Wynthall Manor- The Wynthall Manor Trilogy

by Brianne E Pryor

  “Please, Lord de Grey, you are not at fault.” Eva’s words spoken to his back met the baron’s ears and indeed his heart with a sharp pang as he recalled the same voice uttering a phrase of a very similar nature only a few hours before. “You did everything within your power to keep him from finding me, my lord. You said all that could be said to protect us both from his wicked threats.”

  Grey felt his heart lighten ever so slightly at her words, having been certain that she would despise him. But however forgiving the lady appeared, he could not imagine why she would condone his lie or how she had been able to keep silent while he ensnared her within it before her uncle and all of the Wynthall staff. “You did not correct me?” He turned his head to face her, unable to understand why she did not expose him. “I ensnared you in a falsehood and you remained silent. Have you nothing to say to my foolhardiness? Will you not now tell me you hate me for imprisoning you in a falsehood?”

  Eva shook her head, her eyes falling to the floor. “No, my lord,” her gentle voice whispered.

  “You could have exposed me as the worst of liars,” Grey spoke with bewilderment. “I half-expected you to cry out against such an untruth.”

  Eva again shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the carpet. “You could have said nothing else, sir,” she whispered still. “I can only thank you for wanting to protect my father’s good name.”

  Again her words cut his very soul as they had seemed to do from the moment she had first spoken in his hearing. Never before had he harbored any sense of hope in a heart, which he thought had long been overcome by grief, but now a small light, a glow but the size of a needle’s point had been lit by the words of Eva Vastel as she spoke not against the baron’s lie, but with it and a part of him suddenly dared to hope it was because she too might return his feelings if even in the slightest manner. You can deny it no more, his mind finally gave way to the growing pang inside him, to what he had attempted to quench deep within. She has overcome every ounce of your being, James. She has broken into your heart when you thought you had none.

  Grey looked upon Eva, the Duchess of Dawcaster—but a girl just out of her youth whose life had been so rudely torn to pieces—and a feeling which had been buried deep beneath his mourning and sorrow seemed to renew its absence. “My lady, I am beholding to you.” Grey’s words caused Eva to lift her head, her eyes filled with question. “You should despise me for letting your uncle believe you were my wife and ensnaring us both in a blatant lie. However well it was intended, I had no right and now we appear to be trapped in it and yet you are all thankfulness.”

  Eva sighed. “As I have said, sir, you did so only in an effort to protect your good name and my own from the lies that my uncle would have told not only to your staff but to both our regions and beyond. You did so that I might not be forced to return with him and perhaps be put in danger of losing my life. There was never a lie more justified, my lord.”

  “I thank you for that, madam,” Grey spoke earnestly. “But I fear I have trapped us both so that we might not escape lest my lie be exposed.” Eva said nothing in reply for she knew he spoke truthfully. All of Wynthall had heard the baron’s declaration of a union between Grey and herself and now most assuredly would spread such a revelation throughout the region to be known to all. Soon Grey’s attempt to shield them both from a terrible disgrace would land them even deeper in ruin as he would be forced to declare their unmarried state and be left helpless to defend neither himself nor the lady against the conclusions that were to be derided all credited to the dishonor of Alexander Vastel.

  Grey’s jaw clenched as he recalled the man’s threats, his intemperate accusations and slurs for the name of his own niece that he had dared express to her in the most insolent of manors. How could he have come to know? How within only a few hours’ time had he learned of the whereabouts of his niece? Grey turned again to Lady Eva and proposed a question. “Pray tell me, my lady, how did Lord Alex come to arrive in the hall to discover you?”

  Eva shook her head. “I do not know, my lord. I do believe we arrived simultaneously. He burst through the door the moment I began to descend the stairs.”

  “And did he know before he saw you—or at least suspect—that you were here?”

  “I know not, my lord. I knew not even then that he was here until the door burst open, and I laid eyes on him. Though he did not seem surprised to see me as though he had come with the express intent of recovering me from here.”

  “So you believe he knew before seeing you in the great hall?”

  Eva nodded. “I believe so, my lord.” Grey pursed his lips in vexation. “Then how could he have come to know? He was here only this morning and went away without the slightest hint you were anywhere about only to come bombarding his way in but a few hours later.”

  “Do you think someone could have told him, my lord? One of the staff perhaps?”

  Grey shook his head. “You and I and Mr. and Mrs. Byrum are the only ones who were to know of it, and I daresay my butler and his wife are not to blame.”

  “But many of your staff—if not all—knew of my presence here. Perhaps they told someone and word came round to my uncle who decided it must be me.”

  “Perhaps,” Grey sighed heavily. “But however he found out the truth can hardly aid us now. Through my own stupidity I have set us both to ruin.”

  Eva shook her head in despair. “This is my doing, Lord de Grey. I am sorry for involving you in this terrible ordeal.”

  “You could have hardly helped my involvement, Lady Eva,” Grey attempted to bolster her spirits. “As I seem to recall, you urged me most explicitly not to involve myself in your troubles.”

  A small disheartened smile crossed Eva’s face. “Yes, I recall it as well. You were right in your objection. I was feverish and knew not what I spoke.”

  Grey nodded, somewhat joyed to hear Eva speak so. “It is not a good thing to live one’s life wishing for its end,” he spoke in earnest, casting a shadow over the room as his dark past was brought to light.

  Eva averted her gaze from his masculine face to where her hands lay upon her lap. “And what of you, my lord?” she inquired cautiously. “Will you forgive my asking if you still desire such an end yourself?”

  Grey nodded, though his ever-present frown had returned to harden his features. “I will forgive you, madam. As to the latter half of your question, I could not tell you. My heart is numb and my mind filled with vengeful thoughts toward your uncle and how we might escape this entrapment in which I seem to have caught us.”

  Eva pursed her lips and sighed. “I wish I could help you on that account at least, but I too know not.”

  “Every soul within two-hundred miles shall soon think us man and wife and a union between a duchess and baron—however lawful—will be much talked of and soon spread to the far ends of the country; especially one to occur so suddenly and without the summoning of the banns or formal visits from your family. The only way to stop such a lie is to put now an end to it but if I expose my own falsehood then Alexander shall see our ruin.”

  “I know not how he can be so determined to drag the name of his brother and father to the lowest depths of society. Does he not know he will ruin his own as well?”

  Grey huffed. “Alexander thinks nothing of disgrace lest he be stilled from the joys of frivolity. Through the course of his life, he has brought on ruin to his own name and he knows it as well as anyone yet cares not. He only threatened us with such disgrace because he knows we both value our good standing. Even now I wonder what he is scheming.”

  “We do not even know if he is guilty of a crime beyond his own selfish nature. Perhaps he is scheming nothing?”

  Grey shook his head, his expression grave. “I should think by this time we must assume him guilty. However, the lack of evidence restrains us. I can scarce believe him innocent of my lady’s kidnapping. Though we have no evidence of his guilt, I can hardly think him anything but.”

  “And yet we have no p
roof of it and until we do there is no end to this nightmare.” The lady shook her head sorrowfully. “I wish my father were here. I should have never deceived you, Lord de Grey, I should have told you the moment we laid eyes on each other who I was so that I might have seen him once more…” Eva’s words trailed off into nothing, and Grey’s taut expression softened somewhat.

  “Had you done so, my lady, you would be with your uncle now and there is no way to tell what he could do.”

  “But I could have seen my father.” Eva’s eyes began to tear again. “Perhaps he could have done something to stop Uncle Alex if he were indeed the guilty one. But even so… now I shall never see him again and I have ensnared you in my troubles so that we may neither of us escape them.”

  Grey shook his head. “You need not worry in regards to me, my lady. Trouble has touched my life to the fullest so that even this may seem as nothing. Your uncle decided upon my ruin many years ago, and I have always thought he would have it.”

  “Even so, sir, all is lost because of me.”

  Grey shook his head. “We will find a way, my lady. I will search my region and beyond for this man whom you say was called Avery, and he will tell us how we might bring about the end to this destruction.” Grey crossed the room in but a few long steps and pulled the cord for the butler. In a moment, the door was opened and Byrum bowed to his master, his eyes still wide with alarm at what had taken place just below them. “Yes, my lord?”

  “Send for Lord Bondeville at once. Tell him I am in need of his assistance immediately,” Grey instructed. “And if Alexander Vastel dares to show his face here again, he will be kept outside the gates and you may tell his lordship that I shall be toyed with no longer. He will keep his distance or be sorry.”

  “Yes, my lord. Anything else?”

  “No—yes! There will be no contradictions to the staff in regards to my earlier declaration.”

  “But, my lord, word will spread—”

  “Then so be it! You will say nothing, do you hear me?”

  Byrum nodded. “I will say nothing to anyone in regards to it, my lord.”

  Grey nodded stiffly and waved Byrum away turning again to Eva. “Now we will find this man who kept you prisoner, my lady, and feed Alexander to the dogs.”

  ~ 26 ~

  Grey stood in silence before the open windows of his library, a warm summer breeze making an occasional waft through the open panes, refreshing the redolent smells of paper and ink that had settled on the interior. Slowly Grey inhaled it, filling his lungs with its purity, allowing it to calm him as he awaited a reply from Lord Bondeville in regards to the baron’s summons. Grey knew not what more he could do to search for the man who had held Eva against her will, though he hoped that with the aide of the earl—the only man whom he could trust in the matter—they might discover the man called Avery and in turn put an end to what he was certain must be the doings of Alexander Vastel.

  Eva had retired to her room shortly after their conversation, visibly tired from the afternoon’s altercation. As he stood before the window, Grey seemed unable to rid his mind of the lady or his heart of the familiar feeling he had once felt for another and indeed still harbored abundantly. Though his mind reprimanded him greatly, his heart pressed on with the consolation that however he might now feel, he could never love another as he had Dahlia, nor would the Lady Eva ever harbor any affections of the kind toward him, leaving him free to risk the last pieces of his heart that one day he may have none.

  Movement in the hall and a knock on the library door caused Grey to turn from where he stared out the window and call, “Come in.”

  Byrum appeared, bowing to his master as he said. “Lord Bondeville is here, my lord. I’ve shown him to the downstairs parlor.”

  Grey nodded. “Good. Thank you, Byrum.” The baron moved past his butler into the hall where he made his way to the parlor to find Lord Bondeville awaiting him, seated on one of the floral upholstered sofas. The earl rose when Grey entered, both of them speaking a greeting as they shook the others hand. “Lord Bondeville, I thank you for coming on such short an invitation.”

  “Certainly, Grey, I am always at your service as I was your father’s.” The earl pledged his ongoing allegiance before retaking his seat. The baron, too, sat himself in a chair across from his guest, preparing himself for the elderly man’s reaction to what he must reveal.

  “I am glad you’ve not yet heard of my troubles, Bond,” he began. “For they will most assuredly be spread across the country by morning.”

  Bondeville’s brow furrowed. “Surely they cannot be so bad, James?”

  Grey huffed. “I fear they are for they have to do with Alexander Vastel and his missing niece.”

  Now the earl’s expression grew intrigued. “What can you have to say on that score? Is Lord Alex hounding you to join the search?”

  Grey shook his head. “I fear I unwittingly joined in the search some nights ago and now am credited with her discovery.”

  “She has been discovered?” Bondeville exclaimed.

  Grey nodded. “And under the worst of circumstances for both her and myself as she was discovered here in my home.”

  Now his companion grew perplexed. “I do not understand you, James. Lady Eva was found here? At Wynthall?”

  Grey nodded as he stood to his feet, moving further into the room with Bondeville’s confused gaze following him.

  “How in the name of humanity was the lady discovered here?”

  Grey sighed heavily. “To be perfectly frank with you, Bond… I was hiding her ladyship here.”

  At this the earl, too, was on his feet. “You were doing what?”

  Grey nodded, having no wish and seeing no need to deny what was factual.

  “I-I do not understand this, James! What have you done?”

  “Only that which was right, I assure you,” the baron defended himself. “I came across the lady, dressed as a commoner and quite ill, on the road between here and Calgar not even a week ago. Of course, I did not know her, I suspected only that she was some farm girl cast out onto the street or that she had been attacked by robbers of the sort. The lady was dreadfully feverish and lost consciousness before I could get her here. I had the physician and my housekeeper look after her and over the next two days ventured to find out her name and where she had come from but she spoke not a word to anyone.”

  “She would not tell you her name?” Bondeville began to understand as the baron continued.

  “She would not speak one word, and the doctor began to imagine she was out of her head. Only I knew that could not be the case for she had spoken—however briefly—to me before falling unconscious on the road. I know not why I said nothing of this to them, perhaps it was because of her voice. Her accent had not been that of a commoner, and I knew she must be hiding her identity deliberately. After your so accurate description of her the day of your visit, I knew it must have been the missing lady. It was the day after which we received word of His Grace’s death and the need to find Lady Eva grew more desperate still. Once I was left alone with the lady, I confronted her with my suspicion and she admitted she was Eva Vastel.”

  Bondeville shook his head as though he were speechless at this revelation. “And you did not notify Lord Alex the moment you discovered this truth?”

  “No, I did not.”

  “Grey, whatever for? Pray tell me you did not take a liking to the girl!”

  “Certainly not!” Grey barked, believing this assumption—however logical—to be quite exhausted. “Her presence here is strictly her own doing. She fears her uncle. She believes him the mastermind behind her kidnapping.”

  “Kidnapping? So she was taken from her home?”

  Grey nodded. “And she had only just escaped when I came across her on the road. She’d been badly mistreated, which had resulted in her illness. She concealed her identity, fearing that if I were to know the truth, I would tell Alexander despite her fear of him.”

  “And she is certain it w
as he who took her?”

  Grey sighed and shook his head, “Unfortunately that is not the case. She only thought at the time she had heard his voice in the room as she was being carried away but can no longer be certain.”

  “And she is still here? In this house?”

  Grey nodded. “She is upstairs in the Orange Room.”

  “But you said that you were credited with her discovery? Does Lord Alex know of her presence here?”

  “That is why I sent for you, Bond,” Grey answered woefully. “He discovered her here only this afternoon. I know not how he knew of her whereabouts, but he barged into the house and threatened to tell all of Covingdell and Calgar that she had been found in my home lest she return with him immediately.”

  Lord Bondeville looked appalled. “Surely he had to have known there was no fault neither with his niece or yourself?”

  “He did, I am sure. But you know the sort of man Alexander has proven himself to be, he will stop at nothing to have what he wants.”

  “But she did not go with him?”

  Grey shook his head. “No, she did not.”

  Bondeville frowned questioningly. “How could she not have? I know you too well to believe you allowed him to spread such a disgrace.”

  “Indeed I did not,” Grey assured. “But I fear the alternative was none so pleasant. I told him, along with all my listening staff, that her ladyship and I were married.”

  The look of question that filled Lord Bondeville’s expression was soon replaced by shock and then anger. “Grey, what have you done?” he exclaimed. “You—you are now bound to her! You cannot take back such a falsehood!”

  “Not unless we discover that it was indeed Lord Alex who abducted his niece. My servants all know of my finding her on the road. If we can find sufficient proof of her uncle’s guilt, then all may be revealed.”