Regency Romance: Fallen Duchess (A Historical Victorian Murder Mystery Love Regency Romance)

by Tracey D Morgan

  Krista stayed silent for a long time but finally let her eyes open and scanned the empty horizon. Now that they were out of town there was nothing but dirt and flat land with a spattering of trees. A gust of wind swept through the plains and kicked up a cloud of dust so thick she couldn’t see through it.

  They rode on for well over an hour until a large ranch came into view. When Krista saw the faint silhouette of the ranch, she raised her head and squinted her eyes, trying to make out more details. The house was flat but much larger than any house she’d seen in Vermont. It was a single-story home, which she found to be a little strange, but managed to nearly be a mansion.

  “What is this place?” she whispered, wide-eyed.

  A large pen stretched on farther than her eyes could see and held a sea of cattle. A smaller pen beside that held a small herd of sheep, crying out whenever the wind whipped up another dust storm. Their white wool was stained a dark brown color with red hues. She could help but think that the wool was ruined. It was the farmer inside of her.

  They got close enough to the house for her to see some of the detail. She silently admitted that she was impressed. The sloping roof was made of perfectly cut wooden pieces that laid one on top of the other in order to keeping out the chilling winter winds as well as the summer rains, and the front porch wrapped around the entire length of the house with two rocking chairs that moved back and forth with the wind.

  Large windows gave her a peek into the relatively empty house, and she frowned a little, wondering why he didn’t have much furniture. He was clearly a very successful man. Krista closed up to ask him that very question but stopped short. She couldn’t quite it, but this man scared him. He’d signed his name William, but she doubted he went by that. His working shirt was far too dirty and his demeanor too rugged for him to be a William.

  “Bill?” she asked, hoping she got it right.

  He paused and looked up at her, tying his horse to a post and patting its thick neck. “Yes?”

  She cleared her throat and looked away. “Well, we haven’t spoken since we were in town.”

  “Is that going to be a problem? I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not a very talkative man.”

  Krista frowned deeply and watched him walk up the porch, opening the door to head inside. She followed close behind, catching the door before it closed and throwing it open. She reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him, her grip firm and surprisingly strong. He turned and looked at her hand, brow cocked.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m stopping you so you’ll listen to me,” she said sharply.

  He pulled his arm out of her hands and scoffed, shaking his head a little and clicking his tongue. “You’re tired and clearly need to lie down.”

  “Don’t treat me like a child! I’m not asking for a lengthy conversation. You didn’t even tell me your name.”

  “I told you in my letters.”

  Krista glared and shook her head. “Look, I know this is all business, but can’t we be at least civil?”

  She didn’t want to admit it, but she was feeling scared and alone. The last thing she wanted was a husband who was going to ignore her and treat her coldly.

  Bill turned and looked at her, shaking his head slowly as he stepped forward, pinning her between the frame of the house and his own large body.

  “You’ve been awfully mouthy since you got here, and I haven’t thrown you out yet. As far as I’m concerned, I have been civil,” he said simply. “Now, you can either accept that this is the way things are, or you can go back to Vermont.”

  Her chest tightened a little, and she took a step back, eyes wide and wet. She didn’t want to cry, but she could feel the tears threatening to come. The threat hit her at her core and rendered her speechless. She knew she was at his mercy, and knowing she had nowhere to go was the worst feeling in the world. She couldn’t argue with him or turn him away. If she did, she would be stranded in this strange land with no way to get home and no way to keep herself alive.

  Krista looked down, remaining silent though Bill seemed to understand that she was accepting his proposal. He knew just as well as Krista that she couldn’t go back to Vermont. She wouldn’t have left if there were any other options. Being a mail-order bride was a big risk. People didn’t do it unless there was nowhere left to turn.

  “Have we reached an understanding?”

  Krista nodded and closed her eyes, trying not to cry. “Yes.”

  Her answer came out as a defeated whimper, though Bill didn’t seem to care and just turned to leave her in the foyer to contemplate her fate.

  Chapter Five

  Bill was just as cold toward Krista in the following weeks as he was the first day she arrived, though she hadn’t expected much else from him. He made his intentions very clear that day. She was here to clean the house and cook the meals, even if she wasn’t so good at it. She wanted to be out with him, handling the cattle and learning to sheer the sheep, though she knew he wouldn’t let her do anything like that. His opinions of what women were supposed to do around the house were very clear, and farm work wasn’t one of those things. She was destined to be holed up in the house doing what she hated.

  Krista was tired of spending her days sad and lonely and decided that she was going to make the best of her situation. It was made clear when they signed the very official-looking marriage license that he wasn’t there to make her happy. She’d hoped for a wedding, but all she got was a small meeting with a priest and a lawyer, who notarized the license. In less than half an hour, they were married. It was far from the fantasy she imagined in her head, but she didn’t have much of a say when it came to stuff like this. That was something she was going to have to get used to.

  It was a little disappointing to have all of the restrictions of marriage and not the ceremony that went with it. She wasn’t so different that she hadn’t dreamt of a wedding. Of course she imagined having a wedding with a white dress and beautiful flowers. She dreamed of a handsome husband who would kiss her after they said, “I do.” She dreamed of a husband who she would swear to love and serve until the day she died. Krista dreamed of swearing herself to her husband in the eyes of God. She couldn’t help but be disappointed when she didn’t get what she’d dreamed of.

  Instead of lingering on the sadness and regret, she decided she was going to brighten up the house she’d be stuck in while Bill was out in the field. The house was mostly empty except for the large fireplace and a few chairs. They shared a bed upstairs, but even the bedroom was empty. While exploring the house, she’d stumbled upon some furniture and decorations that were put in the basement haphazardly. She decided to drag what she could up to the house, hoping to surprise her husband and gain his approval.

  When she heard the sound of his boots stomping up the porch that night, she felt hope flutter in her belly. He threw the screen door open, leaving his muddy boots on the porch as he walked inside the house. It was summer, so the fire wasn’t crackling. Krista was thankful for that. She hadn’t been able to be around fireplaces since her family died. She was dreading fall and winter. She was sure the fireplace would be the source of many sleepless nights.

  She turned around and beamed brightly when Bill stepped in the house, waiting to see the shocked but impressed look on his face. Instead, he looked around the house calmly, and his eyes finally settled on hers, dark and full of emotion. Bill ran a hand through his thick black hair. His lips pressed into a thin line as he looked around the house, his hands on his hips.

  “What is all this?”

  She looked around, blinking a little. “I found some of this stuff in the basement. I thought it made the house seem a little more welcoming.”

  “Get rid of it.”

  The order stunned Krista. She frowned deeply, clearly shocked. “But it was so empty in here before. It needed a little character.”

  “I said get rid of it!” he snapped, his eyes raging.

  The sudden change in his demeanor fri
ghtened Krista. She took a step back, eyes wide. “I don’t understand.”

  “Of course you don’t. You can’t just come into someone’s house and start changing things around,” he snapped.

  Krista glared and stepped forward, putting her finger in his face. “Listen here: This is just as much my house as it is yours. I will not let you boss me around like this! I’m the one who sits in this house day in and day out while you get to go in the fields with the animals. If I’m going to be stuck in here, I’m going to enjoy myself!”

  Bill glared down at her and stepped forward. “I don’t know what kind of place you think this is, but you will not talk to me like this. You will listen and obey. That is what you swore before God.”

  “I swore to care for you, and that is what I’m trying to do,” she said desperately. “You can’t live like this, Bill. Your home is sad and depressing and so full of anger. I can’t understand why you would want to hold onto these feelings,” she pleaded.

  He stepped forward again, and Krista gasped, falling back into the chair. He put his hands on the armrests and leaned close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek. “I said get them out of here,” he hissed sharply, pushing away from his frightened wife.

  Bill walked away, leaving Krista shaking and in tears. She couldn’t understand what went wrong. All she’d wanted to do was bring some warmth and hope into the house, and she’d been punished for it. All she could do was cry and wonder why God was testing her like this. She felt she’d paid her dues. She was quickly losing hope. Perhaps it was her plight in life to be sad and suffer. She hoped desperately that it wasn’t true, but it was certainly beginning to look that way.

  Chapter Six

  Bill showed his first shred of kindness a few days following the encounter involving the furniture. He’d completely avoided her for about three days but finally sat her down to talk about why he was opposed to the furniture. It was his deceased wife’s, and it hurt to look at it and have it around. She’d died giving birth to their first child. Neither the baby nor Rose survived. It was a hard thing to live with, and even though he spoke about the tragedy in a very matter-of-fact way, he seemed deeply hurt.

  She listened closely, explaining that she also lost her family in a terrible accident. It was the reason she’d taken the offer to be a mail order bride. He nodded in understanding and even patted her on the shoulder, thanking her for lending an ear. It was the first time in nearly two months that he’d thanked her for anything. Most of the time he just insulted her cooking. (She could admit that her cooking was pretty awful, but it was also his job, as a husband, to pretend to like it.)

  After their conversation, things started to get a little better. They weren’t perfect, but they were at least improving. She’d started moving the furniture back down to the basement, but he asked her to leave it, telling her that the house did seem much warmer. It was those little things that she was thankful for and that she thanked God for. She was certain that Bill’s heart was softening and that the ice around it was melting.

  She was actually sad to see Bill go into town that day. He would be gone for the whole day, ordering feed for the cattle and other essential items. He’d even hinted that he might bring her home a little gift. Even if he didn’t, the fact that he would even think of it was enough to give her hope.

  After Bill left for town, Krista went about the house, cleaning and preparing a stew for when he got home. It was the only thing she could cook that was edible, and she was sure he’d enjoy it after a long, hard day.

  She became worried for him as a storm began to roll in and rain pounded the roof. Lightening streaked across the sky, and a violent wind howled outside, making her nervous. She wasn’t scared of storms, but she was scared of what it might do to their ranch.

  It was nearly dark, and Bill was still in town, and the cattle were starting to get anxious because of the storm. She was watching the pen from the window as the cows started to move back and forth in the large pen, creating a sort of herd. As they moved toward the end of the pen with the gate, a loud clap of thunder shook the very foundation of the ranch. The cattle panicked and ran forward, managing to break the lock on the gate and run into the fields.

  Krista gasped and jumped up, running out into the storm barefoot. After grabbing rope from the porch, she ran for the escaped cattle. She ran in front of the cattle, trying to scare them back into the pen. It seemed to work for the most part, and even as the rain soaked her to the bone, she started moving the cattle toward the pen. It took nearly an hour to rustle them all up, but as night began to fall, she managed to close the broken gate and lean against it, shivering violently as she wrapped the rope around the posts, hoping to hold the gate closed.

  The rain was cold enough that it cut deep into her and chilled her to the bone. It was the kind of cold that hurt desperately and stung her right down to her core. Krista knew she needed to go inside, but she was afraid to leave the cattle with a busted fence. She leaned against the post, shivering and trying to keep herself warm.

  Leaning against that post, she began to pray for the storm to stop. She prayed for warmth, and she prayed for Bill. This storm was bad. She was scared for the man who’d finally opened up to her. She didn’t want that to be their last conversation. Krista wanted the opportunity love Bill, though she feared that one of them might not make it through this storm.

  Just as the world started to go black, she felt warmth surround her. Someone pulled her into their arms and cradled her tight. Her prayers were answered. She wasn’t sure if it was an angel or Bill who’d wrapped her in a blanket and held her close. She could hear soft whispered words, and even as her world started to go black. she heard someone praying.

  “God, please let her be OK. Let her be safe. She can’t die like this.”

  Chapter Seven

  Krista wasn’t sure how long she was out. She floated in a dreamland for what seemed like an eternity, lost in dreams of herself as a child on the farm with her parents. They were lovely dreams full of good memories and a warm, loving affection that she hadn’t felt since she left Mt. Pleasant.

  A warm washrag on her forehead was what finally woke her up. Her sky-blue eyes fluttered open and met Bill’s, a concerned look etched into his features. The lines carved into his face by years of worry were even deeper than usual. He was dabbing the washrag along her temple, trying to gently wake her and bring down her fever.

  She blinked up at him, trying to focus on his face. “What happened?” she whispered, groaning softly and shifting under the blankets.

  He put a firm hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back into the bed. “Shh. You went into the storm like an idiot and got yourself sick,” he chastised.

  When she didn’t receive the praise she’d been hoping for, Krista turned her head away and closed her eyes, whimpering softly and swallowing thickly. “I-I’m so … ”

  “I suppose I should thank you for it,” he said, wiping her brow again and dipping the cloth into the water.

  She turned to face him again, eyes wide and hopeful.

  “If you hadn’t gone out there, I would have lost every single one of my cattle. I would have been ruined,” he murmured softly. “You saved our lives, Krista. Do you know that?”

  “I was just, I was just trying to make you proud.”

  “You did, darlin’. You’ve made me very proud. But you shouldn’t get stuck on seeking validation from a bitter man like me. You need to learn to be proud of yourself. That should be enough.”

  Krista nodded slowly and relaxed back into the pillow, her heart swelling with happiness as he continued to brush hair out of her face.

  “I’m still trying to figure it out,” he murmured.

  “What are you trying to figure out?”

  He paused, dropping the rag into the wash basin. “I’m trying to figure out how you could come in here and, in a matter of months, turn my world upside down.”

  “Oh, is that a bad thing?” she asked softly.<
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  “I thought it was for a long time,” he admitted. “I was so cold to you, so cruel, because you weren’t what I expected,” he said, watching her closely.

  “That’s what you said. You were expecting someone more delicate.”

  “I was. But I wasn’t upset because you weren’t delicate. I saw those big blue eyes. I knew your firecracker attitude was just as fiery as your hair. I think I fell in love,” he said softly. “I was scared to fall in love again. I lost Rose almost five years ago, and I’ve been hanging onto that anger and that guilt for so long. It was eating me up inside. Then you came along. When I laid eyes on you, the pain stopped—for at least a little while. When we’re together, I don’t think about her. I felt so guilty about it that I couldn’t bear to be around you. I wasn’t ready to fall in love again, but I couldn’t avoid it if you were around,” he said softly, cupping her cheeks gently.

  Krista’s eyes were wide. She stared up at him, whimpering, trying to find her voice. It was lost in the emotion and revelation that he didn’t hate her. He never did. She wanted to say something to comfort him, to admit her own hopes of falling in love, but he spoke again.

  “You have nothing to apologize for, Krista. It was all me. I was an idiot and I caused all of this.”

  “Why are you telling me this now?” she asked softly, eyes wet with unshed tears.

  “I thought I was going to lose you out there. You spiked a fever, and I have no idea how long you were in that rain,” de admitted. “The storms here can get cold enough to kill, even in the summer time.”