by Lilah Rivers
“Do you understand now, Lord Linton?” Amos asked.
“Understand what?” he asked in reply.
“That you are not welcome here. You will not get Gemma’s hand in marriage. You are nothing to her or to her family. You are not even a threat, let alone a match or a promise or anything even close to those thoughts. You are simply a man who believes himself to be far more important than he is,” Amos said.
Lord Linton’s nose twitched at the insult, but Gemma was proud of Amos. He could have been far harsher. But his words, while effective, were not cruel. They were simply enough to make Lord Linton realize that his best option was to forget her and move on into some other life that did not include her.
“Are we understood now? Will you leave?” he asked.
Lord Linton looked between Amos and Gemma and her mother and her father. As if pleading with someone to return his power.
But, for perhaps the first time in his life, Lord Linton realized that he had been bested. No one was going to concede to him. No one was going to allow him to gain ground or have the victory. He was lost. He had nothing.
“I-I…” he stuttered, searching for his own strength once more.
“You are finished,” Amos said.
Lord Linton stared, dumbly. He really was finished. He had no more power.
“Lord Linton, you may go,” Amos said.
With that, he looked at the ground, defeated.
Gemma had never seen a man stripped of his authority merely by the words and the working together of others. She had never seen anyone lose all of their strength due to the coming together of people who had nothing to fear.
And then, as if by a miracle, Lord Linton did the unthinkable.
He turned and he walked away.
Gemma’s jaw dropped and she watched him climb, soberly, into the coach. He left without another word, undone and weakened as he always ought to have known himself to be.
As the coach moved forward, the driver looking at them with his own uncertainty, Gemma looked away and between her mother and father and her husband.
“Would you both like to return to the living room? I need a moment to speak with my husband,” Gemma said.
They looked from her to Amos with a smile and nodded, both silently making their way inside with approval for Gemma to do as she wished.
It was the first time that she had ever felt as though they had listened to her and respected a decision that she had made.
But Gemma walked the four paces that it took to meet Amos.
“Thank you. Thank you for standing up to him and for being brave,” she said.
“It was my honor, Gemma. You know I’m just a banker from Tucson, but I’m also a man of the Lord and he is the one who gives me the strength to push forward and defend you when that is my greatest duty and greatest joy,” Amos said.
“I meant it, you know. I really do love you,” she said, boldly.
“And I really do love you,” he replied, causing her heart to fill with warmth.
She took his hand again and gave it a squeeze as he had given to her.
“Are they going to be okay? Your parents? Do you think that Lord Linton is going to cause them problems in England?” he asked.
“He may try…or he may not. I cannot believe that he was so subdued. But even if he does try, I think he will not succeed. I know my parents. They are probably already in there, writing to the society pages about Lord Linton’s indiscretions,” she said.
“Society pages?” Amos asked.
“Basically, it is a part of the newspaper that shares everyone’s sins,” she said with a shrug.
“Your country sounds awful,” Amos said with a laugh.
“Yes, well, in this case it will do us well. Their letter would reach England before Lord Linton does. Not only that, but I know some of the young women that Lord Linton has tried and failed to court. I can tell them and they will write to those young ladies’ families. We may all be strong together,” Gemma said.
“And everyone will stand against him?” Amos asked.
“I should think so. No one deserves to be pursued by a man like that and I know that we may be strong together. My mother and father, the others who were subjected to his behaviors. I trust that Lord Linton has had his day and he will never be victorious in trying anything like this again,” Gemma said, believing it with all her heart.
Amos looked at peace, finally.
“Do you mind if I speak with them for a moment before we are all together?” she asked.
He nodded and Gemma went to the living room where her parents were doing just as she expected. They were writing a letter to send to England before Lord Linton could return.
“Thank you both for finally believing me,” she said.
“How could we not? We saw with our own eyes what an awful man he was,” her father said.
“Oh, darling, I am so sorry that we did not trust you sooner,” her mother said, shaking her head in dismay.
“I understand. But now, I must ask that you will listen in the future. My husband is a good man and I want you to know him, to see how lovely he is,” she said.
“And we should like that very much. He was so brave, Gemma. You chose well,” her mother said.
Gemma laughed.
“I did not choose him. I was matched to him. But I believe that God chose him for me, and I could not be happier,” she said.
And she meant it with all her heart.
Chapter 29
Amos entered the living room, excited and ready to officially meet his mother- and father-in-law. After all, no matter what the past had held for them, they were Gemma’s parents and they finally trusted her and understood the sacrifices she had made in order to escape a violent and cruel man.
He recognized that they wanted what was best for their daughter, they had merely been mistaken in what exactly that was.
But Lord Linton was now gone. They were free of him and everything was going to be okay. He knew now that his wife was going to be all right and she was going to live with him forever.
Because she loved him.
That was the thing that made Amos happier than anything else.
Gemma loved him and he loved her and no one could now stand in the way of that. No one was going to keep them apart now that they had professed their affection for one another, and her parents even respected that.
So, with all these things in mind, Amos smiled at Mr. and Mrs. Temple and extended his hand.
Mr. Temple bowed and Mrs. Temple curtseyed, so he replied with an awkward bow of his own. It was a strange custom to him, but he was more than happy to engage in it, knowing that it mattered a great deal to them.
When he looked over to Gemma, he saw the way that she looked at him with admiration and pride and that was worth everything to him.
“Mr. and Mrs. Temple, it is an honor to finally meet you both,” he said, now extending his hand to shake theirs.
“And you, Mr. Thompson,” Mr. Temple said.
“Please, call me Amos,” he said.
“Thank you, Amos, for taking such good care of our daughter. Here, we have spent the past couple of months worried as we searched for her and then angry that she had disobeyed us. But all along, she was here with the one man who would truly protect her, no matter what,” Mr. Temple said.
“I assure you, Mr. Temple, that I will always look after her. She means everything to me,” Amos said.
“We can see that. And it gives us a great deal of peace that we had not previously expected to have,” Mrs. Temple added.
“Well, I am glad to look after her,” Amos said, looking at Gemma and locking eyes with her.
“We had no idea about Lord Linton, you must understand. We thought that Gemma was nervous about having to marry. But we always thought that she was over-exaggerating because of it. I wish we had listened, had trusted her,” Mr. Temple said.
“I know it was probably difficult, watching her make a decision that you didn’t
like and that was contrary to what you believed she needed to do. But your daughter is very wise and she was doing the right thing for her in the end,” Amos said.
“I trust that the two of you will have children of your own one day and you will understand,” Mrs. Temple said.
“I’m sure that I will. I can’t imagine watching my daughter run away. But, in this case, the Lord knew what he was doing when he orchestrated this entire event that she and I might finally be married and come together,” Amos said.
“It’s true,” Gemma chimed in. “The Lord allowed all of this to happen.”
He could see from Mr. Temple’s discomfort that the man was a little bit unsure of that, perhaps that he had not given his trust over to God as of yet. But Amos believed it and he was proud that his wife did as well.
They really were incredibly fortunate, and everything had worked out for the good of those who loved the Lord in the end.
“So, anyway, how is your head? It looks as though something rather nasty happened,” Mr. Temple said.
At that reminder, Gemma grabbed a fresh cloth, wetted with warm water that Amos assumed had been used to make tea. She put it on the wound and Amos sat comfortably that they might all get into a conversation about what had happened.
“Well, about a week ago, maybe less, I had a new client at the bank who was asking about investments. He said that his name was Mr. Lindsey and that he and his family had just moved here from England,” Amos began.
“Oh, good heavens. What an awful man and an awful alias,” Gemma said, shaking her head.
“Yes, well, I was not aware of that at the time. After all, I did not make the connection that Mr. Lindsey could possibly be Lord Linton. Nor did I consider until he revealed himself that he might have been the one to send you the roses I was so upset about,” he said, laughing now that he thought back to it.
“I was afraid to tell you,” Gemma said.
“I understand that now. But you ought to never be afraid of something like that again. You can always share your thoughts and fears with me, even if it is something like this. I can’t protect you if I don’t know what to protect you from,” Amos said to her, most tenderly.
For a moment, their eyes locked in understanding.
“Ahem,” Mr. Temple said, clearing his throat in discomfort.
“Ah, yes. So Mr. Lindsey came back into the bank today and asked if I might be able to show him around the city for a while. He said he wanted to know things that he could do with his family, places to eat and whatnot,” he continued.
“So you agreed to go out with him and show him around?” Gemma asked.
“Indeed I did. But I had no idea who he was even then. I took him all around, and finally, we made our way to a tavern,” Amos said.
He took in a deep breath and shook his head, thinking back to how everything had happened.
“I felt so foolish. I, myself, do not drink, but Mr. Lindsey was trying to insist that I should have a brandy. I refused, over and over again. But he was really angry all of the sudden. I’m not sure exactly when I began to realize that something was wrong, but suddenly Mr. Lindsey was raging at me,” Amos said.
“You must have been terribly frightened. That temper of his is positively terrifying,” Gemma said.
“It really was. And I didn’t know what to do. So I just tried my best to stay calm and tell him that I was not going to drink but then he was suddenly up and yelling at me, telling me to give him back his betrothed,” Amos told them.
“That must have been confusing,” Mrs. Temple said.
“It was. And when he finally revealed himself as Lord Linton, I thought I was a fool for not having realized it sooner. Of course he was the man who was keeping my wife so afraid. I should have realized,” he said.
“How could you? Why would you just make that assumption?” Gemma asked.
“I know, there’s no way that I could have assumed it, but I still wish that I had,” Amos said.
“And then?” Mr. Temple asked.
“And then, he punched me in the jaw, as you can see by the bruise here. It knocked me backwards and I fell and hit my head on a table. I came to and half the folks in the tavern were standing over me, trying to figure it out,” Amos said.
“I’m so sorry,” Gemma said with worry.
“It’s all right. From there, I came straight here in a coach, but I was too eager and I jumped out when I saw you all out there. And, well, you all know what happened from there,” Amos said, finishing his explanation.
“You were able to get rid of him. A real hero,” Mr. Temple said.
“It was nothing. I will do anything to take care of Gemma. Will you allow me that privilege?” Amos asked them.
Mr. and Mrs. Temple looked at one another and smiled before turning back to him.
“Nothing would give us a greater honor,” Mr. Temple said.
Amos let out a breath of anticipation and finally felt as though everything was going to be all right. He relaxed, and they all continued to chat and spend time together, talking about what the future held for them.
He looked at his wife and she continued to smile at him and Amos began to wonder if they were finally going to be free of all of the chaos that had been in their way.
By the time they had exhausted their conversation, Amos and Gemma arranged that she would stay in Justine’s room that evening and her mother and father would sleep in her own.
Once Justine arrived at the house, they recounted the whole ordeal to her, and she was evidently quite shocked.
“Good heavens. The Lord certainly protected you all. What a madman!” she exclaimed.
“That is quite the word for him,” Amos said.
“Indeed, he is a terrible individual, which I wish we had believed earlier on,” Mr. Temple said.
“I’m just glad that you all are all right. And Gemma! You must have been so scared! But you’re okay now?” she asked.
“I’m very well. Your brother, as usual, took care of me,” Gemma said.
“And we are so impressed with our son-in-law,” Mrs. Temple said.
Mr. and Mrs. Temple were finally preparing for bed and Justine left Amos and Gemma alone in the living room together for a while.
“Are you okay?” Amos finally asked her, ready to hear exactly what her thoughts were on everything.
“I’m all right,” she confirmed.
“I’m so sorry that you had to suffer through all of this,” he said.
“It is okay. God took care of us, just as you trusted him to. You know, I was praying in my mind the whole time, but what brought me the most confidence was knowing that you were as well,” Gemma said.
“Ha! You knew?” he asked.
“I knew,” she said.
Amos was glad to know that this was something that Gemma saw in his character. He was glad that she understood and appreciated his love for the Lord. Gemma was not only beautiful on the inside and out, but she was respectful and that was something that made him feel happier than anything.