Many hours later after a steaming pot of tea and what seemed an endless stream of questioning from the magistrate’s men, Marilee found herself alone with Mr. Nickolas Harding in the small drawing room of the baron’s townhouse.
All at once she felt nervous, shy even, as she faced the moment that she had both longed for and feared above all else.
She fiddled with the tea tray, staunchly refusing to the think of the last time they shared tear. She stood arranging and rearranging the contents in an attempt to keep her hands busy and her eyes from making contact with the silent man who observed her with amusement from across the room.
She had always admired Nikolas for his keen awareness but now that she was the sole focus of his attention, she felt a discomfort unlike anything that she had yet known. She wanted to lay out her truths like a bridge between them, rebuild the trust that despite his recent kindness she was sure had been broken. How could he be so calm, so understanding? How could he look at her with compassion when she had caused him such harm? When she, now without the shock of his appearance or the protection of the eyes of others upon them, could hardly dare to glance his way? When he had raced from Blackwell house that fated evening, she had witnessed the look of betrayal upon his features. Where had that gone? Was it still buried beneath the cloak of kindness that he wore always?
Or, was it merely that he pitied her for her suffering? That may be the case, she feared, but it would not be the same as the love that she had once been so certain that he had felt.
She had been too lost in the musings of her own mind to have noticed when he drew closer. When a firm hand settled above hers to stop her from lifting the teapot to fill yet another cup that would go unconsumed, she startled and overturned the bowl of sugar at her side.
“Are you expecting company?” he asked with one half of his mouth upturned in the charming way she liked best. Marilee looked down at the tray and noted that she had poured five settings and had been about to pour the sixth. She felt her cheeks redden.
“I just…” she stammered and then, with a resigned sigh, shrugged. “I was wool gathering.”
“So, I see,” he said. He took both of her hands and drew her to her feet, the movement forcing her to come face to face with him at last.
He smiled down upon her. “Alright,” he laughed. “Let us have it out.”
“How can you be so blasé?” she blurted. “Aren’t you cross? After what happened I thought you would never wish to speak with me again. That it would take me months, ages, to convince you to hear the truth.”
“Is that what you wish?” he murmured. “For me to be angry?”
“Not at all,” she sighed. “It’s only that I don’t understand. You had to have thought that I tried to kill you. Which of course,” she corrected in a rush, “I didn’t but you could not have known.”
Here he laughed outright. “I won’t deny I thought as much at first,” he admitted. “It certainly felt that way when my insides attempted to become my outsides. Plus, I knew you were angry about my lies.”
“No!” Marilee groaned and clenched her eyes shut against the thought. How he must have suffered at her hands. She felt his fingers brush her cheek, and she found herself pressing her face to his touch.
“Let us talk,” he coaxed her from her dismay with the softness of his tone. “We have both lied, and kept secrets, but I believe that between the two of us we can piece together the whole truth, and go forward into the future from there.”
“Is there a future? For us?”
“I dearly hope so,” he said leading her to the settee, where she could sit in comfort. Her version of Lady Lydia’s demands came rushing out like a stream that had overflown its banks. She told him of the poison and how she had switched it with the emetic so that they might believe him ill in the moment. She revealed how she had meant to drive him from Blackwell house with such force that he would never return. How she had only meant to ensure his safety and that by such dramatic means she hoped he would understand the danger that would befall him if he ever set foot in the house again.
“It was effective to be sure,” he nodded, “but why did not you just tell me? I could have played along.”
“Mrs. Cavendish was listening at the door to be sure that I did not fail in my task,” Marilee explained. “If I did, they would send a man to accost you and finish the deed. I could not risk it. I am only glad that you knew well enough to disappear. They were so cross when you could not be found nor your death confirmed.”
“When one has an attempt made on their life it does seem the best plan of action to go to ground,” he chuffed.
“Where did you get off to?” she asked.
“The only place I could think outside of London where I might be hidden…” he replied. “Northwick.”
“To your brother?” she mused. No wonder he had not been able to be found. The last place any of the crooks would wish to be caught poking around would be the very place from which the late duke had departed with the females who had been declared missing.
Nikolas nodded. “Daniel and Martha took me in and kept my visit secret. However, angry as I was, I could not help but pester him about your acquaintance. I did not at first tell him of your situation, only that you expressed having known him. Had I been more forthcoming we might have solved the riddle earlier.” He explained that at first the doctor had been sure that he knew of no such corkscrew-haired maid named Kate. Nikolas had grown so used to using the name that he had quite forgotten that he had once suspected that it may have been falsified. So it was that Dr. Harding could not recall any maid at all by that name having lived in Northwick for at least ten years. “The entire town was preoccupied with the disappearance of their lady, a situation that I did not think the events were connected for surely criminals would know better than to take one of nobility. Let alone to force them into servitude. It would be idiocy. Besides, you told me that you were looking for your cousin.”
“That might have been a bit of an untruth…” Marilee admitted.
“Yes, well…So it was that the odds of such matters being linked seemed so improbable that I did not even consider it at first. It was not until my brother started questioning me about what manner of poison, I had ingested that we began to put two and two together.”
“The tartar emetic,” Marilee nodded. “It came from…” she halted. Perhaps admitting that the doctor had given her the vial was not something that he wished known.
“From my brother,” he finished. “He told me that he had just recently given his last bottle to the maid who had been traveling with the missing Miss Caroline, a Miss Pelletier. Then, he stopped short.” Nikolas pantomimed Dr. Harding’s shock when he made the connection that Marilee was quite possibly the only maid who matched the description of the acquaintance his brother had described. “But he explained that your name was not Kate at all, and that if you had been found then certainly Miss Caroline must too have survived.
“I swore him to secrecy and rushed back to London posthaste. Now, having heard you and Miss Caroline retell the story of the duke’s murder and how Lady Lydia and Lord Edward had plotted all this time to usurp the title for themselves, it all makes sense. To think, I had thought her merely questionable in terms of finance and employment. A murder! When it had all seemed so accidental in the reports.”
“It all seemed accidental in the moment as well,” Marilee admitted. “I too had thought it merely happenstance that the carriage was diverted. For a long while, I thought it merely highwaymen who perpetrated the act. I thought Lady Lydia was flighty and quite possibly mad, but I did not think her a villain.”
“Thank heavens you did not confide in her,” Nikolas added. “Anyway,” Nikolas continued. “At the point that I knew you had slipped me the tonic that my brother had instructed you as to how to use for effect and not harm, I was sure that it must all have been an act. Otherwise, you would have dosed me the entire bottle, and I would have been sick for a much longer time. I felt certain that my instinct about you had been right and you would never have aligned yourself with those fiends, for any offer. I could not fathom your reasoning but I began to hope that you must have one. Soon enough my anger faded to fear for your fate. Still, I could not return to Blackwell house until I had more than suppositions.”
“What did you do then?” she wondered.
“I went to the Baron Wickham, who had already gone to the young duke,” he explained. “I told them the truth, and perhaps my part in the scheme made me sound less like an accusatory madman.”
“But they believed you?”
“Not only did he believe me but the duke had only just recovered from an attempted poisoning of his own,” he revealed.
“I was mortified to think that it was a concoction of my making, but when the duke explained his symptoms, it was clear to me that it was nothing I had done, which meant they had another supplier.”
“They were planning to replace you,” Marilee said.
“Yes. Then I explained Lady Lydia’s concerning financial habits to the duke. He had been away at sea for several years, you see, and so he had limited knowledge of the nefarious dealings.”
Marilee nodded. “It may have all gone to plan if Lord Robert really had met his end in the war.”
Nikolas gave an audible shiver. “It is all horrendous to even consider.”
Marilee agreed.
“Marilee…” His use of her name, her true name, coaxed her gaze to return to his. “Do you know my first thought when we arrived at Blackwell house and you were nowhere to be found?”
She shook her head.
“I thought only that you must be in grave danger or worse dead and I scolded myself for having been too late. I blamed myself wholly. When I got the letter that said they were moving at once, I rushed over to be here when you were freed, to be sure you were not accused of being in league with these villains. I hadn’t had the time to tell the others who you were for they had already begun. Then, you weren’t there, and I felt… lost.”
“Peggy and I climbed out a window amidst the chaos thinking that they were rounding us up in an attempt to hide their misdeeds,” she explained. “We had no idea that it was a rescue. Peggy and I were certain that we were to meet our end, not our freedom.”
“When I saw you safe.” He brushed his fingers through the curls at her shoulder. “Any thought to be cross with you was the furthest thing from my mind. All I felt was pure joy and relief. It is still all that I feel. I could not lose another, since my wife…” He trailed off.
“Yes, your wife,” Marilee coaxed an explanation.
“She died,” he said. “The influenza. We had gone to visit my family. We should have stayed away. The influenza wracked Northwickshire in the winter past.”
“I remember,” Marilee said. “We all had friends and relatives who died. So, what Lady Lydia said. It was a lie. I expected as much.”
“Not exactly,” he said. “I will have no secrets between us, if you will allow me to tell you.”
Marilee nodded.
He seemed to steel himself for the memories. “She was coughing so much and so hard. She had no rest. With every breath, she was coughing up blood and phlegm and could barely breathe. She was suffering so! I only wanted to give her some rest.” He spoke barely above a whisper. “My brother was so busy; I took over her care. After I dosed her, she seemed to quiet. Sleep. I—I thought she would recover. She seemed better. Rest is what she needed; you see. She could not rest with all the coughing…” Tears filled his eyes. He seemed to be begging Marilee to understand.
“You loved her,” she said.
He nodded miserably. “I should have sat with her, and held her hand. I should have been there, but I fell asleep. In the morning she was dead.”
“Many died from the influenza,” Marilee comforted.
“But did she?” he asked, guilt-ridden. “Did she die of the influenza or the cure I gave her?”
“She is at rest now,” Marilee said, gathering him into her arms and letting him feel her acceptance and support.
At last, he spoke again. “Afterwards, I went back to London. I spent every farthing on herbs to help the poor. I drove myself into debt and did not care what happened to me. I think I wanted to assuage my guilt, by curing those I could cure.”
“There is no guilt,” Marilee said absently stroking his hair. “Sometimes, people are called home precipitously, and we here on earth must just wonder what Divine plan took them from us. I lost both of my parents when I was young. So many times, I have asked why?”
“Did you find an answer?” he asked.
“Only that it is not ours to know.”
“Perhaps the loss of your parents made you stronger,” he supplied.
She did not answer.
“I think she would have liked you,” he added. “She would want me to begin again. To live. Perhaps you were put in my path to shake me out of my melancholia.”
“And Lady Lydia?” Marilee asked.
“Even the devil has to bow to God’s plan,” he added, and Marilee laughed.
“She is the devil,” she replied.
“And you are my angel,” he said tucking a curl behind her ear.
“I am no angel,” she said.
“But do you care for me, as I do you?” he asked as if too afraid to hope.
“I do,” she said. “I do care for you.”
His face clouded. “When you told me to go…”
She shook her head violently. “If I could have run away with you that night, I would have done so, but you needn’t have made such an offer just to save me.”
“Save you? I did not make that declaration out of obligation,” he said.
“But your wife…it’s clear you loved your wife.”
“I did, but my dear Marilee, the heart has an infinite capacity to love and love again. I would be a liar if I did not admit that the thought had been in my mind for some time, although I had nothing to offer you. I thought I might be sent to the colonies, and I could not expect you to share my exile.” He took a deep breath. “But now, things have changed. I don’t have much, but the duke has covered my current debts for my aid in bringing his duchess’ kidnappers to justice.”
“Then your offer stands?” she asked with a smile breaking through the tears that now ran freely down her face. “The offer you made before I poisoned you.”
“I am not poisoned,” he said. “I am very much alive, and the offer will forever stand if you ever wish to take it.” He grinned in response, then his features grew quite serious. “I know that you and the duchess have a very close bond. I would hate for you to have to give up your position if you do not wish it. Peggy forewarned me that the life of a lady’s maid is not conducive to marriage..”
“That meddlesome brat!” Marilee laughed. “She’s been pushing us together from the off and now she warns you away.” But Marilee well knew that Peggy had done no such thing. She had been honest, as always, with her friend in laying forth the one concern that might hold Marilee back.
“Considering that in the same breath she happened to mention to Miss Caroline that there were now dozens of freed women who would be looking for safe and kind employment I think her thoughts on the matter were clear.” Nikolas laughed.
“Oh?” Marilee wiped her face, the sadness seemed to have passed, and she was now beginning to feel as if a small ball of light had taken up residence inside of her and was growing with each passing moment. “What did my lady have to say about that?”
“She asked Peggy if she had any interest in being a lady’s maid.” He smiled at her.
“Did Peggy take the position?” Marilee felt the questions begin to flow and was forced to limit herself to one at a time.
“How could she when at present the role is firmly yours?” he teased.
“There is also Hetty of course. In any case, I possibly gave Miss Caroline to believe that the position might be open, and she made me promise that if such was the case, I was to inform you that close contact and everlasting friendship was all that she required from you in the future… should you decide to accept my suit.” He sank down on one knee. “Marry me, Marilee.”
The sound of her name on his lips thrilled her.
“Marry me and make me the happiest man on earth.”
“Yes!” she laughed and grabbed him by the face, kissing him full on the mouth until they were both breathless. “I am soon to be a married woman!”
“Soon?” he pretended to be shocked but his joy at her acceptance was evident.
“Very soon,” Marilee nodded. “I’ve been given a fresh start at life and I do not intend to delay.”
“I agree wholeheartedly with that plan.” He beamed.
“Then I shall tell Peggy that she may have the position.” Marilee smiled. “She will love Miss Caroline.”
“Well, to that point, Peggy has already declined,” he revealed with a sly grin.
“Declined?” she wondered.
“You see, I was not only moping around with heartbreak while I was away,” he explained.
Marilee felt as if the room had dropped out from beneath her. “You found her son?” she breathed, barely able to believe that it could be true so soon after their release.
He nodded, pleased beyond words. “I am not sure, but I believe it is possible.”
“Nikolas that is wonderful!” She threw her arms around him and kissed him anew. This brilliant, kind, tenacious man had made all of their dreams come true and she could not possibly love him more.
“The duke has offered to give each recovered captive a small stipend to start a new life for themselves,” he explained. “I think he felt responsible for his brother’s wrong-doing.”
“Guilt will do that, real or imagined,” Marilee said.
Nikolas nodded. “I gave Peggy the location of the last clue an hour ago and she left straight away to complete her statement to the magistrate so that she could leave town within the week. She told me to tell you that she loves you and that she will return for the wedding.”
“So, she was sure I would accept?” When Nikolas only shrugged, Marilee laughed. Her happiness for Peggy knew no bounds. The thought that her friend might soon recover the son that she had been torn from without warning, that Miss Caroline was safe, and that Marilee herself had found a truly good man with whom she was deeply in love and who loved her in return, was truly the happiest ending that Marilee could imagine.
As difficult as the path was, the reward of true love was well worth every pain she endured. What had begun, not so very long ago, as a saga of woe, and turned to a new life of love, and she planned to live it happily ever after.
The End