The Earl's Nemesis Read online

  “Well, I am sure that our daughter has her hands full with her wedding preparation. You should not disturb her,” he said.

  She tried not to lash out at him. “But, don’t you think I need to be there to help her with the arrangements?” she asked again.

  “No, my darling. I need you here with me. She is at her soon-to-be-husband’s house. You should stay in your husband’s house. Once they fix the date, we shall go to the party.”

  She was quiet. “Very well. What about our guest? When will he be leaving?” she demanded.

  He waited for a while before replying. “He will be leaving later today.”

  “Were you able do whatever he came for?” she asked.

  He hesitated before replying, “Yes. It was easier than we had both planned,” he replied, kissing her on the cheek. “Very soon my darling, we shall be rich.”

  Elizabeth eyed him but said nothing. Just then, a knock sounded on the door. Harold went to get it. It was their butler, he talked in a hushed tone to Harold and later went on his way.

  “Well, darling. I will be right back, seems our guest will soon be on his way,” he said and left. Quickly, Elizabeth climbed out of the bed. Sophie had asked her in the letter to try to listen to their conversation if they could get anything as to Theodosia’s whereabouts. She was sure that they would be in the study.

  “It worked, they have your daughter,” Terrence said to Harold as he got into the study.

  “Thank goodness. So what happens now? We need to be fast with everything. My wife is already suspecting. She wants to go visit our daughter,” Harold stated.

  “No, that must not happen right now. The birthday is in three weeks’ time, so she has to be there till then.”

  “But what do I tell my wife?” Harold asked.

  “Try to get her occupied on other things. We cannot risk having her look for your daughter now. I shall go back to the inn and talk to the men myself. They are not getting paid until after three weeks.”

  Harold frowned. “That wasn’t what I told them in the letter. As a matter of fact, my lord. They are expecting their payment today.”

  “I do not have money on me right now, you should know that. You can pay them if you want, but until after the three weeks, you and I get nothing.”

  Harold was confused. This wasn’t what he had hoped.

  “Where are they keeping her?” he asked as Terrence stood up, getting ready to leave.

  “Somewhere around Lottingburgh, it’s an old building which was formally used as a cotton factory,” Terrence replied. “Make sure your wife does not suspect anything or you get nothing at the end of this deal.”

  Harold frowned. Now he was getting angry, but he dared not say anything.

  “I shall take my leave now.”

  ***

  Elizabeth rushed back to her room. She had heard everything she needed to hear. Quickly, she took a piece of paper and began to write. Her daughter was at the old Cotton factory at Lottingburgh. She would need to send this back to Sophie as quickly as she could.

  ***

  Constable Adams and Joe sat at the bar. They had arrived at the inn some minutes ago but they were yet to see the man that Sophie had described.

  “Are you gentlemen looking for someone?” the bartender asked.

  Both men exchanged glances and Adams signaled to Joe to go ahead.

  Quickly, Joe brought out the portrait which he showed the bartender.

  “This man here, we know he comes here regularly. Has he come here today?” Joe asked.

  The bartender who was busy cleaning the cups stared at the picture and then looked at the two men.

  “What are you two? Constables?” he asked with a languid interest.

  “That’s right,” Joe replied. “And a woman’s life is at stake, unless you help us.”

  “Well, he only comes here with his friends around midnight but one of his friends, the master’s boy, is still in the room.”

  The two men exchanged glances.

  “So, he doesn’t come here alone?” asked Joe.

  “No, he doesn’t. Oh, that is the lad I was talking about,” he said, pointing at a young man who was entering the inn.

  “Thank you,” said Adams and stood up.

  ***

  Ron was angry. He didn’t know what was happening. The men were getting irritated for they had not been paid as expected.

  They also complained about feeding their prisoner from their own money. He pulled out a chair and sat down. He was exhausted and had barely gotten enough sleep the previous night.

  Getting the maid had been really easy, after Darrel had taken the letter from her and her money. He very well knew that there was no way she would make it to the Barton so quickly.

  He decided to go through the letter that his boss had written to the men. After they had gone through it last night, he had taken it back.

  He dipped his hand into the pocket to bring out the letter but it dropped on the floor. While he bent to pick it, another man bent to pick it up.

  “Hey, that is mine,” he said quickly, standing up to face not only one man but two men. “Give it back!” he snapped at them.

  Instead, the man unfolded the letter and faced him. “Are you sure this is yours?”

  “Of course! Who are you?” Ron demanded.

  “Well, this letter is addressed to Theodosia and you do not look like someone who bears the name.”

  Ron swallowed. That was the wrong letter.

  “Look, I do not know who you are but you have no idea what you are doing,” he threatened.

  The men laughed.

  “I think you should sit down, lad. We know you kidnapped Theodosia and we want you to tell us everything.”

  When Ron realized who they were, he swallowed. He knew the game was up.

  “Please, be lenient. I am just the messenger,” he said.

  “Well, messenger, you better start talking or you will be spending the rest of your miserable life in jail,” said the older of the two.

  “It was all Lord Terrence’s idea with Mr. Parrish. I have nothing to do with it. All I needed to do was to deliver the messages,” Ron said finally having explained all that happened.

  “So you robbed a young lady of her money and her letter, last night, yes or no?” Adams asked.

  Ron hesitated and then nodded. “Yes, I am sorry. I admit that was all me, but I just thought…please, I will do anything not to go back to jail.”

  Adams frowned. “So, you have been to jail before?”

  The lad nodded. “Yes, Lord Terrence found me when I got out. Since then, I have been serving him. Please, do not punish me, I was only doing what I was told.”

  Adam smiled. “Well then, if you want to make things right, then you need to help us find Lady Theodosia quickly as well as all the men that had a hand in the kidnapping.”

  “I will, please. I promise. Two of them will arrive shortly.”

  Adams smiled. “Smart man. Do not do anything foolish that will give us away.”

  Ron nodded. “I will not. I promise.”

  ***

  Theodosia couldn’t sleep. The noise was getting louder and louder. The men who were holding her captive were having an argument, and it was getting hotter.

  “We are supposed to get paid! This is cheating!” One of them shouted.

  “Mr. Parrish said we need to calm down. He sent a letter that we will be paid at the end of the third week.”

  Theodosia thought she hadn’t heard that correctly. Her father was in on this?

  “I never knew that we would get paid later. This is unacceptable!” he shouted

  This was followed by a more deafening noise and then some running around.

  “You have been surrounded!” shouted a voice, “come out and drop your weapons!”

  Everywhere was quiet all of a sudden and the next thing was a loud banging on the door.

  Theodosia didn’t know if it was a friend or a foe. So she kept quiet, Shivering in
the corner where she was tied.

  The door burst open suddenly, and she saw her mother along with several other men dressed like constables.

  “Mother!” she shouted.

  “Oh! My darling!” her mother shouted, running to her.

  Quickly, the men untied her, and she was embracing her mother.

  “Are you okay?” her mother asked.

  “Yes, but please, we need to get to Lord Barton quickly.”

  ***

  Barton opened his eyes that night and the faces he saw first were those of his sister and his fiancé.

  Luanne was more than excited.

  “How long have I been asleep?” he asked, trying to sit up.

  “Two days,” Luanne replied as she assisted him.

  When he saw Theodosia beside him, he was more than relieved.

  “I thought you were taken away,” he said.

  “Oh! I was. I was later rescued by my mother and the constables that your sister hired. I will tell you everything later.”

  “Were the culprits apprehended?” Barton asked his sister.

  “Yes. It was our brother and Mr. Parrish. They wanted to kidnap her so he can get the properties.”

  Barton sighed, he thought as much. “Well, I am happy that everything is fine.”

  “Yes, me too,” replied his sister. Then she faced Theodosia. “Are you going to tell him or shall I?”

  He looked at both women suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”

  Theodosia smiled. “Well, we think we should hurry up with the wedding. Everything that happened these past few days just made me realize how important you are to me and how I really cannot wait to be your wife.”

  Barton felt his stomach fluttered as he heard this.

  “Well, I think I will have to excuse you both,” Luanne said, standing up and leaving the room.

  “So, are you saying, you are ready to marry me?” Barton asked, holding Theodosia closely to him.

  “Yes, I want to marry you this weekend and my mother is around to help us with that.”

  Barton was excited, and drawing her a bit closer to him, he kissed her deeply.

  “You are everything I have always wanted. I cannot wait for you to become my wife.”

  Epilogue

  Theodosia found herself smiling as the memory of the whole gambling proposal faded into what seemed like a distant memory. In actual fact, it was just two months ago. She turned to the other side to gaze out of the open window.

  It was her wedding day.

  After five days of rigorous planning and last-minute changes, Luanne had assured her that every single detail as regards the wedding would be perfect.

  She inhaled a deep breath. It was still unbelievable that she was getting married to Barton that day. Even though they had met some months back, she felt like she had known him her entire life.

  “Would you sit still, please?” Luanne mumbled with her mouth filled with hair pins. Theodosia looked at her in the mirror and offered her an apologetic look.

  “Here are more pins, my lady,” Sophie said as she entered the room.

  “Thanks, Sophie. You can keep them somewhere. I may not need them anymore.”

  “Okay,” Sophie replied and left.

  “Sit still, Theodosia. I am nearly done. There is no reason to keep moving your head. See, done!” she leaned down and rested her head against Theodosia’s shoulder. “Do you like it?”

  Theodosia inspected her hair in the mirror. Luanne had done a beautiful job. She had separated her hair into different parts before twisting each part into a classical bridal style. Each twist was secured with elegant hair pins and they each had a special diamond at the end so that each time she turned, the diamond sparkled.

  “It’s so beautiful,” she said in a whisper.

  “Good,” said Luanne, squeezing Theodosia’s shoulder before walking back to admire what she had done.

  There were short knocks on the door, making Theodosia jump. Quickly, Sophie went to get it. Her mother entered.

  She gasped as she saw her.

  “Oh my darling! Look at you,” her mother said, walking closer to her. “You look absolutely stunning. You are so beautiful and I am so proud of you.”

  Theodosia smiled as they embraced. She could feel the tears gathering.

  “Are you ready to take a step into the future?” asked her mother and Theodosia found herself nodding.

  ***

  “The bride is here,” one of the guests shouted, and Barton turned to face the aisle. He could see Luanne as she slipped through the closed doors which were at the opposite end of the aisle before walking gracefully to her seat.

  The music began with the organ which started to play. The guests stood up from their eats. All eyes were focused at the door.

  When he spotted her, Barton felt his heart race. She walked elegantly down the aisle, like a vision in a white cloud. Sophie held the train of her dress while Anne followed her. Barton couldn’t take his eyes off her for the smallest second. She was too good to be true.

  When she got to the end of the aisle, he stepped forward and offered her his arm. She linked her arm with his and they turned towards the Priest.

  “We are gathered here today to…”

  “Are you okay?” Barton asked her quietly as the Priest began the ceremony.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said, seeing her blush all of a sudden.

  “You look quite handsome yourself,” she replied. Then she turned to give him a loving smile before they shifted their attention back to the priest.

  “Do you, Lord Barton take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, to cherish, to keep in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?”

  Barton turned to her and replied, “I do.”

  The Priest turned to her, “Do you, Lady Theodosia Parrish, take this man as your lawfully wedded husband to cherish, to keep in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?”

  Barton noticed the few tears that dropped down her cheeks as she said, “I do.”

  “I now pronounce you as husband and wife. You may kiss.”

  Barton turned to her and wrapped his arms around her waist before pulling her to him. Placing one hand on his chest and the other on his neck, Theodosia met his lips. It was a brief kiss, and they smiled at each other as they pulled away.

  “I love you so much Lady Theodosia Barton,” he whispered to her.

  “I love you too, Lord Barton, forever,” she replied with a chuckle.

  *** The End ***

  A brief note of thanks:

  Thank you, dear reader, for picking up my book. All my books are wholesome romances suitable for all to enjoy.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 A Debt and a Proposal

  Chapter 2 A Plan

  Chapter 3 Her embarrassment: His luck

  Chapter 4 First Encounter

  Chapter 5 Settling Down

  Chapter 6 Unexpected Visitor

  Chapter 7 Getting Along

  Chapter 8 Interesting Things

  Chapter 9 Secret Arrangments

  Chapter 10 Damsel in Distress

  Chapter 11 Saving the Day

  Epilogue