Lord Cavendish Returns (26 page)

“
You sound as though you are speaking from experience,”
Dominic drawled without any hint of censure. He had enjoyed enough
trysts with his wife before their wedding day to be the last person
to judge anyone in that regard and he lifted his brows at Harper
blandly.

“
After we got locked in the crypt, I decided to keep watch on
the house and saw someone leave the shadows. I have been keeping an
eye on the place ever since. Arrabella usually goes to bed around
ten o’clock to ten thirty. It is unlike her to be up this
late.”

“
Do you think he is in there?” Sebastian drawled and frowned
down at their horses. They could hardly ride up the drive, but
there was nowhere else to leave them except in the middle of the
road.

Harper
felt his lip curl at the thought that Arrabella may not be alone.
“I don’t like the fact that she is up at this time of night, and
nobody was in that room at the tavern.” His fists clenched tightly
at the thought of anyone putting their hands on Arrabella. A huge
wave of protectiveness swept through him with sufficient force that
he had to fight the urge to get off his horse, stomp across the
garden, kick the door down and beat the hell out of any man who was
inside.

As
though he sensed what was going through Harper’s mind, Edward
leaned forward in his saddle to study him. “Keep calm. She is at
home so will feel safe.”

Everything around the outside of the house was still and
silent, but Sebastian still needed to make sure for himself that
nobody was lurking in the bushes. He quickly dismounted and handed
the reins to Dominic. “I will go and check to see if we have any
watchers.”

Edward
didn’t need prompting. He dismounted too and handed the reins of
his horse to Harper, who took them absently. The men vanished
before Harper had even taken his eyes off the house.

“
If he has hurt her,” he shook his head. Not Arrabella.
Nothing could happen to Arrabella. She was the only certainty in
his world of utter madness. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing
her too. Although their relationship was still in its early stages,
he was certain that she was the one for him and he couldn’t let
anything happen to her.

“
We will get her out of this, I promise,” Dominic promised
darkly. “There is one thing for certain.” He paused, dismounted and
waited for Harper to look at him. “We aren’t going to help her
standing out here in the middle of the road.”

As they
reached the back door to the house, Sebastian and Edward appeared
out of the darkness.

“
We will go through the front.”

“
Wait!” Harper growled and tried the door. To his utter
consternation the latch lifted and the door swung silently inward.
A wild flash of anger swept through him. He had told Arrabella
several times to lock the doors and keep them locked; especially
when she was at home by herself, so what was she doing with the
door unlocked? He wondered if Mrs Able had forgotten to lock it
when she had gone home and made a mental note to have a word with
the housekeeper the first chance he got.

He crept
into the empty kitchen and made his way silently around the large
table in the centre of the room. All was silent in the house, but
the atmosphere felt heavy with tension. When he didn’t hear anyone
behind him he stopped and took a look around. He was a little
stunned to find all three men inside the kitchen, but was also
immensely relieved at their abilities.

Edward
pointed to the register in his hands and lifted his palms in a
questioning motion, as though to ask Harper where he should put
it.

Harper
glanced around them and spied a cupboard beside the huge oven which
had a door partially open. Once it was tucked away safely, he
counted to three and stepped into the hallway.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“
You had better come in,” Mrs Able drawled in a voice that was
more conversational than worried.

Harper
frowned from his position in the hallway, and glanced back at his
half-brothers before he walked into the sitting room. His gaze was
immediately drawn to the middle-aged man who stood before the
fireplace and he knew, immediately, that this was his attacker, and
the register thief.

He
almost slumped with relief to find Arrabella in the corner of the
room, albeit gagged and bound to a chair. His eyes met and held
hers and he tried to convey as much reassurance as he could in the
steady gaze he levelled on her.

When
Dominic, Edward and Sebastian entered the room behind him and
fanned out, Harper winked at Arrabella and turned his attention to
the intruder.

“
Harry,” Dominic nodded. He studied the man’s casual pose
before the fire, and the elbow the man had propped on the mantle,
and made no attempt to keep his disgust off his face.

Although
he had only found out about his familial link with the Cavendish
men, Harper felt an immediate connection with them and was glad
that they were there to help.

“
You know him?” Harper asked.

“
Harry Johnson. Your half-brother by your father,” Sebastian
drawled darkly.

Harper
turned his attention to Mrs Able, who sat before the fire as though
there was nothing unusual about the scenario at all. Was she
involved, or pretending that nothing was going on because panic had
taken hold? He strongly suspected she was involved. From the
furtive way her gaze darted around the room she was clearly nervous
about something and trying desperately not to show it. He eyed the
sharp protrusion of the needles she held and made a mental note to
keep an eye on what she did with them.

“
I think you had better stop, Mrs Able, and tell us what this
is all about.”

Mrs Able
stopped the twitching of her hands and placed her knitting in her
lap before she looked up at him. The calm, almost defiant way she
looked at him told him that she was behind the keys being
stolen.

“
Firstly, I want to say that I have had absolutely nothing to
do with anything that this man is up to. That is the truth.” Over
the top of her head Harper saw Arrabella nod.

“
You are a jealous man, Harry,” Sebastian growled. “Did you
think that we wouldn’t lend a hand to uncover the
truth?”

“
It is all a lie. This man is no relation of mine,” Harry
snarled.

“
He is your half-brother,” Edward snapped. He ignored Harry’s
demand that he leave Arrabella alone and stalked across the room
toward her. Within seconds, the gag had been removed from her mouth
and her hands released, and he knelt before her to rub the feeling
back into her hands.

“
Thank you,” she whispered through dry lips. She knew
immediately that Harper had found the truth. Even if he didn’t find
the register, it was of little consequence. The mannerisms, the
looks, the physique of the four men who had just entered the room
were as identical as it was possible to get. These were the
Cavendish men; the men Harper was related to by birth, of that
there could be no doubt.

Arrabella’s gaze turned to Mrs Able. The housekeeper’s
threats to stab the man before the fire with her needles if he
tried to tie her up had kept her free. However, it was obvious that
Mrs Able felt guilty about something and, unfortunately, Arrabella
had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly what the housekeeper
had been up to.

“
Do you seriously think that we are going to just let you walk
out of here Harry?” Dominic sighed. He quietly closed the door and
stood before it. Sebastian moved to stand in front of the window
and effectively closed all exits.

Harry
studied them all with narrowed eyes and, although he was seriously
outnumbered, he still stood proud and defiant as he tried to stare
each man down.

“
Breaking and entering, hostage taking, theft, theft of parish
records are all against the law, Harry. Just because you are a
solicitor, you are not above the law.”

“
I don’t give a damn what you threaten me with,” Harry
snapped. His lip actually curled as he glared malevolently at
Harper. “You have no proof that I am related to you.”

“
Why do you object so much?” Dominic demanded. “I mean, he
isn’t a solicitor and is in no place to take your business off you,
even if he wanted to. He has already been provided for by his birth
mother and has no intention of claiming anything from you. So what
is your problem? Why lose everything you have worked so hard for to
prevent someone knowing the truth?”

“
You don’t need the registers,” Arrabella whispered in a voice
that was croaky through fear and lack of moisture. Her gaze locked
with Harper.

“
What do you mean?” Harper demanded gently.

“
You only need to see you four together to know that you are
related,” Mrs Able piped up.

“
You need to add entrapment into that list of crimes,” Harper
added with a sigh. He flicked a glance at Dominic, who lifted his
brows in silent query.

“
He locked us in the crypt at Moldton when we were looking for
the register.”

“
No I did not,” Harry snapped. “Don’t think about laying that
charge on me.”

Harper
scowled at him but, before he could speak, Mrs Able sighed and
placed her knitting carefully onto the floor beside her feet. She
looked at Harper almost challengingly.

“
It was me,” the old woman sighed in defeat. She stood and
turned around so that she could look at Arrabella as well. “I am
sorry, my dear. I didn’t mean any harm. I just had your best
interests at heart.”

“
Do you have anything to do with him?” Arrabella demanded and
nodded toward the stranger before the fire.

“
No I don’t, dear.”

“
So, Johnson, I am afraid that all of your scheming has been
for nothing. We have retrieved the records and discovered that
Harper is a Cavendish. As of this moment, he is entitled and owns
the Hopswich estates. He has vast wealth and is now the first Earl
of Hopswich, so I suggest that you are very careful about your
illegal activities around him. As the head of the Cavendish family,
I warn you now that I take any crimes committed against the family
personally and I, for one, am not going to stand by and allow you
to get away with your behaviour. Harper’s title was generated
because of the connections our mother was born into. It was a title
that was created for him and has been kept specifically for him
should he choose to accept it. You will not stand in the way of his
legal right to claim it.”

“
He is nothing to do with my father,” Harry bit out. “He is an
ill-bred country ingrate.”

“
No matter what you think of him personally, you cannot ignore
the fact that you share the same father with him. That is written
in the parish records for the world to see,” Dominic countered
dismissively.

“
Records we have retrieved and intend to keep safe, just in
case you intend to question his birth-right legally,” Sebastian
added menacingly.

“
I don’t intend to question his birth-right, but I have no
intention of allowing anyone to come along and help themselves to
everything I have sacrificed my life for,” Harry
snapped.

“
What the hell are you talking about? I have only just found
out that my mother is not who I thought she is.” Harper struggled
to contain his temper. In spite of the evening’s revelations, he
was deeply disturbed by the image of Arrabella gagged and bound to
a chair.

“
My father does though,” Harry nodded to the Cavendish
brothers. “As soon as they turned up on his doorstep and demanded
to know all about my father’s abhorrent behaviour, he has insisted
on making further provision for you in his will,” Harry snapped.
His voice was a mixture of pain and bitterness. “As if the house,
the fortune and the title weren’t already enough,” he whispered
starkly. “I was forced into the life I lead. I was the son he was
forced, through marriage, to keep and I was the one who had an
expectancy placed on me to continue in my father’s footsteps.
Nobody bothered to ask me what I wanted to do with my life.
Whenever I tried to reason with my father and suggest that I do
something I wanted to do, I was always slapped down and told that
as his son, it was my duty to protect the family name and take over
the family business. I have hated each and every day that I have
been made to do a job I despise, while working for a father who
spent most of his time thinking something else. He has always been
a bit vague and distant, but I always put his distraction down to
the pressure of his work but it wasn’t, he was busy thinking about
you.” As he spoke, the fight seemed to go out of Harry. His
shoulders drooped and he stared blankly at the floor. “I thought
that if I could keep the records and stop you finding proof of your
links to my father, he would have no grounds to hand you the
business when he died. Since they paid a visit,” he nodded briskly
to the Cavendish brothers again, “he has changed his will again,
and given practically everything to you. Guilt still plagues him,
you see. He feels that he should have made better choices and
raised you himself. Given that he cannot go back and do it all over
again, he has decided to throw money at you in the hope that you
can forgive him for being the stupidly foolish and weak man that he
is.”