Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

T he sound of a carriage stopping outside Samuel’s home immediately caught his attention, for, until then, the house had been completely silent as he stared at the painting on the wall opposite him. That sound was followed by a pounding on the door, which startled him as he did not think that anyone would come to call, given the state of both his house after the break-in and his name.

“I must speak to His Grace at once,” Samuel heard a familiar voice, and his brow furrowed.

“Is that Colborne?” he mumbled to himself as he rose from his seat and proceeded out of the drawing room.

As Samuel stepped into the hallway, he was rather shocked to see that it was, indeed, Lord Timothy at his door. He was even more shocked to see Lady Lillian by her brother’s side.

The butler turned to Samuel with an apologetic expression on his face.

“My apologies, Your Grace. They are rather insistent on speaking with you.”

“That is quite alright. Thank you.”

Lord Timothy and Lady Lillian stepped into his home and, as Billings closed the door after them, Samuel led them to the drawing room where he had been quietly sitting, pondering the implications of his decision to leave London and return to Cornwall. He simply wished to put this entire trip in the past and never think of it again.

Of course, Lady Lillian constantly consumed his thoughts. Her lovely face and golden hair, her laugh, and the ease which she allowed him to feel. She was etched into his heart, and the memory of her would haunt him for the rest of his life - a small price to pay to ensure her safety.

Samuel had certainly been brought to point non plus, as he was unwilling to go but unable to stay. But he had no other option. It simply had to be done.

The moment he saw her at his door, everything suddenly changed. What reason could there be that Lord Timothy and Lady Lillian were at his home and so very determined to speak with him? As the trio entered the drawing room, Samuel nodded at the butler, who swiftly shut the drawing room doors, allowing for privacy.

“Apologies for the late hour, Yarmouth.”

“We did not mean to inconvenience Your Grace,” Lady Lillian spoke softly. “But it is a matter of grave importance.”

“It is alright, Lady Lillian. Although I must admit, it is lovely to see you, despite the circumstances.”

Lady Lillian smiled at him, and her cheeks colored ever so slightly.

Lord Timothy cleared his throat, and Samuel stepped back, not wishing to overstep.

“What is so important that you rushed here at this time of the night?”

“We now know the identity of the man of who is intent on ruining both our reputations, Your Grace.”

“You do?” Samuel gasped. “Who is it?”

“It is Lord Bertram.”

Samuel could not quite believe his ears, even though he’d had the same suspicion ever since he and Lord Timothy had spoken of the man before dinner.

“Are you certain?”

“Indeed. Show him, Lillian.”

Samuel gazed at Lady Lillian and tilted his head, intrigued. She approached him and retrieved two papers from her coat pocket.

“Here is the letter that he wrote to me, threatening to ruin me if I were to be seen with Your Grace.” Samuel nodded, as he had seen the letter before. “And here is a note which I found in a bouquet in our hallway. It was tucked into flowers that Lord Bertram had sent to our home.,”

Samuel hesitated for a moment as he gazed into Lady Lillian’s bright eyes, and his world stopped turning at that moment. She was still the most beautiful woman to Samuel, and it was rather difficult to tear his gaze away from her.

Lord Timothy cleared his throat once more, and Samuel lowered his gaze, focusing on the note in his hand. He ignored the words written by Lord Bertram and instead focused on the curves and shapes of the letters. He studied them carefully, and his brow furrowed deeply. It was, indeed, the same penmanship - which confirmed that Lord Bertram was the culprit.

“You are correct, Lady Lillian. The same person did, indeed, write these two notes. Lord Bertram.”

Lord Timothy’s shoulders tensed.

“Why would Lord Bertram carry such anger towards you, Yarmouth?”

Samuel’s expression grew pensive, and he felt ashamed of himself.

“It is my own doing.”

“What does Your Grace mean?” Lady Lillian asked with concern.

Samuel turned to Lady Lillian and sighed.

“At Oxford, Lord Bertram was Lord William Beaumont. That was long before he had received the title of Marquess of Bertram after his father’s, and eldest brother’s, passing. He was not very well-known, and neither Lord Timothy nor I had any close association with him. We passed one another perhaps once or twice during our time in Oxford, and I never paid him much attention, if any.”

“That is true. Why would he wish to ruin your reputation? You did nothing to him.”

Samuel shifted his weight sheepishly and cleared his throat nervously.

“That is not entirely true.”

“What do you mean?” Lord Timothy inquired.

Samuel drew in a deep breath and glanced briefly at Lady Lillian.

“Do you recall the rumor about Lady Bertram being involved in a scandal with a footman?”

“Indeed. It insinuated that the late Lord Bertram was not Lord William’s father. That rumor spread like wildfire through the university.”

“I began that rumor.”

“What?” Lord Timothy gasped.

“Why on Earth did you do such a thing?” Lady Lillian asked.

“I was young and immature, and very unwise - I did not imagine that it would spread so quickly, or spread at all, given the circumstance in which it was created. It was not true, in fact, or shall I say, that we know of,” Samuel sighed, angered by his own actions of the past. “I was in a tavern with a number of the other students, and someone suggested that we each invent a scandalous rumor, just to see what people might believe. We were in our cups, and thought the idea funny at the time. When it came my turn, I just picked the first Lady’s name which came to my drink addled mind, and used that in my story of a woman having relations with a footman, and that resulting in one of her children being rumored to have come of the liaison. Someone else in the tavern must have overheard our conversations, for soon the rumor took on a life of its own, and spread about the town, as did the things invented by a couple of the others who were with me. It was only much later that I realized that the name I had picked randomly was Lord William’s mother. I then apologized to him as I had not truly meant any harm, but clearly, he did not accept that apology. The rumor died away, like all rumors eventually do, but it took more than a year to do so.”

“He has been carrying that grudge all this time?” Lord Timothy asked.

“It would seem that way,” Samuel nodded. “He was, after all, shunned from all social activities. People whispered behind his back, some even within earshot of him. I felt very guilty about it at the time, and tried to start a counter rumor, that the first one wasn’t true – but it simply didn’t spread.”

“That must have been terrible for him.”

Lord Timothy narrowed his eyes at Lady Lillian.

“Do not tell me that you feel sympathy for the man, sister.”

“It is quite alright if she does, Colborne. I did a terrible thing.”

“But you apologized for it, sincerely. That does not mean that he should do this to you,” Lord Timothy stated.

“Clearly, His Grace’s apology did not mean much to the man. He carried that anger inside him for years, and it had to find its way to the surface eventually. What better way for him to release it than for him to ruin the reputation of the man who ruined his, and made him an outcast.”

Samuel stared at Lady Lillian, and despite the situation, he could not help himself from smiling. He was in awe of her. Lady Lillian had been the key to solving this mystery.

“But why now?” Lord Timothy inquired.

“I can answer that,” Lady Lillian replied proudly. “It was Lord Bertram’s plan to lure Your Grace to London, to allow a public shunning by the ton . Lord Bertram knew that you would not allow anyone to sully the great Fletcher name, and that you would stop at nothing to restore your reputation. As a member of the ton , he could go very much unnoticed. What he did not anticipate was that you and I would begin spending time together, due to your ever-looming presence in our lives.”

Samuel grinned as Lady Lillian flashed him a sweet smile.

“Of course, this was not going according to plan for Lord Bertram, and he certainly did not wish me to get involved with Your Grace, which was why he sent me that threatening letter, urging me to stay as far away from you as possible. And if I did not, my reputation would be next. That would have worked in his favor as well. Who would want to marry a young woman with a ruined reputation? Lord Bertram, of course.”

“What a sly man,” Lord Timothy muttered. “Yet another reason why he is not right for you, sister.”

Lady Lillian rolled her eyes and clasped her hands together.

“Lord Bertram was well aware of our family’s wealth, influence, and reputation, hence the threatening letter. He knew that I would not allow myself to be ruined, thus ensuring that I would not spend any more time with Your Grace. All was going according to his plan until the Duke and I were spotted together, somehow, by Lord Bertram. Perhaps he walked by or hid in the shadows himself, but he saw us, which gave him the perfect opportunity to break into your house, while he knew that you were elsewhere. What I do not entirely understand is what he aimed to achieve by doing so. Was anything stolen? Do you think that he was looking for something in particular? Or perhaps he was just venting his anger upon you in acts of destruction?”

“The maid’s description of the person they saw ransacking the study matches Lord Bertram perfectly – I should have realized immediately that they said the man had a crooked eyebrow. But I agree that I do not understand the reason for that action – I am not aware of anything having been stolen, but we are still cleaning up the mess he created, so perhaps…”

“We must confront him,” Lady Lillian announced and walked to the drawing-room door with determination.

Samuel and Lord Timothy’s eyes widened significantly, and Samuel called out, “Wait a moment.”

Lady Lillian spun around and gazed at them expectantly.

“I do not feel comfortable with you joining us in this confrontation, Lady Lillian,” Samuel said diplomatically.

Lady Lillian tilted her head to the side and appeared rather perplexed.

“And why not?”

“You are not supposed to be here in the first place, Lillian.”

Her brother’s tone was dry as he reminded her. She rolled her eyes and turned to Samuel.

“Our parents are not aware that we have left our home.”

“That certainly does not help. Your mother will be furious.”

“Do not fret. Timothy has already vowed that he will take all of the blame.”

“Still, you cannot come along, sister,” Lord Timothy added with an apologetic expression.

“No, you cannot exclude me from this. I was the one who made the connection. I was the one who recognized the writing. I…” Lady Lillian’s voice trailed off as she realized that nothing she could possibly say would sway Samuel and Lord Timothy. “That is not fair.”

“You must understand, Lady Lillian,” Samuel murmured and took her hand. “I do not wish any harm to come to you. It is best you that you return home before your parents realize that you are not there. I certainly do not wish your mother to be knocking on my door in a fit of righteous anger. She is rather terrifying.”

Lady Lillian giggled and nodded.

“She can be quite terrifying, indeed. But I wish to do this. And if there are repercussions, I would gladly face them.”

A grateful smile appeared on Samuel’s lips, and he stared at her quietly, still gently holding her hand. He could not seem to let go, although he was well aware that it was more than improper. Whenever he was with Lady Lillian, he did not mind throwing caution to the wind and taking a risk as his feelings for her grew stronger each day.

“I have a thought.”

Lord Timothy’s voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he turned to Lord Timothy, releasing Lady Lillian’s hand. He did not wish to be too forward, although he was certain that Lady Lillian did not mind at all. She was a rare gem and very tolerant of things which others would frown upon instantly.

“Perhaps you could accompany us and remain in the carriage.”

“What good would that do? I will not be able to see Lord Bertram’s face once you confront him.”

Samuel stifled an amused chuckle.

“Your sister is truly wonderful, Colborne.”

Lord Timothy pursed his lips and sighed, surrendering to his sister.

“Fine, you may come, but-”

“You will not regret it,” Lady Lillian interjected.

As the trio stepped out of Samuel’s home towards his carriage, the familiar sight of Lady Lillian’s family’s second carriage came around the corner and headed straight towards them.

Lady Lillian gasped and instinctively reached for Samuel’s arm. Lord Timothy stepped in front of her, shielding her, as did Samuel.

The carriage stopped near them, and much to their horror, Lord and Lady Welsford stepped down from it.

“Oh, dear,” Lord Timothy muttered under his breath.

“Oh, this is where my children are. Imagine my surprise,” Lady Welsford sneered.

“Good evening, Your Grace,” Lord Welsford greeted Samuel nonchalantly.

“Lord Welsford, good evening to you as well.”

“It is certainly not a good evening. Where do you think you two are off to at this time of the night?” Lady Welsford inquired, her gaze as sharp as broken shards of glass.

Lady Lillian peered through the space between Lord Timothy and Samuel.

“We were on our way-”

“Home,” Lord Timothy interjected. “We were on our way home. I had an important matter that I needed to discuss with Yarmouth.”

“And you brought your sister with you, despite knowing that I had forbidden her from going anywhere near His Grace.”

Samuel shifted his weight rather uncomfortably, but he understood why Lady Welsford had forbidden Lady Lillian from seeing him.

“Mother, I can explain,” Lady Lillian began, but her mother interrupted her rather uncouthly.

“I am certain that you can, and you will. In the carriage, immediately,” Lady Welsford ordered and turned her attention to Lord Timothy. “Both of you.” she turned her attention back to Samuel, “and if you don’t mind Your Grace, you can send our coachman and the carriage that these two arrived in back to our townhouse.”

All that Samuel could do in the circumstances was nod, and watch as they were hurried away.