Fall From Grace

by Wendy Soliman

  Charles gagged on the stench. He was tempted to cover his nose with his handkerchief, then recalled that he had given it to Megan. Parker, if he noticed the smell, seemed unaffected by it. Smoke rose from a nearby fire and a dozen chimneys, mingling with the river fog and persistent rain that was driven sideways by a biting wind.

  ‘Let’s hope we’re not too late,’ Charles said, grim-faced. ‘Damn that flock of sheep for holding us up for so long. Those few minutes could prove to be the difference between…’

  He shook his head, superstition preventing him from voicing what would already be obvious to Parker. It would be the work of the moment to throw a small child into the rancid river. His only hope was that Faulk’s greed—the one aspect of his character that everyone in the market had agreed upon—would get the better of him. The child had been well-dressed and Faulk would know the value of the resale of those clothes.

  ‘Come on, Parker,’ Charles said, squaring his shoulders.

  They walked cautiously down the crumbling steps and heard raised voices coming from behind the door.

  ‘I ain’t killing no kid!’ a woman screeched. ‘Whadda you take me for? We was only paid to snatch him. That’s what you said.’

  Charles shared a glance with Parker, the woman’s words music to his ears.

  ‘And you believed me?’ A loud slap and a string of curses came from within the cellar. ‘Do as you’re bloody told, woman. We’re being well paid. Enough to get us out of this place, provided we do what we’re being paid to do. What do you care whether one squalling brat lives or dies?’

  ‘It ain’t right, I’m telling you, and if you take a hand to me again you’ll be sorry.’

  ‘Sounds like there’s trouble in paradise,’ Charles remarked in a droll tone.

  ‘There’s a better way,’ the woman said, her voice conciliatory. ‘A way we can ensure the kid is never seen again and make some more money for ourselves.’

  The man—presumably Faulk—grunted. ‘Let’s hear it then.’

  ‘I hear tell that old Tishall has a baby farm.’

  ‘Now that ain’t a bad idea,’ Faulk said approvingly. ‘Not bad at all. A handsome, well-fed kid like this one will be snapped up.’

  Charles felt fury radiate through him. To so callously dispose of a child in such a despicable fashion and congratulate themselves for not killing him…it beggared belief. But then again, life amongst the poorest in London—indeed in any city—was tough, and there was little room for sentiment.

  ‘I’ve seen the advertisements,’ Parker said. ‘Makes me sick to the stomach. “A person wishing to give a lasting and permanent home to a well-fed young boy will find this a good opportunity.” Fifteen pounds or more could asked for that little man and they’d most likely get it, too.’

  ‘Well then, we had best prevent that from happening,’ Charles said, his anger fuelling his determination to rescue Sebastian.

  Franklin joined them and they were ready to act.

  ‘I insisted that her ladyship remain in the carriage,’ Franklin said. Charles glanced up and saw Megan’s anxious face pressed against the glass. He gave her a wave of reassurance and then, on his command, Franklin kicked the door in.

  Charles stepped through it, flanked by Parker and Franklin. They were confronted by a startled couple who turned to glare at them.

  ‘What the devil do you think…’

  Faulk’s words trailed off and his indignation quickly turned to panic when his astute gaze assessed Charles’s pristine clothing and the icy set to his features. A completely naked child—a child that Charles was relieved to recognise as Sebastian Cantrell—sat on the filthy floor, shivering and worryingly quiet.

  ‘Er, you can’t just barge in ’ere,’ Faulk said with a hollow display of bravado.

  ‘We have come for the child you stole from its mother,’ Charles said calmly. He swept Sebastian from the floor and cradled him inside the warmth of his coat. The little boy, usually so eager to garble words unintelligible to anyone other than his doting mother, trembled but didn’t utter a sound. Charles could see the streaks from his tears staining his dirty face. He also noticed a red mark on his arm where, presumably, someone had squeezed him to prevent him from crying. This time, it was impossible for him to contain his anger but before he could give the man the thrashing he so richly deserved, the woman spoke.

  ‘We didn’t steal him, sir.’ Still wearing a ripe fur tippet, her face was wreathed in smiles that revealed her three remaining front teeth. ‘We found him wandering about and were just now wondering how best to reunite him with his mama. She must be desperate with worry.’

  ‘Found him wandering about naked?’ Charles asked scathingly. ‘Stay with them, Franklin.’ He turned to speak in a quiet aside to Parker. ‘We need to find out who employed them to snatch the boy. Will Jake mind if we have them taken back to Grosvenor Square and accommodated in his cellars until we get the truth out of them?’

  Parker shrugged. ‘Wouldn’t think so.’

  ‘Then stay here with them, both of you. I’ll get her ladyship and the little man to safety and send the carriage back for you.’

  ‘You can’t keep us here!’ Faulk said. ‘We ain’t done nothin’.’

  ‘You can help us or we can hand you to the police on a charge of child kidnap.’ Charles shrugged, his upper class accent with its elongated vowels and clear enunciation sounding innocuous in a damp cellar that smelt of mould and boiled vegetables. ‘The choice is yours but I think you know what the penalty for that crime will be.’

  The two shared a calculating look and then nodded in unison. ‘We’ll help you, sir. It wasn’t our doing, and that’s the God’s honest truth.’

  ‘Of course it is,’ Charles said laconically, unsurprised by their lack of loyalty to their employers. ‘Later, Parker. The baby needs his mother.’

  ‘Take your time, m’lord. These two ain’t going anywhere.’

  A small crowd had gathered around the carriage and were peering down the basement steps, not wanting to miss a second of the unfolding drama. All Charles heard was a gasp from inside the carriage when the driver opened the door and Megan saw her son’s head emerging from the folds of Charles’s coat.

  ‘You found him!’ She looked to be on the point of swooning. ‘I knew you would manage it. Is he all right? Did they harm him?’ She cried out when she went to take him from Charles and saw that he was naked. ‘His clothes?’

  ‘They were going to sell them. Grosvenor Square, as fast as you can,’ he said to his coachman. ‘I saw them in there but the place was so dirty, I thought he would be better off without them.’

  ‘Of course. He’s alive and that’s all that signifies. But why is he so quiet?’ She peered into his face and then sent Charles a worried look. ‘He’s never quiet.’ She crushed him against her and plastered his dirty face with kisses. ‘It’s all right, my darling. Mama is here. You’re safe now.’

  ‘He’s had a shock,’ Charles said calmly, ‘but is none the worse for it and will soon recover. I am absolutely sure of it.’

  Megan pulled the woollen blanket from her shoulders and wrapped her son tightly in it. He had still not spoken but showed a little animation now that he had been reunited with his mother. Megan ran her hand through his soft curls. She was now shivering herself, so Charles slid his arms from the sleeves of his coat and draped it around her shoulders.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘We don’t have far to go to Lupus Street and we will be warm enough when we return to my room.’

  ‘We can’t go there,’ Charles replied, assuming that she had been too taken up with her son to have heard his instructions to his coachman.

  ‘Why…’ She blinked at him. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘They know where you are, Megan.’

  ‘Who does? You surely cannot think that anyone is looking for me. This was an accident. Those…those horrible people took the opportunity to steal my son because they thought they could profit from him. I am not entirel
y unversed in the ways of the world, and I’ve seen the worst of man’s inhumanity and greed. I cannot approve of what happened to my beloved boy, of course, but I have already seen enough of life in the less fashionable areas of London to be aware that every day is a struggle to survive.’ She shook her head. ‘I should not have ventured into that crowded market with Sebastian. It was stupid. I wasn’t thinking. I‒’

  ‘It is my belief that one of your husband’s relations paid to have your son abducted,’ Charles said softly. ‘So if anyone is to blame it’s me. I should not have left you unprotected.’

  Her mouth fell open and the hand not cradling the baby shot up to cover it. ‘Surely not?’ she muttered. ‘They didn’t approve of me and made it obvious that if Luke had married me, which they said was impossible, he must have taken leave of his senses. I thought they would become accustomed to me, given time, when they realised just how much Luke had loved me.’ She brushed aside an errant tear. ‘I didn’t realise how unlike Luke’s their characters actually are. He never said. Whenever I expressed my doubts about being accepted by them he said that he would make everything right.’

  Of course he did, Charles thought, managing not to roll is eyes at Luke’s impractical nature.

  ‘I am acquainted with the dowager duchess and her daughter and, truth be told, cannot abide either of them. They think only of themselves and society’s opinion of them.’

  ‘Having made the dowager’s acquaintance,’ Megan replied, stroking her son’s face with a gentle finger as the carriage rattled along, ‘I can’t help wondering how such a cold-hearted woman could have given birth to a kind and compassionate man like Luke. Be that as it may, she would not order the abduction of her own grandchild. I cannot believe she is that wicked, especially since she refuses to accept that Sebastian is her grandchild.’

  ‘She won’t accept it publicly, but she can’t deny the truth to herself.’ Charles patted her shoulder. ‘I am having those people brought back to Grosvenor Square and they will tell us everything they know, if only to save their own skins.’

  ‘What is at Grosvenor Square?’

  When Charles told her and passed on Olivia’s invitation, she shook her head emphatically. ‘I couldn’t possibly impose,’ she said. ‘It wouldn’t be right. I don’t belong in such company and I would feel awkward.’

  Charles chuckled. ‘You forget that you are a countess in your own right.’

  ‘With no earl at my side,’ she said with another sad little shake of her head. ‘Anything was possible when I had Luke. He gave me courage, made me laugh at life’s absurdities and made me believe I could be anything I set my heart upon.’ She threw back her head. ‘Why, or why, did he have to go on that silly hunt and get himself killed?’

  Charles had no answer to give. His heart swelled with inappropriate admiration for a proud, lost and confused young woman who was unaware how profoundly her anguish affected him.

  ‘You still have a role to fulfil. That will be your lasting legacy to your husband.’ He reached across and touched her hand. ‘You have more courage than you realise and a son’s rights to fight for.’

  ‘Do you really think I can win?’ she asked dubiously.

  Charles smiled at her. ‘You have powerful friends, which is something the dowager countess has failed to take into account.’

  ‘Perhaps you are right, but it all seems such an impossible muddle.’ She smiled down at her child. The motion of the carriage had sent him off to sleep. ‘I feel like an impostor. Being back in England and seeing daily reminders of the stark divisions between the classes makes me remember where I came from…where I belong.’

  ‘Even so, for Sebastian’s sake, you must do all in your power to keep him safe until we can prove his rightful claim to the earldom.’

  ‘Very well.’ A modicum of determination broke through her melancholy, giving Charles glimpses of the young woman who had dared to defy her strict father’s wishes and marry the gentleman who had stolen her heart. ‘You are right. I must think of Sebastian.’ She smiled as she looked down at the sleeping infant and offered him her little finger. He didn’t open his eyes but seemed to know it was there and closed his small fist around it. ‘He’s an earl now. The poor scrap. It seems…’ She sighed and did not complete her thought. ‘For a night or two I will accept Mrs Grantley’s gracious offer, until I decide what I ought to do next. But can I not return and collect my possessions first? I have nothing to wear other than the clothes I stand up in.’

  ‘I would prefer it if you didn’t. If I am right and your husband’s family ordered this outrage, they will check to see that it went according to plan. They will not trust the wretches they hired to do their work unsupervised.’ He fixed Megan with a devilish smile. ‘But we gave them a helping hand by making enough fuss in the market for them to learn that a child had been abducted.’

  Megan looked confused. ‘But the people who took Sebastian will tell them that I got him back once Lord Torbay releases them. And he can’t keep them indefinitely. He is not the law.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that.’ She was charmingly naïve, Charles thought. ‘If Jake does decide to let them go rather than handing them over to the constabulary to stand trial, they will not admit that they failed. They value their freedom, they won’t want to cross Jake or me and they’ll want to keep the money they were paid to abduct Sebastian in the first place.’ Charles rubbed his chin. ‘I have plans for those two. They don’t know it yet but they are about to change sides and be of service to us.’

  ‘They are?’ She blinked. ‘How?’

  ‘I don’t mean to scare you, my dear, but if I am right then your relations cannot afford to let you live once they are satisfied that they’ve ridded themselves of the inconvenience of Sebastian.’ Charles gently stroked the baby’s head, wishing he could comfort Megan in an equally intimate fashion. ‘They will be aware that you’ll make the connection between them and Sebastian’s disappearance eventually and they can’t run the risk of you creating a fuss once you receive the copies of your wedding licence and can prove who you are.’

  ‘I was a fool to leave it unattended,’ she cried in frustration.

  ‘I suspect that getting their hands on it was the only reason why you were permitted to remain at Cantrell Court even for one night.’

  Megan nodded, her earlier despair replaced by a steely glint of determination in her expressive silver-grey eyes. ‘I dare say you’re right about that. Papa always did say that I was too trusting for my own good—but really, if one is attempting to behave in a Christian fashion, doubting the integrity of one’s relations is hardly a good example to set.’

  ‘Unfortunately not everyone is as trusting as you are.’

  ‘Not any more.’ She sat a little straighter, not seeming to notice when the carriage wheels hit a deep rut, jolting them both and pushing her against Charles’s shoulder. ‘This is not the first time that my good nature has been exploited but I will keep Sebastian safe and ensure that he inherits his birthright, no matter what action I am forced to take.’

  ‘That’s the spirit!’ The carriage came to a halt. ‘Here we are.’

  Megan peered through the window at the intimidating façade of Jake’s home and Charles sensed all her insecurities returning. ‘Are you absolutely sure?’ she asked.

  ‘Come along,’ he said, alighting and holding out a hand to help her down. ‘My friends are anxious to make your acquaintance.’

  Chapter Four

  Megan hesitated when the door was opened by a haughty footman, intimidating in his uniformed splendour. Two ladies had also come to the door accompanied by gentlemen she presumed were their husbands, and they stood on the threshold watching her as she alighted from the carriage. They were too polite to show their surprise at her dishevelled appearance but Megan was clearly not what they had expected and she could easily imagine them already regretting their offer to help someone who was so far beneath their notice. Why, oh why did Luke have to die and leave her
to fight for their son’s rights alone?

  Alone apart from Charles, she reminded herself, wondering for the thousandth time how she would have managed if he had not come to her assistance. Luke had left her, her father had disappeared and no one other than Charles seemed to care if she lived or died. Those who should have welcomed her with open arms would infinitely prefer it if she did die. Megan lifted her chin defiantly. Sebastian needed her, so she was not of a mind to oblige them. The enormity of the task she had taken on, overcoming the prejudices of the English upper classes, was daunting. But that would not prevent Megan from battling on behalf of her son until the last breath left her body.

  ‘Oh you poor dear!’

  The voice of one of the ladies, a beautiful, self-confident creature in a lovely silk gown, broke the awkward silence. Megan had not expected a warm welcome and it took her a moment to realise the lady’s exclamation was directed at her. As though anticipating the nature of her thoughts, Charles gave her arm a reassuring squeeze just as the lady who had spoken descended the steps as fast as her wide skirts permitted and engulfed Megan and Sebastian in a welcoming hug.

  ‘Charles managed to recover your baby for you, I see,’ she said as she released them again but kept her hands on Megan’s shoulders. ‘Well, of course, I knew that he would, but still we couldn’t help worrying because he was gone for so long. We were on the point of sending out a search party. You must be Lady Cantrell. I am Olivia Grantley and I know that we are going to be the very best of friends.’ She peered at Sebastian, sleeping peacefully through a drama. ‘What a delightful baby. I have a son of three-and-a-half. He will love to have Sebastian as a playmate.’

  Megan was taken aback by the elegant lady’s genuine-seeming overtures of friendship.

  ‘It is a delight to make your acquaintance, ma’am,’ she managed to stutter when Olivia finally paused for breath.