Love Sneaked In (Montgomery Family Trilogy) (44 page)

“I’m going to take you to the magistrate and let him deal with you. I’ll tell him that I don’t want you to hang, but you’ll probably be transported. You’re going to tell the magistrate everything you’ve told me.” Matthew had the guards untie Louis from the chair, but he told them to keep his hands tied. Grabbing Louis by the arm, Matthew pulled him out of the inn. Then Matthew and the guards took Louis to the magistrate. When they turned him over to the magistrate, Louis told him everything.

After the magistrate finished questioning Louis and had him sign his confession, he stated, “I’ll arrest Mrs. Arlington in the morning. With Louis’s sworn statement, I’ll be able to get a conviction, and she’ll hang.”

Frustrated when he heard this, Matthew spoke up. “I need you to arrest her now. I won’t rest easy until she’s put away and can’t harm my wife.”

The magistrate continued to refuse. “I’m sure everything will be fine if we wait until morning. Louis said her plan is to kill your wife tomorrow evening at the party, so there’s no reason for her to try something sooner. Now, I don’t want to hear any further discussion. I’ll arrest her tomorrow morning at first light, and that’s final.” Grudgingly, Matthew and his guards left.

When Matthew got home, he went upstairs to tell Helen what had happened. He found her in their sitting room pacing back and forth. “We got him! He’s been arrested and is under guard at the magistrate’s house. The magistrate is going to arrest Cecilia in the morning. I tried to get him to arrest her tonight, but he refused. I just hope all goes well tomorrow morning. I’ll not rest easy until she’s put away for good.” Yawning deeply, he added, “Well, my dear, I’m exhausted. I just want to go to bed and hold you in my arms.”

Helen went into his arms. “Oh, thank goodness. It’s almost over, and we’ll be able to put this all behind us. I do wish the magistrate had arrested her tonight. It
has
been a tiring day. I’m exhausted too. Let’s go to bed.” Matthew took her hand and led her into his bedroom. After Helen crawled in bed, Matthew joined her, and then they held each other as they drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, when the magistrate went to arrest Cecilia, she was nowhere to be found. Her servants couldn’t give them any information. Matthew and his guards went out to search for her with the magistrate. They searched all day and couldn’t find her. It was as if she had fallen off the face of the earth. They questioned Louis, but he couldn’t think of anywhere she might have gone. Matthew arrived home at six o’clock, just in time to get ready for the party. He had a bad feeling about this situation with Cecilia, especially after what Louis had told him about her plans for Helen’s demise. He had Wells find footmen attire for all the guards so they could move freely among the guests that evening.

Helen and Matthew’s guests started arriving at eight o’clock, and soon everyone they invited was there, except Cecilia. They went into dinner, and everything was going smoothly. After dinner, Helen led the ladies to the drawing room so they could leave the gentlemen to their port and cigars.

Once the gentlemen joined the ladies, Helen led them to the music room where she had the card tables set up. The guests paired up, and they began to play whist. Helen and Matthew were playing with Vicar Winslow and his wife, and they were having an exceedingly good game. Matthew might not be much of a gambler, but he was an excellent whist player.

After they won the first set, Helen stood up. “I need to go check on something. It will only take me a moment. I’ll be right back.” Matthew looked alarmed, but then Helen whispered in his ear, “I’m just going to the retiring room. I’ll be fine. The guards are patrolling the halls.”

When she got to the retiring room, it was empty, or so she thought. As she got ready to leave, someone sneaked up behind her, grabbed her, and pulled a knife on her. Helen was afraid to fight back because the knife was digging into her side.

“Who are you, and what do you want?”

Cecilia whispered, “I’ve got you now. We’re going to take a little walk out to your garden. Don’t make any sudden movements, or you’ll regret it. Start walking out the door and keep a smile on your face. I’ll kill you if you raise the alarm in any way. Then I’ll find your children and kill them too.”

When Cecilia mentioned her sons, Helen became paralyzed with fear. She just hoped Matthew would come looking for her before this mad woman killed her or hurt her sons. The hall was empty, so she turned toward the back of the house. As directed, she walked down the hall until they came to the back door, which led out to the garden. Helen opened the door and stepped outside, all while Cecilia had the knife digging into her side.

Once they were in the garden, Helen started to move away from Cecilia, but she pulled her back. “Any more moves like that, and I’ll kill you right now.” By this time, they had reached the shed. Cecilia said in a low voice, “Open the door and slowly walk inside, but don’t think you can get away from me.”

“Why are you doing this? You won’t get away with killing me or my sons, and you’ll never have Matthew. Louis has already confessed to the abduction of our sons and me. He told Matthew you were the one behind the kidnapping and that you told him to kill my babies and me.”

Twisting Helen’s arm, Cecilia retorted, “I just know you’re the reason that I can’t have Matthew, and if I can’t have him, then you can’t have him either. He doesn’t deserve to have his brats. I’m going to make him suffer for turning away from me. Once you and his sons are dead, I’m going to go to the continent, and he’ll never find me!”

Helen knew she had to keep her talking to give Matthew enough time to find her. While Cecilia was talking, she released Helen, not realizing she had done so. Helen slowly moved backward while she kept Cecilia talking. As her back hit the shelf, she remembered that the garden claw was on the shelf where it had been left after she had finished helping Christina and Catherine plant a new rosebush. If she could just get it, then she would have a weapon to use against Cecilia.

Helen kept Cecilia talking and distracted as she felt around behind her for the tool. There was no way she was going to let Cecilia kill her, or her sons. If she had to, she would kill her rather than let her harm her babies. Thank goodness for the darkness, because Cecilia couldn’t see what she was doing. Helen found the claw and eased it down to her side.

“I’ve told you enough. It won’t matter to you anyway, because you’re getting ready to die!”

As Cecilia raised the knife over her head and started to bring it down to stab her, Helen knocked the knife out of Cecilia hands, but she was too fast for Helen. Cecilia grabbed her arm before she could get away. It was amazing how strong Cecilia was, since she was a small woman. Helen still had the claw, but she couldn’t get in the right position to use it. Finally, she was able to swing it at Cecilia and it caught her in the shoulder. Helen pulled down with all her might. Cecilia screamed out in pain, just as Matthew burst through the door of the shed.

Helen ran into his arms. The guards captured Cecilia before she could get away. Cecilia was bleeding profusely from the shoulder, so it was easy for the guards to overpower her. Finally, it was over. Helen buried her head into Matthew’s chest, and he hugged her close.

While Matthew continued to hold Helen, he directed the guards. “There’s a rope on the shelf. Get it and tie Mrs. Arlington up so she can’t get away. There should be some clean rags on the shelf to bandage her shoulder.” Cecilia was so unhinged, she was babbling incoherently. It was clear she was mad. “Keep Mrs. Arlington in the shed, and after I get Lady Collingswood inside, I’ll come back so we can take her to the magistrate.”

Matthew picked Helen up and carried her into the house. Helen smiled at Matthew. “Put me down, Matthew, I’m fine. Let me deal with our guests while you take Cecilia to the magistrate. I’ll just tell them you had to handle some estate business, and you'll return shortly, if anyone asks where you are. We’ll keep this quiet to avoid any type of scandal. Here, let me straighten my clothes.” Patting her hair and straightening her gown, she asked, “How do I look?”

“You look incredible. I don’t know how you managed it, but you don’t look disheveled at all. You’re truly a remarkable woman.” Matthew gave her a quick kiss and rushed back outside.

Helen took a deep, cleansing breath before returning to the music room where their guests were still playing cards. Meredith looked at Helen and asked, “Is everything all right? Matthew acted worried and left the room. Did he find you?”

“Yes, and he received a message from our steward, so he had to go take care of a slight problem that couldn’t wait. He’ll be back shortly.” Helen turned to her guests. “Everyone, if you’ll follow me into the drawing room we shall have our tea.”

Everyone followed her into the drawing room and Helen served tea. After they finished enjoying their tea, the guests began to leave. Helen was so relieved the evening was over. She just hoped everything went smoothly for Matthew. It was such a relief to not have to worry about Cecilia trying to kill her anymore.

Colin and Meredith came over to Helen. “We had a marvelous time this evening. Thank you for having us. We have a committee meeting tomorrow at two o’clock. It’s at the rectory and I hope you’ll be able to attend.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it tomorrow, but I’ll definitely be there next week. I’m glad you had a good time tonight. We’ll do this again in the near future.” After everyone left, Helen went up to her room where Sally helped her get ready for bed. Then she dismissed Sally and told her she wouldn’t need her again. Helen curled up on the sofa in the sitting room to wait for Matthew.

Matthew and the guards got Cecilia to the magistrate and turned her over to him. Once she was in his custody, Matthew asked, “What’s going to happen to her?”

“It’s obvious that Mrs. Arlington is mad, so I’ll be sending her to Bedlam in London. She’ll live out the rest of her life in captivity because she would be a danger to others and herself. I’ll get Dr. Moore to treat her wound. By the way, how did she get injured? Thank God you caught her before she could hurt your wife.”

“Actually, my wife protected herself, and that’s how Mrs. Arlington was wounded. My wife used a garden claw to get away from her. Lady Collingswood is an amazing woman, and I’m very fortunate to have her in my life. It’s such a relief to have this finally over. Thank you for your help, but just to be on the safe side, I’ll be sending four of my guards with you tomorrow. I’m not taking any chances that she’ll find a way to escape. If you need anything else from me, just let me know. Well, I’ll leave you now and go home to my wife.”

Matthew arrived home well after midnight and went to find Helen. He found her asleep on the sofa in the sitting room. She looked so lovely with her glorious hair cascading around her shoulders, shimmering in the candlelight. Matthew knew he’d made the best decision of his life when he asked her to be his wife. Thank God, she agreed to marry him.

The Duke of Somerset actually did him a favor when he decided to marry someone else. If he hadn’t hurt Helen like he had, then she wouldn’t have decided to enter into a marriage of convenience with him. Not only was Helen beautiful, she was smart and a wonderful mother. He never expected to find love in his marriage, but he was so grateful he had.

As he stood there watching Helen, she slowly opened her eyes and smiled up at him. “How did everything go? Did you get Cecilia to the magistrate? What’s going to happen to her?”

Matthew knelt down in front of her. “Sweetheart, it’s finally over. You don’t ever have to worry about her again. Since it’s obvious that Cecilia is insane, the magistrate felt that the best place for her is Bedlam in London. He’s sending her there tomorrow. My guards are going to accompany her to make sure she doesn’t escape. I’m so fortunate you’re willing to forgive me for my part in all this. As I told you before, I was an idiot, and I promise I’m much wiser from this experience. I’ll never give you any reason to doubt my love for you ever again. I’ll love you forever.”

Helen tenderly touched his face. “Matthew, when I married you, I never expected, nor wanted, to fall in love with you, but I’m so glad I did. I know you love me, and we’ve been so blessed to find each other. We have four healthy children and our whole lives ahead of us. I shall love you, my darling, all the rest of my days here on earth and for all eternity.”