Chapter Twenty-Five

 

The final carriage moved down the drive, the last guest who had stayed the night before now gone. Joseph was both weary from the festivities that had gone into the early hours of the morning, but also happy at how things had gone overall. Miss Cooper had left for home quite late, accompanied by several of Joseph’s men—he would not have her traveling at such hours alone no matter how much arguing she had done. It was not far enough to worry him, and he understood the need to return to one’s own bed when one did not feel well.

The party had been grand and the compliments continued even as guests left in the morning. However, it was not the smile of his guests that made him so happy; it had been the smile of his fiancée and her enthusiasm to acquaint herself with so many of his friends and peers. She had been the perfect hostess.

As he looked up at the sky, he allowed the sun’s rays to warm his face. At that moment, he felt the wealthiest man in all of England. Not because of the money he would be receiving, he had learned that was of little consequence anymore. No, it was due to the love of Miss Rachel Cooper, a woman he set out to change but instead who had changed him, and for the better. The love the two shared was great, and he had wanted nothing more in life than to spend every moment he could with her. Knowing that made him feel richer still.

He returned to the house and made his way to his study. He needed to go over his ledger and make a few notes before he could call on Miss Cooper. She would likely need more time to rest, as she was not accustomed to parties and the late hour.

Henry entered the room and bowed. “I do not mean to interrupt, My Lord,” the man said.

Joseph smiled up at his butler. “It is fine. What is it?”

Henry approached the desk, glanced around him and then leaned in, his voice lowered. “I do not wish to participate in gossip, My Lord,” the man said, “nor do I ever try to eavesdrop, but when I heard your name mentioned, I could not stop myself.”

Joseph leaned back in his chair. “Go on.”

“This morning, I overhead Their Graces the Duke and Duchess of Bottleshire speak quite highly of you. The Duchess also spoke of Miss Cooper’s beauty and seemed pleased to call her a close acquaintance.” Joseph had not heard such pride from the man before.

This brought a smile to Joseph’s face. Miss Cooper had that way with people, and if it kept the Duke in his favor, all the better. “Thank you for informing me of this.”

“Of course, My Lord,” Henry said, his voice returned to its usual volume. “Is there anything I can get you?”

Joseph shook his head. “No. I will be leaving in an hour’s time, so see that my horse is ready then.” Henry bowed and replied that he would and then left the room.

Picking back up his pen, Joseph smiled again, his thoughts turning to Miss Cooper once again. She will make the perfect wife, he thought before finally returning to his work.

***

“What do you mean she left? And alone?” Joseph shouted. He had arrived at Elford Estates to find Miss Cooper gone, apparently off on some jaunt, and on her own, no less. It made no sense that she would not be home; she knew he would come calling at this exact hour.

Leah stood at the edge of the foyer, her head down and a paper in her hand. Moving past the butler, Joseph walked up to the girl and said, “Where has she gone?”

“She asked me to give you this, My Lord,” Leah said quietly. Joseph took the letter and ripped it open.

 

Lord Linfield,

I write this letter to inform you that the game is up and you have won. You have deceived me and broke my heart. However, you will never receive the inheritance that you find so important. I no longer wish to see you and ask that, if you have even a shred of decency, you honor my request to not search me out.

Rachel Cooper

 

Joseph reread the letter once more and tried to work out the confusion within him. She had been so happy at the party the previous night, and now she no longer wished to marry him? And what of this game of which she spoke?

He folded the letter and put it in his pocket. Then he turned to the maid. “What has come over her?” he demanded. “Do not lie to me, woman. I know she thinks well of you and tells you much.”

Leah gave a reluctant nod. “She is angry with you, My Lord.”

Joseph let out a heavy sigh of frustration. “That much is clear, but why?”

The maid continued to look down at the floor and remained silent. Joseph grabbed her arm and the woman gave a grunt of pain. “What are you hiding?”

“Nothing, My Lord,” she said, fear in her voice. “It was you who told me to never look at you again.”

A stab of guilt rushed through him as he was reminded of that day some time ago. The same woman he used to greet by name and later felt embarrassed to treat her with even an ounce of decency once he was forced into early manhood. He had become bitter, thinking of himself far more than anyone else. However, it had been Leah who had offered him a kind smile whenever his mother scolded him. It was this maid who had always whispered words of encouragement in his ear. Before he had become the cynical Earl he was.

“Please, look at me now,” he said quietly. She did as he asked. “I need to know what she said and where she went. Please, I do care for her.” He was unsure why he felt the need to explain this to a servant, but he was at his wits’ end. He could not lose Miss Cooper now, not after she had won his heart.

“She heard your mother say something at the party last night,” Leah said almost in a whisper. Then her eyes widened with panic. “Though I don’t wish to speak ill of the lady. Please don’t tell her I’ve said something against her, My Lord.”

Joseph groaned. What had his mother done this time? “No, you need not worry about that. Please, what did my mother say?”

“Miss Cooper overheard the Dowager Countess in the drawing room, words of fooling Miss Cooper to gain this estate.”

Joseph groaned again. “She did not hear all of the conversation,” he explained. Why had his mother even mentioned that awful plan in the first place, especially during his engagement party? “I must find her, explain to her what she does not know. Do you know where she might have gone?”

“Miss Cooper would not tell me, but she said it was a place where she could be with her own kind. A place that would make her happy.”

He nodded and then headed to the door, still unsure as to where to begin his search. However, before he left, he turned and said, “Leah, thank you.”

She gave him a smile that reminded him of when he was younger. “Of course, My Lord.”

Joseph returned the smile and then ran to the stable, the stable hand mortified when Joseph resaddled his own horse. By the time he was riding down the drive, he had reasoned out an idea of where she might have gone.

***

As he stared at the front of the filthy pub, he could only shake his head in amazement. No man or woman of the ton would ever step inside such a place, but Joseph knew Miss Cooper cared nothing of the consequences of being seen here. However, rather than being concerned that someone might see him, he peered through the dirt-covered window, the same the woman had looked through on their outing to Kellington before. He remembered how excited she had been, finding joy in something so simple and familiar to her.

He shielded the sun with his hand and brought his face to the window pane, and he thought his heart would lift him to the sky. For there stood the woman he loved, Miss Rachel Cooper, wearing the same blue dress she had worn the day she came away with him from her parents’ pub. She was still a great beauty today as she was then.

When he had first searched for Miss Cooper, it was a mission given to him by a friend, a promise made to a man on his deathbed. Now, however, Joseph realized he had a new mission, one that was not a matter of honor. That mission was to fulfill a promise he had made to this woman, a promise that he would be by her side forever.

Granted, this pledge had been made to himself, in his heart, but it had been a vow he could never break. With this new mission in mind, Joseph opened the door to the pub as he made another vow; he would do whatever it took to win her back.