Capturing the Viscount's Heart

by Abby Ayles

  “That is a good idea,” her uncle agreed.

  The groom returned a moment later with the water. It was cool, and Helena took long sips of it. She returned the cup to her aunt’s hands while the groom saw the carriage to the front of the house to be packed with her belongings.

  Elias insisted she ought to sit a while longer while everything was finalized. Eventually, all was ready and they were to leave.

  Helena poked her head from the window of the carriage as she spoke to her aunt and uncle. “I will write with news as soon as I can.”

  “See that you do,” the Baronet replied. “We would like to hear how this travesty came about.”

  “You will know it all,” Helena answered. “Goodbye.”

  “Not goodbye,” her aunt replied. “Until we see each other again. Now that you have returned to us you can no longer be a stranger under our roof, Helena. When all is settled, you and the entire family must visit us here.”

  Helena smiled at her aunt’s kindness. “Thank you for all your kindness. I am sure Father and Mother will be delighted to hear of your invitation.”

  “Travel safely,” her aunt called as the carriage moved off.

  Helena turned to Elias. He sat across from her with a smile on his face. “You seem unable to stop smiling,” she commented with a smile of her own.

  “Do I not have a reason to? This is a happy day,” he answered.

  The lamp bobbed by her head as Elias stretched his hand across the small space. She placed her hand in his. “You must remember this day,” he said. “This is the day that the world began to spin right once more.”

  “Does my father know of any of this?” Helena asked hopefully.

  Elias shook his head. “Not yet. Soon. First I must confront the man who has done all of this.”

  “What of the authorities?”

  “They are already aware, however, I have one task left to perform before they act. I must get the villain to confess.”

  “Will that be dangerous? What if he discovers the truth and flees?” Helena asked concerned as thoughts of hope being snatched began to creep into her mind.

  “He will not run. He does not know I have learned the truth, and he is not the sort of man who would hide when challenged,” Elias answered. “He will face it and fight it.”

  Helena did not like the sound of Elias’s statement. He would fight it? How? Could he even win if the evidence was against him?

  Helena pushed that thought aside. Her father had been in such a place and now it seemed his liberation was at hand.

  “How do you feel now?” Elias asked as he smiled at her tenderly.

  “Better than I have felt in many months. I cannot wait for my mother and sister to learn of all of this, and for you and your father to be vindicated of all perceived wrong.”

  Elias’s eyes fell from hers and returned brighter. “That indeed would be a delight. My father has suffered under the strain of it, though not as your father has suffered. It brought illness upon him as our search failed to garner any reward and your father continued to languish in Newgate Prison.”

  “I am sorry for the Earl. I hope he is well now,” Helena stated gently.

  “He is a new man now. He is already in London awaiting my return. We will face the fiend together. After all, he lay blame at our feet. It is only right that we return the gesture.”

  “You will come to me when all is over?” Helena asked.

  “I will not be kept from you any longer, Helena. Once all is settled, I will return to Sutton Street and you.”

  Chapter 36

  Helena had been delivered to her family at Sutton Street. Elias’s welcome was cold, but his mind was occupied with other, more important matters. He was sure Helena would explain it all to them but, for the moment, he needed to meet his father and the man who had fooled them all.

  Elias arrived outside the Earl of Evertonham’s home on Wimpole Street. His father was standing just outside, waiting for him. A carriage lingered nearby.

  “I was beginning to wonder,” his father commented as Elias disembarked his carriage.

  “I came as soon as I could. Helena is at home with her mother and sister and is no doubt informing them of these events.”

  “Is everything secured?”

  “I have it all with me,” Elias asserted as he tapped a hand on the large envelope beneath his arm. He turned to the stationary carriage and nodded his head to the occupant.

  “Then, let us meet with the Earl. He has a number of things to explain,” his father said sternly.

  They approached the door and were admitted. Elias removed his coat, as did his father.

  “The Earl is waiting for you in the study,” the butler informed.

  “Sir, there are some gentlemen in the carriage waiting just outside,” said Elias. “Would you send them up to us in ten minutes?”

  The butler looked at him with a blank expression. “Of course, Lord Chatleton.”

  Elias and his father followed the butler to the study. He announced them before they entered, and Elias felt a tumult in his stomach. It was almost over.

  The Earl of Evertonham was a portly man with a head of silver hair, a pointed nose, and dark eyes.

  “Your Lordships,” he said in a booming voice as he rose from his desk and crossed the room to greet them.

  “Lord Evertonham,” Elias and his father answered together.

  “It is a pleasure to see you both. What brings you to Wimpole Street?” he asked in continued mirth.

  Elias smiled. “We thought a visit was warranted at this time.”

  “We have some matters to discuss with you,” his father continued.

  “Matters? What matters?” the Earl of Evertonham questioned.

  “May we sit?” Elias asked cordially.

  “Certainly. Please, take a seat wherever you like.”

  Elias and his father sat in the two chairs that faced Lord Evertonham's desk while he positioned himself behind it.

  “Now, tell me. What matters have we to discuss? Is there more trouble with Repington’s Goldsmith & Jewellers?”

  “No,” Elias said pleasantly. “Though the matter does have to do with the company.”

  Lord Evertonham was unflinching at his words. Elias wasn’t sure what he expected. Did he believe the Earl would twitch or give away some sign that he had concerns over their visit? He knew better. The man was a fortress of emotion, and all he let be seen was grey.

  Elias sat back and placed his elbows on the armrests as his fingers met before him. “I wish to tell you a story.”

  “A story?” Lord Evertonham chortled.

  “Yes. A mystery,” Elias answered.

  Lord Evertonham’s eyes shifted to Elias’s father. “Your son is a storyteller,” he mused.

  "Yes," Lord Wismoth answered with equal mirth. "You should hear his tales. They are so realistic, you would think them the truth."

  “Very well. Amuse me,” Lord Evertonham answered.

  Elias smirked. “There was a man of business in London, who acted the part for an Italian investment bank. He worked tirelessly to sell the idea of the investment to all who would listen. He firmly believed in it, and had himself invested a sizeable sum in the venture. However, he was misinformed. Lied to.”

  “This story seems familiar,” Lord Evertonham interrupted.

  “Yes, you may have heard of it before. However, let me continue to the end to be sure,” Elias answered.

  “One of the men who lost on the venture was a board member of this gentleman’s company. A man known for his business prowess. A wealthy and powerful man who, if it was ever known that he had been duped, that could potentially negatively affect his business dealings. He could not have that.”

  “Certainly not,” his father agreed.

  “This gentleman devised a plan. He took the opportunity of the transfer of ownership of the business, to gain access to its accounts in secret, by threats. The clerk of his associate was threatened with the ruinatio
n of his career and family if he did not assist in the plot to steal back what had been taken and frame the man responsible for the loss for the crime.”

  Lord Evertonham chuckled. “A fanciful story indeed. A pity you have no script for it. I am sure it would make an excellent theatrical.”

  “Actually,” Elias laughed. “I do.”

  He laid the envelope on the desk before him and looked at his father. A smile was also on his face.

  “What is this?” Lord Evertonham asked.

  “The script,” Elias answered. “Open it.”

  Lord Evertonham slid the envelope to him and quickly opened the top.

  “However, what this man and his clerk failed to know was that the man they threatened was no fool. He kept evidence to use against them for his own purposes. His rise in society, so to speak. He kept copies of the original accounting papers and records of every demand made of him.”

  Elias watched Lord Evertonham’s face as he read and listened to his tale. Finally, he saw the clench of his jaw and a twitch of his eyebrow. He quickly slapped the papers on his desk.

  “This means nothing without the author, and no one would admit to such a crime as it would implicate them as well.”

  There was a knock on the door.

  “I believe that would be the author now, and his investors,” Elias mused as he got to his feet.

  “Your Lordship, Mr. White, and… constables," the butler announced.

  Lord Evertonham was on his feet in seconds. Alarm flashed in his eyes as Mr. White entered the room.

  “You see, Your Lordship, you never counted on Mr. White having a conscience,” Elias said. “After he saw what his cooperation with you had done to the Leeson girls, he was haunted by his guilt. When I found him again, he confessed all to me and provided me the evidence to confirm the truth of what he’d spoken. These constables found the information I provided them quite useful, as I am sure they will explain to you.”

  Elias looked at Lord Evertonham with satisfaction as the constables took him into custody.

  “Your clerk, Mr. Gibson, is late this morning because he is occupying a cell,” Elias informed. “You will see him soon.”

  Lord Evertonham was escorted from the room by the constables moments later, seething and protesting all the way.

  Elias and his father were on their way out when the sound of a shocked female cry sounded from the stair above them. It was Lady Alice. Elias had not expected her to be home.

  “Lady Alice,” he greeted with a short bow of his head.

  “Lord Wismoth? Lord Chatleton? What is this?” she questioned in bewilderment.

  His father looked at him.

  “Go on. I will follow,” Elias stated. His father nodded and bid the lady farewell.

  “I am sorry, my dear,” he said as he left.

  Lady Alice looked at Elias. The questions filled her eyes as he looked at her. This would be difficult.

  “Lady Alice, perhaps we should sit,” he suggested.

  “No. I will hear what you have to say right here,” she answered.

  He nodded. “Very well. I am sorry to inform you that your father has been arrested,” Elias began. “He is charged with the embezzlement from Repington’s Goldsmith & Jewellers and for the framing of Ambrose Leeson. I am sure other charges will also be filed against him at the appropriate time, for corruption and possibly blackmail.”

  Lady Alice looked at him in shock before her head began to shake in disbelief. “You are mistaken. My father would never do such a thing.”

  “I am afraid he did. It was something you said that alerted me to it,” Elias continued.

  “Something I said?” Her voice was almost a squeak as it left her lips.

  “When you told me that your father had begun to investigate the accounting on my behalf,” Elias explained. “I never asked him to do that, neither did my father. However, it allowed me to know that he was seeing the accounts no one else should have. Then my observations of Mr. White at the Eggerton wedding seemed to further confirm my suspicions.”

  A choked cry leaped from the lady's lips as he spoke. “I helped you do this. I helped you convict my own father,” she cried.

  He nodded solemnly. “Unintentionally, yes. You believed in a man’s innocence and you helped me to prove it. There is no shame or guilt in that. My only regret is that the person responsible happened to be someone dear to you.”

  “Lord Chatleton,” Lady Alice cried. “I have sent my father to prison. How can such an act ever be forgiven?”

  Elias could not find the words to answer her. He could not imagine what she would now endure because of her father’s action. She would suffer as Helena and her family had suffered, maybe worse for the fact that her father had framed an innocent man and almost destroyed the lives of three people in the process.

  “Your father loves you, Lady Alice. He may be angry about this, but you are all the family he has. I am sure, in time, he will be able to move past this and so will you.”

  “Do you think it so simple?” she cried.

  “Not at all, Lady Alice. I watched those I cared about suffer cruelly because of the perceived actions of their father. I watched them lose nearly everything, and they were not responsible. I cannot imagine what you will have to endure because of this, and I am sorry for it. However, an innocent man should not be made to pay for your father’s wrongdoing.”

  “How can I tell him it was me?” she wept.

  Again, he could not answer.

  “Lady Alice, again, I am truly sorry for this. Good day.”

  Elias turned from her. He meant what he said. He was sorry that she would suffer. She was a good woman, and what her father had done was reprehensible.

  Lady Alice should not be made to pay for what her father had done. Their society, however, was one where all paid the price for one person’s mistake. She would feel that now, but she would not be alone. He would stand by her if she would allow him, and he was sure Helena would offer her consolation as well.

  Life was not always fair. Sometimes doing the right thing had negative repercussions for the one who sought the truth.

  The street was agape as Lord Evertonham was loaded into a wagon with Mr. White and carried off. Elias’s father stood watching.

  “Who would’ve thought it,” he commented.

  “I know, Father. We sat in that very room and heard him praise the man he was intent on destroying,” Elias answered.

  “How long will it take before Ambrose is released?” his father asked.

  “A day or two, no more I wager,” Elias answered.

  “Good,” his father said as he watched the wagon roll down the street. “He has been there far too long already.”

  The two men boarded Lord Wismoth’s carriage. Elias had given the driver of the Eggerton’s carriage leave to go after he delivered him to Wimpole Street. They sat together, each with a smile on their face, as they were driven to Sutton Street.

  “Do you think Helena has told them all?” his father asked.

  “All she knew,” Elias answered. “I think you should deliver the rest.”

  His father nodded. “I see. You do not want to take credit for this.”

  “No,” Elias answered. “I did this for Helena. Having her returned to my life is reward enough for me.”

  “Very well," his father said as they settled into a comfortable silence. The truth was known and life would soon return to what it should be.

  God be praised.

  Chapter 37

  Helena had done her best to explain everything to her mother and sister, but it had taken some time. They were both displeased to see her arrive in Elias’s company. It had taken several minutes for their tempers to cool and for her to explain.

  Thankfully, Elias had returned later that evening and the Earl had told them all the complete story.

  Helena could hardly believe that the Earl of Evertonham had gone to such lengths to protect his reputation and regain his loss. How heartless
the man was to have thrown their family into turmoil over things that could easily be rebuilt or replaced.

  However, Helena did have pity. Lady Alice would feel the full brunt of this truth, and Helena knew well the pain that could cause.

  That night she had said a prayer for the lady, but this day, she was on her way to Newgate Prison to bring her father home.