Ladies of Deception 02 - Misleading Lord Martineau (12 page)

The early morning hours of Thursday, April 28
th
, 1814

Elliot couldn’t get his thoughts to form a coherent plan while he waited impatiently in the carriage for Pierce. He didn’t know where he should go to look for Felicity or if he should somehow manage to be patient and return to her house on the morrow hoping she had just somehow slept through his incessant knocking. Waiting was sure to drive him over the edge and though he didn’t have a plan of action, he knew for his sanity’s sake he had to do something.

He was in the midst of drumming his fingers nervously on the carriage seat when Pierce flung the door open frantically. “Elliot you’ve got to come inside at once.”

Elliot could tell by his expression that something was wrong. Without asking any questions he jumped out of the carriage and followed Pierce inside the house. The picture that greeted him just inside the door caught him off guard. Hope was standing in the entryway in her white cotton nightdress, her hair hanging loose in waves down her back and her feet bare. Normally Elliot would be shocked and completely uncomfortable seeing her like that but he was too overcome with surprise at what he saw standing next to her—looking fragile and frail, Aunt Agatha was standing next to Hope wringing her hands in worry. She too was dressed in only a simple nightdress with a mobcap on her head. She had appeared to age enormously since Elliot had seen her two days earlier. Elliot quickly scanned the room, disappointed to see no sign of Felicity.

Aunt Agatha was the first to speak, “Oh Lord Martineau, you have to do something.”

He stepped forward and placed both hands on her shoulders. “Where is Felicity? What’s going on?”

“She’s gone my lord. I haven’t seen here since yesterday morning.”

“
What do you mean? Where could she have gone? Where is Edith?” Elliot asked frantically, desperate for answers.

“
Slow down,” Pierce said, “Let her answer one question at a time.”

“
Where is Edith?” He asked her once more, anxious to know if she was safe at least.

“
She’s sleeping in the nursery.” Aunt Agatha replied.

Elliot exhaled deeply, “Thank goodness. Now tell me what’s going on.”

Aunt Agatha never once stopped wringing her hands as she told him all she knew. “I always lay Edith down for a nap about mid-morning and yesterday was no different except once I put the child down, I too laid down to rest for awhile and quickly fell asleep. The last I saw of Felicity she had just sat down in the parlor to do a little mending on Edith’s clothes. When we awoke we went downstairs and couldn’t find her. I wasn’t too worried seeing as how there were a number of places she could’ve gone but after a thorough search of the house and no letter indicating she had left I began to worry. I finally decided to come find you using the calling card you had left but when I got to your house I was told that you hadn’t been home for days. Your dear butler took pity on me and directed me here hoping the duchess might have more answers to your whereabouts. Oh mercy,” she exclaimed as she clutched her chest, “I hope that Clinton hasn’t done something.”

“
Who’s Clinton?” Hope and Pierce asked in unison.

“
Her cousin, he was her father’s heir and inherited everything when he died. Apparently he thinks he owns Felicity as well,” Elliot answered.

Aunt Agatha choked down a sob, “He’d been threatening her, promising to ruin her life.”

Elliot looked incredulous, “Have you heard from him recently? Felicity didn’t mention that he’d been in contact with her since she fled.”

“
He sent a missive attempting to intimidate her. He warned that it was only a matter of time before he would find her and ruin her life.”

“
Has he been threatening her ever since she left?” Elliot was bothered by the fact that Felicity had omitted those details when they last talked.

“
Not at first, he wasn’t sure where she had gone. We decided to come back to London and have her pose as a widow to try and find a husband who would take her away and protect her and Edith from Clinton’s vile abuse. Because her father left her nothing and we had nowhere to go, the only place we could stay was at his townhouse here in London while we put our plan into motion. It was only a matter of time before he learned of our whereabouts, staying at his property and all.”

“
Why can’t he just leave her be?” Elliot asked, not understanding the man’s anger fully.

“
Because she ruined everything for him and he’s never let her forget it, he’s a sick man. When her father had arranged to trade her hand in marriage to Lord Kilpatrick to pay off a portion of his debt they both knew it was his only hope to keep himself afloat. After her father found out that you had compromised her he was hysterical because he knew that it was his last chance before facing financial ruin completely. Clinton was just as angry as Lord Pemberton was, he had always dreamt of inheriting a title and wealth and now his dream was shattered.”

Pierce and Hope had been listening to the story intently, trying to piece it all together. “And you think Clinton has something to do with her disappearance?” Pierce asked, trying to follow along.

“I’m positive your grace, there’s no other explanation.” Aunt Agatha turned and took a step towards Elliot; her voice was quiet and full of remorse as she reached one frail hand out and placed it on his arm. “I’m sorry my lord, I had every intent to help aid both you and Felicity when I went to her father that night. If I had only known what the outcome would have been I would never have gone to him. I should’ve known better, knowing my brother as I did—he was always such a stubborn, selfish man.”

Elliot placed a hand over where hers was still laying on his arm in an attempt to offer her a modicum of comfort, “Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault her father was so selfish and cruel, and besides, it doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that we find Felicity and make sure she is safe.”

Aunt Agatha’s voice was shaking with emotion and concern as she said, “That’s what I’m worried about. If Clinton has her I know she’s not safe—he thinks she belongs to him and he’s vowed to do whatever he can to make her life miserable for ruining his inheritance.”

Elliot groaned, “She doesn’t belong to anyone, she’s past the age of majority. He has no rights to her.”

“You and I both know that, but Clinton sees things differently.”

Elliot’s head snapped up to meet her eyes, “What do you mean?”

“He treats her as if she was another piece of worthless property he inherited from her father. In his twisted brain he thinks that she belongs to him. I’m afraid his plan to ruin her life includes marrying her and making her legally his so he can ensure that she is forever bound to him and he can inflict a lifetime full of misery upon her in retaliation.”

Elliot’s face went white, “You don’t really mean that do you?”

“I wish I didn’t but my gut is telling me that it’s a high possibility.”

Elliot turned frantically towards Pierce. “We’ve got to do something, to try and stop this. I have to find Felicity.”

Pierce nodded, “I agree, she may not be safe.”

Elliot began biting his nails nervously, an old habit that he was subconsciously resorting to in his time of stress. Pierce reached up and swatted his hand away, “Where should we begin looking?”

“I don’t know, but we’ve got to hurry.”

Hope stepped forward placing a hand on both Elliot and Pierce’s arms. “I know you’re frantic Elliot and you have every right to be but let’s think about things rationally for a moment. Clinton obviously doesn’t have any money so there’s no way he could procure a special license to wed Felicity so that leaves only two options left if that is indeed his plan; one, they’d go the traditional route, including having to wait for the bann’s to be read before having a proper ceremony which I’m highly doubtful that he plans to waste time doing, or two, they’re going to Gretna Green.”

Elliot’s heart began beating frantically in his chest. He turned to Pierce, “We’ve got to leave immediately, they already have a day’s head start.”

Pierce nodded his consent then turned to Hope, “I’ll be back as soon as possible. Pray that we can find Felicity in time.”

Hope nodded, but though she knew they had to attempt to find Felicity, she couldn’t help but voice her concerns for their own safety as well. “Be careful, I’ve heard stories of a dangerous highwayman haunting the back roads of London recently, Black Lightening they call him.”

Pierce laughed and reached forth to tweak her nose, “You don’t give me enough credit if you think I’d be in danger to a man with such a feeble moniker.”

Hope swatted his hand away from her face irritably, “I don’t think it’s feeble sounding at all, besides all of London is talking about how dangerous he is, striking unexpectedly and taking no pity on his victims.”

Elliot huffed impatiently, “I’m sure we’ll be fine. We have more important things to worry about right now then a mysterious highwayman.”

“Just be careful,” Hope urged.

Both boys nodded in agreement before Pierce turned to Elliot. “The coach will take too long; we’ll never catch up to them in time. Let’s go to the mews, it’ll be faster to go by horseback.”

Elliot didn’t answer, but turned and began jogging towards the mews while Pierce followed closely behind.

Felicity’s body rocked back and forth in the carriage, the movement failing to lull her to sleep. All of the emotions of the previous years as Clinton’s captive came back to her as she sat uncomfortably in the seat next to him. He refused to give her any space, afraid she’d try to flee if given half a chance, and heaven knew she was tempted to at least try.

Her insides were in knots at the prospect of becoming Clinton’s wife, for she knew that was his intent even though he’d yet to voice it. She glanced at his sleeping form in disgust; he was the only person in the world she truly loathed. The only other person she had ever felt that much hatred for had been her father, but he was now dead.

The day her father had stripped Edith from her arms and sent her to live with Clinton she had thought him to be the most evil man in the world, but that was before she had met her cousin. He had been furious at her for her actions before he even had the chance to meet her. He had treated her as nothing more than a common servant, and often times had treated her even worse. She was given a small, sparse room which she knew was worse than the quarters the servants at her father’s house occupied. He locked her in that room for most of the day, personally bringing her meals twice daily that were little better than animal fare.

She dreaded those twice daily visits the worst, even though she was eager for human interaction, for he would taunt her and ridicule her and often times hit her in his rage. She thought he would eventually get over his anger and move on but the longer he let his anger simmer, the stronger it became. For just over three years she was his prisoner, only being let out on occasion to assist him when needed. It had been a relief to get out of the depressing confines of her room but being forced to be his personal servant had been degrading. She had been raised a lady and didn’t know how to do menial work and he often resented and mocked her for it, many times belittling her by requiring her to do humiliating things, things that were so debasing she could hardly think back on them without feeling like she might lose the contents of her stomach.

He had been threatening her for years with marriage. The only reason he hadn’t gone through with his threat earlier was that he had been holding out hope that he would find a girl with a sizeable dowry and preferably a title who would be willing to wed him and give him the life he’d always dreamt of having. Looking once more at his pockmarked face, she could fully understand why he was never successful in that endeavor. And as far as she was concerned, his looks were the least of his horribly unattractive qualities; he was truly an ugly person both inside and out.

Felicity had worked so hard to shake the depression that had enshrouded her while in Clinton’s care but it had all come back full force when he had taken her from her home yesterday and she knew that this would be the end—the end of her brief happiness and the end of her dreams of ever being with Elliot. She looked wistfully out the carriage window and contemplated the risks of jumping out while Clinton slept. The last few hours the carriage had slowed considerably, most likely because the horses were exhausted from their relentless journey. Clinton had refused to stop but the horses could no longer keep up their previous pace.

The carriage crawled on at a snail’s pace and Felicity was pretty sure that she could jump from the barely moving carriage with little to no injury, she just wasn’t sure if she would be fast enough to escape from Clinton once he had realized what she had done. The punishment he would inflict on her if she attempted to escape would be horrendous, of that she was sure. Instead of attempting an escape, she laid her head back on the seat cushions and willed herself to fall asleep, though the sleep that overcame her was anything but restful.

The next thing Felicity remembered was being awoken by Clinton’s shrieking. She vaguely registered that the carriage was no longer moving as she tuned into Clinton’s raging howl.

“Why isn’t this carriage moving?” He pushed open the carriage door forcefully and looked up at the driver. “How long have we been stopped?”

“
I’m sorry milord, but the horses couldn’t take it any longer. It’s cruel to expect them to keep trotting for days on end. If I hadn’t stopped they could’ve died.”

“
Weak beasts,” he spat. “How long have we been stopped?”

The driver squirmed in his seat before sheepishly replying, “Five, maybe six hours milord.”

“What? I slept that entire time? Impossible.”

“
We all did milord.”

“
Well get this carriage moving immediately or you will regret it.”

Just then Clinton registered the sound of horse hooves coming up behind him followed by an angry voice he didn’t recognize. “The only one who will have anything to regret is you. Where is she?”

Clinton squinted at the two figures on horseback, trying desperately to make out who they were. “Who are you and what do you want?” He hissed back.

Elliot slid from his saddle and stalked towards Clinton and the carriage, anxious to see if Felicity was inside and if she was safe. As he approached the carriage and made to reach for the door Clinton began howling. It was a screeching sound that came from the inner depths of his soul and sounded almost animalistic. Elliot had never heard such a sound coming from another living creature—human or otherwise, in his entire life. The wailing caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up and momentarily distracted him from his goal of rescuing Felicity.

When he finally snapped out of the temporary trance Clinton’s eerie behavior had inflicted, he attempted once more to move towards the carriage. Clinton lunged for him then, causing Elliot to stumble back in his surprise. He reached up to shove him away but Clinton had gained a small advantage. His grip was surprisingly strong as he grasped Elliot’s upper arms in his hands and painfully shoved him to the ground. Elliot let out a loud harrumph as his back hit the dusty road, the breath whooshing out of his lungs completely.

They rolled several times on the hard ground before Clinton settled conveniently on top of Elliot, both fists pounding furiously and repetitively into his chest while he shouted, “I hate you, you’ve ruined my life. You were supposed to be dead you bloody fool.” He paused momentarily in his ministrations to stare wickedly into Elliot’s eyes and with one final blow to his chest he seethed, “I will kill you.”

Elliot was taken aback by the man’s fanatical outburst but though the anger he was directing at him confused him, it wasn’t enough to keep him from reacting. He swiftly pulled his knees up to come in contact with Clinton’s stomach. Smashing them into his gut, he felt Clinton weaken his hold on him giving Elliot time to reach up and grasp his shoulders while he rolled on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

Clinton looked up at Elliot in momentary surprise. Elliot lifted his upper body with his hands before smashing it roughly back onto the ground. “What are you talking about? I don’t even know you; I’m just here to inform you that kidnapping is a crime and that if you don’t turn your captive over to me, I will kill you.”

Clinton threw back his head and gave a mirthless laugh. “Of course you wouldn’t remember me; I was never good enough for the haughty Elliot Martineau.”

Elliot froze as he looked once more into the man’s face, perplexed. At first he was positive that he’d never seen the man before. His pockmarked face was rather plain but the angry hazel eyes glaring back at him sparked something in his memory. It was as if the angry, hate-filled face he was staring at suddenly transformed to a fifteen-year-old version, more youthful and with less scaring but wearing the same heinous expression.

Elliot gasped, remembering vividly the last time he’d laid eyes on the man beneath him. It was eerily reminiscent of today and his mind instantly went back to an event he had rarely thought about since its occurrence.

He remembered now how Clinton had come to his house when he was a young lad, accompanying his father as he worked on building an addition to their main stables. He hadn’t given the boy much thought, besides an occasional “how do you do?” in passing. That was until one day he found him out in the gardens forcing his attention on one of their serving maids, Anne.

Elliot had just finished taking his favorite mare to the stables after a leisurely ride across the estate. He had always enjoyed a brisk ride first thing in the morning. As he was strolling casually back towards the main house, he heard what sounded like muffled feminine protests coming from the gardens. He turned his head questioningly in the direction from whence the noise had come and strained his ears to hear more. When he didn’t hear another sound he brushed it off as inconsequential and began walking once more towards home. That’s when he heard a high piercing scream that he knew couldn’t have been a figment of his imagination. He turned and ran towards the noise, knowing that he would encounter some sort of trouble—people didn’t scream like that unless something was wrong.

Arriving breathlessly to a secluded corner of the garden that was hidden underneath the shade of a giant oak tree, his blood began to boil furiously as he witnessed Clinton straddling a squirming Anne, pinning her arms down above her head with one hand while using his other hand to paw at his breeches, frantically attempting to undo them. Without further hesitation, Elliot pounced on top of the cad, alarming him with his appearance. He pulled him brusquely off of Anne and planted a fist squarely into his jaw and watched as spittle flew in every direction.

Elliot felt adrenaline coursing through his veins, giving him added strength as he spun Clinton around and forced him to the ground, his face pressing miserably into the grass. He held him there as he turned to a frightened Anne and asked, “Are you okay?” Anne nodded bravely though her eyes were wide and fearful.

“
I want you to go get my father, and make it quick.” Once more Anne nodded stoically before brushing her hands on her apron and turning and dashing to the house. Elliot regretted not being able to see to her immediate comfort and well-being but he knew he had to deal with Clinton first.

Clinton pled long and hard, trying to convince Elliot that what he had witnessed was not what it seemed, but he failed miserably, only managing to accomplish making Elliot even more incensed. Elliot used all of his brute strength to hold him down until his father got there. When the Viscount Martineau arrived, Elliot explained the situation and his father insisted that Robert Rowley pack up his tools and remove his worthless son from his property indefinitely. He threatened both father and son that if they ever stepped foot on their estates again he’d send for the authorities.

That was the last that Elliot had ever seen of or thought about Clinton Rowley since. Never in all of his wildest dreams would he have imagined that Felicity’s cousin Clinton would be the same Clinton he had prevented from forcing himself on one of their servants all those years ago.

Lost in his thoughts, Elliot barely registered Pierce coming up behind him until he heard him speak. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help sooner, I just barely got the horses tied up.”

Elliot looked up at his friend whose silhouette was being illuminated by the barely rising sun. “I need to see if Felicity is in the carriage.”

“
I’ll go check.”

“
No, I need to do it. Would you mind holding this imbecile down for a moment?”

Pierce looked down on the scrawny man beneath Elliot and smirked, “With pleasure.”

They quickly and awkwardly traded places while Clinton moaned and protested, attempting to get the upper hand as he made to scurry out from beneath them. He didn’t take kindly to being pinned down by Pierce, who was significantly larger than Elliot.

Elliot rose and half-heartedly attempted to brush the dust off of his breeches before turning and sprinting towards the carriage. Without any further hesitation, he flung the carriage door open and stepped inside. His eyes instantly found Felicity, who was curled in a ball and trembling in one corner of the carriage seat. Within seconds he was holding her in his arms. “Oh love, I’ve got you,” he reassured her as she clung desperately to his shirtfront.

“Oh Elliot, I thought I’d never see you again.”

He placed a kiss to her forehead, “I promised I’d always take care of you, please don’t doubt me again.”

In lieu of a response, Felicity reached her arms around his neck and drew him closer, too relieved to speak. Elliot snuggled into the soft folds of her neck and inhaled, finding a sense of comfort in her familiar jasmine scent. After placing a gentle kiss to the place where her neck curved into her shoulder he lifted his head and searched her face. “We need to get you out of here, away from your repulsive cousin and figure out what to do with him so that he’ll never harm you again.”

She nodded her agreement as Elliot scooped her into his arms and made to exit the carriage. Before he had gotten two steps out of the carriage, he felt someone grasp him from behind, pouncing on his back as both arms went around his neck and began cutting off his airway. Elliot glanced briefly to the spot where he had left Pierce and Clinton but all he saw was Pierce doubled over on the ground clutching below the waist and groaning.

Elliot’s attention immediately returned to his present dilemma. He had no choice but to drop Felicity as he reached up to pull Clinton’s hands off of his throat. Clinton was screaming, “You can’t have her, she’s mine!” over and over again as he attempted to strangle Elliot. When Elliot finally successfully removed his hands from his neck, Clinton began pummeling his back furiously. Felicity had stumbled and recovered from Elliot dropping her as she watched with wide, horror-filled eyes, not sure what she could do to help the situation. Elliot had just maneuvered himself around to face Clinton, one fist cocked and ready when Pierce finally recovered from Clinton’s unsuspecting blow and came up behind them, grabbing Clinton around the waste and dragging him away from the carriage. This time Clinton was no match for Pierce’s large form so he resorted to yelling vile obscenities at them instead.