Just then Lord Wadsworth stood up and began walking towards their table as if their recognition of him had magically summoned him to them. Pierce raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Looks like you don’t have to, he’s coming to you.”
Elliot turned just as Lord Wadsworth approached their table. “Lord Wadsworth, always a pleasure to see you. Have you come back for round two or was our first encounter enough for you?”
Lord Wadsworth surprised Elliot by grinning at him triumphantly. “I just thought it would be nice to gloat for a bit, seeing as how you clearly didn’t win.”
“Didn’t win what?” Elliot asked perplexed.
“Lady Davenport. Seems your affections weren’t reciprocated.”
Elliot honestly had no clue what he was referring to. “What do you mean?”
Lord Wadsworth looked pleased at his confusion, glad to be the bearer of bad news. “I was paying her a call just this morning. I had the privilege of meeting her future husband and I’m delighted to inform you that it isn’t you.” Though at the time he had been equally confused as Elliot was now, he found an odd sense of satisfaction at getting to announce the startling news to the arrogant Lord Martineau.
“That’s impossible,” Elliot sputtered, “She supposed to marry me.”
Lord Wadsworth laughed. “Seems you made a fool of yourself for nothing. I’m glad I could provide you with some temporary amusement, but looks like I will be getting the last laugh.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a few coins and slammed them down on the table in front of Elliot, “Please allow me to pay for your dinner. Consider it a consolation prize.”
Elliot growled and swiped the coins off of the table. Lord Wadsworth just laughed as they went clinking to the ground, completely ignoring them as they rolled and eventually settled on the scarred hardwood floor. He bowed in mock jest before them, “It was a pleasure your grace, Lord Martineau.” Straightening he placed his beaver hat on his head and arrogantly strolled out of the Inn.
Pierce was the first to speak, “Do you think he was just saying that to try and goad you?”
“I don’t know, I hope so but I can’t be sure with that pompous fool. I don’t like him.” Elliot added petulantly.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
Ignoring him Elliot stood, “I’ve lost my appetite. Let’s get out of here and go see if there’s any truth to what he said.”
“I’m still hungry, can’t we at least wait till after we’ve eaten? I doubt if she has plans to wed that she’s doing anything about it at this time of night.”
“That last thing I care about at the moment is your appetite,” Elliot grumbled moodily. “Let’s go.”
Pierce muttered insults directed at Elliot under his breath as he bent to retrieve the wayward coins, placing them once more on the table before they took their leave of the inn. Straightening he snapped, “At least we’re not paying for a meal we don’t get the pleasure of consuming.”
The drive back into London took an eternity. Elliot kept eyeing Pierce angrily as he slept on deeply, completely oblivious to his own intense anxiousness. Elliot didn’t care that it was the middle of the night, he instructed Pierce’s driver to take them to Piccadilly Street where he could question Felicity himself.
It was no surprise that the house was dark when the coach finally pulled up in front of Felicity’s townhouse. The London night was eerily quiet as he alighted from the carriage, leaving Pierce sleeping on in the coach in oblivion. He jogged up to the door and knocked impatiently. He didn’t care if he was waking the entire household, he had to know if there was any truth to Lord Wadsworth’s claims.
Long seconds ticked by in silence. When nobody answered he rapped on the door once more, this time only longer and louder. After several minutes there still wasn’t an answer. Elliot reached down and jiggled the door handle, his actions betraying his desperation. The door was locked tightly. He wasn’t sure what else he could do and eventually admitted defeat and returned to the carriage.
Pierce was just rousing from his slumber when Elliot sat down on the carriage seat, huffing a sigh. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he asked lazily, “Nobody answered?”
“No. Either there isn’t anybody here or, they’re all such deep sleepers that they couldn’t hear my knocking.”
“Half of London could hear your knocking; I doubt they sleep that deep.”
“Well where would they be then?”
Pierce shrugged. “I’ve no idea. Look, I’d be more than glad to help you get to the bottom of this tomorrow but there’s not much more we can accomplish tonight. Let’s get some sleep and we’ll see what we can do at a decent hour.”
“No,” Elliot said desperately, “I just wasted two days helping you search for your obnoxious ward, the least you can do is help me find Felicity.”
Elliot’s voice was frantic and even in the dark confines of the carriage Pierce could tell that his eyes were filled with anxiety. “Look Elliot, I understand your concern but I really think that—”
“No you don’t understand my concern,” he interrupted. “You saw how Felicity’s disappearance destroyed me before but I can assure you that if something were to happen to her now, if something happened so I couldn’t be with her and Edith, I would be ruined. You thought I was bad before, well I guarantee this time it would be worse. You can’t even pretend to understand because you’re happily married to the woman you love and you know that when your child is born it’ll rightfully belong to you. Edith doesn’t belong to me, at least not yet and I can’t handle the thought of loosing either one of them. Don’t try to tell my you understand that.”
“You’re right man, I don’t understand. I’ll go with you but please let me stop and explain to Hope what’s going on, at least allow me that.”
“Fine,” Elliot grumbled. “Hopefully by the time you’re done explaining I’ll have come up with a plan.”
“Let’s hope.”
Chapter 17
The early morning hours of Thursday, April 28th, 1814
Elliot couldn’t get his thoughts to form a coherent plan while he waited impatiently in the carriage for Pierce. He didn’t know where he should go to look for Felicity or if he should somehow manage to be patient and return to her house on the morrow hoping she had just somehow slept through his incessant knocking. Waiting was sure to drive him over the edge and though he didn’t have a plan of action, he knew for his sanity’s sake he had to do something.
He was in the midst of drumming his fingers nervously on the carriage seat when Pierce flung the door open frantically. “Elliot you’ve got to come inside at once.”
Elliot could tell by his expression that something was wrong. Without asking any questions he jumped out of the carriage and followed Pierce inside the house. The picture that greeted him just inside the door caught him off guard. Hope was standing in the entryway in her white cotton nightdress, her hair hanging loose in waves down her back and her feet bare. Normally Elliot would be shocked and completely uncomfortable seeing her like that but he was too overcome with surprise at what he saw standing next to her—looking fragile and frail, Aunt Agatha was standing next to Hope wringing her hands in worry. She too was dressed in only a simple nightdress with a mobcap on her head. She had appeared to age enormously since Elliot had seen her two days earlier. Elliot quickly scanned the room, disappointed to see no sign of Felicity.
Aunt Agatha was the first to speak, “Oh Lord Martineau, you have to do something.”
He stepped forward and placed both hands on her shoulders. “Where is Felicity? What’s going on?”
“She’s gone my lord. I haven’t seen here since yesterday morning.”
“What do you mean? Where could she have gone? Where is Edith?” Elliot asked frantically, desperate for answers.
“Slow down,” Pierce said, “Let her answer one question at a time.”
“Where is Edith?” He asked her once more, anxious to know if she was safe at least.
�
��She’s sleeping in the nursery.” Aunt Agatha replied.
Elliot exhaled deeply, “Thank goodness. Now tell me what’s going on.”
Aunt Agatha never once stopped wringing her hands as she told him all she knew. “I always lay Edith down for a nap about mid-morning and yesterday was no different except once I put the child down, I too laid down to rest for awhile and quickly fell asleep. The last I saw of Felicity she had just sat down in the parlor to do a little mending on Edith’s clothes. When we awoke we went downstairs and couldn’t find her. I wasn’t too worried seeing as how there were a number of places she could’ve gone but after a thorough search of the house and no letter indicating she had left I began to worry. I finally decided to come find you using the calling card you had left but when I got to your house I was told that you hadn’t been home for days. Your dear butler took pity on me and directed me here hoping the duchess might have more answers to your whereabouts. Oh mercy,” she exclaimed as she clutched her chest, “I hope that Clinton hasn’t done something.”
“Who’s Clinton?” Hope and Pierce asked in unison.
“Her cousin, he was her father’s heir and inherited everything when he died. Apparently he thinks he owns Felicity as well,” Elliot answered.
Aunt Agatha choked down a sob, “He’d been threatening her, promising to ruin her life.”
Elliot looked incredulous, “Have you heard from him recently? Felicity didn’t mention that he’d been in contact with her since she fled.”
“He sent a missive attempting to intimidate her. He warned that it was only a matter of time before he would find her and ruin her life.”
“Has he been threatening her ever since she left?” Elliot was bothered by the fact that Felicity had omitted those details when they last talked.
“Not at first, he wasn’t sure where she had gone. We decided to come back to London and have her pose as a widow to try and find a husband who would take her away and protect her and Edith from Clinton’s vile abuse. Because her father left her nothing and we had nowhere to go, the only place we could stay was at his townhouse here in London while we put our plan into motion. It was only a matter of time before he learned of our whereabouts, staying at his property and all.”
“Why can’t he just leave her be?” Elliot asked, not understanding the man’s anger fully.
“Because she ruined everything for him and he’s never let her forget it, he’s a sick man. When her father had arranged to trade her hand in marriage to Lord Kilpatrick to pay off a portion of his debt they both knew it was his only hope to keep himself afloat. After her father found out that you had compromised her he was hysterical because he knew that it was his last chance before facing financial ruin completely. Clinton was just as angry as Lord Pemberton was, he had always dreamt of inheriting a title and wealth and now his dream was shattered.”
Pierce and Hope had been listening to the story intently, trying to piece it all together. “And you think Clinton has something to do with her disappearance?” Pierce asked, trying to follow along.
“I’m positive your grace, there’s no other explanation.” Aunt Agatha turned and took a step towards Elliot; her voice was quiet and full of remorse as she reached one frail hand out and placed it on his arm. “I’m sorry my lord, I had every intent to help aid both you and Felicity when I went to her father that night. If I had only known what the outcome would have been I would never have gone to him. I should’ve known better, knowing my brother as I did—he was always such a stubborn, selfish man.”
Elliot placed a hand over where hers was still laying on his arm in an attempt to offer her a modicum of comfort, “Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault her father was so selfish and cruel, and besides, it doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that we find Felicity and make sure she is safe.”
Aunt Agatha’s voice was shaking with emotion and concern as she said, “That’s what I’m worried about. If Clinton has her I know she’s not safe—he thinks she belongs to him and he’s vowed to do whatever he can to make her life miserable for ruining his inheritance.”
Elliot groaned, “She doesn’t belong to anyone, she’s past the age of majority. He has no rights to her.”
“You and I both know that, but Clinton sees things differently.”
Elliot’s head snapped up to meet her eyes, “What do you mean?”
“He treats her as if she was another piece of worthless property he inherited from her father. In his twisted brain he thinks that she belongs to him. I’m afraid his plan to ruin her life includes marrying her and making her legally his so he can ensure that she is forever bound to him and he can inflict a lifetime full of misery upon her in retaliation.”
Elliot’s face went white, “You don’t really mean that do you?”
“I wish I didn’t but my gut is telling me that it’s a high possibility.”
Elliot turned frantically towards Pierce. “We’ve got to do something, to try and stop this. I have to find Felicity.”
Pierce nodded, “I agree, she may not be safe.”
Elliot began biting his nails nervously, an old habit that he was subconsciously resorting to in his time of stress. Pierce reached up and swatted his hand away, “Where should we begin looking?”
“I don’t know, but we’ve got to hurry.”
Hope stepped forward placing a hand on both Elliot and Pierce’s arms. “I know you’re frantic Elliot and you have every right to be but let’s think about things rationally for a moment. Clinton obviously doesn’t have any money so there’s no way he could procure a special license to wed Felicity so that leaves only two options left if that is indeed his plan; one, they’d go the traditional route, including having to wait for the bann’s to be read before having a proper ceremony which I’m highly doubtful that he plans to waste time doing, or two, they’re going to Gretna Green.”
Elliot’s heart began beating frantically in his chest. He turned to Pierce, “We’ve got to leave immediately, they already have a day’s head start.”
Pierce nodded his consent then turned to Hope, “I’ll be back as soon as possible. Pray that we can find Felicity in time.”
Hope nodded, but though she knew they had to attempt to find Felicity, she couldn’t help but voice her concerns for their own safety as well. “Be careful, I’ve heard stories of a dangerous highwayman haunting the back roads of London recently, Black Lightening they call him.”
Pierce laughed and reached forth to tweak her nose, “You don’t give me enough credit if you think I’d be in danger to a man with such a feeble moniker.”
Hope swatted his hand away from her face irritably, “I don’t think it’s feeble sounding at all, besides all of London is talking about how dangerous he is, striking unexpectedly and taking no pity on his victims.”
Elliot huffed impatiently, “I’m sure we’ll be fine. We have more important things to worry about right now then a mysterious highwayman.”
“Just be careful,” Hope urged.
Both boys nodded in agreement before Pierce turned to Elliot. “The coach will take too long; we’ll never catch up to them in time. Let’s go to the mews, it’ll be faster to go by horseback.”
Elliot didn’t answer, but turned and began jogging towards the mews while Pierce followed closely behind.
Chapter 18
Felicity’s body rocked back and forth in the carriage, the movement failing to lull her to sleep. All of the emotions of the previous years as Clinton’s captive came back to her as she sat uncomfortably in the seat next to him. He refused to give her any space, afraid she’d try to flee if given half a chance, and heaven knew she was tempted to at least try.
Her insides were in knots at the prospect of becoming Clinton’s wife, for she knew that was his intent even though he’d yet to voice it. She glanced at his sleeping form in disgust; he was the only person in the world she truly loathed. The only other person she had ever felt that much hatred for had been her father, but he was now dead.
/> The day her father had stripped Edith from her arms and sent her to live with Clinton she had thought him to be the most evil man in the world, but that was before she had met her cousin. He had been furious at her for her actions before he even had the chance to meet her. He had treated her as nothing more than a common servant, and often times had treated her even worse. She was given a small, sparse room which she knew was worse than the quarters the servants at her father’s house occupied. He locked her in that room for most of the day, personally bringing her meals twice daily that were little better than animal fare.
She dreaded those twice daily visits the worst, even though she was eager for human interaction, for he would taunt her and ridicule her and often times hit her in his rage. She thought he would eventually get over his anger and move on but the longer he let his anger simmer, the stronger it became. For just over three years she was his prisoner, only being let out on occasion to assist him when needed. It had been a relief to get out of the depressing confines of her room but being forced to be his personal servant had been degrading. She had been raised a lady and didn’t know how to do menial work and he often resented and mocked her for it, many times belittling her by requiring her to do humiliating things, things that were so debasing she could hardly think back on them without feeling like she might lose the contents of her stomach.
He had been threatening her for years with marriage. The only reason he hadn’t gone through with his threat earlier was that he had been holding out hope that he would find a girl with a sizeable dowry and preferably a title who would be willing to wed him and give him the life he’d always dreamt of having. Looking once more at his pockmarked face, she could fully understand why he was never successful in that endeavor. And as far as she was concerned, his looks were the least of his horribly unattractive qualities; he was truly an ugly person both inside and out.
Ladies of Deception 02 - Misleading Lord Martineau Page 12