“Still, I’m glad you found all that out while you’re here among those who care, and being safe. Who knows what that young man was planning for you?”
“I’ll have to return home at some point.”
“That’s true, but not before we find him and deal with him. He could be a very dangerous man right now especially since his mother was put in jail and their plan didn’t work. You’ll be safer here.”
“Thank you for having me,” she sighed tiredly. “Now I really need to sleep for a while otherwise my head will explode.”
8
Danger
Doris closed her eyes and pretended that her whole world hadn’t just shattered. She was so tired but sleep eluded her, and she wanted Victor gone from the room. First, it wasn’t right for him to be in her room, people would talk and then secondly she wanted to grieve in private.
Being comforted was wonderful but reality had to be faced. She had to find a way of ensuring that Arthur Graham got his inheritance, even if it would mean that she would have to sell everything of value. Perhaps that would give the young man peace and he would leave her alone to carry on picking up the pieces of her life.
How hadn’t she seen any of this coming in all the time she was married to Paul? Had she been so deeply in love that he could do no wrong in her eyes? Even though Naomi had tried to cause her pain, in a way she understood why she had done it. They were all victims, the three of them. She needed to visit Naomi and ask for her forgiveness and make her understand that she hadn’t been aware of what was going on. Victor would never let her out of the house so she had to find a way of sneaking out to visit the woman in the asylum.
It seemed as if there were servants everywhere and the moment she tried to leave the house for any reason, someone would be with her.
“I’d like to deliver some paintings to a few clients as well as buy more supplies,” she told Victor a week after she had come to live at the manor.
“Can’t you send someone?”
“They wouldn’t know what colours of paint that I want and some of my clients are very particular.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” he announced.
Doris’s heart sank. Victor’s presence would mean she wouldn’t be able to get to Bedlam Hospital to see Naomi. “You really don’t need to. Just tell one of the footmen to accompany me and I’ll be alright. Besides, I won’t be gone for that long.”
Victor reluctantly let Doris go but insisted on two footmen accompanying her. She didn’t think it was at all necessary but had to accept or else he would become suspicious of her motives.
Shaking off the men so she could visit Bethlehem Asylum wasn’t easy because at every moment, one of them was with her while the other took care of the carriage. She finally got the chance to slip away when Edward, one of the footmen went in search of some paint she needed. She gave him a list of what she wanted, and promised to wait in the carriage with Gordon the second man. As Gordon was checking on the horses, she slipped away and disappeared into the throng of people.
Getting to Bedlam wasn’t difficult, but being allowed access to see one of the patients was near impossible.
“Are you related to Naomi Pendleton?” One of the wardens asked in a harsh voice?
“No, sir but I’m a good friend of the family.”
“You’ll have to wait until we find out if she’s receiving visitors.”
“Why?”
“You should know that your patient attempted suicide twice and is doing poorly.”
“Has she had any other visitors to see her?”
“Yes, her son has been coming to see her, in fact he was here some time ago.”
Doris was afraid but determined to meet her husband’s son and explain that she was ready to find a way to compensate him for his troubles. She waited for almost an hour before a shabby looking young man with eyes like Paul’s approached her. The look in his eyes frightened her and before she could say anything he took out a dagger and pressed it to her side.
“Scream and I’ll slice you like I sliced the throat of that frog,” he threatened in a rough voice. “I know you and knew that it was just a matter of time before you came calling to see my mother.”
“I’m sorry,” her voice trembled. “You don’t have to do this.”
“You kept my father from us all those years and then when he died you grabbed my inheritance. You will pay with everything you own.”
“I have money,” she said. “I was coming to see if there was anything I could do for your mother and you. Believe me please, I didn’t know about you or your mother until a few days ago when I read the letter my hus… your father wrote just before his death.”
“Liar,” he hissed, pushing her towards an alley and she knew that she was in deep trouble. The young man seemed intoxicated and in his state she wasn’t going to be able to reason with him. “Your duke put my mother in Bedlam and now she’s dead.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You’ll pay for all the years that we suffered, my mother and I. Yet there you were celebrating on my inheritance. You stole what was rightfully mine,” he shook her and dragged her. She tried to resist and he hit her so hard that she sprawled in the dust. Why had she left the safety of the carriage on her misguided mission? It was obvious this young man liked to inflict pain for his fingers bit into her upper arm. He was deliberately hurting her to see how far he could torment her, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was scared of him.
She wasn’t going to go down without a fight and braced herself for whatever was to come. They got to a ramshackle of a shed and he tried to force her inside. “You’ll have to kill me to get me in there,” she said with false bravado. “You think I’m scared of you,” she shouted at him and he cowered. “I came to help you but it’s obvious you’re not ready to be helped. If you try to hurt me then I’m also going to hurt you very badly,” she wouldn’t back down.
“Get in there,” he pointed, “Or I’ll deal with you.”
“And I said I’ll not get in there,” she hissed back. She had noticed a loose piece of timber and as she talked to him, moved slowly without alerting him to what she was doing. Living in London for two years had made her aware of the dangers that lurked around every corner especially for women and she was determined to get out of this somehow.
She reached into her pocket for the apple that she had taken to eat at some point and hurled it behind Arthur. He turned and she grabbed the piece of timber and struck him behind the head, dropped it and fled.
9
No More Secrets
When Gordon returned to the carriage after checking on the horses and found it empty, he thought his heart would stop beating. Lord Murray would most certainly shoot him for letting Mrs. Graham slip away.
The servants were happier than they had ever been because they all recognized that the woman was the reason why their master was so amicable these days. He smiled, whistled and even sang a little once in a while, something they hadn’t expected to hear ever since the duchess died.
Before leaving for town that morning, the duke had charged him and Edward to take extra care of Mrs. Graham. “She has lived in London and might want to venture into dangerous areas. Make sure that doesn’t happen or there will be trouble. Keep an eye on Mrs. Graham at all times until you deliver her safely home again. Is that clear?”
Both he and Edward had nodded in agreement and for most of the time they had done just that. But then Mrs. Graham insisted on venturing into one of the back alleys where she insisted she got her paints at a very cheap price and Edward was forced to go instead. Now the woman was missing and he had no idea where she had gone.
Edward returned carrying a package. “Why do you look worried?” He placed the package inside the carriage. “And where is Mrs. Graham?”
“That’s the reason I’m worried. One of the horses seemed to have a problem and I had to check on it. When I returned to ask Mrs. Graham if she was alright,
I found that she was gone.”
“What do you mean gone?” Edward jumped into the carriage and then out again, searching underneath as if he would find the missing woman there. “Do you know that Lord Murray will have our heads on platters if we don’t find and return Mrs. Graham safely back to the house?”
“I’m well aware of that, but I don’t know where she could have gone. I was waiting for you to come so you can return home and inform his grace.”
Edward shook his head. “I’ll do no such thing for then I will have my head handed to me on a platter. No, we’ll search all over London if need be but we’re not going back home without Mrs. Graham.”
Doris didn’t expect to find the carriage still standing at the spot she had left it and when she did, gave a cry of joy and didn’t even wait to be handed in. “Let’s go,” she cried, expecting Arthur to show up and grab her again. “Quick, let’s go back home.”
The two men needed no second bidding and it was an astonished Victor who saw the carriage flying down the driveway as if being pursued. When it stopped, he hurried down the steps. “Gordon, Edward, what’s going on?”
“Victor,” Doris practically flew into his arms. She was trembling and had he released her, she would have fallen. “I’m so sorry, it wasn’t their fault.”
“Whose fault? What happened?”
The story came pouring out and Doris kept glancing over her shoulder as if her pursuer was coming at her. “I don’t know if I killed him or just hurt him,” she said. “Please take me inside and I promise never to leave the house again.”
Victor hid a smile and nodded to his two men who looked relieved that they wouldn’t be getting a tongue lashing. “Come my dear,” he looked down at her and noticed the mark on her face. Someone had laid a finger on his darling and he felt rage welling up inside. Whoever it was would pay.
“Can you describe the place you last saw Arthur?”
“Yes. I also saw his face clearly, get me my easel.” She received the supplies from Edward and sat down to draw. When she was satisfied that she had an exact likeness of the man who had tried to capture her, she held the drawing up to Victor. “That is Arthur Graham.”
“We’ll find him,” Victor promised. “Now, I’ll let Hannah and Amanda help you to your room as I make arrangements for this young man to be found.”
Arthur was never found but a body bearing the description on Doris’s drawing washed up at the shores of the Thames a few days later. Elias also confirmed that Naomi had indeed died of her self-inflicted wounds and Doris was finally able to breathe again.
“It’s time for me to go back home,” she told Victor one morning even though in her heart she didn’t want to part from him. She loved him and knew that this was one man who would be good to her. She just wished he loved her in return. True, he was kind and generous but that was probably because he felt responsible for her. “I hope I haven’t lost all my clients in the two weeks that I’ve been away.”
“You’ll find many more because I intend to send all my friends and acquaintances to get their paintings done. Besides that, Mark and Amanda are redecorating and need some paintings for their house. They promised to come by and pick some pieces.”
“Thank you all for your kindness,” she looked around at the family as she prepared to leave. This could be her family for she loved them all so much, especially the little ones. Stanley loved playing with her colourful palette though she had to be careful that he didn’t get any paint into his mouth. She would sit him on her lap and give him a brush, holding his little plump hand and pretending that he was an artist too. She would miss them very much but it was time to leave.
Victor watched the emotional display on Doris’s face and felt deep satisfaction within. She was in love with him and his family and it was obvious that she was putting on a brave face. He wanted her to return to her studio and then he would begin to woo her seriously. He wanted her to feel that she was worth running after and so he let her go.
Nothing would ever be the same again, Doris thought as she cleaned her studio and opened the windows to air it. Everything would remind her of the man to whom she had lost her heart. It was three days since she had returned but all hopes of Victor coming after her had now dwindled to almost nothing.
The studio doorbell chimed and there he was. She even thought he was a figment of her imagination so she just stared at him.
“Aren’t you glad to see me?” He asked with a twinkle in his eyes. He could see that he had astounded her and he was glad he had given her the three days to miss him.
Doris recovered her voice, “Why are you here?”
“To bring back home the woman that I love.” he said simply. “You needed time away from me to miss me and from your eyes I can see that you did.”
She turned away, joy filling her heart. “Who says I missed you?”
Victor grinned behind her back. She was trying to act tough but he could see that she was as affected by him as he was by her. “You know that I speak the truth.” He came towards her and held her shoulders from behind. “Doris, you’ve been through some tough times lately and especially finding out about your husband’s son and the attack on you. I didn’t want you to feel gratitude for me, but I wanted you to be apart and think about us. Am I wrong?” He asked softly and she shook her head. “You should know that I never wanted to let you go but it was important that I woo you on your own turf so you wouldn’t feel obligated to me in any way.” He turned her around. “When my wife died, I never thought that I would ever love again. So instead I concentrated on taking care of my children and after they were all married, I realised that I was lonely. Then you came into my life though I tried to fight it,” he shook his head. “Doris, I love you so much and would want you to be my wife.”
“Oh,” she looked up quickly, seeing the love shining in his eyes. “Oh!”
“Is that all you’ll say to a man who has spent sleepless nights wondering what to say to you?”
“What can I say?” She looked at him shyly. “I had a good marriage, at least Paul tried his best even though now I know that he was good to me because of guilt. When my husband died, I also didn’t think I would love again but then you invited me to your house for Chelsea’s christening and I saw how deeply in love your children and their spouses were and it moved me deeply. I wanted what they have but wasn’t sure about you.”
“Why not? From the very beginning I made it obvious that I was interested in you.”
“True, but dukes don’t go around showing interest in simple artists except maybe as their mistresses.”
He looked at her incredulously, “You thought I was thinking of you as a mistress?” She nodded and he pulled her close. “You silly beautiful woman. I would never besmirch my wife’s memory by taking a mistress. She told me that I would know when I was ready to move on, and should find a woman who I would fall in love with.”
“She must have been a wonderful woman.”
“That she was. Which is why I honoured her memory and in the ten years since she’s been gone, I’ve never looked at another woman. She would approve greatly of you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I know that for a fact.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“And now, will you put me out of my misery and tell me what I want to hear?”
“That I love you so much and was miserable without you?”
“Now that’s exactly what I wanted to hear, my darling.”
* * *
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