Love Lost in Time (Victorian Time-Travel) (23 page)

“Uh, well…” He cleared this throat.

“It needs to be something very special,” she added as she turned toward him, “because I want my father to know I hold no hard feelings.”

His Adam’s apple jumped and he nodded. “Well, let me see…”

She continued, placing a hand on his arm. “Because, I
really
want to talk in a civil manner….Father.”

Color slowly drained from his face as his gaze glued to hers. He swallowed hard again, but it wasn’t as noticeable as the first time.

“Father?” he asked softly.

“I know who you are, Will Chapman.” She shrugged
and dropped her hand from his arm. “It’s hard not to notice the resemblance between us. And, I also know,” she leaned closer and lowered her voice, “that you were the one who kidnapped me yesterday.”

He inhaled sharply as his features hardened. She remained still, praying he didn’t get upset and make a scene. There was no way he could hurt her with Andrew so near, watching over her.

Finally, he expelled his breath. “How did you know?”

“Like I said, it’s hard not to know. I had gone to Buckland Manor to look for you when you hadn’t written. I asked around to those who worked there and they gave me your description. Although you wore a mask yesterday, I knew it was you. My
heart
knew.”

“You don’t hate me?”

“I don’t know what to feel, Father. You and Nigel were not mean to me—as you’d promised—but you still kidnapped me for no reason.”

“Nigel? You knew I was with him?”

She rolled her eyes. “Father, one of the things you don’t know about me is that I’m very good with detail. I have a great memory, too.”

A frown claimed his face and he turned back to the table. “What do you want me to say? I gave you the explanation for my actions yesterday.”

“I know, but I don’t think they are right. There is still time to change.”

He released a sharp laugh. “Change? Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?”

“Father, your problem is that your mind has been warped with silly ideas that stealing will give you everything you want in life. The truth is, you are not going to appreciate anything unless you’ve worked for it yourself. Happiness doesn’t come free, but if you work for what you want—the legal way—then one day you will be happy, and you’ll know you did it all yourself.”

He shook his head. “Not in
our
time.”

“Well, we’re not in
our
time, are we? And unless you know how to get back, we are stuck here. Father, you made a lot of mistakes in your life, but now you are in a different life. Don’t start out the wrong way. If you want to make a clean slate, I’m sure Andrew can help you.”

His gaze moved past her to the front of the room. “Are you in love with Lord
Andrew?”

She took a peek at Andrew over her shoulder.
Mrs. Dinsmore was batting her eyes at him as she stroked his arm. Halle gritted her teeth, wanting nothing more than to march over to that woman and tell her to leave Andrew alone. But Halle couldn’t…not yet. Once she was finished with her father, then she’d make a public scene and claim the man she loved.

“Yes, Father,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I do love him, and he’s in love with me. Andrew is a very good man, and his family are very good people. I honestly don’t know if they have the treasure you and Nigel seek, but it’s not worth it if you’re going to steal it from them. Father, you were there in Buckland Manor. You know what happens to this family when the mob attacks. I’ve had time to spend with them, and they all have very kind and generous hearts. I wouldn’t be staying with them if they didn’t.” She touched his arm again. “They don’t deserve to die…and you are not a killer.”

“I wasn’t planning on killing them,” he growled. “Just take their treasure.”

“And how do you know they even have it? You know the history about them from the tour at Buckland Manor. Georgiana and
Lady Agnes die, poorer than church mice! So tell me, if they had a treasure, why weren’t those ladies living in luxury until their deaths?”

Confusion filled her father’s face
, making his eyebrows crinkle. It was so weird looking at the man who resembled her so much with his light golden-brown hair and green eyes. He had the same curve to his nose, and high cheekbones. It was like catching glimpses of herself in the mirror.

“But
Lady Agnes said they had treasure,” he muttered.

Taken back, Halle gasped. “
Lady Agnes told you?”

“No, she told Nigel.”

“What?” Her voice rose, even though she tried to still keep their conversation private. “How does she know Nigel?”

Sighing irritably, he ran his fingers through his hair and moved closer to the window. She followed, determined to get some answers.

“I really shouldn’t be saying anything.”

“But Father? Don’t you want to do the right thing for once in your life? Let today be the day you change your life for the better.” She paused before adding, “Please? For me? Because your daughter needs her father.”

His eyes watered. “Nigel is a bad man, Halle. I’m afraid of what he will do if he knows I said anything. You don’t know him like I do.” He lowered his voice. “Did you know he poisoned his own uncle just to get his inheritance?”

Gasping, she covered her mouth. Her mind began putting the pieces to the puzzle together. At Buckland manor, Andrew had looked sick, which made him look older. He had all the symptoms of being poisoned. Knowing what Nigel had done to his uncle, he could have easily poisoned Andrew when they were both in her time, for fear that he would recognize Nigel.

“Do you see now why I hesitate to say anything?” her father added.

She dropped her hand from her mouth.
“You’re not thinking of this the right way, Father. The more you tell us, the more Andrew’s family can help and protect you from Nigel.”

Groaning, he rubbed his temple and closed his eyes. Halle waited
…and prayed. She’d lost a mother a few years ago, and heaven help her, she didn’t want to lose a father. It was long past time that she finally got to know her parent. She just prayed that he would want the same kind of relationship with her.

Chapter Twenty-one

Halle
studied the perplexed look on her father’s face. Deep down there was a man inside that shell of a body who wanted to be good. Who wanted to do the right thing. And who wanted to make his daughter happy. Yet her parent had been making the wrong decisions most of his life. Was he really strong enough to change now?

“Father, don’t let Nigel make you as miserable as he is. Men like Nigel will never be happy, but I can see you do.”

Tears spiked her father’s eyes when he nodded. “I do want to be happy.” He sighed deeply and leaned closer. “Lady Agnes’ Father and brothers owe Nigel money from their gambling debts. When she started courting Edward, he had mentioned a family treasure they had that dated back to 1200. As you have already guessed, this is one of the main reasons Lady Agnes was so adamant about becoming Edward’s wife.”

Halle nodded. “It’s easy to spot women like her.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know if she met him in that abandoned cottage last night?”

“Yes, they met right after Nigel and I left.”

“That makes sense.”

“Anyway, when her father and brothers couldn’t pay back their debt to Nigel, he became very upset. Because he knew Lady Agnes was courting Edward, Nigel threatened her that if she didn’t find out where the treasure was, he was going to kill her father and brothers.”

Sucking in a quick breath, Halle slapped a hand over her mouth. “That’s not good at all.”

“The past few days,” her father continued, “Nigel has been even more upset because Lady Agnes hasn’t been able to get a marriage proposal from Edward.”

“But she’s going around town this morning bragging about becoming Edward’s wife.”

He nodded. “Perhaps that’s why Edward met her at the cottage last night.”

“
So true.” She folded her arms. “Do you think Nigel will really kill her father and brothers if she can’t get him the treasure?”

“Yes, I do. After all, he was the ring-leader in forming the mob to attack the
Merrick family.”

“I knew it!” she said with
a raised voice.

“Shh…” Her father rested his hand on her shoulder. “You mustn’t tell anyone.”

“But I have to tell Andrew…and his father. There must be a way to stop Nigel.”

“I don’t know if there is. He has already gathered some of his friends in preparation for the attack.”

Her heart sank, and her stomach lurched. “When is he going to attack?”

“I don’t know. There’s been no date set
as of yet.”

Feeling slightly relieved, she sighed. “Hopefully, that will give us enough time to gather our own small army to fight back.
The duke might even be able to convince the magistrate he needs protection.”

“That’s a brilliant idea. I hope it works.”

She smiled at her father and grasped his hands. “Thank you for telling me. And I meant what I said about helping you to change your life. Andrew will even help. Because of your information, you may have just saved his family’s life.”

“I can only hope,” he said.

“Father? Will you answer another question for me?”

“I’ll try.”

“How did you know about the time-travel portal?”

He grinned. “The tree?”

“Yes.”

“When I took
the Duke of Harrington’s journals and read through them, I figured it out. One evening around sunset, I decided to check out the tree more thoroughly. That was when it opened up for me and let me in. Strange, because I could have sworn I passed Lord Andrew coming the other way.”

“Very interesting.” She tapped her chin. “Your disappearance and his arrival to our time did coincide with one another.”

He nodded. “And…as sorry as I am for saying this, I was the one who started the fire in the stable.”

Shock vibrated through her once again, and she gasped. “You did? Why?”

“I didn’t mean to. I was hiding in the stable at that time, watching the family to study their daily routine. That’s what I do before I steal from people. I didn’t mean to knock over the lantern, but that’s what started the fire.” He frowned. “I’m truly sorry.”

“I won’t say anything, and I’ll let you decide if you want to come clean and tell Andrew’s parents.”

“I understand.”

“Father? One last thing…” She took a deep breath before releasing it. “Why did you kidnap me when you knew my identity?”

“Nigel wanted to kidnap Lady Georgiana. I convinced him that it was too dangerous. The Merrick family would move heaven and earth to free their daughter. I didn’t think you were that important to them, which is why I wanted to take you instead. We only kidnapped you to get the duke’s attention.” He shrugged. “Little did I know how adamant Andrew was to find you. We knew he was coming for you, which is why we hurried and left.” He touched her arm. “Forgive me, daughter. I really didn’t want to hurt you—only to get a message through to the duke.”

“That’s what I had figured.” She nodded before gla
ncing at Andrew and Mrs. Dinsmore again, and didn’t like how close that woman was to Andrew. “I suppose I should go save my man,” she whispered.

Her father chuckled. “Yes, you should, but Lucy doesn’t have any chance of winning him when you hold his heart.”

She smiled at her father before giving him a hug. His arms wrapped around her tightly for a brief moment before he pulled away. Tears coated his eyes as he smiled.

“Thank you for forgiving me.”

She nodded and turned away, heading in Andrew’s direction. It wasn’t until she was nearly upon the couple when Mrs. Dinsmore noticed her. The woman arched an eyebrow at her, presenting an assured smile.

I’ll show her…
Halle grinned and hooked her arm through Andrew’s. His gaze whipped to her and relief poured over his face.

“Are you finished?”

“Indeed I am, my love.” She winked then returned her attention to Lucy. “Forgive me for interrupting, but we must be going.”

“Uh…well…” Lucy stammered.

“Mrs. Dinsmore,” Andrew said cheerfully, “please allow me to introduce you to my fiancé. Miss Chapman, this is Mrs. Dinsmore.”

His fiancé?
Halle tried not to act shocked at his comment, even though her heart flipped wildly and she wanted to sing with joy. Was he still pretending, or was he serious? Instead of allowing her feelings to take over right now, Halle gave the other woman a nod. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Dinsmore.”

Halle could have laughed at the woman’s wide
eyes. For a moment, Halle almost felt sorry for her, because the news Andrew just gave was clearly upsetting.

“Uh, yes… A pleasure, I’m sure,” Lucy replied.

Andrew patted Halle’s hand. “Are you ready to leave, my love?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Have a good day, Mrs. Dinsmore.” He smiled and turned, leading Halle back out the door.

Once they reached outside, Andrew hurried his steps to the vehicle before helping her inside and climbing in next to her. He called out an instruction to the driver to take them back to the rental stable. Turning slightly, he slipped his arm around her shoulders as he pulled her closer.

“Thanks for saving me from Lucy when you did. My patience with her was wearing thin.”

She reached up and caressed his cheek. “I would have come sooner, but my father was telling me some very interesting things.”

“Tell me.”

“I will, but first,” she leaned closer and placed her mouth over his. Immediately, he tightened his hold on her and met her kiss. She didn’t want to make it long and passionate right now—definitely later, though—so broke the kiss and stared into his dreamy eyes. “Now I feel better.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “So do I.”

“So about my father,” she said, sitting back against the seat. “You are not going to believe this.”

* * * *

Andrew listened intently to Halle. She was right. What she told him was extremely hard to believe. It upset him that his braggart brother would tell
Lady Agnes about the treasure. Did his sibling not think his title alone could land him a wife and he had to crow about the treasure as well?

Andrew’s
hands curled into fists. Oh, how he wished he could throttle his idiotic brother. Edward would certainly be hearing from him when they returned home…as well as their father. Was all of this Agnes’s fault? Indeed it was, in his opinion. If she hadn’t said anything to Nigel, that crook wouldn’t want to gather a mob and attack the manor.

Grumbling, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Tension tightened his whole body, and breathing slowly to try and relax wasn’t working as well as he’d liked.

He dropped his hand and peered into Halle’s eyes. “Do you really think Nigel was poisoning me when we were at Buckland Manor?”

“Yes, I do. It all makes sense.”

“I’m grateful to your father for speaking up against Nigel.”

“As am I, but Andrew we will need to try and protect my father somehow. If Nigel found out what my father told me, who knows what that madman would do.”

“Has your father decided to break all ties he has with Nigel?”

She shrugged. “He didn’t really say.”

Andrew scowled. “He could very well still plan to attack our home with Nigel and the mob.”

“I honestly don’t think so.” She placed her hand on his chest and leaned into him. “Father looked genuinely sincere when he told me he wanted to change.”

“Do you believe he can do that? From what you have told me, you father has been making poor decisions most of his life. Will he now finally want to start living better?”

Frowning, she sighed and rested her head on his chest. “I can only hope, Andrew. If not…your family might be attacked after all.”

“Yes, I realize that.” His chest clenched with worry. “But I will try all I can to stop it from happening.”

“As will I.”

Silence stretched between them on the ride back to the house. He was sure Halle was wrapped up in her own thoughts, as he was in his. At least holding her brought a little comfort to him. Then again, usually when he held her, he felt at peace.

They switched vehicles and returned to the house. As they neared the manor, he took hold of Halle’s gloved hands and lifted them to his mouth, kissing the back of each one. The gleam in her eyes made his heart melt.

“Halle, before we go in, I need to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“I want to know if you will be my wife. No pretending this time, I do love you and want to marry you.”

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded. “I would love to be your wife, Andrew.”

“Provided, of course, that I don’t die when the mob attacks us.”

She
frowned and nodded. “Of course, but I will try everything to keep that from happening.”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The love he
felt inside his heart warmed him, as did the emotion she projected in her kiss. This was such a wonderful feeling, and he prayed he could stop history. Being married to this woman would be the best decision he’d ever made.

Breaking the kiss, he stared down into her
glistening eyes. “I want to make the announcement to the family tonight. Is that all right with you?”

Nodding, her smile returned. “Yes.”

He moved out of the coach first before lifting her down. As he walked her up toward the manor, he said, “I am going to have a talk with my father and Edward about what we did today, and about what we saw and heard. I know it’s probably not the right time to announce our engagement, but I cannot wait. I must let my family know how much I love you.”

She squeezed his arm. “I’ll support whatever decision you make.”

He knew she would. But was tonight the right time for an engagement? Yet, if he didn’t do something now, he feared any other time would be too late.

* * * *

Halle looked at herself in the full-length mirror and pinched her cheeks. For tonight’s special dinner, which Andrew had requested his mother arrange for the family, Halle chose to wear the same gown Andrew had given her—in the future. The Merrick’s maid must have worked remove the mud and stains. It looked nearly new. She’s chosen to wear this gown because it meant so much to her.

Smiling, she ran her palms down the deep gold satin material. The waist was still tight on her, making her bosom appear fuller. She absolutely adored the mid-length sleeves with the white under-sleeve. Indeed, she felt like a Queen.

When she moved to collect her wrist fan—something that every woman just had to wear for some stupid reason—the petticoats underneath swished against the full skirt of the poofy dress. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder that the mirror again, to look at the small train dragging behind the gown.
So beautiful…and magical.

Now, if the evening
could go smoothly—and if his family could accept their engagement—then this would definitely be a magical night.

Moisture gathered in the palms of her hands as she stepped toward her door. Anticipation ran rapid through her, as well as ner
vousness. Had she impressed Andrew’s family? She did love them all…although she still had qualms about Edward. Still, she wanted him to accept her as the woman who would be married to his brother.