For A Love So True
Charity McColl
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
© 2019 PureRead Ltd
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Contents
Introduction
1. The Elusive One
2. Rubbing Shoulders
3. Troubled Times
4. Beloved Lady
5. Love Tested
6. Perilous Times
7. Danger Looms
8. Frightening Ordeal
9. A Gruesome Discovery
10. Together At Last
Other Books In The Married to The Murrays Series
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Introduction
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Enjoy The Story!
1
The Elusive One
She would always ride up to the hills just to catch a glimpse of the man who made her heart race, but if he ever saw her, never once acknowledged her presence. And that fact alone irked Lady Mary Murray, only daughter of Lord Victor Murray, the Duke of Pembington.
Mary considered herself to be beautiful and intelligent, unlike a number of her age mates who loved catching the attention of young men by giggling and all manner of theatrics. None of that for her, thank you, because until just a year ago, her own family had been very poor. At the time, no man wanted to be associated with Mary because she had no dowry. But all that had changed now.
Ever since her brother married Amanda Milton, who came with a hefty dowry, their lives had changed almost overnight. Her father had retired and handed over the duchy to her elder brother George and the estate was flourishing like never before. Mary acknowledged that her brothers were good managers because they had paid off all the debts their grandfather had amassed and which had nearly led to their ruin. But more than that, they invested wisely and since Amanda’s father was a generous man, had even opened up more business opportunities for the family.
Now the Murrays were once again a highly sought after family and invitations to balls and other social functions poured in by the dozens each week. And Mary now had plenty of suitors, something she quite didn’t like.
The man she always came out to watch was Elias Cartwright, and he was around George’s age. He and his family lived a quiet life even though their estate was large. She had overheard the servants gossiping about the Cartwrights a few days ago, and wondered what went on in their house which never seemed to have visitors.
Elias rode different horses each time he came to the meadows and she happened to know that their stables owned some of the finest race horses in London, though she’d never gotten close enough to see them. He and her brothers were somewhat acquainted, but not enough to invite each other to functions, not that she ever heard of the Cartwrights holding any for a while now. In any case, before that her own family didn’t get invitations and even now that they were affluent, didn’t entertain as would have been expected.
She couldn’t help but notice Elias and wished he would at least pay the slightest attention to her. She had no one to talk to about her budding affections for him since both her sisters-in-law could only talk about their new lives as wives. Besides that, now that Hannah, George’s wife was expecting their first child, that was another of their favourite topics and Mary felt quite lost when they started. Amanda and Mark had moved to the dowager house and she avoided going there because it reminded her so much of her mother. Each time she went there, she would become so upset and so she chose to keep her distance.
Besides that, she always felt slightly ashamed of the way she had treated Hannah before George married her. Even though it was clear Hannah didn’t bear a grudge towards her, she still felt that the older lady wasn’t very friendly and open to her.
With a sigh, she nudged her new mare to turn around and take her back home.
There she was again, Elias thought as he took his horse for a ride. He loved riding and owning nearly twenty magnificent horses was his joy. They weren’t a part of his father’s estate because he was determined that he would make his own way in life, and never have to rely on the man who had made his and his mother’s lives very miserable.
His father liked to present himself as a loving husband and father, when all that was far from the truth. Most people who knew them saw the sham for what it was. From the moment he married Clarissa Austen, Richard Cartwright had changed like a chameleon. His family wasn’t titled but his great grandfather Dean Cartwright had been a very industrious man who created vast wealth and bought their estate from a dying baron. He had done great improvements to what he purchased and at one point ranked among the richest men in England.
Elias twisted his lips, but all that had changed when he died. His son Edgar and grandson Richard, went through the wealth with no thought for the morrow and by the time Richard was ready to marry Clarissa, they had almost nothing. Clarissa came from a very wealthy family and she was his meal ticket. Immediately after their wedding and a few days of honeymoon, Richard returned to the arms of his various mistresses, squandering his wife’s dowry as well as the inheritance she received when her father died.
Elias was born almost nine months after their marriage and his mother found a new channel for her unrequited love, pouring it on her son instead. To her credit, she didn’t spoil him but sought to make him into a respectable young man, unlike his father who was a wastrel and philanderer. Still, the outside world only saw a successful middle aged man in his father, even though it was Elias’s efforts that saw bread on their tables and their few servants paid at all.
He bred fine horses, having learned the skill from a stableman who had since died. Atkins as he used to call him, and his family had served the royal family for many years until the love of whiskey saw him relieved of his duties. It was from him that Elias had learnt all he could about horses and now his animals attracted owners from as far as Europe. It gave him much satisfaction to see his father reduced to begging him for money and even though at first he didn’t want to give him any, his mother urged him to.
“Whatever he is and has done, he’s still your father and you ought to respect him,” she would tell him.
“Mama, he’ll only end up drinking or gambling whatever I give him away, of what use is that then?”
“When your father is out on his various pursuits, we at least have peace at home. Just let him have what you can give, and let him stay at our London house until he needs more.”
So Elias had put his father on a stipend, sending him some money every Friday just so he would stay away. It was true that whenever he was around, he would pick fights with Clarissa because she refused
to part with her personal jewelery. In a way, providing for his father kept his mother sane and happy for a while, even though the years of emotional and psychological abuse had taken their toll on her.
It was only until recently that Elias had found out that the reason her mother agreed to the marriage even though she knew what kind of man her husband was, was because she was much older than him and didn’t want to die a spinster.
“I was thirty one and your father was twenty two,” she told him one day. “Since I had the money he needed, he thought nothing of walking me down the aisle. I knew what I was getting myself into and mercifully, you were the result. That is the one thing that I’ll never regret about this marriage.”
Now at fifty seven years of age, his mother seemed older because of the troubles she was having to endure, but never complained about. He had just celebrated his twenty sixth birthday, a quiet affair just with his mother and he felt that he was ready to settle down. But he wouldn’t be in a hurry because he didn’t want just any woman. He needed a woman who would understand him as he was, a woman who wouldn’t come into the marriage expecting him to be wealthy. He wanted someone who would support his endeavours to restore their fortunes through hard work, in his case breeding race horses.
And that woman certainly wasn’t one Lady Mary Murray, who was too snobbish for his liking. Ever since her own family’s fortunes had been restored, she seemed to walk with her nose in the air and looked down on everyone else. And yet each morning when he came to ride his horses, he would catch a glimpse of her among the trees, peeping at him. He often wondered what it was that she sought, because he didn’t believe that she could be attracted to him at all, given that they rarely met. They just didn’t move in the same circles, with them being nobles and his family just a simple one.
In great grandpa Dean’s time they were considered to be part of the gentry but now, well, he sighed, they were lucky if they had enough for a three course meal.
2
Rubbing Shoulders
Mary decided not to ride up to the secluded manor because she didn’t want Elias sensing her presence sooner than she wanted. Today she would walk to his front door, knock and introduce herself, just to see what he would do.
No one stopped her as she stepped on the cobbled stones and made her way to the large oak door. She had just raised her hand to the knocker when she heard raised voices. It sounded like two people were really angry at each other and she didn’t know whether to go ahead and knock or retreat. She stood there for a short while pondering what to do, and a few minutes later wished that she hadn’t thought about coming to the house.
A shot rang out and then a high pitched scream, then all was silent. Mary’s legs felt weak because she knew that she had clearly heard a pistol going off. She listened to hear if there would be any movement or sound but the silence was quite sinister. Should she knock or should she leave? But what if someone needed her help, what was she to do?
As she stood there wondering what to do, she heard someone riding up to the house and was partly glad that it was Elias.
Elias wondered what Mary Murray was doing at his front door. She looked as white as a sheet and quite shaken. He quickly got down from his horse and ran up the few steps. “Lady Mary, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“There was a shot and a scream,” was all she could get out at first and he frowned.
“What did you say?”
Mary pointed at the door. “I wanted to knock, then I heard people arguing. Then a shot rang out and someone screamed. No one has come to the door at all since then.”
Elias’s heart was filled with dread. His father must have come around on one of his visits to force his mother to relinquish her jewels to him. He opened the door and entered the house, Mary hard on his heels. For once, he was glad that someone else was there with him.
The living room was empty as was the drawing room, and then they both heard a soft groan coming from the study. The two of them rushed into the study and then stopped, staring in horror at the scene before them. Richard Cartwright sat behind the large desk, head thrown back, or what used to be his head for it was half blown away. His right hand was still holding the pistol that had evidently shot him, while Clarissa lay across the desk, her hand also holding the pistol.
“Mother?” Elias hurried to his mother, who was just opening her eyes. “What happened?”
Clarissa took a look at her husband and gave a small cry, collapsing into her son’s arms. “I tried to stop Richard, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Mama, calm down. Lady Mary will take care of you as I send for the coroner and constable.”
“He wouldn’t listen to me,” Clarissa sobbed as Mary put an arm around her and led her out of the study which Elias locked as he went to find a servant to send. “I should just have handed that stupid jewelery to him, now he’s dead because I held on to them.”
Mary’s heart went out to the distraught woman. “Mrs. Cartwright, let me help you up to your room so you can rest.”
“Promise that you won’t leave me alone,” she clutched at Mary’s hand. “I can’t bear being all alone right now.”
“I promise,” Mary gently helped her to her bed, covering her with a light sheet and sitting on the edge of the bed. “Now close your eyes and go to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up, as will your son.”
“You’re a good girl,” Clarissa’s eyelids grew heavy and soon she was asleep.
Almost an hour later, the door opened and Elias entered the room. “How is she?”
“Sleeping,” Mary pointed with her chin. “Poor woman was so distraught. Has the coroner come?”
“The constable too. They both initially ruled it as a suicide but still want to speak to mama.”
“Mrs. Cartwright is in no position to receive any visitors, let alone answer tough questions from those two. Can’t they come back later?”
Elias shook his head. “I’m afraid this has to be done as soon as possible because I don’t want things stretched out. The sooner the coroner is done, the faster I can organise for my father’s burial.”
“It’s just a sad affair,” Mary said, shaking her head slowly. Her green eyes were filled with compassion and something within Elias stirred. This was no snob or skittish young woman. Apart from the initial shock when they discovered the gruesome scene, she hadn’t gone to pieces like many in her shoes would have. And taking care of his mother, even if for a short time proved that Mary Murray was made of deeper substance than he had initially given her credit for.
“I just have to wake her us so she can put all this mess behind her and move forward.”
Just as Mary had feared, the constable was thorough in his questioning Mrs. Cartwright and she was in tears for most of the interrogation. Though they were well known to the family, they introduced themselves for formalities sake.
“Mrs. Cartwright, I’m sorry that we have to ask you a few questions just to establish what exactly happened. My name is Quentin Foster and I am the village constable. This is Dr. Willard Fletcher, the coroner.”
“You’re welcome,” Clarissa said in a soft voice. Her eyes were red from lack of enough sleep and weeping. “Please go ahead.”
“What were you doing before your husband allegedly shot himself?” Quentin had seen his fair share of suicides and homicides in his district in the recent past and wondered what was happening to seemingly genteel folk. Amazingly, most of the trouble he encountered wasn’t with the poor and destitute citizenry who had more to be troubled about. It was the nobles and gentry who often had deadly scandals such as this one, and it was up to him to see that there was no foul play.
Richard Cartwright had been a piece of work and everyone in the village knew that, but he deserved justice in case anyone had done anything wrong to him. It was no secret that he and his son could barely stand each other. Elias Cartwright would have been the first suspect, but he had an airtight alibi since Lady Mary Murray had been standing right in front of
their house when the shot rang out, and it was only moments later that he came riding down the driveway.
“Richard came home early this morning when Elias left for the meadows,” Clarissa clutched the small white handkerchief as if her life depended on it. “He wanted me to hand over my jewelery because he said some people were after him for their money. He owed a large gambling debt and thought that selling off those pieces would enable him get enough to pay them off.”
“Then what transpired?”
“As I always do, I refused to hand them over. They belonged to my grandmother, who gave them to my mother and they were passed on to me. I hope to pass them on to my son’s wife and I didn’t want them sold to pay off a gambling debt.”
“When did Richard bring out the pistol?”
“When I wouldn’t tell him where I hid them. He had searched for them in my bedroom and in this study but didn’t find them. So he threatened that he would kill me unless I told him where they were.”
“Did you?”
Clarissa shook her head. “It wasn’t the first time that he was threatening me with a gun so I thought it would be like the other times.”
Elias looked at his mother in astonishment. “Mama why haven’t you ever told me any of this?”
“Elias, this wasn’t your battle to fight. What goes on between a husband and wife shouldn’t affect their offspring”
“I agree, but he could have hurt you.”
For A Love So True (Married to the Murrays Book 3) Page 1