by Bobbi Smith
"Catherine! Dear God, I can't believe it." He smothered her with kisses, holding her to his heart, never wanting to let her go. He was barely able to release her long enough to look at her.
"Oh, Father. I'm home . . . I'm really home!" she cried.
It was an emotional moment for all of them. Almira stood quietly aside, watching with tears in her eyes.
Edward kept an arm around his daughter as they descended the stairs. He was gazing at her, unable to believe his eyes.
"Come . . . come into the parlor. We must talk. Who is this you've brought with you? Where have you been? How did you manage to get here?" The questions seemed to have no end.
"This is Almira, my maid and companion. She made the trip from Algiers with me."
"Algiers?" Edward stared at her aghast. "Is that where you've been all these years?"
"Yes . . . since the beginning. But I can tell you about that later. There's something more important that you have to know."
"What is it?" he asked as they moved into the parlor.
Catherine grasped her father's hand as she told him with great urgency, "It's Alex, Father. He's in desperate trouble, and you're the only one who can help him."
"Alexander is in trouble? But he only left here a few hours ago and . . ."
"What? You mean you've seen him? You know about the Scimitar and . . ."
"The Scimitar?" Edward frowned as he immediately recognized the name of Alexander's toy boat and suddenly realizing that they were not talking about the same thing.
"The Scimitar is Alex's ship. He's been taken captive by the navy and is being held in prison here."
"Catherine, you're not making sense. What do you mean Alexander was taken captive by the navy? He's been living here with me for months, ever since Vivienne brought him back from . . ."
"Vivienne?!" Catherine's eyes shot sparks at the mention of the woman. "Vivienne is here? What of Avery?"
"Avery disappeared when you did, and we never heard from him again. But Vivienne finally located Alexander in America and she brought him back to me . . ."
"Oh, no she didn't!" Catherine exclaimed in outrage. "Alexander had been with me ever since the beginning."
"What?" Edward was staggered by the news. If Alexander had been with Catherine, then who was the young man he'd come to love and care for? Had Vivienne . . .?
"If Vivienne brought someone here and has been passing him off as Alex, I can tell you he's an impostor. Alexander and I were kidnapped by Avery. He was going to sell us into slavery in France, but luckily a Barbary pirate took our ship instead. I guess Avery must have been killed during the attack, I don't know. But we were taken in captivity to Algiers and given in tribute to the dey there. His name is Malik. Malik raised Alex as his own son, and now he's known as Serad. He's made his living on the sea as a corsair and his ship is named the Scimitar . . ."
"Dear God . . ." Edward lifted his shocked and troubled gaze to look at Dalton who was hovering near the door. "Alexander isn't Alexander."
"It would seem so, Your Grace," Dalton responded worriedly.
"But what of Alexander? Where is he? You say he was taken prisoner?"
Catherine told him all she knew, then Dalton spoke up.
"Only yesterday, Your Grace, there was an article in the paper about a pirate being taken to Newgate."
"Father, we have to hurry. I'm sure they want him dead. We have to save him."
Dalton ordered the carriage brought around and directed one of the other servants to see to it that Almira was given a room in the maids' quarters. Edward and Catherine were ready and waiting when the vehicle pulled around, and they climbed in and were off to Newgate.
"I hope we're not too late . . ." Catherine worried.
"I would think there's still time if he was only taken there yesterday." Edward took her hand in his to reassure her.
They regarded each other lovingly, and he put an arm around her to draw her near. Catherine rested her head on his shoulder and allowed herself the heavenly delight of being a young girl again for just that brief period of time. It felt so good to be cherished and protected this way. Only a father could impart that kind of love, and she had missed it desperately.
"My darling, I have missed you so," Edward said sadly. "We have so much to talk about . . . So much has happened."
"Father . . ." She sat up straight to look at him as she asked the question that had been haunting her for years. "I have to know . . . what happened to Gerald?"
Edward blanched and went still at her inquiry. Catherine was puzzled by his hesitation.
"Father? What is it? He's not dead, is he?"
"Sometimes I think I would have preferred that," Edward growled. He would have understood if the young man had slowly lost interest in Catherine as the months had passed and she hadn't returned, but Gerald Ratcliff's hasty taking of another fiancée just a few months after Catherine's disappearance had been a terrible and ugly betrayal to Edward. He had despised the man ever since, for he'd realized that Gerald had only been after the Wakefield dowry and couldn't possibly have loved Catherine for herself.
"What do you mean?" Catherine's hands were clenched in her lap as she prepared herself for what she anticipated had to be awful news.
"Ratcliff waited only a few months before claiming another fiancée," Edward said bluntly. "He was married within the first year after you disappeared."
Catherine swallowed with some difficulty. "He married . . . so soon?" All her dreams about Gerald and what their future would have been like together were destroyed in that moment, and she realized what a fool she'd been to mourn the loss of the man for all these years.
"Catherine, I'm sorry . . ." Edward touched her cheek. "I know how much you loved him."
"I loved who I thought he was, Father," she admitted slowly, finding it painful to give up a dream she'd harbored so long.
"I thought he was a better man, too," Edward agreed unhappily. He went on to tell her of the pain of losing her and Alex and the misery of the separation. She told him of her years with Malik, of how she'd tried to escape and then had been forbidden to speak of home and family, and of how Malik had agreed to let her go when Alex's life had been at stake.
"How do you feel about this man Malik?"
"He is a good man. I care for him a great deal. He was never harsh or cruel to me, and he came to love Alex as his own son." An image of Malik seared her mind. Malik asking her to be his wife, Malik sending all of his other women away, Malik loving her totally and without reservation, and in all that time she had never once ever told him that she loved him. Malik . . . Her heart constricted in her breast.
Their discussion was interrupted as the carriage stopped before the prison.
"What do we do now?" Catherine asked nervously. The building was very forbidding looking, and it filled her with fear.
"First, we'll arrange to see Alexander and make sure he's all right. Then we'll make inquiries and see what must be done to free him."
"Do you think that will be difficult?"
"It's my understanding that money and influence can accomplish anything, and we have both, my dear child. We have both."
"Thank heaven. If anything happens to Alex . . ."
"We won't let it. We'll save him, and after we do, I think it's time we all paid Vivienne a visit."
Newgate was as horrible as Edward had imagined it would be. He detested the thought of dealing with the guards, but if it meant saving his grandson from the gates of hell, he would do anything.
George was there, and he watched Edward's approach with interest, trying to imagine what this dignified-looking old man wanted.
"I am the Duke of Huntington," Edward announced. "I understand you have a prisoner here by the name of Serad?"
George was astounded that there was someone of this importance interested in the pirate, but he kept to the original story. "We did have till a while ago."
"What do you mean?" Catherine gasped, fearing he'd already been execute
d.
"The fool tried to escape, and he was shot dead, he was."
"You're wrong, he can't be dead!" Catherine insisted desperately. She had traveled all this way to rescue him. He couldn't be dead! He couldn't!
"How? I want the details, and I want to see the body!" Edward demanded as he put a supportive arm about Catherine's shoulders.
George hurried to tell him the lies he'd created for just such a moment. "They already took the body away, but I can tell you true, it was him, the pirate Serad, who was shot and killed. Deader than a doornail he was . . ."
Catherine and Edward were heartbroken as they turned and left the prison. Their steps were slow, their spirits crushed.
Catherine's tears fell unheeded, and she moaned over and over again, "He's dead . . . he's dead . . . I didn't get here in time."
Edward was as grief-stricken as Catherine, but he was also furious. Someone was going to pay for this, and he knew just who that someone was. Vivienne. . . .
They climbed in the carriage and he directed the driver to take them to Vivienne's home.
A low-burning lamp cast Vivienne's bedroom in a soft glow. On the bed, Vivienne gave a throaty laugh as she clung to Gerald. They had just enjoyed a delicious evening together, having decided to go to bed instead of dinner, and she was looking forward to his remaining there with her until the early hours of the morning. His wife be damned!
An abrupt knock at her bedroom door startled her and she gave a muffled curse. "What is it? I told you we didn't want to be interrupted!"
"Lady Vivienne . . . You must come downstairs. Your son and his fiancée are here, and they've brought a visitor with them."
"Tell Alexander that I'm indisposed and that I will see him tomorrow," she snapped, wondering at his audacity in coming to her home at that hour.
"Yes, ma'am."
Confident that David would obey her command, Vivienne turned back to Gerald and kissed him fully on the mouth. It was a hot, passionate exchange as he was caught up once more in her driving, insatiable lust. They were locked in that heated embrace, when suddenly the bedroom door was kicked open and slammed back against the wall with a loud crash!
Vivienne gave a shriek of outrage as she twisted violently to glare at whomever had dared intrude. She saw a shadow of a man appear in the doorway, and her eyes widened in fright as he stepped forward into the light. She recognized him instantly and was so shocked that she did not even hear the words he uttered so tightly.
"Good evening, Mother." Alex came farther into the room followed by David and Tori.
"Alexander . . ." His name was strangled from her as she clutched the sheets to her to hide her nakedness.
"Yes, Mother. Your long-lost son has returned." Alex took a menacing step toward the bed. Any tenderness he might ever have felt for his own flesh-and-blood mother had died long ago. He saw her now only as a conniving shrew who'd tried to kill him and Catherine.
"Now, see here!" Gerald blustered, feeling the threat in his movements and growing afraid for his own life.
"Shut up, Ratcliff!" Alex snarled, recovering quickly from the shock of seeing him in bed with her. "I wonder what Aunt Catherine would think to see the two of you together. Maybe you two were in conspiracy with Father from the beginning."
"Alexander . . . let me explain . . ." Vivienne began to plead, wanting to win him over, hoping he still had some feelings for her since she was after all his mother.
"There's nothing left to explain, David's told me everything. Now, it's just a matter of informing Grandfather and seeing everything set to rights."
"David? You fool! You absolute fool!" Vivienne turned a vicious glare on him. She had never been so frantic in her life. Desperation seized her. All of her carefully made plans were being shattered. The real Alex had returned and now Edward would find out everything. Her life was over. "Alexander . . . I'm your mother. I love you." she pleaded in one last panicked attempt to save herself. Tears of very real humiliation and fear poured down her cheeks.
"You're not my mother. A mother loves her children, she doesn't try to have them destroyed!" he told her savagely. He stared down at her tear-ravaged face, but didn't feel anything but contempt.
Vivienne turned to David. "Do something! You didn't kill that woman in America, but you could kill him! We can go on with the charade and no one will know! Your future is at stake! Think of the money! Think of the power!"
David stared at her in complete astonishment. "I didn't kill the girl?"
"No, I set that up so I could convince you to help me. But now that you have everything you've ever dreamed of, are you willing to give it all up? You may really go to jail for masquerading as Alexander! Do something! Save us all!"
"You're mad!" David said in complete disgust. "Alex, what do you want to do?"
"I want to see my grandfather. I . . ."
The sound of angry voices in the foyer below came to Alex as he was speaking, and he turned in their direction.
Edward and Catherine had stormed into Vivienne's house right past the protesting servant who'd opened the door. They demanded to know where she was and upon being told headed straight up the stairs.
"Vivienne! I want to speak with you!" Edward was nearly shouting as he reached the top of the steps with Catherine close behind him. They started down the hall toward the open doorway. As Edward neared it, a tall, dark-haired young man stepped out to face him.
"Grandfather?" Alex stood perfectly still, gazing at him with open love. It was as if no time had passed, as if it had only been yesterday that they had talked of painting the name on his toy boat. Alex couldn't prevent the surge of tears that filled his eyes, and he didn't even try. He swallowed, his throat working in agony as he tried to speak, to say more, to tell him that he loved him and had missed him.
"Alexander!" Catherine's cry tore through the momentary silence and she ran past her father to throw herself into his arms. "You're not dead!" She turned back toward her father, opening one arm to him. "It's Alexander . . ."
"Alexander . . ." Edward had instinctively known, but he'd been unable to move or speak until Catherine's excitement broke through the numbness. He moved forward to embrace the both of them. Tears fell unheeded.
When they moved apart to look at each other again. "Aunt Catherine," Alex asked. "Why are you here and why did you think I was dead?"
"Once word reached us that you'd been taken prisoner, I had to come after you. I knew Father could save you, so I returned to England and went to the prison to get you out. The guard told us you were dead, though . . . but it doesn't matter why, as long as you're alive!"
Edward gave him another hug, then asked in a deadly voice, "Where's Vivienne?"
Alex nodded toward the bedroom door just as David and Tori stepped out.
"You!" Edward said as he started to enter the bedroom. He fixed a serious regard upon the young man he'd believed to be Alex for so many months. "I'll deal with you next!"
David nodded and stepped aside respectfully to allow him to enter the bedroom. Tori stayed with David and took his hand in a gesture of support as they waited with Alex to see what would happen.
Catherine followed her father inside, and was jarred when she found herself facing Vivienne clad in a long, sleek dressing gown and Gerald rapidly throwing on the last of his clothes.
"Gerald?" She said his name in bewilderment as she glanced back and forth between the two.
"Catherine . . ." He looked up and stared at her in complete shock. "I didn't have anything to do with it! She planned it all with Avery! They were the ones!" he blustered, ever the coward as he tried to get himself off the hook.
Edward glared at them both in fury. "Ratcliff, you may be assured that the truth of your actions will be made known to your wife and her family, and you will be ruined in society. Your wife's family is quite powerful, and I'm sure they will not take kindly to the news. Especially since you live entirely on her funds."
"But . . ." Gerald could see his whole life fallin
g into ruin. He slunk from the room, a defeated man, the glorious dreams he'd shared with Vivienne gone forever.
"And now you, Vivienne!" Edward turned the full wrath of his anger on the woman he'd supported all these years. "Your deceptions and lies are nothing short of vicious. You are no longer a part of my family. You will leave this home and with it all funds I have provided."
Vivienne knew it was over. She had been so close and now it was finished. His sentencing her to poverty was far more cruel a fate than death, and she could only stand there and stare at him with hate-filled eyes. "I despise you!" she seethed.
"I can only take solace in the fact that your treachery has been found out," Edward returned with equal malice. "Be gone by morning!"
He turned his back on the both of them in disgust and left the bedroom with Catherine. Confronting the others in the hall, he looked at David. "And you . . ." he demanded. "Just who are you?"
"My name's David Markham, and I . . ."
"Grandfather," Alex interceded to help, "he was blackmailed by my mother into playing the role."
"Is that true?" he demanded of David.
"Yes, sir, but I know what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry. I'm more than willing to pay whatever price you deem necessary for my part in the deception." David met Edward's assessing regard squarely.
"He just saved my life, Grandfather."
"You did?" Edward asked, surprised.
"He did." Tori defended David, too, even as she put her arm around Alex's waist.
The duke looked perplexed for a moment, then smiled. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this, and I'm more than willing to listen. But let's go home and talk there."
Chapter Thirty-Four
Edward stood at the window of his study gazing out across the small garden at the back of his townhouse. He smiled contentedly to himself. He'd known many dark moments in his life, but they had all faded into oblivion now. At last, everything was as it should be. His family was back together again, and that was all he'd ever wanted.