A Terrible Misunderstanding (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite Book 6)

by Rebecca King

  “Miss Potter is my business,” Niall drawled. “Now what kind of fiancé would I be if I allowed any arrogant oaf to try to drag her off, eh?”

  Erasmus’s brows shot up. “I was doing no such thing. I just wanted a private word with her.”

  “And she said no. You seem to have a problem with that word, don’t you, Erasmus?”

  “Like I have said, my association with Miss Potter is nothing to do with you. I don’t care where you came from or what you think you are doing in Serpentine, but you will move on eventually and I shall have Clara Potter as my wife.”

  “Why? Why are you so determined that your wife should be her? Do you think you can make use of a connection to her father to protect yourself from having to face the law for your illegal activities?” Niall perched a hip on the desk and picked up a quill. He barely turned it over in his fingers before Erasmus launched out of his seat and snatched it off him. He then proceeded to drop it into a drawer and slam it closed with a resounding thud.

  With a smirk, Niall pushed to his feet and sauntered over to the shuttered window. He then leaned his shoulders against it and turned to look at the man still seated behind the desk.

  “I have not committed any crime,” Erasmus drawled quietly.

  “Really?”

  “Prove it.” Erasmus began to smirk because he knew his tracks had been covered well. “Who are you? Do you want in on our little enterprise?”

  “Do you have a little enterprise?” Morgan asked.

  Erasmus squinted at him. “Sir, I am a businessman. Of course I have an enterprise, and a very good one.” As if to prove his point, Erasmus lifted his hands out, palms up to indicate the room they were in was the evidence of his success.

  None of the Star Elite asked him what kind of business Erasmus was in because they didn’t want him to have the satisfaction of knowing they didn’t have any idea what he was up to. Richard slowly closed the door before he positioned himself in front of it, effectively blocking anybody’s exit. Will quietly headed straight over to the shutters and slid them closed before he stood before the French doors.

  “Just what do you want?” Now that the men had all blocked his exit from his own study, Erasmus began to look a little worried. “Who are you? How did you get into my house?”

  “We come with authority before you issue any more threats,” Richard began. “I think you should know that your cousin isn’t going to be in any position to protect you for much longer. He has been ordered to go to London to account for his lack of professionalism.”

  “A lot can happen in a county when the magistrate isn’t at his desk, don’t you think?” Morgan murmured.

  “Are you threatening me?” Erasmus snorted. “Do you know what connections I have?”

  “Oh, yes, which is why we are telling you that your crimes are over. It is no idle threat. We don’t issue those, or harass innocent young women going about their business,” Niall persisted.

  It was only when he had spoken that he realised his colleagues were looking curiously at him. He made a point from then on not to mention Clara. However, it was damned difficult to avoid mentioning her given she was the main reason why they were there.

  “I don’t care what lies she has told you. You don’t believe her, do you?” Erasmus snorted with faux laughter. “God, she needs someone to control her wayward behaviour. I have known her for a while now and do believe her father spends far too much time in London. It is about time she was taken in hand and made to behave appropriately.”

  “And you would know all about appropriate behaviour, wouldn’t you, Erasmus? Accosting young women in the street is normal behaviour for someone like you, I don’t doubt,” Niall warned.

  “Look, we had a small disagreement, that’s all,” Erasmus began. “Women can be temperamental sometimes. You should know that. What is a man supposed to do?”

  “Stop harassing young women. She has made it clear she wants nothing to do with you, yet I have seen you loitering outside her house on that curricle of yours. She made you perfectly aware that you are to stay away from her, but you have persisted in trying to force her to embrace you and in public no less. Moreover, you have been found trying to force her to go somewhere with you against her will. That, Boyle, is kidnap. Now unless you want to feel the full weight of the law, I strongly recommend you leave her alone. Let me see you anywhere near her ever again and I shall have you behind bars within the hour. Do you understand me?”

  Niall lifted an arrogant brow in the man’s direction and waited. Erasmus seemed amused as if he suspected it wasn’t ever going to happen.

  “And I can have you arrested within the hour for breaking into my house like this,” he smirked.

  “Really. Well, prove you didn’t let us in,” Will challenged. “Did you hear the sound of smashing glass? Be careful, Erasmus, with security as lapse as yours anything could happen to you. You are, after all, out here all alone. It is enough to make a man living alone in here feel quite vulnerable.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “It’s no idle threat,” Niall growled.

  “Really. Well, if you will excuse me, I have business to attend to. You can all go out the way you came and don’t break into my house again. I don’t care what Miss Potter has told you, we are engaged to be wed, and I shall damned well speak to my own fiancé whenever I choose. Keep your nose out of my personal business.”

  “But your personal business is our business when it is illegal,” Will drawled.

  “Really?” Erasmus snorted. “And on whose authority do you work, Atticus Potter’s? He isn’t ever here.”

  Niall sauntered causally over to the desk and placed his hands palms down onto it. He leaned menacingly over the large wooden surface toward Erasmus who outwardly appeared arrogant and aloof or would have done had not a fine sheen of sweat appeared on his brow. As he waited for Erasmus to realise that he was outnumbered and vulnerable, Niall watched a bead of sweat slowly trickle down the man’s temple. When Erasmus went to run his hand through his hair it had a faint tremor in it that Niall almost missed.

  So, you are not as confident as you like to pretend you are.

  Before Erasmus even lowered his hand, Niall grabbed the man by his cravat and hauled him half-way out of his seat until Erasmus was forced to try to scramble for his balance.

  “We know exactly what you are up to, Boyle. We are going to remove your magistrate cousin from his position seeing as he is as corrupt as you. Meantime, Miss Potter is none of your business. If you touch her again, if I even see you walking on the same path as her, I shall have you behind bars for harassment, attempted kidnap, assault, and anything else I can find that will put you behind bars and keep you there for as long as I want you to remain a prisoner.” When he had finished, Niall shoved Erasmus roughly back into his seat and smirked when Erasmus dabbed at his brow again before he tugged at the cuffs of his shirt and straightened his waistcoat. As he did so his gaze flew over the desktop in search of something. When he failed to find something he could throw at Niall, he slowly lifted a gaze to the men in the room.

  “Whose authority do you work with?”

  “The War Office, and we are not the kind of men you want to irritate. We have the ability to make you disappear behind bars on whatever charges we see fit. Atticus Potter does not want the likes of you anywhere near his daughter. Take our little – meeting – as a warning from him, the Secretary of State, and the War Office, that you are to stay away from her. Don’t do as we tell you and you will disappear. That’s no idle threat,” Morgan murmured.

  Niall threw Erasmus one last warning look before he retreated to the rear of the room. He watched Morgan saunter toward the desk and wave a scroll under Erasmus’s nose.

  “Do you see this? It’s a demand that your cousin goes to see the Lord Chief Justice immediately. It isn’t a request. People only get summoned to see him when they are facing before forced out of office. You see, nobody is above the law, not even your cousin, s
o don’t ever expect him to ignore your crimes, Boyle. Take one step out of place from now on, and you will be arrested.”

  Morgan held the letter up and showed Erasmus the seal from the Lord Chief Justice on the bottom before he folded the parchment back up and turned away from the desk.

  “So, you are War Office, are you?” Erasmus shook his head.

  “We are not the kind of people you want to cross, that is all you need to know,” Morgan snapped. “Remember that. We will be watching every move you make from now on. Just to make sure that you aren’t the criminal your reputation purports you to be.”

  Erasmus went still and stared at them, clearly horrified by the thought of having his life watched constantly.

  Silently, the men from the Star Elite filed out of the room and quietly closed the door behind them. They paused for a moment and waited. It didn’t take long before they heard the chinking of a goblet as Erasmus helped himself to a liberal dose of brandy. They waited for several minutes more. Rather than leave, Niall peered around the end of the stairs at the grandfather clock resting against the wall beside the door.

  “Should be any minute now,” he whispered.

  One by one they all filed back into the room.

  “What in the Hell do you want this time?” Erasmus shouted. “Get out of my house.”

  The men stopped beside the door and watched Erasmus down another large mouthful of brandy before swiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “Well? Get on with it.” He blinked at them and seemed to lose some of his bluster.

  Niall smirked. “Enjoying yourself?”

  Erasmus stared at him as if he was struggling to understand what Niall had just said. He frowned a little and stared blankly at the decanter.

  “Get out of here,” he grumbled. When he tried to stand, though, the world around him swirled and swayed leaving him clutching desperately at the wall. “What the hell have you done?”

  “Just given you a little something. You know, to make you a little more - co-operative,” Niall replied silkily.

  This time, Erasmus’s face was full of fear. “What have you done? What do you want with me?”

  “You are going to come on a little ride with us. We have a job to do, and you are going to provide us with the information we need to get our job done.”

  “I am not going anywhere with you,” Erasmus snorted.

  Surprisingly, despite the sleeping draught he had imbibed, Erasmus had the ability to stumble toward the French doors. Niall barely made it half-way across the room before Erasmus had stumbled out into the night.

  “We’ll find him. He won’t get far before he ends up face down,” Morgan assured him.

  Niall wasn’t at all confident that Morgan was right.

  Sure enough, by the time he had reached the French doors, Erasmus had disappeared.

  “Let’s split up. He must be out there somewhere,” Will growled.

  “Mother of God,” Harry cursed when they heard the clip-clopping of horses’ hooves on the driveway.

  They all pelted around the side of the house and arrived in the driveway just in time to watch Erasmus canter toward the main road. He didn’t look like any confident rider. He was clinging desperately to Harry’s horse’s wide neck, desperately trying not to fall off.

  “Go!” Niall shouted.

  Together, the Star Elite raced after him.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “I am not being paranoid,” Clara hissed several days later. “I am being followed I tell you.”

  “Well, I am telling you that I have had a good look around everywhere and I haven’t seen anybody, especially your Niall,” Sissy hissed. “I am sorry, Clara, but I just don’t see anybody following us.”

  Clara, who was busy peering around the corner of the shutter in the back room of the church, sighed and looked at her friend.

  “It is too dark to see outside now anyway,” she muttered in disgust.

  For the first time in her life she was actually dreading going home. It wasn’t that she was reluctant to return to the house she shared with her aunt, it was just that she was afraid of making the journey. The thought of Erasmus out there waiting for her was enough to fill her with fear and worry the likes of which was starting to make her want to cry.

  “Have you seen anything of him lately?” Sissy asked suddenly.

  “Niall?”

  “Erasmus.”

  “No. He has just vanished. I am glad of it, but I don’t trust his sudden lack of interest.”

  “Maybe Niall has spoken to him and told him to leave you alone. He was rather possessive the other night,” Sissy suggested.

  “He isn’t my Niall,” Clara sighed, not for the first time over the last week.

  “Well, whoever he is, Niall was possessive and was trying to help you.”

  Clara worriedly told Sissy about Niall being in the tavern yard. “Don’t you think it a little odd that he always happens to be around when I am attacked?”

  “You don’t think it is him outside watching you, do you? No, I don’t believe that for a second,” Sissy protested. She shook her head vehemently but when she stopped Sissy then looked worriedly at Clara. “Do you?”

  “I just find it odd that he won’t tell me anything about why he is here. He just turned up unannounced, three times now, when I have been accosted.”

  “Well, he is trying to look after you,” Sissy tried to assure her, but her support fell a little flat because of the worry in her eyes. “He is keeping an eye out for you. Can that be a bad thing?”

  “Yes, if he is following me everywhere.”

  “Are you sure it isn’t Erasmus out there?”

  “No, I suppose I cannot be sure it isn’t Erasmus out there. I want to believe it is Erasmus because it is something that he would do but I just cannot be sure,” Clara sighed.

  “Well, then, let me walk you home.”

  “But then you will be all alone when you walk home,” Clara challenged.

  “Well, come and stay with me then,” Sissy countered. “You are more than welcome.”

  “No. I think you are right. There is nobody following me. I am just worrying too much because of what happened with Erasmus. I am not going to let that man stop me from doing what I want to do. I am only walking home from church. What harm am I doing?”

  “None. So, let’s go,” Sissy suggested.

  They weren’t quite so brave when they left the sanctuary of the church and found themselves embraced by almost absolute darkness. There was not even any moonlight to show them the narrow path leading through the gravestones.

  “Wait for me.”

  Clara squealed when she heard that voice. She was just in the process of closing the church door and froze when she saw movement inside the darkened interior.

  “Audrey? What are you doing in there?”

  “I was gathering my things,” Audrey sighed.

  “How long have you been in there?”

  Audrey looked a little shifty. “A few minutes,” she edged.

  “You heard everything, didn’t you?”

  “Yes dear, and I wouldn’t put it past that Erasmus to try to accost you. That thug in your garden the other night has to be connected to him, don’t you think? Don’t you worry, dear. We will escort you home, won’t we, Sissy?”

  Sissy dutifully nodded.

  Clara almost wept with relief.

  “There is something you should know,” Clara whispered miserably. “It was all a terrible misunderstanding.”

  “What was, dear?” Audrey murmured absently as she scoured the churchyard.

  “My engagement to Niall,” Clara replied.

  “Now is not the time to talk,” Audrey declared firmly. “Let’s go to your house and then we can have some nice hot chocolate and you can tell us all about it.”

  Clara nodded and offered her friend a relieved smile, but she suspected it was too dark for either Sissy or Audrey to see it. While they walked, they all linked arms and kept cl
ose together. Still, it was no less frightening to walk through the eerily empty streets.

  “I don’t relish anybody being out on a night like this. It is going to be cold tonight,” Audrey shivered.

  “I wish winter was over. I don’t like it when it is cold,” Clara sighed.

  “I am sure your Aunt Flo prefers to keep the house nice and warm.”

  The ladies idly chatted as they walked but it did little to ease the tension which didn’t wane as they made their way through the streets.

  “What’s that?” Sissy hissed suddenly.

  “What?”

  Clara gulped and studied the street.

  “Just past Mr Figley’s grocery. I thought I saw movement in that alley beside the front door,” Sissy whispered.

  “Keep walking,” Audrey ordered.

  The ladies made sure to stay on the opposite side of the road but kept a watchful eye on the alley as they passed. It stood like an unblinking mouth waiting to swallow them up.

  “There is someone following,” Sissy breathed.

  “Can you hear their footsteps?”

  Clara nodded. She blew out her cheeks and risked a glance over her shoulder. She felt sick with fear and knew now that she would have been terrified had she been walking home alone. In that moment, she resolved never to set foot out of the door after dark again.

  “Just keep moving,” Audrey urged.

  The ladies did just that. As far as Clara was concerned her house couldn’t come into view fast enough. By the time they reached the end of the road they were all worried sick.

  “Hello?”

  Clara slammed to a stop and beamed at Babette who hurried out of her house and scurried toward them.

  “I thought I saw you walk past. I knocked on the window. Didn’t you hear me?” Babette gasped when she joined them.

  “Did you see someone watching us?”

  Babette glanced worriedly around the street. “That was what I wanted to talk to you about,” she whispered. “I am sure there is someone lingering in the street.”