Fin’s heart ached at the sight of her. Clearly she hadn’t been eating well. Her skin sagged on her bones, and her gown—the same one she’d worn to the masquerade—hung far away from her body. Her usually shiny, luxurious hair was matted and dirty, and she looked as if she’d been rolling about in dirt. But she held her head high as she walked past her friends and loved ones, sparing a glance for no one as she made her way to the stand.
One could have heard a pin drop in the vast room. Everyone sat on tenterhooks, waiting for the trial to begin. Sally slipped her hand into Fin’s, and he squeezed back, praying the girl wouldn’t have to watch another motherly figure in her life be lowered into the ground.
“Miss Victoria Barclay,” the judge began, “you are brought here on the charges of sixty-seven accounts of highway robbery. How do you plead?”
Victoria lifted her head high and rolled her shoulders back until she was standing straight as a soldier. “I plead guilty, Your Honor.”
Shocked murmurs spread throughout the courtroom until the judge called everyone back to order.
“Have you anything else to say?” Justice Powell asked her.
“Only that I am not sorry. I did what I had to do, for the sake of those less fortunate, for those who have suffered fates worse than death because they didn’t have money or station. I am sorry, however, for the shame I have brought to my family. And I am sorry that I could not do more. It is my fervent prayer that after my death, others will carry the torch of goodwill to those in need.”
Fin hadn’t cried since he was a boy, but hearing Victoria speak, hearing the bravery not just in her words, but in her voice, caused a lump to form in his throat. She was a woman like no other, and he loved her like he could never love anyone else.
“Thank you, Miss Barclary,” Justice Powell said, and then he turned to Fin. “Lord Leyburn, I believe you have brought some witnesses here today to testify in favor of Miss Barclay, is that correct?”
Victoria turned to look at him finally. Their eyes met. Hers were wide, as if she couldn’t quite believe he’d gone to any such lengths for her. If only she knew that he would go to one end of the earth and back just for a few more moments with her.
“I have, Your Honor,” Fin said, surprised his voice worked at all just then. He motioned for the first witness to take the stand.
A young woman by the name of Anna stepped forward, a small babe in her arms. “If it weren’t for Miss Barclay, Your Honor, I’m most certain my babe and I wouldn’t be here right now. She saved our lives when I was in labor. Her kindness will never be forgotten.”
One by one they stepped forward and told their stories of how Victoria had helped them, either physically or monetarily. Tears glimmered on her cheeks as she listened to the accounts. After ten or so of the hundred and twelve, the judge declared that the jury had heard enough. But Fin wasn’t finished. He had something he needed to say.
“Your honor, if I may?” he said, raising his hand as he stood from his seat. “I would like to make one final plea to the jury.”
Justice Powell nodded and Fin stepped forward, closer to Victoria. He swallowed, knowing what he wanted to say, but having a hard time getting started with all these hundreds of people looking on.
“I have known Victoria Barclay my entire life,” he began. “I was eight years old when she was born, and I remember holding her in my arms when she was a baby. I was there the first time she fell and scraped her hands and knees. I rushed to her side to make sure she was all right, only to be reminded that at the ripe age of four, she ‘was no shrinking violet.’ I remember thinking then that she was a bold and daring and incredibly unique creature.
“But there was only one problem with having such bravado from such a young age: she never learned to ask for help. She took the weight of the world upon herself, always, not realizing that if she had only asked, others might have come to her aid.”
He paused to take a breath and to get down on one knee before her. A collective gasp echoed through the chamber, but Fin paid them no mind. He cared only what Victoria thought of him in that moment.
“Victoria Barclay, I think that I have loved you my entire life, but like a fool, I was too dense to realize it, or maybe just too stubborn to admit it. But I cannot deny it any longer. You are the most incredible woman I have ever known. You have sacrificed everything—even your own life—to take care of others. There are not many that can claim such a thing.
“Victoria, I don’t know what the outcome of this trial will be, but I must tell you this now, before God and all of these people, that I love you. I love you with all my heart, with everything that I am. I cannot comprehend a world without you in it, but I will live peacefully knowing that I told you this today. And should the jury find you not guilty, it is my most fervent prayer that you would agree to live the rest of your life with me, as my wife.”
Victoria was crying in earnest now, the tears dripping to the floor, just missing the tips of Fin’s boots. Everyone was waiting for her response, but Justice Powell was the one to finally demand an answer from her.
“Well, Miss Barclay, what say you to this gentleman’s request?”
Victoria fell to her knees without a word and collapsed into Fin’s arms. He held her tight, praying he would never have to let her go.
It seemed an eternity before the jury returned from deliberation. In reality it was only a matter of minutes, but when the life of the woman one loves hangs in the balance, minutes can feel like days. But at long last, the judge announced there was a verdict.
The room held its collective breath as Justice Powell opened his mouth to speak. “Miss Barclay, on the charges of sixty-seven accounts of highway robbery, you have been found…not guilty.”
A roar rose up from the crowd, and Victoria dissolved into a puddle of tears on the stand. Fin went to her and gathered her in his arms. He lifted her off the ground and swung her in a circle, overjoyed that he would get to spend the rest of his life with her.
Epilogue
“Fin, where on earth are you taking me?” Victoria asked for what seemed like the hundredth time since they’d climbed aboard the carriage. The blindfold—lacking in eyeholes this time—prevented her from knowing anything about their location.
“I told you, darling,” Fin said, “it’s a surprise.”
“Yes, but couldn’t you give me just a little hint?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You are too curious, my dear. But don’t worry, we’re almost there. You won’t have to wait much longer.”
True to his word, the carriage came to stop only minutes later. Fin led her out onto the street after checking to make sure her blindfold was firmly in place, with no opportunity for her to peek. She took his hand, firm and reassuring, and let him lead her about until they had apparently reached their destination. People whispered around her as they passed through rooms, but she still had no idea where they were.
“My dearest Victoria,” Fin said, as he stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. “It is my deepest desire to never have you face the gallows again, and so this is my wedding present to you.”
He tore off the mask, and Victoria blinked several times, trying to figure out what was going on. They were in some kind of sitting room. It was clean, perhaps just built even, with lots of windows and seating enough for twenty or more people. But it was the walls that caught her attention. They were lined with paintings, clearly done by the same artist, and above the fireplace was a painting of her. It was life-sized, and so beautiful that she hardly recognized herself.
“Fin,” she said a bit breathlessly, “where are we?”
“This, my dear Vickie, is the Victoria Barclay Hospital for the Poor.”
She turned abruptly to look at him. He couldn’t mean it. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you don’t have to sneak about to help people anymore. And you don’t have to rob anyone to fund it. That’s what the paintings are for.”
“Fin, these are your life’s work.
You can’t just sell them to fund my hospital.”
“They are my life’s work, and therefore I can do whatever I bloody well want with them. And I’ve decided that twice a month we will hold auctions here, in this room. All proceeds will benefit the hospital.” He paused and turned to look at the painting of her over the fireplace. “Except that one. That particular piece is priceless. It’s the mask on the subject that makes it so.”
Victoria looked up at her husband, still amazed that she could call him that now. “I love you, Phineas Dartwell,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “And I promise I will never do anything illegal again as long as I live.”
“Well, thank God for that!” Fin kissed her then, and it was the sweetest, most wonderfully shocking kiss she’d ever known. Highway robbery couldn’t compete with the thrills she got from kissing the man she’d married.
Other titles available from
Jerrica Knight-Catania
The Wetherby Brides Series
A Gentleman Never Tells
More than a Governess
The Wary Widow
The Bedeviled Bride
And Wetherby Short Stories
Christmas Warms the Harts
The Perfect Kiss
A Summons From the Duke
Regency Christmas Summons Collection 2
© 2011 Jerrica Knight-Catania, Lilia Birney, Samantha Grace
In JERRICA KNIGHT-CATANIA’s Loving Mister Lockwell, Lady Isabel Whitton has no use for people other than her twin sister -- she much prefers the company of her books. So when she discovers that all her cousins from near and far have been summoned to her home, Danby Castle, for Christmas, she isn't pleased. To make matters even worse, the deplorable Mister Lockwell has come uninvited. * Damien Lockwell, 3rd son of the Earl of Totterdown, has invited himself to Yorkshire for Christmas. Spending the holiday with the Whittons seems far preferable to watching his father drink himself into a stupor. And Lady Isabel proves to be just the kind of entertainment he was looking for -- she's smart as a whip and quite the most unique creature he's ever met -- not to mention she despises him, which is the most thrilling part of all for a man like Damien.
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About the Author
Jerrica Knight-Catania left her “glamorous” life as an actress in favor of becoming a romance author, where she could write about truly glamorous lives. She currently resides in New York City with her real-life hero of a husband, their shy Russian Blue, Dr. Snuggle, and their beautiful daughter who is most definitely a princess-in-training.
Jerrica loves to hear from readers! You can send her an email at [email protected]
Visit Jerrica’s official website to learn more about her other books, the Wetherby family and to see what’s new in her writing world!
www.jerricasplace.com
http://romancingthebook.wordpress.com/
The Robber Bride (The Daring Debutantes, Book 1) Page 13