True Love's Deception (book 3) (The Fielding Brothers Saga) (35 page)

The three others chuckled, making the
drunk
slam his cup on the table. “I couldn’t do anything to stop him, I tell
ya
.”

The whiskered man next to the drunk shook his head. “It surprises me how long you had been duping the
richy
earl. Why didn’t the man catch on to your thievery?”

The drunk brought the cup to his mouth and tossed back the liquid. It dribbled disgustingly down his chin. He didn’t even wipe it away when he set the cup back on the table.

“I had kept the man
believin
’ in me. He paid well.” He shook his head. “He let me go after seventeen years, curse him! And he threatened he’d warn his friends about me.”

The others roared with laughter. The drunk shoved away from the table and stood, knocking his chair over in the process. Most of the people in the room laughed over the man’s plight.

The tall, drunk turned and stumbled toward the door. Dressed
better
than the others here, Andrew narrowed his gaze on him. Something familiar struck a bad chord with Andrew, and he studied him harder.

When the man came closer to Andrew and he could see him fully, Andrew blinked in disbelieve.
Isn’t he dead?
Andrew shook his head to clear out the confusion. It couldn’t be. But the more he watched the man, his gangly step and mussed hair was unmistakable.

Uncle Thomas?

Andrew now knew this man was not his uncle, but for several years Andrew had given this thief the title. Many nights Andrew hid from the drunken man, afraid of getting beaten. His grandfather could not save him...or didn’t want to.

One night while Thomas had beaten Andrew until bruised and bloody, Thomas passed out in the alleyway. In Andrew’s weakened condition, he took Thomas’ knife and stabbed him in the chest. Thomas had never returned after that, and Andrew had thought he’d killed him.

Apparently not.

Andrew bunched his hands into fists, hoping for the moment to lay the drunk low. He frowned. He couldn’t do that. Not now, and not while Thomas was in this condition.

Thomas met Andrew’s gaze and his eyes widened. The other man pointed a shaky finger at him.

“Look what we ‘
ave
‘ere.” Thomas belched. “The very reason I was relieved of my position.”

No longer did the older man wear rags. He dressed in the finery of those men of wealth. Had the thief taken enough money to live this way?

“I believe I am seeing a ghost,” Andrew mumbled.

Thomas shook his head and dropped to the empty chair across from Andrew. “Ye tried to kill me. Ye almost did.”

“Apparently I didn’t try hard enough.”

Thomas lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “Ye have killed me now, boy.”

“Why do you say that?”

“No longer can I make money from your
kidnappin
’.”

“What?” Andrew raised his voice. “You were making money from my kidnapping?” He paused, his mind scrambling for answers. “Did...you kidnap me?”

Thomas nodded. “I had a plan. It worked until you decided to come back to England.” He waved his hand through the air. “Henry didn’t like it and wanted to give
ye
back to
yer
family. He’d grown soft on
ye
. But I wouldn’t have him foiling my schemes.” He grinned. “So I killed him in his sleep.”

Anger pumped through Andrew and his hands itched to wrap around the drunk’s neck and squeeze until there was no life left.

“May I ask how you were getting money from my kidnapping?”

Thomas chuckled, leaned back in his chair and linked his fingers over his chest. “I was working with
yer
father, I was. Told him I could help him find his
missin
’ son. He paid me quite nicely. When I thought he would stop
givin
’ me money, I paid someone to pretend to be his son, just so
yer
father would keep his trust in me.” He frowned. “Then ye came back. I tried to scare
ye
off, but ye ignored my threatening letters.”

Andrew widened his eyes. “Those came from
you
?”

“Indeed they did.” Thomas scowled. “Now
ye’ve
cost me my
livin
’. I don’t know what I’m
gonna
do.”

Andrew seethed. He leaned forward and narrowed his anger toward the drunken thief. “I’ll tell you what you can do. You can run like the devil was on your heels. I will have you put in prison for your crimes. You can run, but I will hire men to hunt you down. You
will
pay for all you have done, and my father!” His chest heaved with anger and his hands begged to plow through the other man’s face. But Andrew would be the bigger man. He would act like a gentleman.

Thomas’ eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Ye wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.” Andrew arched his brow. “I’ll give you a chance to run, but trust me, I will hunt you down and put you away where you belong.”

The drunk scrambled out of his chair, fell to the floor,
then
jumped to his feet in a hurry. As his face lost color, he quickened his step and ran out of the inn. Everyone in the room laughed, except Andrew. Elation and victory grew in his chest. He had finally won the battle with his past sins.

When his meal arrived he was able to eat peacefully. Nobody bothered him, especially the barmaid. And he let his mind think about how he would win back his wife.

With a full stomach, he left the table and made his way up the rickety stairs toward his room. Ahead of him were two men talking with panic-stricken voices as they moved their hand in wide gestures.

“The Mistress is
gonna
skin us alive when we tell her we’ve been robbed.”

This grabbed Andrew’s attention. Had Thomas been up to his old tricks again?

The other man shook his head. “I’m not
gonna
tell her. She’s been ornery as a bear. She’ll bite my head off.”

“But one of us needs to tell her we ‘
ave
no money for
lodgin
’.”

The first man held up his hands. “It won’t be me
a’tellin
’ her. Nobody can pay me enough for that.”

Andrew held in a laugh.
The poor men.
He knew firsthand how it felt to work for a cross woman. Juliana had been like that several times.

“Pardon me,” Andrew cut into their conversation. “But I couldn’t help hearing your predicament.” When both men looked at him, he smiled. “I wonder if I could help you out in any way. I know how it is to live with a vexed woman.”

The first man nodded. “You can help us out by
tellin
’ our Mistress we have been robbed and we cannot pay for our stay at the inn.”

Andrew chuckled. “I’ll do one better.” He dug through his pocket and pulled out his coin purse. “Let me pay for the stay myself.”

“
Whot
?”
The man’s eyes widened. “That’s kind of ye, sir, but ye don’t know us.”

“I know,” Andrew said with a nod, “but I feel very generous this evening.” He handed them the money. “Please take this and pay for your stay.”

Both men gasped and took the money. Gratitude glistened in their eyes, which confirmed to Andrew he had done the right thing.

“Thank ye kindly, sir. This will pay for the night, and hopefully get us to where we need to travel tomorrow.”

“Are you heading to Scotland? I would happily give you and your mistress a ride.”

“No, sir.
We are heading to London.”

“Ah, then I suppose we will have to part ways now. It has been a pleasure helping you.”

Both men shook Andrew’s hand. “It’s been a pleasure
knowin
’ such a kind man,” the second man said.

Andrew left and walked into his room, his heart full of promise. So far everything had been working out for the best. He only hoped things would continue when he arrived in Scotland.

Chapter Nineteen

Juliana pushed off her bed and growled as she paced the floor. Nothing had been going right since she returned to Scotland. The only good thing about the trip was the triumph she felt when paying off
Grandmama’s
debtors and the look on their pathetic faces when she shoved the money at them.

Indeed, it had been a sweet moment.

Then it ended. Bad fortune seemed to have hit her at every turn. Not long after she had paid the debtors, Pearl caught some kind of lung ailment and had coughed for weeks. Last week, Wilbur broke his leg out by the stables.

And Juliana had just discovered she was pregnant.

Although, she wouldn’t exactly call carrying Andrew’s child a bad omen.
Just the opposite, in fact.
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, wanting to see him, talk to him, and hold him in her arms. She wanted to laugh with him and enjoy his company. Things were not the same with him gone.

There was only one conclusion. She had to go back to Andrew and tell him she would live with him no matter where it was...as long as he would never leave her. It didn’t matter anymore that her sister had taken advantage of him while he was intoxicated. It wasn’t Andrew’s fault in the least. And Juliana loved him more when he decided to stay with his family. It thrilled her that he had finally found his past.

Now she knew she had to be with him regardless. They could live in the stable for all she cared. She needed him by her side as she raised their child.

When a knock came upon her bedroom door, she jerked to a stop. She hadn’t approved of the inn Wilbur’s two cousins had taken her to, but it was someplace to stay the night. She threatened them that if they allowed anyone to disturb her, she would have their heads on a platter.

Cursing under her breath, she marched to the door and yanked it open. James stood across from her, wringing his hat in his hands. Inwardly she groaned. What now?

“Umm...Miss Juliana?
I’m sorry to bother
ye
...”

“What is it, James?” she snapped.

“Well,
me
and Paul noticed that the coach wheel had come loose, so while we was down
fixin
’ it, two blokes robbed us blind.”

She let out another groan and rubbed her forehead. Why didn’t she just stay in London? None of this would be happening now and she would be so much happier.

“But don’t ye worry
none
. A nice chap happened by and gave us some money that will pay for our night’s stay. There’s even enough to fix the wheel.”

She blinked, confused over what she just heard. “What did you say? Someone gave us money?”

“Aye, Miss.”

She narrowed her gaze. “What does he want for his generosity?”

“
Nothin
’.
He just gave us the money, wished us luck on our journey, and left.
Says he’s
goin
’ to Scotland in the
mornin
’.”

“Well, I’ll be.” She nibbled on her bottom lip in deep thought. Nobody did things like that, especially in places like this. And after all the horrid things that had happened to her, this man was an angel sent from heaven.

“Is this person staying here?”