Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

“ A re you ready?” Nathan asked, squeezing Rosalie’s hand as they stood in front of the large, thick wooden door, waiting for it to open and let them in.

“I’m ready,” she whispered. She wasn’t looking at him, but after a moment, she squeezed his hand back.

“We can always leave if you aren’t sure,” he said although he knew what her answer would be.

“No.” She shook her head. “I need to do this. For me.”

The door opened, and one of the guards came out and beckoned them to follow him. “Your Graces, Jebediah Crampton is inside now. He is waiting for you.”

Nathan looked at Rosalie, and she gave him a determined grimace. Visiting Jebediah Crampton in prison had seemed like a good idea to Nathan when he had first suggested it to Rosalie after their horseback riding lesson. She had needed closure, and he had thought this was the way to get it. But now that they were here in the prison that housed the former Viscount, he had his misgivings.

For one thing, it was a creepy place with low ceilings, doors padlocked shut, and bars on all the windows. For another, now that they were here, Nathan wasn’t sure how helpful it would really be for Rosalie to speak to the man who had tormented her all her life. If he’d been able to confront his father, he wasn’t sure he would want to. What could he say to his father that would make him feel better? What could his father possibly say to him that would make up for everything that had happened?

Nothing. The truth was, sometimes it was better to just move on.

“Let’s go in,” Rosalie said, and Nathan nodded.

They walked past the guard into the room where Jebediah Crampton, the former Lord Carfield, sat chained to a chair, a small table in front of him.

There were two empty chairs across the table, and Rosalie sat down in one of these. Nathan remained standing.

“Father,” Rosalie murmured. She was staring at her father, a sad but guarded look on her face.

Jebediah Crampton, meanwhile, was smiling. It was a lazy, contemptuous smile, and it made the hairs on the back of Nathan’s neck stand up. The former Viscount looked older than the last time they’d met, but it had been several years, and he had been in prison, so Nathan wasn’t surprised. His hair had gone fully gray, his face was lined, and his eyes and cheeks sunken. His eyes, however, were still as bright and cunning as they always had been, and despite his aging, Nathan was still shocked to see how much he looked like Rosalie’s older sister, Violet.

“Rosalie,” Jebediah said, shaking his head. “So, you have come at last like I knew you would.”

“You knew I would come?” she asked, and Nathan rolled his eyes.

“He didn’t know,” he snapped. “He’s just trying to establish power over you.”

Jebediah laughed. “The Beast of Carramere isn’t correct about that, I’m afraid. I have been expecting you, daughter. Iris and Violet have both said their pieces to me. And now it is your turn. I understand how these things are. Women need closure .”

Nathan bristled, but Rosalie didn’t seem perturbed by her father’s attempts to goad her.

“I wanted to ask you something,” she plowed ahead, undeterred.

“Oh?” Jebediah raised an eyebrow. “And what might that be?”

“Well…” Rosalie bit her lip. “First, I wanted to check if you are being treated well here in prison.”

Jebediah stared at her for a moment then he burst into peals of laughter. Nathan felt his heart crack in two.

She is so angry with this man, and yet, her first thought is for his comfort and safety.

She was too good for her father, and it infuriated him that this man had been able to hurt her so much and for so long.

“You’re asking if I’m being treated well?” Jebediah asked, between howls of laughter. “In prison? Oh, I’m being treated like the king! Like the bloody king himself!”

Rosalie blushed, and Nathan’s hands tightened into fists.

“Don’t make fun of her just because she is concerned for you,” he snarled. Jebediah stopped laughing and gave Nathan a once-over.

“So, the Beast has found a maiden to protect.” He shook his head. “I guess I should be flattered that another of my daughters has found a man so similar to me to marry.”

“We are nothing alike!” Nathan shouted. His voice reverberated around the room, and he saw Rosalie flinch.

Calm yourself, man, he snapped at himself. Before you prove Crampton right.

“We shall see,” Jebediah sneered. He turned back to his daughter.

“Now that you are assured of my well-being, ask the question you came here to ask, and then get out. I’ve had enough of my time wasted by my sniveling, ungrateful daughters.”

Rosalie’s cheeks flushed, and she lowered her eyes.

“I just wanted to know why you did it,” she whispered. “Why would you harm those closest to you? Why would you cheat your friends, run criminal operations, and torment your daughters? Why, Father?” She looked up, her eyes blazing, and met his gaze. “I just need to know why.”

Jebediah leaned back in his chair and surveyed Rosalie for a long moment.

“Do you really not know?” he asked at last. He sounded incredulous. “All those books of yours you read, and they haven’t taught you anything about the world, have they?”

“Don’t speak to her like that,” Nathan warned, but Jebediah barely spared him a glance.

“I assumed that, as a reader, you would understand the complexity of human beings,” Jebediah said. “The way we desire power and money, our greed and our selfishness. But perhaps you have been reading the wrong books: you’ve stuck to romantic novels, so you still think the world is made up of spirited heroines and brooding heroes. But it’s not, Rosalie. It’s time for you to grow up and realize that there is darkness in humanity. We are not all good, selfless creatures, who would do anything for love. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you will find yourself not let down by the people closest to you.” His eyes flickered to Nathan. “Because believe me, they will disappoint you.”

Rosalie said nothing for a long time. She sat at the table, her hands folded, staring at her father with a neutral expression.

At last, she spoke. “So, you’re saying you did all that because… you’re greedy and selfish?”

Jebediah shrugged. “I’m saying I did all that because I’m no different from anyone else. We all have these dark desires. I was just more honest with myself about what I wanted and how I could achieve it.”

Rosalie nodded. “Well, thank you for that.” She stood up and turned to Nathan.

“I’m ready to go.”

“Already?” He was a little surprised. He had expected more of a back-and-forth between her and her father. But Rosalie looked exhausted. Her eyes were heavy and dropping; it must have taken a lot out of her to meet with Jebediah. “Of course,” he murmured. “We can go.”

He knocked on the door, and the guard opened it.

“We’re ready to go,” he said, and the guard nodded.

“I’ll escort you out.

In the doorway, Rosalie paused and turned back to her father. His eyes were narrowed, as if he didn’t quite believe she would leave so quickly.

“Goodbye, Father,” she said, and although she sounded tired, she also sounded determined. “This is the last time we will meet.”

She then turned and followed Nathan out the door.

He glanced at her as they walked back through the prison toward the exit, but her face was placid.

“How do you feel?” he asked quietly, so the guard wouldn’t hear.

“I’m all right, actually.” She looked at him. “That story you told about your mother, about how she didn’t eat because of her father’s bullying, I understood that. I was the same way. My father bullied me by starving me. I was more of a free spirit than my sisters, so I was always getting into trouble. He tried to threaten me with marriage like he did my sisters, but it didn’t scare me, so he denied me food instead. That’s why it’s hard for me to eat, even now.”

Nathan felt the rage rush through him as strong and fast as a storm. He had to try and quell some of it before responding so that he didn’t scare her.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

She smiled slightly. “I want you to know me.”

He nodded; they were the same words he’d said to her. Of course, he had not been entirely truthful, but it still meant the world to him.

“Hang on—I forgot my cane.” He sighed and shook his head. “Wait here. I’ll go back.”

“But—”

“I’ll be right back.”

Then he was hurrying away down the corridor, back the way they’d come. His heart was thundering in his chest. He knew that he shouldn’t be doing this, but there was something he needed to settle with Jebediah Crampton.

He arrived back outside the room where they’d seen Jebediah to find another guard standing outside.

“Is Crampton in there?” Nathan asked, gesturing at the room.

The guard looked surprised. “Yes… I was just waiting for the other guard to bring him back to his cell.”

“I’d like a moment with him,” Nathan said. “Alone.”

His voice came out as a snarl, and he was sure the guard understood him. His eyes went wide, and he began to stammer.

“B-but, I c-can’t, Your Grace, it isn’t allowed?—”

“I have been working with Scotland Yard for years,” Nathan said, using his full height to tower over the man. “You know me; you’ve seen me here before. I require this one favor after all the work I’ve done to help you bring in criminals.”

The guard began to sweat. “But I can’t?—”

“Here.” Nathan reached into his pocket and pulled out his coin purse. He tossed coins at the guard. “For your silence.”

The guard stared in wonder at the coins then he nodded. “Yes, Your Grace, whatever you want.”

He quickly unlocked the door, and Nathan slipped inside.

Jebediah Crampton looked up. He was still chained to the chair, and his eyes narrowed again when he saw Nathan.

“Back already?” Jebediah sneered. “What? Did Rosalie have another question about why people feel anger?”

“No, and I hope she remains in ignorance about that for the rest of her life. If I have my way, she will never feel anger, sadness, doubt, or fear ever again.”

Jebediah snorted. “Good luck with that. But a man like you, Your Grace… invites trouble. You’re naive if you think it won’t affect your wife.”

“I became the Beast of Carramere to be able to protect those I love,” Nathan snarled. “She will never know another unhappy day in her life, now that she has me. But there is something I need to say to you first.” He drew himself up to his full height. “You tried to ruin that girl. You tried to break her. But you failed. She is good and kind and generous, despite your best efforts to bring her up otherwise. Despite you trying to starve her.”

Jebediah’s snide smile slipped. “Oh, was she complaining about the restrictions I put on her food? Trust me, it was for her own good. You should be thanking me, Your Grace. I slimmed her down, got her nice and docile for a husband like you.”

Nathan couldn’t hear another word of this. He leaned forward so that his face was level with Jebediah’s. “This is for what you did to her.”

And he hit Jebediah as hard as he could.

The former Viscount let out a grunt of pain and fell sideways; he was prevented from hitting the ground by the chains that kept him tied upright. When he looked up at Nathan, his face was red and there was a cut on his cheek that was beginning to bleed.

“You see?” Jebediah said, and his eyes glittered. “She did marry someone just like me.”

Nathan turned without a word, slamming the door behind him, but the echo of it wasn’t nearly as persistent as Jebediah’s words.