He was literally standing in a daze, waiting to hear which way the House had decided to vote.
He’d submitted the bill at the last session and made copies available for every Member of Parliament. He’d personally checked on the progress some Lords were making in their reading of his bill.
He’d even had another meeting with the instigators, one that had been orchestrated by his dear friend Leonard, in order to bring them up to speed and show them the progress that was being made. And now there was nothing else he could do but wait for the votes to be cast.
If the week prior to this had been pure bliss, this one had been the exact opposite.
Pure chaos!
To worsen matters, Leonard had turned up missing. After the meeting in the dingy warehouse four nights ago, he and Leonard had headed home together. They’d spent some time in the study before he’d retired to bed.
In the morning, Leonard had woken him up as usual and helped him get ready. He’d sent his valet then with a letter for Rose before he himself stepped out of the manor to attend to some business.
Apparently, Leonard had gone on the errand but never returned. Through some risky investigation, he had found out that Leonard had delivered the letter to Elsa. Somewhere after delivering the letter and coming back home, something had happened to Leonard and his dear friend was nowhere to be found.
Not even the Duke’s influence had resulted in finding his missing valet. His mind was agog with a lot of possibilities, chief of which were the unsavory characters Leonard had mixed up with on his behalf.
Could the instigators of the uprising have killed him?
Leonard would have had to mix with a lot of lowlifes in order to get the information that Kenneth had kept coming to him for.
Could any of these lowlifes have grown antsy and harmed my friend?
This was the first time in ten years that Leonard’s whereabouts where a mystery. Kenneth couldn’t help but feel so much guilt at the disappearance of his friend. A lot of things in his life had been put on hold, or grinded to a halt, with Leonard’s absence, making him see how much he had depended on his valet.
Even his correspondence with Rose was no longer possible and as a result, he hadn’t sent or received a message from her in days.
Overall, he missed Leonard.
“Lord Walsrock? Are you all right?” Someone beside him whispered. He turned to see Lord Rockgonie looking at him, concern etched all over his face.
“I’m fine,” he responded, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I heard about your missing valet. I sincerely hope he is all right and returns back safe,” Lord Rockgonie said, even though they both knew that such hopes were farfetched at this point. Leonard’s body probably lay in a ditch somewhere waiting to be found.
“I also have a message for you from you know who. In a loss for how to get across to you, he has reached out to me. They are concerned about you and want to meet with you,” Lord Rockgonie continued.
Kenneth understood the cryptic message that was being delivered.
“I have taken the liberty of arranging for such a meeting tomorrow morning at my manor. Be there at the usual time,” Lord Rockgonie said.
Kenneth nodded and smiled. It had been his first smile in days.
“Oh, good luck with the vote, not like you need it any way. This looks like a done deal already.” Lord Rockgonie smiled as he walked away to his seat.
“That’s right,” he heard Lord Calbrook say by his side. “This bill is already in the bag. On to the next one.”
The chamber suddenly quieted down as voting began. The voting took all of about one hour for the votes to be cast and counted.
By the time the votes were announced, an unprecedented upset lay in store for him.
The majority of the House had voted against the passage of the bill, stunning Kenneth and his friends. An inaudible rancor began to build slowly through the chamber after the results were announced and the focal point was Kenneth.
Slowly, the acrimony became audible as vile allegations and comments began to be directed his way. The Lords in the chamber had not only voted against his bill, they had begun to see him as the enemy within who was interested in rallying the commoners against them and their entitled lives.
“We need to get you out of here now,” Lord Calbrook said as he noticed some younger Lords moving in their direction.
Kenneth was too stunned to talk. He had no grasp of why he was suddenly being vilified.
“Lord Walsrock, we have to leave now,” Lord Rockgonie said as he suddenly materialized by his side, just as the first wave of audible hate speech broke forth.
The Lords were chanting in protest and trying to get at Kenneth even as his friends smuggled him out.
The younger Lords, Calbrook had noticed earlier, where making a beeline for the door. The looks on their faces spoke volumes about their intent. Mass hysteria was currently sweeping through the chambers and if Kenneth didn’t make it out of there now, he most likely wasn’t going to make it out at all.
By some stroke of luck, in the form of the chaos that was ensuing, Kenneth and his party arrived at the door first and bolted out.
In panic, they headed the wrong way, deeper into the building instead of out. With the remaining members of parliament hot on their tail, they decided to hide and wait.
No one knew how long they hid, but eventually, the chaos and noise began to die down.
When it seemed like they were out of harm’s way, they all decided to make a run for it.
They dashed out of parliament only to find that Kenneth’s curricle was missing.
The angry lords who had formed a mob were still hanging around the building and on sighting their company, began to close in on them once more.
Luckily, the rest of them still had their carriages on site and so they all headed for their carriages. Lard Calbrook dragged Kenneth toward his and when they were finally on board, began to make their escape away from parliament.
“What in God’s name just happened there?” Lord Calbrook railed. “Have these lords gone mad?”
Kenneth remained speechless. His mind was still having a difficult time processing what was happening.
Lord Calbrook’s carriage made its way toward his house in order to drop him off. When they arrived, Lord Calbrook leaned over as he got down.
“This is madness, Kenneth. I suggest you lay low for a while. Take a trip to the countryside and your family estate there. Stay out of the public eye for now till we can figure out a way to clear up this mess,” Lord Calbrook said.
“Thank you. But I think I will just stay here. No one can come onto these grounds, after all. I’ll be fine,” he responded.
“All right, then. I will keep in touch. Take care, friend,” Lord Calbrook said as his carriage rode off.
Turning, Kenneth saw his father standing in the doorway.
“Get into the house, son. Quickly!” his father exclaimed.
When they were safely within the walls of the house, his father turned to face him.
“I take it you’ve heard already,” he said to his father.
“I’m afraid bad news travels fast,” the Duke responded. “And I must say that some of this is my fault.”
“How?” Kenneth asked in confusion. “I’m the one who presented a bill that threatened their comfort, not you.”
“Yes. But I’m the one who was hated for so long because of the power I wielded in parliament. Some of the aggression being directed at you has been built up over time,” the Duke explained.
Kenneth could do nothing but heave with exhaustion.
“Are you hurt?” his father asked, misinterpreting his sigh of exhaustion as one of pain.
“I’m fine, thankfully,” he responded. “How did you hear, though?” he asked.
“When the angry Lords came out and began circling your curricle, your coachman drove off and came straight home. That’s how I heard and knew what was going on. Care for a drink?
” his father asked.
“Yes, please.” Kenneth responded.
They walked away from the door and headed for the study where they proceeded to share drinks together.
“You were reading my bill?” Kenneth exclaimed when he noticed that a copy of his bill lay open on the table, one he most definitely didn’t put there. “How did you even get it?”
The Duke simply laughed and took a swig of his drink. They continued to drink in silence till intoxication began to set in. Finally, they both decided they’d had enough and decided to retire to their bedrooms.
On their way out, just as they were about to go their separate ways, the Duke stopped Kenneth.
“I’m proud of you, son. And no one is going to harm you on this ground. I promise you,” his father declared.
“Thank you, Father,” he responded, believing every word from his father’s lips. He was safe and no one could harm him in the Duke’s manor.
They nodded and went in opposite directions, Kenneth to his bedroom and to sleep.
* * *
Kenneth woke up twice in the middle of the night when he thought he had heard noises in his bedroom.
After investigating on both occasions, he’d found out that there was no cause for alarm and he was in fact safe. He’d gone to bed and stayed asleep till morning.
Without Leonard to wake him up, he’d woken up very late.
He cleaned up by himself and went downstairs to have breakfast before ending up in the study.
Throughout breakfast and even now, his mind had drifted to and stayed on Rose.
Of course, she was safe in her father’s manor, but she was supposed to be headed to Lord Rockgonie’s in a bit for a planned meeting with him. A meeting he couldn’t very well attend now.
Since the anger of the lords was directed at him and not his friends, he didn’t think there would be an incident at Lord Rockgonie’s manor. Still, couldn’t stop worrying about Rose.
His father walked into the study and sat opposite him.
“I’m afraid I have bad news, son,” the Duke said, his facial expression sullen. “The news I’m getting is that the opposing lords didn’t just stop at the ruckus they created in parliament. They have gone ahead to publicly criticize your bill, resulting in full blown chaos in the streets of London.”
“Chaos? At me?” he asked in confusion.
“Yes, chaos. But not at you. In response to the rejection of your bill and the treatment you endured at the hands of your peers, the masses have risen up in protest.”
Kenneth was amazed at the news he was hearing.
“How did the masses know what happened yesterday?” he asked in wonder.
“I already told you, son. Bad news travels fast, coupled with the fact that the lords went on the offensive to start criticizing your bill.”
“You said it was bad news, though. How is it bad news that the masses are protesting?” he asked.
“Because the lords have turned round and started accusing you for starting the protest and rallying the masses as payback for the humiliation and rejection you suffered at parliament. They are blaming you for the protests, which are slowly turning violent. I am afraid this isn’t blowing over soon.”
Kenneth paused to have a moment with his thoughts. It was a definite possibility that the uprising had already been set in motion, an occurrence he had worked so hard to avert.
Obviously, hearing what had happened to him, the leaders of the uprising had decided to revert to their previous course of action.
But turning around to blame him for the protests as the Lords had done was even a new low for them.
“What do I do, Father?” Kenneth asked in exasperation. “How do I handle all this?”
As the Duke was about to respond, a servant walked in and announced that there were two constables there requesting to see Lord Walsrock.
“Did they state the reason for their business?” the Duke asked, even as Kenneth felt his pulse rising.
“No, Your Grace,” the servant responded.
“All right. Tell them I will be with them shortly.” The Duke responded.
The servant excused himself to go deliver the Duke’s message.
“Stay in here, son. I will handle this,” the Duke said, standing up and walking out of the study.
It took all of five minutes before Kenneth disobeyed his father’s directive and followed after him. He paused at the stairs and listened to the conversation between his father and the constables.
“Why is it that my son, who was attacked by his peers, is the one you are questioning?” his father said. “Why aren’t you asking his peers who threatened his life?” the Duke railed.
For fear of the Duke’s status and reputation, the constables stayed silent.
He paused for a few minutes until he could listen no longer.
“I’m here,” he announced as he walked down the stairs and into the room, when one of the constables iterated that they didn’t want to cause any trouble but were only interested in questioning the Marquess.
“I told you to stay away,” his father railed in anger.
“I am sorry, Father. But this is my mess. Please let me handle this. I can’t let further embarrassment be dropped at your feet on account of this.”
Even though he could see the sparks flying from the Duke’s eyes, his father stayed silent and stepped to the side.
“Morning, Constables. How may I help you?” he asked.
The officers began a series of questions centering on his whereabouts before the session at parliament yesterday. As Kenneth answered, he became increasingly aware that this wasn’t just about the events yesterday.
Someone had obviously been watching him for a long time and was trying to pin some ridiculous charges on him.
“And your valet? Do you have any ideas on his whereabouts?”
“His valet has been missing for four days, a fact that your office is aware of, seeing as we made a report.” This time, it was the Duke who had answered.
The constables paused before continuing their questions to Kenneth.
Finally, they settled on the events of yesterday where they asked him what had happened. His explanation couldn’t have been clearer and yet when the one who was the leader spoke, it was obvious that they hadn’t listened to a thing he had said.
They were pushing their own agenda and it had dawned on him a little too late.
“All right, constables. What really is the matter here?” Kenneth asked.
The constables exchanged looks with one another while avoiding the eyes of the Duke.
“I’m afraid you are going to have to follow us to the office for your own safety,” they blurted out.
“Are you arresting me?” Kenneth shouted.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rose could barely contain her excitement and anticipation as she prepared to go to Lord Rockgonie’s manor. Even though it was still quite early, she was ready and willing to wait for Kenneth at the manor, rather than continue to lie in bed.
When Kenneth’s letters had suddenly stopped coming, she had been beside herself with worry.
On the first day, according to her lady’s maid, Kenneth’s valet hadn’t shown up at the usual place and time where they exchanged letters from their masters. She’d tried to brush it off as nothing.
However, when that whole day went without the arrival of Kenneth’s letter, she had known something was wrong.
She’d been so unsure of what next step to take, wondering all the while if she had done something wrong that had probably made Kenneth revert to his initial decision, the one he’d made when he first found out about her betrothal to Lord Rockgonie.
Elsa had even tried going to the Duke’s manor to get information out of Leonard on why there was no letter from the Marquess. However, she had returned, very upset, saying she was unable to meet with Kenneth’s valet. Also, Elsa informed her about the very unsettling circumstances that were going on in the streets—people running aro
und, Bow Street Runners in every corner, and men holding their fists up against them. Rose had grown sick with worry about Kenneth.
Eventually, she reached out to the only person she could think of that could find Kenneth and get word back to her without anyone raising an eyebrow.
Lord Rockgonie!
She’d set out for his manor and was elated when she’d found him at home. When she related her ordeal to him, she was surprised at his response.
A Ravishing Lady For The Rebellious Marquess (Steamy Historical Regency Romance) Page 21