Lady Faith Takes a Leap (13 page)

“They haven’t hung anyone at Tyburn for years,” Charity said. “I prefer he rot in Newgate.”

“Hush, girls!” Baxendale handed Vaughn a crystal tumbler of amber liquid. “We must first find this villain and see he never commits such a crime again.”

“Edward is the best person to find him.” Vaughn swirled the liquid in the glass. “I believe he knows Warne, and being in the law, he will know best how to deal with him.” After Vaughn was finished with the scoundrel, that was.

“Excellent.” Baxendale eyes brightened. “Will you notify your brother immediately? We cannot waste time.”

“I planned to visit Edward in a few days’ time, as I’m to inspect a property not far from them in Surrey,” Vaughn said. “But I shall bring my journey forward and leave first thing in the morning.”

“That’s good of you, Winborne,” Baxendale murmured before throwing back the contents of his glass. He suddenly looked what he was, a man getting on in years, burdened with worries, and clearly finding it hard to cope.

“It’s my pleasure, my lord,” Vaughn said. “I’m keen to see Warne apprehended. And now I’d best leave your daughter to the loving bosom of her family.”

Vaughn said his goodbyes and left Faith smiling mistily at him from the sofa. He mounted his horse. He wanted Faith for his wife, more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. The frustration he felt would be a good deal more painful if he wasn’t filled with murderous thoughts of Warne. As he rode down the Baxendale gravel drive, he thought of the gratitude in her parents’ eyes and allowed himself a brief moment when he could believe they would be together.

When Vaughn arrived home, he sought out Chaloner. His brother was a good deal shocked by the news. “Good God, is Faith all right? To be abducted outside your home. No woman is safe anymore. What is the world coming to?” he added with a worried frown.

Chaloner would now be an even worse worrier. All the women in the household would have their activities severely curtailed. It would not sit well with them, he thought with a grim smile, foreseeing troubled times ahead.

“Oh by the way, a missive has arrived for you. It’s in my study.”

Vaughn entered the study and picked up the letter. He slit it open to find a hastily scrawled message from Rosamond.

Dear Vaughn.
I wanted to thank you for your generous assistance. Dr. Fellowes and I are most grateful, but as his relative has decided not to die, and has made a miraculous recovery, Mama will never agree to our marriage. William must take up his position in London at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. I turned twenty-one today, fortuitously, and we are to elope tonight. I know I promised to wait and tell Mama, but I’m sure you see that I have no alternative. I cannot let William go alone. With affection, Rosamond.

With a roar of disgust, Vaughn threw the paper onto Chaloner’s desk. Damn Rosamond, she’d made him a party to her deceitfulness. Her poor mother would be bereft. He must at least try to reason with them.

Chaloner came into the room. “What is it?”

Vaughn leaned back against the desk. He’d have to tell his brother before he took off after the lovers. “I’ve done something I now regret.”

When he explained the full extent of his involvement, disappointment sparked in Chaloner’s eyes. Vaughn knew what that look meant. He wasn’t too fond of himself at this moment, either.

“I thought you’d settled down, Vaughn.” Chaloner threw himself into his chair, “that you could be relied on to make sensible decisions.”

“Lady Rosamond asked for my help, Chaloner,” Vaughn said, knowing it sounded lame. “I felt I should give it. I can’t argue with you now. I’m off to sort it out, before they elope.”

“A silly young woman asks you to be duplicitous and fool her mother, and you agree?” He shook his head. “And I was about to release a good deal of money into your hands.”

“And I thought you’d learned a thing or two about being human and making mistakes,” Vaughn snapped. He stalked out the door, leaving his brother to his virtuous thoughts. Chaloner should have been the vicar, not their brother, Bart. He headed back to the stables for a fresh horse. His enthusiasm at owning a stud farm turned sour in his mouth. Night was already falling as he rode out the Brandreth Park gates and down the lane. There was going to be a full moon at least, to light his way. However, a full moon was also providential for Rosamond. He hoped to catch the lovers and talk sense into them before they left. Surely, there was a reasonable way around this. If he was not too late?

Why had he aided and abetted Rosamond? He began to question what lay behind his impulsive act. With him in attendance, she had the opportunity to sneak away and meet her lover on several occasions. He supposed it was because he’d always hated society’s strictures. Not only had they affected his life but also others he cared about.

Faith.
His Faith. Vaughn would never want anyone else. She’d been so frightened and defenseless, it had taken all his strength not to enfold her in his arms, kiss her soundly, and keep her there. He had no claim on her. Should he have kissed her when at her most vulnerable, he would merely be another scoundrel for her to mistrust. Moreover, he would fail them all if this business with Rosamond delayed his trip to Surrey. He sighed. Inspecting the farm would be a fruitless exercise if Chaloner changed his mind about granting his inheritance.

Vaughn rode through the gates and up to the front door of the brick house. A groom appeared from the direction of the stables. Vaughn dismounted, threw the reins to him, and climbed the steps to the front door. The Montrose’s butler answered his rap on the heavy bronze knocker.

“Lord Vaughn Winborne to see Lady Rosamond.”

“She is away from home,” the butler said.

“Lady Montrose then,” Vaughn said grimly.

He was shown into the drawing room where Lady Montrose slumped on the sofa with a glass of sherry in her hand. A crumpled note lay on the side table.

“Lord Vaughn,” she said faintly. “If you have come to see Rosamond, I am afraid she…she….” She gulped and stared at him owlishly.

Vaughn strode across the room. “Where is your daughter, Lady Montrose?”

“Shameful. My daughter has…eloped with Dr. Fellowes, some hours ago.”

“Is that Rosamond’s note?” Vaughn pointed at the note at her elbow. “May I read it?”

She nodded slowly. “You knew about this?”

Vaughn smoothed out the missive and scanned it. “Rosamond confided in me that she loved Dr. Fellowes,” he said. “But she promised me she wouldn’t elope.” The note was brief. Rosamond was deeply sorry to upset her mother, but she and Fellowes planned to marry and live in London.

Tears flooded Lady Montrose’s eyes. “I knew she had feelings for him. That’s something a girl can’t keep from her mother. I hoped that you would make her forget him.”

“Is he a good man?”

She shrugged. “I believe so. He’s a fine doctor, but that is irrelevant.”

“Rosamond loves him, Lady Montrose. She views the wife of a London surgeon to be a useful life, one that she would enjoy embracing.”

Lady Montrose coiled her shaking fingers through her necklace. “But Rosamond’s father was a Lord of the Realm. Their daughters don’t marry doctors.”

“It appears your daughter has decided that they do.”

She harrumphed and rubbed her arms. “I shall be a lonely old woman then.”

Vaughn suffered a rush of pity for her. He couldn’t leave things as they stood. “They will require a marriage license. It might be days before they can marry. I will go after them if you wish, but I won’t bring her back against her will, Lady Montrose. In fact, it would be better if you came with me. If you feel up to the trip to London, please allow me to escort you. We’ll find them, and you can make amends with your daughter. If you embrace her decision, I feel sure she will include you in her future.”

“I was horrid to her.” She dabbed her reddened nose with her handkerchief. “I tried to do what her father would expect. I doubt she’ll forgive me.”

“Why don’t we try at least?”

She stared at him. “You would do that for me, my lord?”

“I feel that I should, Lady Montrose.”

She rose to her feet. “You are very good. That silly girl, does she have scales on her eyes?”

“She’s determined, my lady.” Vaughn smiled. “Perhaps she takes after her mother?”

Lady Montrose’s eyes brightened. She seized the bell and rang it vigorously. “I’ll have a bag packed.”

“Then I’ll do likewise. We shall need to leave immediately.”

She gave a decisive nod. “We’ll go in my carriage with my two footmen riding shotgun, should we face trouble on the road.”

Vaughn could see where Rosamond got her sense of adventure. He left the house, rubbing the nape of his neck. He wouldn’t get to Edward in Surrey for the best part of a week, and the Baxendales would believe he’d let them down. Would Faith think badly of him? He couldn’t dwell on it now. Jumping on his horse, he seized the reins and nudged it into a gallop. Before he left, he would dash off a letter to Edward in the hope he would act upon it. There was nothing more he could do.

****

Faith rubbed her eyes. A cool autumn sun shone through her window. The night before, she’d fallen asleep before the chickens. Warne’s sneering face appeared constantly in her mind’s eye as she relived the frightening episode. Her heart plummeted. What had her life become? Father would say that this proved she needed a man to care for her, a suitable man of his choosing. When she put her foot to the floor, pain shot up her leg. She examined her injured ankle. At least the swelling had gone down, and it didn’t hurt nearly as much as the pain in her chest. Rising, she slipped into her dressing gown. Shoulders slumping, she limped downstairs to face her parents. She’d missed dinner but wasn’t a bit hungry.

The sun brightened the breakfast room where the whole family sat around the table.

“Faith!” Charity and Mercy cried in unison.

“Are you feeling better?” Her mother rushed to peer into her face.

“Are you well, daughter?” Father drew back his chair and stood with an odd expression, a mix of alarm and relief.

At their obvious concern, Faith felt at a loss for words. “Much better thank you. It must have been the medicine. I’ve never slept for so long.”

“I’ll get your eggs.” Mercy darted to the sideboard. “Would you like bacon?”

“No thanks, Mercy.”

Their dog, Wolf, bumped Mercy’s leg and stared with a fixed, hopeful expression. Mercy slipped him a piece of bacon, and Wolfe chewed noisily with his strong jaws.

“I saw that,” their father said, but his reproof was surprisingly mild.

“I must say, Lord Vaughn proved himself to be a very reliable gentleman,” her mother said.

Faith stared at her parents in surprise. Had pixies spread dust over them during the night? “Vaughn is precisely that, Mama. I have been at pains to tell you.”

“Well, he did act with great presence of mind,” her father admitted before forking eggs into his mouth. “And he is going to see Edward today, so we must rest assured this alarming matter will soon be dealt with.”

After breakfast, her mother removed the bandage and examined Faith’s ankle. “It’s only a slight strain, thankfully,” she said, binding it again. “Thank heavens Vaughn found you. I can’t bear the thought of what might have happened.”

“Vaughn is a good man, Mama.”

Her mother packed away her bandages and scissors into a basket. “He appears to have matured. An honorable man, I saw that for the first time yesterday.”

“I’ve been aware he had these qualities for a long time.”

“And so you have. I would not be sorry if you were to marry him. He seems very fond of you. It’s such a pity that he has set his cap at Lady Rosamond.”

Faith shrank down on the sofa with a long exhale. Was it true?

Two days after Vaughn had left Highland Manor with a promise to travel to Surrey, a note arrived from Honor.

They were at luncheon. Faith’s father took the letter from the footman and ripped it open at the table. “Honor and Edward are coming to visit. They arrive tomorrow with good news.”

“Good news?” Lady Baxendale gazed at her husband. “Is there no mention of Vaughn and Edward going to London to deal with Mr. Warne?”

“None at all,” he said with a frown.

Faith’s fingers tightened around her glass. “I expect Vaughn didn’t arrive until after they sent this letter.”

The next day, Faith’s thoughts were proved wrong when Honor and Edward arrived.

“I haven’t seen or heard from my brother,” Edward said, his brow furrowed after the alarming situation had been explained to him. “I’ll ride over to Brandreth Park and see him now. We can travel to London together. I know where Warne lives, but it’s better to let the law deal with the scoundrel.”

“Vaughn will run Warne through,” Mercy said in a ruthless tone.

“Oh, he can’t do that! He might be hurt,” Faith cried.

“I won’t let Vaughn get into a duel, Faith,” Edward said, his thoughtful gaze resting on her.

“What about this splendid news you bring?” Lady Baxendale asked impatiently. “Are we to hear it?”

Honor gave a faint smile from where she sat close to Faith on the sofa. “I am with child, Mama.”

“I did hope…. Oh, my dear!” She rushed to kiss Honor as the family gathered around. “Are you well? You do look it I must say. You’re positively glowing.”

“I am well, Mama. But my glowing is more glowering with anger for poor Faith.” Honor glanced at her stepfather, a speculative look in her eye. “Are you pleased, Father? Your first grandchild.”

“I am, for you, Honor, and you, of course, Edward,” he said soberly. A high color stole into his face, and he thrust his chest out. “Excellent news.”

Edward went to the stables to saddle a horse and ride over to Brandreth Park, and her father returned to his study. Honor squeezed Faith’s hand. “I tremble to think how frightening that business with Mr. Warne must have been. Call it a presentiment, but I did have an awful feeling about that man when we met him in Cornwall.”

“I was so lucky that Vaughn found me.”