The Duke's Revenge (34 page)

“
Madam, I am a man of my
word as you well know, I do not lie.”

She tightened her arms around his neck and
rested her head against his shoulder. “I love you,” she
whispered.

“
And I you,” he whispered
back.

That was all that Ivy needed to hear. She
felt at peace.

Thank you Lord for bringing him to me, she
said in her mind.

“
You won’t get away!” a
loud voice echoed behind them.

Max turned to look over his shoulder and saw
Julie and Gale. Ivy glanced up and saw the two shadowy figures
approaching them.

“
Max, they’re behind
us.”

“
We’ll be out soon,” he
said and increased his pace.

The downward tunnel pulled him forward as he
ran the last few yards down, and a few moments later, they reached
the even ground of the cave safely.

“
You won’t get away!”
Julie screamed after them. Her wild eyes were so intense on the
escaping couple that she did not look at where she was going and
slipped. The steep passageway pulled her down, and she quickly
grabbed for Gale’s skirt as she slid. The maid fell and grabbed for
a sturdy rock to pull herself up.

“
You won’t get away!”
Julie screamed again. “Gale, help!” She looked up to her maid. Her
hands were slipping from the maid’s skirt, and she held on for
life.

“
M’ lady, I can’t hold
on,” Gale screamed as her hands started to slip away from the rock.
“I’m sorry.”

“
What are you saying?”
Julie screamed.

“
I’m sorry, m’ lady,” Gale
said again, and then she kicked Julie’s hands with her boots.
“You’re too heavy. I don’t want to die.” She kicked on Julie’s hand
harder.

“
You bitch! I brought you
in. You bitch!” Julie yelled, trying ever so hard to hold tighter
on to the ripping skirt.

“
You bitch! I’ll not let
you live,” she said and moved her hands onto the maid’s boots,
pulling her down.

“
No!” Gale screamed, “I
don’t want to die.”

“
Bitch, I won’t let you
live!” Julie pulled on the maid’s other boot.

Gale’s hand slipped a bit more from the
slimy rock. She tried to hold on tighter but the weight was too
much. She knew this was the end.

“
No!” she shouted and her
fingers slipped.

The two bodies fell down the steep,
treacherous tunnel. As they somersaulted down, their bodies
collided with numerous sharp rocks engulfed along the passageway.
With a whish, their bodies land amongst the sharp, pointy rocks
below.

Max and Ivy heard the high pitch screams and
then the thick thuds. They looked at each other and knew the
inevitable. Ivy rested her head on her husband’s shoulder as they
made their way out of the cave.

About ten minutes later they emerged out
into the dark night. As they came out, they saw torches of light
approaching them.

“
I see them!” they heard
somebody shouting.

Not a moment later they were surrounded by
the servants.

“
Your grace, you found
her,” Lisa cried, making her way through the crowd toward her
mistress. “Oh, your grace, I’m so happy you are still
alive.”

“
Everything is all right,
Lisa,” Ivy said.

“
The duke and duchess must
get home immediately,” Nick said in irritation as he looked at the
maid who was crying.

Lisa quickly moved to the side. Max nodded,
and with the crowd surrounding them, they made their way back.

At the Castle, Ivy tiredly went to bed after
Lisa had helped her washed and dressed. Max, too, had washed and
dressed in his Banyan, and now sitting in his study, he ordered
that in the morning his men search the cave for the dead bodies of
Julie Anderson, Lord Sherington, and Gale.

“
One more thing,” he said
as he looked at the men standing before him. “Why were you all at
the forest instead of the tunnels?”

“
The tunnels you assigned
us to search were dead ends,” Nick said. “We met back at the
entrance and decide ‘tis better chance to find the cave as Donald
here knows the history of this place well.” He nodded toward the
butler.

Donald agreed with a nod and said, “Aye, we
didn’t know how long the tunnel is. It might take us days, but we
do know that the passageway led to a cave in the east woods.”

“
Aye, it was a trial and
error, your grace,” Nick said.

Max looked from one men to the others and
smiled as he never did before to his servants. “I just want to
thank you all for your help.” He came to Uncle John and slapped the
muted man on his shoulder. He turned to nod at the rest of the men
and left them.

He climbed the stairs and came into the
master bedroom. His wife was sitting in bed, staring into space. He
came to her and took her into his arms. She gladly accepted him and
snuggled her face against his neck.

“
I was so scared,” she
whispered.

“
I’m here now, my dove, I
won’t let anything happen to you. Everything is going to be all
right.”

She looked up at him, staring deep in his
blue eyes. She knew he meant what he said, for she saw the love
inside those eyes and knew she had found home.

“
I’ve got something for
you.” He let her go and went to a draw beside his bed. He took out
the box and came back. He handed it over to her.

Ivy stared at the beautifully designed box
that her papa had given her on her sixth birthday. Tears brewed in
her eyes and her hands were shaking as she reached out for it. She
touched it and closed her eyes, her heart cried with the joy that
he had found her what she most cherish--a piece of her papa’s
memory.

She brought the box to her chest and hugged
it. She turned to him and said, “Thank you, Max. This means a lot
to me.”

“
I was going to give it to
you this evening but...”

She opened the box. She stroked the bundle
of letters and then moved her finger to touch the miniature
portrait. She brought it to her lips and kissed it. She rested her
head on his shoulder again and said, “Thank you.”

She tightened her arm around him as he
kissed her lips.

Yes, everything was going to be all right,
she thought, her heart light and happy.

Thank you, Lord, for bringing him to me.

EPILOGUE

“
Max, you’re giving me a
headache!” Merrick snapped.

“
Shut up, Merrick, your
wife is not the one who is giving birth right now,” Max retorted,
reaching for the wineglass. He swallowed a mouthful of whisky and
dumped the glass back on the table.

“
I don’t remember being
that worried or agitated when my wife was giving birth,” Merrick
commented as he stretched out his legs and rested his head
back.

“
Oh, do stop worrying,
your grace,” Lady Hartland said over her tea cup. “Her grace will
be just fine.” She smiled and turned her attention to her
companion. “Really, Mrs. Smith, I do think that men tend to worry a
bit much over something like this.”

“
I do agree there,” Mrs.
Smith said and took a sip of her tea.

“
Speak for yourself, my
dear,” Mr. Smith said over his glass of brandy, his eyes twinkling
at her.

“
In this situation we
ought to give the duke some support,” Lord Queensbury, Christine’s
father, said as he looked at Max sitting near the hearth and
staring into space, quite oblivious to his surrounding.

“
Now, that I do agree.”
Mr. Smith nodded.

Tyson, who was sitting beside his mother,
frowned for some moment and then finally turned to the woman and
asked, “Is the baby going to be a boy or a girl, Mama?”

“
Well, that I do not
know,” Lady Hartland said. “We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?”
She laughed and patted his head.

“
I think that it’s going
to be a big, strong boy just like the duke,” Dan announced with is
eyes sparkling.

“
No!” Mary snapped and
stared at him. “It’s going to be a girl, and she’s going to be very
pretty just like the duchess.” She turned to her mother with her
eyes large and bright and said, “Isn’t that right,
Mama?”

“
Why...”

“
No!” Dan said, frowning
at Mary, “the baby is going to be a boy, big and
strong.”

“
The baby is going to be a
girl!” Mary said, glaring at Dan who had folded his arms across his
chest. They stared at each other in silent.

“
Mayhap it’s going to be
both,” Tyson said.

Lady Hart laughed. “Mayhap...”

Max halted his pacing and turned to look at
the door. He shook his head and wondered how much longer it was
going to take. He walked to the chair and slumped himself in it
again. He sat there for almost a minute when he couldn’t bear the
wait any longer and stood up again.

First there was the screaming, which almost
send him to his grave, and now there was the silent—long and
haunting.

“
Just relax,” Merrick
said.

“
Damnation, I can’t!
Something might happen to Ivy. This is taking far too long. I’m
going to look,” that said, and he stalked to the door. Just as he
was reaching for the knob, it was opened from the other side. He
saw Christine coming in, and she looked mighty pleased, too. Why
the hell would she be pleased? His wife was in pain for the love of
God!

“
Ah, your grace,
everything is in order,” she said, beaming at him. “I believe you
may go to her now.”

“
It’s about time!” he
snapped and stalked pass her.

“
Oh by the way, there is a
surprise for you,” she added, and she couldn’t seem to stop her
smiling.

Max raised his brows at her rather odd
behavior and left.

Christine walked toward her husband. There,
she sighed and sat beside him. Merrick put his arm around her and
pulled her closer to him.

“
Well, my love,” he
whispered, “what is this surprise you are talking
about?”

Christine smiled and said, “’Tis not for you
to know.”

He raised his brows at her. When she just
stared at him, he said, “I’ll get it out of you tonight,” and
smiled.

“
Merrick, you won’t. ‘Tis
most unfair.”

Max climbed the stairs three steps at a time
and reached the master bedroom in no time at all. He didn’t
hesitate to knock but turned the knob, opened the door, and walked
right in. He saw his wife propped up in bed. She looked tired, but
to him, she was still as beautiful as ever. Her cheeks were rosy
and her blue eyes were shinning like the stars.

He sat beside her on the bed and turned to
look at the little baby in her arms. He moved his hand to touch the
baby’s little pink cheek.

“
Our baby,” he said,
gazing at her.

“
What name should we give
her?” she asked.

“
A girl?”

She laughed and turned to look at the cot
not far from her bed. “And him?”

“
A boy, too?” He widened
his eyes.

“
Aye, my love, I believe
that we will have to remember which is which for they are
identical.”

“
Twin!” he said, feeling
quite ecstatic. He couldn’t believe it--a twin. He got up and
walked to the cot. He stood there staring down at the baby boy with
hair as black as midnight like those of his mother’s. He touched
the baby’s cheek with the back of his finger. He turned to look at
his wife watching him. He smiled, picked the baby up gently in his
arms, and carried him to his wife. He sat beside her and wrapped
his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled
contently.

“
Thank you, my dove,” he
said and kissed her forehead.

“
Hmm.” She
smiled.

Yes thank you, Lord, for bringing them to
me, Ivy thought.

THE END

*****

Author’s Note

I’d love to hear from you.

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www.acpraks.com

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http://alexia-praks.blogspot.co.nz/

Read my other books:

The Earl’s Desire

His Hired Girlfriend