“I had hoped to gain information from anyone still camped here.” Bergen slid down from Merry and walked about the field but found nothing of significance.
“We should go to the place where I found Clarence. There is an open area behind the mulberry bushes which is hidden from view and that is where I have heard the men’s voices. Bergen hoisted himself up and spurred Merry on, passing the Inn and eventually stopping in front of the mulberry bushes. A smouldering camp-fire evinced the gypsies’ presence fairly recently. He dismounted and looked about, finding a blue-jewelled, gold earring but nothing else. Bergen pocketed the earring and once more mounted his horse, squeezing Elizabeth closer to him.
“Thomas, I think we should go back towards the house.” She pulled the amulet from her pocket and held it up. “This is what they are seeking. They could be thinking that Josiah may have placed it in his bedroom. I thought I saw Clarence racing ahead of your aunt’s carriage. He was close to Josiah and appears to have an uncanny omniscience.”
“You did not say you saw Clarence.” A cold feeling hit the pit of his stomach. “Let us not waste another minute.” He squeezed his legs and spurred his horse; moments later, he pulled back on Merry’s reins. “That looks like Shefford and the magistrate.” Bergen pointed to two riders coming their way.
“Shefford, did you find anything?” he asked when his friend was within hearing distance.
“Nothing that leads us to the boy. We did find gypsies camped on the other side of the river, but there were only women and children. The men were away and had been gone all day. Everyone was keeping mum.”
“Lizzie thinks she saw Clarence running towards the house.” Bergen shared their own meagre findings. “We were on our way there.”
“What are we waiting for?” Shefford urged his mount around and the four riders rode in unison towards the house. Bergen felt guilty for enjoying the ride with Elizabeth, but he did enjoy it.
Helped from the coach by a footman, the ladies walked swiftly into the house.
“Will my brother be all right, Aunt Jane?” Marie tugged on the older woman’s skirt.
“Yes, my dear.” Aunt Jane lightly patted the young girls’ head. “Your brother will be home soon, I promise. We should stay together. I shall ask Cook to prepare some tea and biscuits.”
“Jane…” Faith Bergen waited until Marie took her little sister’s hand and walked to the couch. “Jane—wait, do you think your niece or a servant has left the window open?” She pointed to an opened window on the side of the house, with sheer white curtains blowing inwards from the wind.
“Lizzie, open a window in such cold weather? Certainly not! She may love the outdoors, but she has more sense.”
“I thought it strange that your butler was not here to welcome us.” So saying, Faith put her fore-finger to her lips to indicate quiet, and the two ladies, followed closely by the two little girls, left the room and edged down the hall towards the kitchen area.
Stepping quietly into the kitchen, Faith fetched a frying pan. Brandishing it for Jane to see, she hissed in a whispered voice, “It is a weapon. Are you capable of using it?”
“Of course! You just use your cane and hush!” Jane pointed towards the back of the house. “I heard something hit the floor when we came in. Something is wrong here, Faith. Children, come with me.” Leaning down, she hugged the two girls. “I want you to get into the food pantry here, and be very quiet. Do not get up until one of us comes back for you,” she whispered as she urged the two girls into the food closet.
Marie kissed Ruthie. “It will be all right, thither,” she said, holding her sibling tightly. “Aunt Jane and Lady Bergen will look afther uth.” The two girls crouched on the floor of the dark pantry.
“Do not make a sound.” Jane gently pulled the door closed.
A crash sounded from the back of the house, where the nursery was located.
“I will lead, and you follow.” Jane picked up her frying pan, and Faith duly followed, wielding her cane and holding onto the wall.
“Look!” Jane whispered and pointed.
The door to Josiah’s bedroom stood slightly open and they watched a dark-headed man rummaging through the boy’s wardrobe. Moonlight from the window made it easy to see him in the dark room. He was wearing a shabby black coat and patched, dark trousers. The man had his back to the women. Faith signalled to Jane and they both charged at the man, Faith relentlessly beating him with her cane, and Jane repeatedly smacking him on the head with the pan. The man screamed and, with his arm protecting his head, tried to escape, but the element of surprise in addition to the weaponry brought him crashing to the floor. Jane kept hitting him until Faith pulled her arm back. “My dear, I think he is quite out of his senses.”
“Do you have anything with which we may tie him up?” Faith could not help feeling a sense of accomplishment at what she and her friend had done. Bergen would be surprised.
“Use the curtains,” Jane growled. She ripped a blue muslin hanging from the window and tore it into strips. Together they trussed the man up, tightly tying his feet and hands.
“We are a good team, my friend.” Faith beamed at Jane.
“You are right, there!” Grinning, Jane nodded and clasped her friend’s free hand. “We should probably go back to the girls.”
Elizabeth’s heart was racing as they rode up the drive through the thickening snow. The entrance door to the house was wide open. Something was wrong.
“Do you wish for me to set you down at the house?” Bergen asked her. “I would prefer you to wait for me, and I see small hoofprints—presumably Clarence’s—leading towards the stables, but it looks as if the ladies went into the house by the tracks in the snow and the open door.”
“You go on to the stables,” Shefford ordered. “We will look in the house.”
“Follow Clarence,” Elizabeth commanded. She had an odd feeling about the donkey’s instincts, and suspected he was following Josiah’s scent.
“As you wish, my lady,” Bergen said, although he was already heading in that direction.
They dismounted before they reached the stables and Bergen put his finger in front of his mouth to indicate quiet.
“Stand, Merry,” he whispered in the horse’s ear.
It was eerily silent as they crept forward. With Elizabeth close behind, Bergen walked around the back and after a few yards, pointed a heavy set of footprints in the snow made visible by the soft moonlight.
Elizabeth nodded and had to fight back tears. What had the poor boy been through, and why had the gypsies brought him here?
A muffled groan came from inside the building. Elizabeth then heard a loud smack, as though someone had been hit.
“Quiet, boy! No harm will come to you once we find the stone,” a harsh voice barked. “What is taking Piotr so long?”
“He is inside the stable!” Elizabeth whispered.
Bergen nodded and reached inside his coat.
Another muffled attempt to speak was made by Josiah, and this time it sounded like, “Mama.” Elizabeth shook with fear. She could not have been more grateful that she had Bergen to help her.
“You go to the front and knock on the door, then run away. I will go in the back and sneak up on him.”
When Elizabeth reached the door to the stable, Clarence was already there. On seeing her, he began to jump up and down. There were marks where he had been gnawing at the latch.
“You are a good boy, Clarence. You will have carrots every day of your life!” she praised quietly.
Instead of knocking, she opened the latch and let Clarence inside.
“What in Hades?” the gypsy shouted. Elizabeth thought she caught a thread of fear in his voice as she watched Clarence’s little body charge along the gangway at the man.
Bergen had also entered the stable and was creeping towards Josiah, who was gagged and had his hands tied behind his back.
He began to make frantic noises, as Bergen quickly slashed the bonds holding him.
>
Clarence was holding his own with the kidnapper. “Eeooorrrrrre!” Snorting loudly, the donkey knocked the man off his feet and then, proceeded to kick at him with his hind legs. Falling backwards, the man groaned and rolled over in the straw.
Elizabeth gathered Josiah into her arms and held him close. Josiah whimpered and snuggled into her arms. Bergen took over from the donkey and planted a facer on the villain for good measure. Although Elizabeth thought it unnecessary, she could not blame Bergen for doing so. She would have liked to have done the same. He took a rope from the harness room and tied the man’s hands behind his back, then did the same with his feet.
He brushed off his hands then rubbed Clarence on the head. “You are a hero, a little fellow.”
“Eeeee!” The donkey squealed and showed his huge teeth in a grin.
“Clarence, guard the man,” Bergen ordered.
The donkey nodded and turned to bray at the prisoner.
Elizabeth let out a nervous laugh of relief as Bergen scooped Josiah up out of her arms. He led them back to the house at a brisk march.
“I wonder what Shefford and the magistrate have found.”
At that moment, a large group of servants came slowly up the drive, searching with their lanterns as they walked. They had all been given the night off to attend the pageant.
Bergen strode forward to meet one of the grooms. “Take my horse and return to the church and let them know we have found the boy,” he said loudly so all could hear.
A loud cheer went up and Elizabeth and Bergen went into the house with Josiah. They heard loud noises upstairs as they moved down the hall and exchanged questioning glances.
“Sit him in front of a fire and wrap him in a blanket,” he said quietly. “He is cold and shocked. I will see what else is happening.”
“Are you all right, dearest?” Elizabeth asked, cradling Josiah and stroking his hair.
The servants began to pour into the house and dispersed quickly about their duties. Soon, a maid was stoking the fire in the drawing room, another was fetching blankets, and a footman brought Josiah a cup of warm milk.
“I am unharmed. I am sorry I let you down, Mama. Those men came out of nowhere.”
“It is not your fault!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I should have warned you that the gypsies were looking for the amulet. Lord Bergen had suspicions.” She wondered if the boy realized he had called her ‘mama’ for the first time. She was not about to mention it, but her heart filled with love.
“What is so special about that blue stone?” he asked.
“We think it is a truth stone,” Elizabeth replied. “They could have had it for the asking!” she said with disgust. “Now they will be transported or hung for kidnapping you.” She shook her head. “I was so scared I would lose you!”
“It was not so very dreadful,” he said stoutly, trying to comfort her. “I am sorry I ruined the Christmas pageant.”
Elizabeth hugged him as hard as she could. “You did not ruin it, dearest, those thieves did!”
“Well, I did say I did not see what all the fuss was about. Maybe I was being taught a lesson.”
“Oh, Josiah, that is not God teaching you a lesson! Nevertheless, we can use this to realize how fortunate we are. I would call it a miracle that we found you quickly and you were not hurt.”
“Yes, indeed,” Bergen said as he came into the room. “I am very glad to see you are unharmed.”
“What was all the noise upstairs?” Elizabeth asked.
“Faith and I carried the day!” Aunt Jane exclaimed proudly as she walked into the room, Lady Bergen and Lord Shefford trailing behind. The magistrate was dragging a beaten gypsy down the stairs and out the front door. Aunt Jane moved to the door and held it open. “If you bother our family again, you will have more than a cut lip and crumpled body when they drag you out!” Aunt Jane hollered after the tussled prisoner before closing the door.
“Yes, the ladies are heroines of the finest. They had everything under control when we arrived,” Shefford said, smiling.
“Faith is very handy with that cane of hers.” Jane smiled at her friend and went on to explain how they had taken Faith’s cane and a frying pan and had knocked the man over the head before tying him up. Even more surprising to Elizabeth was the way Jane and Lady Bergen seemed to be cooperating together.
Josiah perked up and shared his story of how he was taken and then how Clarence came in and saved him. He sat up a little taller, a little prouder, and Elizabeth prayed he would not have any lasting effects from the ordeal.
Soon everyone had gathered in the drawing room around the fire, and Henry brought in some wassail and biscuits to cheer everyone up.
“How can we save Christmas?” Josiah asked. “It is ruined. We have not lit the Yule log. I was so looking forward to that part.”
“We did gather holly and mistletoe,” Elizabeth reminded him.
“I do not see why we cannot light the Yule log now,” Bergen said.
“Yes, indeed,” Lord Shefford added.
“The servants brought it in earlier,” Aunt Jane said.
Marie and Ruth were brought down from the nursery to join in the tradition. The log was lit, and they stood around the fireplace, singing carols. Elizabeth looked at her little family, their faces glowing from the warmth of the flames, and began to think it was the most special Christmas she could remember. She was nervous for what might lie ahead with Thomas, but she had borne the burden alone for the past year and it felt good to lean on someone else. Her gaze rested on Josiah and she had to swallow a lump in her throat. It was hard to contemplate what might have happened if Bergen and Lord Shefford had not been there.
Rising from her chair, she said to the children, “It is growing late, it is time for bed.” All three protested, predictably, but obeyed and made their way to the nursery in front of her. “Tomorrow, we will go to church and deliver the baskets to the poor,” she told them.
“And see the pantomime on Boxing Day,” a sleepy Marie added.
Once the children were safely tucked into bed, Elizabeth returned downstairs to wish everyone good night, only to find that Lord Shefford had escorted Lady Bergen back to the inn, and everyone else had discreetly gone to bed.
“Very handsome of them to have left us alone,” Bergen remarked. Following his gaze, Elizabeth saw some mistletoe hanging above them. A moment later, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
She laughed. “I think everyone is exhausted from the excitement.”
“Forgive me,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I was being selfish.”
“I do not mind,” she said softly. “In fact, I do not want you to leave.”
Chapter 9
“Are you sure?” His body suddenly thrummed as he brought her closer to his lips, at the same time combing back the hair from her face with his fingers.
“Yes, sir. I am quite sure. The children are abed, Aunt Jane will be asleep by now, and I…” She hesitated. “Call me a hussy if you will, yet I cannot bring myself to send you away.” She turned her face up; her eyes were closed and a contented smile curved her lightly closed lips.
Bergen wanted her. Leaning over, he kissed her, slowly at first, sweetly touching and tasting. Covering her lips fully, he possessed her soft mouth ever more ardently. She yielded to the pressure of his lips, allowing his tongue entry. Their tongues met, caressed, parried and teased, wantonly exploring the recesses of each other’s warm mouth. Reaching down with his right hand, he slowly raised her dress, gliding his hand up the inside of her leg, and with practised caresses, working his way to her hidden treasure. He was certain he would find it moist and accommodating.
Elizabeth gave a slight gasp, but held tightly on to his arms, keeping him from stopping, and not letting his lips leave hers.
Bergen felt his heart beating harder; he could even hear it. Elizabeth broke off the kiss and turned away, her breathing rapid and heavy.
“We cannot stay in the drawing room. A child could wa
ke up.”
“You are right, of course.” While he was panting from anticipation and his heart was threatening to leave his chest, Bergen realized this was more than mere lust. He cared—for and about Elizabeth, and the children…a great deal.
“We cannot stay downstairs. We should retire upstairs.” Elizabeth dropped her hands to her sides and with a shy smile, leaned towards him, placing her head on his chest. “Please, Thomas. I do not want you to leave… I hope you are not shocked. I promise you, I am no wanton. You make me feel—” She broke off and turned her face into his chest. He felt her warm breath through his shirt and almost lost control.
“I do not want to leave. I am honoured, not shocked, and I should like nothing more than to stay, but I think we should talk about it first. There will be no turning back for me, if I take you upstairs.”
“I will have no regrets, my dear sir,” she murmured.
“What about the children?” His voice cracked. “You are right. They deserve far better than an occasional ‘uncle’.” She looked into his eyes but said nothing. It turned his insides to mush. Dropping to one knee, he cradled both her hands and smiled up at her. “Lady Newton, I have never met a woman like you—one so generous of spirit and of heart. You are clever and beautiful, and I have no doubts you will make any man a fine wife…but I want you for my own…” He paused; he had not given thought to marrying anyone before this moment. Yet the events of this day had revealed what was in his heart about this woman and her family. Even her aunt had won him over. What had started as a desire for a Christmas tryst had changed into so much more. He wanted her. I love her, he realized with sudden, stark clarity. “Lizzie, please make me the happiest of men by agreeing to be my Countess.”
Earl of Bergen: Wicked Regency Romace (Wicked Earls' Club Book 15) Page 9