Duchess by Chance (29 page)

Daniel felt Simon move to stand to his left.
 

Reggie still stood, but Daniel guessed by the way he weaved, only just. One eye was partially closed, one cheek swollen and his lips were split and never had Daniel wanted to punish anyone more than he did Spencer Winchcomb. The boy had arrived in London a thin, beaten young man and left for Edinburgh confident and smiling. Looking into Reggie’s eyes, Daniel now saw a mixture of both. His father had not quite managed to reduce the boy to what he once was and Daniel would make sure he did not finish the job.
   

“Come here, Reggie.”
 

“Stay, Reginald!” Spencer roared.

Reggie didn’t hesitate. Giving his father one last look, he then walked on unsteady legs to meet his brother-in-law. They were, perhaps, the hardest steps he had ever taken and when he finally stood before Daniel, he offered a small smile and then fell forward, his legs giving way.

Daniel heard the sigh as he held the boy briefly, his battered face resting on Daniel’s chest.
 

“You are safe now.” Daniel felt a lump form in his throat as Reggie looked at him.
 

“I knew you would come.”

Daniel gave him a gentle squeeze and then pushed him into his sister’s arms.

“You are dead to me, Reginald Ransom Hibernians Cyrus Winchcomb,” Spencer declared.

Daniel couldn’t be sure but thought he heard the words, ‘Thank God’ coming from both Reggie and Eva.

“Hardly surprising he didn’t leave years ago with a name like that,” Simon drawled, intent on taunting Spencer.

“Stratton, what is the meaning of this?” Spencer Winchomb bluffed, his face flushed with color. “How dare you enter my house uninvited.”

“I came to discuss the matter of blackmail and attempted murder, Winchcomb.”

Daniel watched fear chase across Winchcomb’s face.
 

“She lies!” His eyes were wide as they swung from Daniel to Eva.

“I have a note with your handwriting, Winchomb. Do you deny that also?”

“My father does not answer to you, Stratton. So go home with your pathetic little wife,” Bartholomew Winchcomb said. The man had always been the dumbest of the pack.

Daniel took the two strides necessary across the room and punched him in the face. The man’s head snapped backward and when it righted itself, blood was streaming from his now larger than usual nose.

“Oww!”

“Do it again, Daniel!”

Glaring his bloodthirsty wife into silence, Daniel said. “You will never speak my wife’s name in such an insulting manner again.”
 

“How dare you come into my home and abuse my son!” Spencer howled, handing Bartholomew a handkerchief.

“How dare I abuse your son?” Daniel hissed. “You weak-kneed bastard, you have tormented and abused your daughter since her birth and allowed your sons to do the same and you ask me how I dare mete out some retribution.” Daniel sucked in a much needed breath. “You could have killed my wife, your own daughter, when you had someone shoot at my carriage.”

“That was Huxley, not me!”

Daniel believed that. Winchcomb was an idiot and capable of blackmail, but he could see Huxley committing murder.

“I have no wish for my wife’s name to be dragged through the courts. Therefore you will leave England with your sons quietly and never return. Only then will I not see you hung.”

“I only took what was rightfully mine. She owed me.”

Disgusted, Daniel wondered how something so sweet could have come from such a man.
 
“How my wife has remained such a beautiful person whilst living in your household is beyond me, Winchcomb. She is everything that is good in this world and I will protect her with my life from scum like you.”

Daniel heard Eva sniff and Reggie murmur something. “Know that she belongs to me and what is mine I treasure,” he continued, once again in control. “You are a bully, Winchcomb, but in me you have met your match.”

“Nicely put, your Grace,” Simon said.
 

“You’ll not abuse me and walk away without a fight!” Winchcomb declared as he and his sons stood together, forming a wall.

“I hoped you’d say that.” Daniel knew his smile was feral. “Eva, take Reggie from the room.”

“Not a bloody chance,” was his wife’s reply.
 

If anyone deserved to see their family thrashed, it was the two youngest Winchcomb siblings.

“Your father was a man of few moral standards, Stratton, weak to his soul. It was I who saved your inheritance.” Spencer played what he believed to be his trump card.

The silence in the room hung heavy as only the harsh sounds of Reggie’s breathing could be heard. Then Daniel spoke.
 

“My father’s actions were his alone, Winchcomb. Do not think to visit his sins upon me.”
 

“Damn you, Stratton!”

Daniel met Spencer as he ran at him. He jabbed him in the nose, then landed a blow to the stomach. The man crumpled to the floor at his feet. Simon bent over as Bartholomew Winchcomb ran at him. Catching him in the stomach, he flipped him over his shoulder and sent him sailing through the air to land in a heap against the wall. Montague closed his eyes and did the same. Daniel stuck out his foot and sent him toward his brother. They lay together, a whimpering mass of tangled limbs.

Daniel stood before them, watching as they moaned and writhed on the floor at his feet. It wasn’t the fight he had wanted and yet he was conscious of the fact that Eva was in the room and had no wish for her to experience any further bloodshed.

“Now I am going to state some conditions and it would be advisable for you all to listen carefully and heed my every word.” He looked at each of the Winchcomb men as he spoke. “Never speak my wife’s name again in anything other than reverence. If any of you approach her in any way or upset her, then this -” he swept his arm around the room “ - will be heaven compared to the hell I will bring down upon your heads. Do you understand?
 

The brothers nodded. Their father said nothing.

“Huxley will be dealt with as soon as I catch him. Therefore, if you know his location, it would pay you to tell me now.”

Spencer Winchcomb remained mute.

“Do not mistake me, Winchcomb.” Daniel leveled him a look that would have wrought fear into a more sensible man. “I will not hesitate to rid the earth of vermin like you and Huxley, if the need should arise.”

“Y-you cannot th-threaten me,” Spencer blustered. “And Lord Huxley will see you pay for your actions.”

Daniel took a step forward, landing directly on his father-in-law’s hand. “Heed me, Winchcomb.” He held the man’s pain-filled gaze. “This is one fight your particular brand of thuggery will not win and as I told your daughter earlier, I, too, can use a sword with some skill.”

Lifting his foot, Daniel turned and saw Reggie held upright by Simon and Eva. Replacing it, he added, “Your youngest son is now under my protection also. Therefore, what I have said relates to him, too.”

“Bastard! I’ll see you in hell for this day!” Spencer roared, spitting out several vile curses.

Before Daniel could react to his father-in-law’s words, his wife rushed past him and kicked Spencer hard in the leg. “Never speak to him like that again!”
 

Daniel didn’t stop her, just stood waiting to step in if she should need him. Her hands were clenched at her sides and her body rigid with fury. He could imagine the fire that filled her eyes. It humbled him that it had taken an insult to him before her anger overcame her.

“Bitch!” Spencer howled.

“Stand up, father, and it will be my pleasure to plant you a facer,” Eva growled, her fists at the ready. Spencer stayed down.

“You are still hurting, love, and I’m sure he yields.” Daniel wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her out of his way before delivering a few final words to her family.
 

“I have a rather esteemed list of ancestors that would suggest I am, indeed not a bastard, sir. My advice to you is to leave London and take a long break in the country. However, if you choose not to follow my advice, then make very certain that where your daughter and son go, you and your other offspring do not.”

Simon led Reggie while Daniel collected his wife and together, they then left the room.

Daniel kept Reggie upright as the carriage took them home. Overcome, tears slipped silently down the boy’s cheeks. “I…I would l-like to thank you…Daniel.”

“For what?” Daniel questioned as his eyes begin to itch.

“F-for rescuing us.”

Eva started crying silent tears that rained silently down her cheeks. She reached for her brother, pulling him close and the two siblings wept softly while Daniel put his arms around them both. He murmured words to the tops of their heads - small words telling them both that they were safe. Simon swallowed several times and cast his gaze firmly out the window.
 

Wernham sprang into action as they entered the house, sending someone for the doctor.
 

Daniel watched as his wife looked her brother over, checking his face, then prodding his stomach, her face pale with worry. “Careful, love, he is hurting.” He placed an arm around her waist as she leaned toward him.

“I am very glad you thumped my father, Daniel.”
 

“Yes,” he said, unsure how to respond to that remark.

“I hope their pain is tenfold compared to Reggie’s,” she added. “I wish my father had stood up.”

“Fiery little thing aren’t you.” Daniel smiled down at her.

She said nothing further; instead, she put her hand into his pocket and retrieved a neat, white square of linen. Dabbing the small cut on her brother’s lips, she stopped the trickle of blood. She then turned to order the servants to organize a bath, some food and prepare a room.

Daniel stood, quietly supporting his brother in law, more than happy to watch his wife order everyone around. It seemed her worries about fulfilling the role of Duchess were unfounded

“Eva, Wernham will help you with Reggie as I need to talk with Simon before he leaves.”

“Of course, Daniel,” she said, moving to her brother’s side again and helping him toward the stairs.

Daniel watched until they had disappeared from sight. Only then did he face Simon.

“Huxley must be found.”

“Agreed.” Simon looked grim.

“Tomorrow I will start making enquiries of my own amongst his acquaintances.”

“And I shall do the same, my friend.”

“Eva will not be safe until he is found, Simon. I believe he sees her as unfinished business and his arrogance allows him to believe she should be his.”

“And you believe he will stop at nothing to get her?”

Daniel nodded. “I do.”

“Then we will look until he is found and then you and your duchess will be safe to enjoy the love you both now share.”

Daniel gave his friend a steady look before he answered. “Yes, I believe we will.”

Simon clapped a hand on his shoulder and then departed the house, leaving Daniel to wonder how he was to protect his wife from the threat of Huxley, when he had no idea how to find the man or when he would strike next.

“Reggie is sleeping now, Daniel.”

Eva watched her husband open one eye as she walked into his room. He was submerged in a bath, wisps of steam rising from his large body. His fingers held a glass filled with amber liquid and he looked like a sated beast in his lair.

“Excellent. I am sure he will get through the night comfortably with the aid of the laudanum Dr. Munro gave him.”
     

“He told me that Edinburgh is everything he hoped it would be and more and is eager to return as soon as he is able.” Eva felt nervous as she sat on the edge of his bed several feet from the bath. So much had happened between them today. She had told him about her lies, he had confronted her family and suddenly she did not know what to say to him.
 

“And did you find out how your father got him back here?”

He looked relaxed yet Eva could tell he was watching her closely. “He sent a note saying I was gravely ill and was asking for him.”

“Why would Reggie believe I would allow your father to send such a note, or even alert him to any illness you had after the way he treated you?”

“Because I sent him a message telling him of father’s blackmail threats urging him to be careful, as he had also threatened to go to Scotland and harm Reggie.”

“So he was sufficiently concerned after receiving your father’s note to return, even though he knew I would not let anything happen to you.”

Eva nodded. “Reggie knew I had not told you everything. Part of his reason for returning was to force me into doing so.
 

“At least one of you has sense.”

“I have a great deal of sense,” Eva defended herself. “But for so long there were just the two of us looking out for each other, Daniel. You have to understand that it takes time to trust another person.”