They passed a pleasant evening and when Alastair went to bed, he slept like a child.
* * *
Thomas and Peter snickered at their lord when they saw what he was carrying in his hands. He gave them a stern look, daring them to say anything but they merely shrugged.
“No one say a word,” Alastair muttered as he entered the drawing room. He had been walking in the mountain area when he spotted the beautiful wild violets and daffodils, and just found himself plucking a bunch for Samantha.
And the look on her face when he presented them to her was worth all the mocking he knew he would be getting from his men.
“You brought these for me?” Samantha had a tender look in her eyes and Alastair almost groaned out loud. “Thank you, they are so beautiful.”
“I saw them out in the meadow and thought of you.”
“You should take me with you out to the meadow one of these days. I have been afraid to venture that far out. I wouldn’t want to get into any trouble.”
“Alright then, tomorrow pack a picnic lunch and we will spend the day out there, and if time allows us, I will take you to the mouth of River Ness. At this time of year we might be lucky and catch some trout or salmon.”
Samantha didn’t sleep and the next morning she was up very early. After laying out the duke’s breakfast, she packed some fresh bread, pies, dried fruit, roasted chicken and two bottles of milk, as well as some cheese, into a basket and was soon ready.
Alastair asked her if she would like to ride but she preferred walking so they set off on foot, watched by the servants who couldn’t help but wish that all would go well for their master and the delightful young lady who had come to seek refuge among them.
Samantha felt like skipping like a happy lamb, but restrained herself. She didn’t want Alastair thinking her mad, but she soon forgot everything when they entered the meadow that had all kinds of flowers. She ran from bush to bush, with Alastair following slowly, a satisfied smile on his face. He was carrying the basket and watched as she tossed her hands in the air and danced about like a little girl. She really was beautiful and he knew then that he was in love with her.
They ate under a wild peach tree and collected some peaches to take home, then Alastair took her to the river where they caught four large fish which he cleaned. “Immediately we get home, you will prepare a lovely dinner for all of us. We haven’t eaten fish in a long time and I know the others will enjoy the taste.”
“It has really been a wonderful day for me, my lord.”
“When we’re alone, would you please call me Alastair?”
“My lord?”
“Alastair. I want to hear how it sounds on your lips.”
“Alastair,” she said and he nodded. “You have a beautiful voice. I once heard you singing up on the battlements and didn’t want to interrupt your private moment.”
Samantha blushed and he was delighted. They spent a wonderful time together and when it was late afternoon, they started for home. Samantha was in high heaven, having spent the day with the man that she was falling in love with. She felt like her whole world was alright, but her joy was shattered the moment they stepped into the courtyard and she saw the two people who were waiting there.
9
Affliction
Alastair noticed the shattered look on his beloved’s face and when he looked up and saw the man and woman standing in the courtyard, he knew that her past had finally caught up with her.
“Samantha,” he said in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid. Just trust me, okay?”
“My stepmother and Lord Daniel Cross,” was all she said, before Hannah hurried over towards them.
“So this is where your father brought you to hide you,” she snickered. “It is a small world after all,” she barely acknowledged Alastair’s presence. “At least now I have found you, you have to do the right thing and return to London right away.”
“Ma’am,” Alastair bowed himself.
“I wasn’t talking to you, now run along,” she dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “I came to take my wayward stepdaughter back home to where she belongs. She is betrothed to Lord Daniel Cross, a very powerful man in London. I would suggest that we don’t have trouble here because a lot lies on Samantha’s obedience.”
“I won’t go back to London, you can’t make me.”
Hannah threw her head back and laughed. “You want to dare me? I know that you love your father but at this moment he is lying in jail.”
“What?”
“Yes. When he came home and gave me a cock and bull story about you deciding that you wanted to stay a few days with your uncle, I knew something was up. I waited and waited and he kept telling me that you would be back soon. But Daniel and I are very clever and we did our own investigations, and found out that you were nowhere in London.”
“What have you done to my father, you wicked woman?”
“A right word in the right ear, and your father is in jail facing murder. I simply told the constable that he had murdered you and hidden your body, and he was arrested.”
“Nobody will believe such terrible lies,” Samantha cried.
“Oh, but they did,” Hannah turned to Alastair. “Why are you still here? It amazes me that people up in the north have such insolent servants. You’re lucky your lord is in London, or else I would report you for insubordination. And where are you coming from with my stepdaughter?”
Alastair noticed that Samantha was about to reveal who he was, but he shook his head slightly and she kept quiet. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Perhaps we could go in and discuss all this.”
“Nobody has offered us as much as a glass of water. When I get back to London, I will look for Lord Alastair Callum and tell him that he keeps a bunch of rogues as servants.” She turned and flounced into the castle. She sat down and Daniel joined her on the couch.
“I suggest, young girl, that you get your things ready, for we are leaving for London tonight.”
“Yes, Ma,” Samantha felt defeated and Alastair wanted to hit the people who had brought such despair into the eyes of his beloved. “I’m sorry,” Sam turned to Alastair. “Tell Lord Alastair that I had to leave for London urgently. I will just go and pack my belongings.”
“You do that,” Hannah said, quite satisfied. Alastair waited until Sam had been gone for some time before he ran up to her room.
He found her weeping silently and brokenly. Without a further thought, he gathered her into his arms. “It isn’t over yet, my darling. Don’t cry or you’ll break my heart.”
“I have to go,” she wept. “Hannah is wicked and she has now put my father in prison. He will die there. I love you, but my father’s life is in my hands and if I have to marry Daniel to save him, then so be it.”
“You will not leave this castle with that wicked woman and man. Stay here, lock the door and don’t open it until I come and get you. Okay?”
“But my father.”
“Will be well taken care of. I’m dispatching Thomas tonight to London, and within a few days all will be well. Just please trust me.”
“Yes,” Samantha held tight to Alastair and he reached down and kissed her gently on the lips.
“I love you so much, Samantha Sikes.”
“And I love you, my lord,” he growled and she giggled. “Alastair Callum.”
“Good, now lock this door until I return for you.”
* * *
“Now where is that insolent good for nothing girl,” Hannah hissed at Alastair when he returned to the drawing room. “It’s getting late and I don’t want to be stuck in this godforsaken place.”
“She sent to tell you that she is in the carriage, waiting for you.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Daniel stood up and hurried out of the room, followed by Hannah. The moment the carriage door opened they felt themselves pushed inside, only to find an empty carriage.
“What?” Hannah scrambled to sit and noticed that the door was locked from the outside
and the carriage was already driving away. “This is an insult,” she shouted, banging on the walls of the carriage. That was when she noticed that it wasn’t the same one that had brought them to the castle. “What is going on here?”
10
Retribution
Robin bowed his head, curled up in the corner of the cell where he was being held. He couldn’t believe just how wicked Hannah was, and he deeply regretted why he had married her in the first place. His one fear was that they would get Samantha and force her into marriage with Daniel Cross.
His woes had started when he returned from Inverness without Samantha. At first he had played for time, hoping that Daniel would give up and move on to another woman, but then he discovered that Hannah had taken very large sums of money not only from Daniel but from other people as well, with the promise of repaying them when Samantha and Daniel were married. She was desperate and had threatened him will all sorts of dire consequences. Daniel had also come around to the house, demanding that Samantha be produced for he had been spending a lot of money for her needs.
The only thing that had made him reveal the whereabouts of his daughter was when he was arrested and charged with her murder, unless he produced her. He would be hanged if he didn’t produce his daughter, and so he had told them where she was, praying that Alastair would keep her safe.
It had been days since Hannah had come to the prison and mocked him. “You were always a weak man, Robin. Why I ever married you is a mystery that will never be solved in this lifetime. I told you that I would win in the end, and while you languish here in jail, your daughter will be married to Daniel Cross and I will benefit, me and my daughters.”
“What did we ever do to you, Hannah? You were Tamara’s best friend and I trusted you to take care of my daughter, not destroy her life like this.”
“Tamara thought she was better than me when she married you,” Hannah had hissed. “I was glad when I was told she was dead, and I wanted to make her pay. Then you gave me the best gift, her daughter. So now, Samantha will pay for all the times her mother looked down on me.”
Robin shook his head, tears pouring from his face. “Dear Lord, please keep my child safe. She’s all I have and I’m sorry for putting her into this horrible mess.”
There was a commotion at the door of the cell. “Who is Robin Sikes?”
“That man whimpering in the corner,” someone shouted and they all laughed. He was just glad that nobody had found out that he was a police constable, or else his life would have been even worse in the cells.
“Come with me right now.”
“This is it,” Robin thought, as he followed the warden. They walked down a corridor and then he was shown into the chief warden’s office. “Get in there.”
When Robin entered the office he found the chief warden and two strangers he had never seen before.
“Is this the man?” Oscar Tomlins asked.
“That’s the man,” Thomas nodded. “He was the one who brought his daughter to Inverness and asked for Lord Alastair’s protection.”
“You have proof that the girl is alive and well?”
“Yes, sir.”
Oscar grunted. “The presence of the Regent’s envoy is what makes me trust you. You can take him away.”
* * *
By the time morning came, Hannah and Daniel had screamed themselves hoarse and then gone silent. They had walked into a trap and had no idea what was going to happen to them.
“Cursed is the day I set my eyes on you, and you convinced me to join you in your scheme,” Daniel spat at Hannah.
“Don’t be a prude. You were so obsessed with my stepdaughter that you wouldn’t listen to reason, so don’t blame me.”
“When we get out of here I want all the money that I ever gave you, or else you will be joining your good for nothing husband in prison. Mark my words, I will deal with you in the way you deserve.”
Hannah shut up because she knew that she was in deep trouble. She didn’t know who had kidnapped them, though it was all tied to Samantha. That blasted girl, the bane of her life.
The carriage slowed down and then stopped, and the door was opened. “Get out,” a gruff voice barked at them and they were shoved into a building. “Put them in the dungeons until the master arrives.”
“Please,” Hannah started crying. “Don’t do this to me. I have two daughters who are waiting for me, there’s nobody to take care of them.”
But the two men ignored her and tossed both of them in separate cells where they spent the better part of the night shouting insults and accusations at each other, much to the amusement of the men who were playing cards outside.
“I wish someone would shut those two up,” Peter told Simon, the village cobbler, who was also the sheriff. “They are making me deaf.”
“Ignore them, they will soon weary themselves and fall asleep. Lord Alastair said we should hold them here until Thomas returned with news from London, whether good or bad.”
“He’s been gone these four days, should be back in two or three,” Peter said. “I will be glad to wash my hands of these wicked people. Poor girl, that she had to have such a woman for a stepmother, what was her father thinking?”
“Don’t blame the poor sod. His wife died during childbirth, according to Alastair. “And this woman was supposed to have been her best friend, so he naturally turned to her for comfort. Then she turns out to be a witch.”
“She will get what is due to her, they both will. Our good Lord never allows the wicked to prevail over the just. Lord Alastair will take care of the young lady and then he will deal with these two criminals.”
Samantha was in the courtyard when the large gates opened and the carriage rolled in. The door opened and when her father stepped out, she gave a joyous cry and rushed across the yard, being caught up in his strong arms. They were both shedding tears of joy as Alastair looked on.
“Sam, I never thought I would ever see you again.” “Papa, I was so worried when Hannah came and told me that she had you imprisoned under false charges. How did you get out?”
“Lord Alastair sent his man, Thomas. My innocence was proven and I was released. I didn’t even go back to the house, but begged to come here and make sure that you’re fine.”
“I’m fine,” she turned and smiled shyly at Alastair. “Lord Alastair and the others took very good care of me.”
“Which reminds me that I haven’t shown good manners,” he turned to Alastair and held out his hand. “I don’t have the words with which to express my gratitude for keeping my child safe, and also for securing my release.”
“You’re a good man and didn’t deserve any of the ill treatment. Thomas went to see a friend of mine in London and that was how they got you out. I gather you suffered no ill effects for the days you had been incarcerated?”
“No, my lord. The Lord was my strength all through.”
“Good, good,” Alastair looked at Samantha. “You need to show your father to his room and see him settled down. He must be very tired and hungry after his ordeal. There’s something I have to take care of, but I’ll be back shortly.”
11
Jubilation
Hannah heard the outer door opening and she looked up. Daniel was snoring on the cot that had been provided for him. It was the scarred man who entered and she sneered at him.
“Is this how you treat visitors to this place? I will see that Lord Alastair gets to hear of the mistreatment that you’ve subjected us to.”
“Ma’am,” Alastair bowed slightly. “I am Lord Alastair, and I am here to give you and your accomplice a stern warning. You have ill-treated Samantha Sikes in the past, but no more. You thought that you would come here and spirit her into the arms of a man she doesn’t love, just so you and your daughters can live in comfort.” Alastair shook his head. “I have sent my men to London and they will have alerted all the relevant authorities about your misdeeds. You can be sure that you are in deep trouble, the two of you.” Alastair turn
ed to walk away. “Oh, and just so you know, Robin Sikes was released from the prison you had put him into, and which is now waiting for you. Besides that, I want you to know that if you ever set foot on these shores again you will be in deep trouble. My men will escort you to the port so you can catch a ship and return to London. And don’t try any funny tricks because my power extends for miles and counties around. Everyone is watching you from the moment you leave this place, until you get onto the ship and land in London, where you’ll be escorted to the prisons where you belong.”
Alastair walked away and signalled to Simon to escort the two to the port. He went back home where he found Samantha and her father talking, seated side by side on the couch in the drawing room.
“My lord,” Samantha curtsied and hurried towards the door. She stopped and turned around. “I am going to bring you some tea, my lord.”
Robin waited until Samantha had left then he turned to his host. “Lord Alastair, there isn’t anything that I can say to show my gratitude. You’re a truly noble man, and I am glad that I was right in trusting you.”
“Samantha is a good woman, and I was praying that you would come back to us safely because I have a most important matter to discuss with you.”
Robin nodded.
“I have fallen in love with your daughter, and I would like your permission to court her and when she is ready, to make her my wife.”
Robin smiled, and looked up as Samantha entered the room with tea for Alastair. He noticed the way the two of them looked at each other and he knew that his daughter had found true love at last.
“There isn’t a nobler man that I would give my daughter to, and you both have my blessings.”
* * *
As Inverness was celebrating the marriage of the Beast of the Moors, down in London Lord Daniel Cross was facing the wrath of the Prince Regent.
Beastly Duke and the Winsome Bride Page 4