Wishing For Rainbows (Historical Romance) (23 page)

He was struggling to absorb everything they were telling him. It was a ludicrous scheme but the mere fact that they were sitting in a carriage by the side of the road, with a dead woman lying feet away, was testament to the fact that they had indeed tried it; and failed.

“We were going to inform her creditors of where to find her if she posed a risk. They would hound her for their money and she would be forced to go to Debtors’ prison because she had no way of paying them. It would be enough to keep her out of the way,” Hyacinth reported matter-of-factly.

“Why didn’t you do that to persuade her not to go through with her scheme to marry one of you off?” Ursula asked with a frown. She was only one woman, after all. Surely both of them weren’t so scared of her that they wouldn’t put up a united front.

“We considered it. Alfred even tried, but mother said that she would make sure we were arrested for breaking in to your house.” Alfred nodded toward Ursula. “She also said that she would report to the magistrate here that we had been responsible for Abraham’s death.”

“She blackmailed you to go along with it,” Trenton snorted, suddenly not feeling so bad for the woman’s demise.

“She would have hated Debtor’s prison,” Hyacinth remarked to nobody in particular.

“She could have died there as far as I am concerned,” Alfred snapped defensively. “Now though, it isn’t an issue. Even behind bars, we are free at last. We can serve our sentences and then get on with our lives.”

“But you will have nothing,” Ursula mused.

“We have never had anything,” Hyacinth replied. “Mother had it all and held it over us daily to ensure that we did as she wanted.”

“Would she really have cast you out like that? I mean, with no job you would have no money, and nowhere to go. Would she have been that cruel?” Trenton asked doubtfully.

“Undoubtedly,” both Alfred and Hyacinth replied in unison.

Trenton looked at Ursula, who appeared to be just as stunned as he felt, but was prevented from asking anything else by the arrival of the magistrate. While Hyacinth and Alfred were arrested, Trenton handed Ursula down from the carriage. Together they stood back to watch them being shackled.

“Do you think they told us the truth?” Ursula asked quietly. 

Trenton shrugged. “I think we have to be mindful of the fact that there is no proof to substantiate their story.”

She nodded but couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for their situation.

Trenton wasn’t so soft though and watched dispassionately as the shackles were placed on Hyacinth’s ankles and wrists. Just the thought of what might have happened to Ursula was more than enough to harden his heart toward both of them, no matter what had driven them to it. As far as he was concerned they deserved whatever fate awaited them.

When Alfred stepped down from the carriage, he looked directly at Ursula and stood still while heavy irons were put onto his wrists.

“Take a word of advice from me?” Alfred said quietly as he looked from Ursula to Trenton. “Be careful of Roger Brampton. While I was in the park the other day, I overheard him talking to that Barbarella Somersby woman. They plan for Brampton to ruin you. She wants revenge for Calderhill refusing to offer for her. He wants you because of your connections to Adelaide.”

Ursula lifted a horrified gaze toward Trenton’s. He studied Alfred for a moment and then nodded his thanks. It didn’t surprise him; he had already had suspicions in that regard himself.

They remained silent while the criminals were led to the jailer’s cart. Once they were gone, Trenton thanked and paid the coachman who had been such an invaluable to aiding Ursula’s rescue and was then finally free to turn his full attention to the woman who meant the world to him.

“Let’s get you back to Adelaide’s,” he murmured gently. He didn’t want to add to her already difficult day, but she had to meet with her father.

“Thank you for everything you have done for me,” she whispered as he led her toward the carriage.

“I could hardly allow you to vanish on me now that I have found you, darling,” he murmured.

“It was very good of you to come after me,” she sighed. “How did you know what had happened to me?”

He quickly explained what he had witnessed and paused when she gasped and looked panicked.

“Molly? How is Molly? Did you see her?” she demanded.

“I saw her. I think she was hit on the head, but she was standing up and talking.” He shrugged. “I didn’t bother to wait to find out if she had any injuries.”

“I think we had better go and see how she is.”

Trenton beckoned to the helpful coachman who was seeing to his horses and asked him to take them to Adelaide’s house before he handed Ursula aboard. Once she was seated he studied her pale complexion across the narrow confines of the conveyance and drew her into a tender embrace.

“I don’t wish to add to your burden, darling, but there is something I think you should know.”

Ursula looked up at him and knew from the cautious look in his eye that she wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell her.

“I think there are a lot of things you haven’t told me,” she declared quietly, pushing out of his arms as the memory of last night at the theatre rose between them.

Trenton nodded. “I know, but first things first. Your father has arrived from Yorkshire; just as I left Adelaide’s house to come and find you in fact.”

She closed her eyes and wondered just how much worse the day could get. Not only had she been abducted, scared witless, and come face to face with her mystery ‘admirer’, but she suspected that Trenton wanted to discuss what had happened at the theatre last night. Now, to cap it all, her father was undoubtedly pacing up and down in Adelaide’s sitting room, waiting to escort her back to Yorkshire.

“We had better get back then,” she murmured and sat back in her seat to stare moodily out of the window.

“It will be alright, you know,” he assured her quietly when she didn’t seem inclined to speak.

“Will it?” She frowned at him. “What was Alfred talking about when he said that his mother had overheard Adelaide discussing my inheritance? What inheritance, and why haven’t you told me about it?”

Trenton sighed. “I think that the news had better come from your father. I don’t know enough details to be able to tell you much with any degree of certainty. It is family business and given I am not family as yet it needs to remain within the family. I just know that when you reach five and twenty, you inherit quite a large sum of money off an ancestor. Your father will tell you more because I don’t know which ancestor. I am surprised that he hasn’t mentioned it already. He should have told you because he has known about it for a long time, I think.” Trenton glanced at her. “He told me before I followed you to London.”

“He hasn’t said a word to me,” she declared quietly. “Neither of you have.”

Trenton sighed. “He didn’t go into details, and I didn’t ask.” He glanced out of the window and judged they had a few minutes before they would arrive back at Adelaide’s house. “He just said he wanted you to decide whether you wanted to marry before you received your fortune.”

Unsure what to say, Ursula turned her attention to the floor beneath her feet. Her mind raced with questions but she wasn’t sure where to start.

“I am sorry,” Trenton declared when he couldn’t stand the silence a moment longer. 

She stared at him. “Whatever for? You have saved my life this morning.”

“I am sorry for last night. I hadn’t planned to go to the theatre. It is just that when I got home last night my good friend, Hugo, was waiting for me. His sister, Serena, has had significant issues with controlling the amount of alcohol she consumes. Whenever she goes out she tends to get drunk and then throws herself at any man within arm’s reach.”

“Was that why she was leaning against you at the ball the other week?”

Trenton nodded. “She was in her cups again. I propped her up and sent someone to find Hugo so he could take her home. She has been practically under house arrest since then. She has made her displeasure over her confinement known to Hugo to such an extent that that he just couldn’t stand it any longer. He asked me if I would accompany his mistress and Serena to the theatre, and make up a foursome. I agreed on the condition that he agreed to help me find out as much as possible about the Sinnertons. Although we left before the interval, I used the time to ask a few acquaintances about them.”

He looked her square in the eye and tapped on the roof of the carriage. He dropped the window and leaned out, asking the driver to go to the Sinnerton’s address first. “I found out where they live purely from a chance conversation with someone at White’s. I followed one lead that led me to another and another, and so on.”

Ursula stared at him and watched rows upon rows of houses creep slowly past. A sense of unease rippled through her at the unfamiliar streets. Although she hadn’t seen all of London, she saw enough to realise that they were entering one of the poorest parts of the city.

“Where are we?” she asked, trying not to worry.

“This is it,” Trenton murmured when the carriage pulled to a stop. “This is where the Sinnertons live. They owe money to their landlady, Mrs Appleby, although I don’t suppose she will get it now.”

Ursula leaned forward to look out of the window and shuddered. “Are you sure?”

Trenton nodded. “I spoke to their landlady, and watched the Sinnertons go in there myself.”

“So they really are destitute,” she whispered in horror. It wasn’t a question.

“I think prison would be better than living here,” Trenton agreed. “At least in jail they will get food and a roof over their heads. Here, they are not likely to even manage that.”

“How awful,” Ursula whispered. “And all because of one person’s selfishness.”

“I know from Hugo’s sister just how badly vices can take away a person’s logic and reasoning.” Trenton leaned out of the window. “Thank you,” he called to the coachman and gave him Adelaide’s address.

Rather than resume his seat, he slid along the seat to sit beside her, and took her hand in his. “I have seen first-hand with Hugo’s sister just how difficult vices can be to live with. I think that Hugo needs to get his sister some help from somewhere and have suggested that he should send her to live in the country so she is able to leave temptation behind. He has agreed, and is currently making arrangements for her to have a prolonged stay at an aunt’s in Norfolk.”

Ursula nodded. Without thinking, she clasped his hand in return and smiled when he kissed the back of her hand.

“You didn’t need to leave the theatre early just to avoid me,” he chided softly. “I know how it looked, but it wasn’t what it seemed. I can assure you that there is no intimate connection with Serena. She is my friend’s sister, that’s all. Most people who know her are aware of her drinking problems. They call either me or Hugo if she gets drunk. It has just become habit to help her, I suppose.”

Ursula nodded. “I hope she gets the help she needs,” she whispered.

“What did you think of the play?” he asked wryly when they had travelled for several moments in loving silence.

“It was awful,” she admitted with a wry smile. “Aunt couldn’t stand it after the first half an hour, and I was bored so we decided to leave.”

“I didn’t mean to keep secrets from you,” he assured her again. “It was just a spur of the moment thing.”

“It’s all right,” she assured him with a smile, and indeed meant it. Now that she knew what had happened and why, she felt slightly foolish for not having faith in him.

“Here we are,” Trenton said moments later when the carriage pulled to a stop outside of Adelaide’s house.

He could feel the fine tremors in her hand, and put it down to nerves at meeting her father. Giving he hand a gentle squeeze, he smiled at her and held his elbow out. “I am sure it won’t be as bad as you think.”

“You don’t know my father,” Ursula cautioned with a dour look. She waited while Trenton thanked and paid the coachman before they both turned toward the house.

“Ready?” Trenton asked with a grin. “Nothing can be as bad as this morning.”

She had to concede that point and nodded thoughtfully. At that moment, Isaac opened the front door to allow them in, and it was too late to ask Trenton to take her to his house instead.

“How is Molly, Isaac?” Ursula demanded as soon as she stepped into the hallway.

“She is fine, thank you, miss. The doctor has seen to her. She has a bump on the head, but will be fully recovered after some rest,” Isaac reported. “I am so glad that you are alright, miss.”

“Thank you, Isaac,” Ursula said as she removed her shawl. “I take it my father is here?”

Isaac was spared having to respond when the sitting room door was suddenly yanked open and her father strode into the hallway.

Before she could speak, she was swept into a fierce hug that stole the air from her lungs. She was released just as quickly and stood back in astonishment to watch Jeremiah pump Trenton’s hand enthusiastically.

“Thank you for getting her back to us. When Molly returned and explained what had happened, we just didn’t know what to do. We sent for the magistrate, but were told he had been called to someone who had been run over so would be awhile. All we have been able to do is sit here and wait because nobody knew which way you had gone,” Jeremiah gasped, clearly traumatised at having to sit at home and do nothing.

Ursula shared a look with Trenton who escorted them both into the sitting room where equally effusive greetings were exchanged with Adelaide. Once everyone was seated, both Ursula and Trenton explained what had happened.

“Good Lord, I forgot about my conversation with my friends,” Adelaide declared in surprise. “I didn’t think stop to consider that somebody might overhear us. I apologise, my dear. If I had kept quiet about it nobody would have been any the wiser.”

“It’s alright,” Ursula assured her. “You weren’t to know.”

By the time the explanations were over, curiosity was plaguing her so much that she just had to find out about the inheritance. She pierced her father with a look that warned him she wasn’t happy, and lifted her brows.

“Alfred mentioned something about my receiving an inheritance when I reached five and twenty.”

“Your birthday is in two weeks, my dear,” Jeremiah told her unnecessarily.

Ursula sighed. “Yes, I know that. I shall be five and twenty. What inheritance? Why haven’t you told me? I had to learn of it from Alfred Sinnerton and Trenton. Why did you not tell me yourself before I left Yorkshire?”

“I know now that I should have done,” Jeremiah replied. He stood and stared thoughtfully into the fire for a moment before he turned to face her. “Your Grandmama left you and your sister quite large sums of money. It wasn’t part of your grandfather’s estate, of course. That went to me. Grandmama’s personal estate was divided between you and Caroline. However, she decreed that neither of you should not receive it until you reached five and twenty.”

“Why five and twenty?” Ursula asked with a frown.

“It is the age where most woman of marriageable age have either married, or decided not to marry at all,” Jeremiah replied. “If you reached five and twenty and were not married then you would receive the entire amount to use as you wish. Although it was never discussed openly, Grandmama was forced into an arranged marriage with Grandpapa which, although reasonably happy, wasn’t her first choice. She was determined that should you not wish to wed, you should not be forced to. So she provided a way for you to decide for yourself what you wanted to do, and support yourself should you decide never to marry.”

“So, why did you force me to come to London and find a husband within a month?” Ursula retorted.

“I wanted you to start to look at men as more than fops and wastrels. By putting pressure on you to find a husband you would have to consider the merits of matrimony, and make a decision one way or another.”

“But you told me that were going to accept the offer you received for me,” Ursula cried. “What would you have done if I had just accepted somebody’s offer at random, and he turned out to be exactly the kind of fop or wastrel I have been avoiding all of these years?”

“I wouldn’t have allowed you to marry him,” Jeremiah reported flatly. “I would have done everything within my power to stop the wedding from taking place.”

Trenton’s brows lifted when he realised Jeremiah was staring straight at him. Ursula looked from Trenton, to Jeremiah and then back to Trenton.

“I know you asked Trenton to look after me,” she said.

“I was happy to do so,” Trenton countered.

Jeremiah looked approvingly for him. “I asked Trenton to keep an eye on you while you were in London because he is a man of sterling character. I had hoped he would be able to steer you toward equally affable gentlemen. His father and I had hoped that once Trenton realised how charming and beautiful you are he would not be able to resist you himself.”

Ursula gasped and felt her cheeks blush guiltily. “What are you smiling at?” she asked Trenton when she saw him smiling toward the room at large.

His grin widened. “They were right. I have not been able to resist you myself. You are charming and beautiful. A man would have to be blind not to see it.”

All of her worry suddenly vanished at the look of adoration he levelled at her, and she found herself smiling softly at him as her heart swelled with joy.

“I wanted to make sure that you chose a husband because of his qualities, and vice versa. As an extremely beautiful young woman, who has considerable wealth, you would be sought after. However, you would also attract the attention of scoundrels, and people just after your wealth,” Jeremiah explained.

“Scoundrels like Brampton,” Ursula mused with a sigh.

“Who?” Jeremiah looked baffled.

“Roger Brampton is the worst kind of scoundrel,” Trenton reported ruefully. He explained to Adelaide what Alfred had said about the scheme Brampton and Barbarella had concocted.

“Well, we shall cut their endeavours short, I can assure you,” Adelaide snorted. “That scheming minx needs to be put in her place now before she does anyone too much damage.”

“Well, anyway,” Jeremiah coughed when he realised nobody was going to explain who Barbarella and Brampton were. “I wanted to make sure that the man who romanced you wasn’t just after your wealth. Nor did I want you shunning marriage because you had money in your pocket.”

“He is right to do so,” Adelaide informed her briskly. “Whilst the
ton
has many respectable members of the aristocracy within it, it is also home to many a scoundrel. You only have to look at that Roger Brampton to know what I am talking about. If he knew you were due to inherit such a fortune, he would marry you just to get his hands on the money. You would be then left to your own devices at home while he went out spending your fortune and cavorting with the likes of Barbarella.”

Ursula nodded. Having witnessed first-hand the callous scheming of Brampton, and the Sinnertons, she could only be extremely grateful that Trenton had remained true to his word and kept an eye on her as thoroughly as he had.

“Also, within the
ton
there is more chance of you marrying a man who had wealth of his own. A good man would allow you to retain your own fortune once you were married; if only to use it as pin money. It was something I was going to insist upon should I receive any offers you were amenable to,” Jeremiah declared.

“What about the offer you said you had received before I left? You told me you were going to accept it if I didn’t find a husband within a month.”

Jeremiah had the good grace to look a little sheepish. “I lied.” He coughed uncomfortably.

“There were no offers?” Ursula asked, not sure whether to be angry or not.

This time, Trenton looked a little sheepish. “Your father did tell me that you were going to London to find a husband. I mentioned to him that if you didn’t succeed, you would just have to marry me.”

“You did what?” She stared at Trenton in shock.

This, the man whom she had spent her entire life worshiping from afar, had actually suggested to her father that he should be the one to marry her?

Trenton shrugged. “I have loved you all my life. I just needed to get to know the woman you are now to assure myself that you are indeed the woman I thought you were. I just never thought you would look twice at me.”

“Why on earth not?” She stared at him as though she had never seen him before.

“Well, whenever we met you always seemed so vague and distant. I just though you considered me one of the fops you always discredited so vociferously at the social engagements you attended at Agglethorpe.”

“I have loved you for so long that I was never able to consider marrying anyone else,” she whispered with tears in her eyes.

His head whipped around and this time, he stared at her as though he had never seen her before. “You have?” he whispered huskily.

“You have loved me all this time?” she whispered with tears in her eyes.

“From the first time I saw you at the fiftieth autumn fayre in Agglethorpe,” he assured her.

She knew immediately what he meant and smiled mistily at him; too choked for words.

Trenton nodded. “I can see no reason why you should not retain your wealth once we are married. It would be something you could leave to our children when they grow older if you don’t spend it on yourself.”

“Pardon?” Ursula stared at him in stunned disbelief. Had he just spoken as though the marriage was already arranged?

“I have always been aware of you living next door,” Trenton admitted. “When your father said that you were off to Adelaide’s in search of a husband, and asked if I could keep an eye out for you, of course I was delighted to. I was determined to put a stop to you even considering marriage to anyone else. I just hadn’t expected to find someone so beguiling waiting for me. The stunning young girl I remember from my youth has turned into a delectable young woman who is perfect in every way.”

“Ah, how nice,” Adelaide whispered tearfully.

“I think we need to have a private word about this, Jeremiah,” Trenton murmured without taking his eyes off Ursula.

“Whenever you are ready, my boy,” Jeremiah assured him.

“Now that’s settled,” Adelaide said as she pushed out of her chair. “You need to come and help me with some things in the drawing room, Jeremiah. I think Isaac is about to announce dinner. Trenton, I should be delighted if you would join us?”

Trenton took his gaze off Ursula long enough to nod his thanks to the elderly woman. “I would love to, thank you.”

Ursula and Trenton remained seated while Adelaide and Jeremiah left. When they were alone, Trenton kissed the back of her hand before he drew her into his arms.

“Thank God you are alright,” he murmured with a sigh. Although chasing after the carriage hadn’t taken too long, he felt as though he had aged a good ten years. “I thought I had lost my world.”

“All I could think of was that I wouldn’t get to see you again,” Ursula whispered. She tried not to think about those dreadful moments in that dark carriage, but found the memories resurfacing anyway. “I knew that if I could just get out of there and get to you then everything would be alright.”

“I would have moved heaven and earth to find you,” Trenton growled. Before she could say anything else, he sealed the promise with a very thorough kiss.

“Why did you not tell me about the inheritance?” She said without any hint of accusation when he eventually lifted his head and had settled her against his chest.

“I didn’t want you to refuse to marry me because you had money to support yourself. You were so adamant that you would never find a husband that I just didn’t want that opinion being encouraged by the knowledge you had money to support yourself. Your wealth is not important to me because I have more than enough of my own. You need to keep yours and do with it whatever you wish once we are married. Maybe you could leave it to our children with the same arrangement in place so they too are given the freedom to choose who they spend the rest of their lives with when their time comes,” he murmured huskily.

“Children?” she whispered.

Trenton nodded thoughtfully for a moment. “I am afraid that I have to admit I was wrong to allow matters to go as far as they did the other night. I should never have touched you before our wedding,” he whispered without any hint of regret.

Her stomach dropped to her toes at the solemn look in his eye. “I don’t regret it,” she whispered defiantly.

“You have every right to be angry with me for the liberties I have taken, especially given that I didn’t take suitable precautions to prevent a child,” he declared with an unrepentant grin.

She gasped and stared at him in disbelief. At first she was shocked, horrified, then wondrously pleased, then awkwardly uncomfortable at the thought of having to explain herself to her father. “Oh Lord, I forgot.”

He grinned at her. “I am not saying it is a bad thing, you understand? Just that I would prefer our children to be born once we are married. After all, nobody is ever going to steal you away from me. When you lay with me the other night, you gave much more than your body to me. You committed your life to mine. In return, I gave you everything I have, including my heart, in the hopes that you would be in – er – agreement with the idea of being my wife.”

Ursula gasped and stared at him in shock. “You took me to bed to make sure I would marry you?”

Trenton laughed huskily. “Scoundrels come in many shapes and sizes. The only thing this scoundrel wants from you is your undivided love in return for his complete devotion.” He turned solemn as he studied her. “When I realised that Alfred Sinnerton had kidnapped you, my world stopped. While I was racing through the streets after you, watching the carriage you were in weave in and out of the traffic, it was like watching the sands of happiness slip through my fingers. I would have torn London apart until I found you if you had disappeared. You belong to me, Ursula. Your life belongs with mine. Share it with me,” he demanded in a voice that was choked with emotion. “Say you will marry me?”