedchamber door, he bolted, but Nigel caught him before he could make it.
“Not yet,” the man scolded. “You walk in there too soon, and you are a dead man.”
“You are a doctor. How can you endure remaining out here while she is hurting so badly in there?”
Nigel crossed his arms. “First, I trust Sylvia to take care of the countess, and second, neither you nor I would be able to handle the wrath of the great witch, Madam Hershal.”
That made Charles laugh through his fear. The rumors about Sylvia were no more real than the ones about him. Charles shook his head at life. The infamous witch had hung up her proverbial broom to settle down in the country with a doctor.
Another piercing scream cut throu
gh his thoughts, and made his insides shudder. Then the sound of a newborn cry had him clutching his chest. His child. He finally had a child.
Turning anxious eyes the doctor, Charles sagged in relief at the man’s nod of approval. Not wasting any time, he bounded to the door. The sight before him took his breath away.
Rebecca sat up in bed cradling his newborn baby. They had both survived. When she looked up at him, the happiness in her face held Charles immobile.
“Come meet your new son.”
Using wobbly legs, he crossed the room and looked down at his son. His heir. The small child looked up at him and Charles melted. Love for his baby and his wife flowed through him.
“What do you think?” Rebecca asked then bit her lip. “I thought we might name him Paul. If you don’t agree, that’s all right. I just thought in light of—”
“Shh.” He ran a finger down his son’s face. “Paul is perfect. And I think his namesake will be honored.”
Charles sat on the bed beside his wife and wrapped his arms around his family. For so many years, he thought simply having an heir would bring him satisfaction with life, but he was wrong.
The overwhelming love he shared for them brought him more happiness than he thought possible. Rebecca had given him an heir. Had given him life. Had saved him. Had redeemed him.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed reading Redeeming the Earl. Rebecca Doutree showed up in the second book of the Perfect Series, His Perfect Game. Then she made an appearance in all the companion stories. Her compassion and silent perseverance despite her inability to find a husband struck me. After that, I knew I needed to tell her story.
Then considering Rebecca’s desire to unmask scandals, I knew her perfect man would be covered in one. As many of you have figured out, I do love a good suspense story. That’s where the Earl of Dunmore came into play.
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