Page 51 of A Countess Captured for the Captain
“It was not Nox who stole your papers, Father. This good man has recovered them for you,” Samantha said, turning to Strap, who nodded.
Now the explanation came forth, and the Duke listened in utter astonishment as between them, Samantha and Strap recounted the story of how the missing papers had come into his hands and of how Nox’s uncle and aunt had framed him for the theft.
“And so this was all an elaborate plan to get rid of him again?” Samantha’s father asked.
“Precisely. It must have come as a terrible shock to them both to discover the nephew they though had died was actually very much alive. They kept up their act of welcoming him back, waiting for the first opportunity they could to frame him. No doubt Nox’s uncle became greedier still when he realized what other secrets he had discovered in your study, Father. He could easily have sold such secrets and blamed it on agents loyal to Nox. But here are the papers,” Samantha said, and she handed them over to her father, who shook his head in amazement.
“They are all here, every one of them. These documents were irreplaceable, I can hardly thank you enough,” he said, tucking them safely into his pocket and smiling at Samantha, who nodded.
“And now will you believe me when I say that Nox is not responsible?” she asked, and her father nodded.
“I will send word to Brixton Prison he is to be released immediately, they were to hang him this very day” he replied, his entire demeanor having changed, and Samantha gasped.
She had thought they would have several days to prove the case, and a tear ran down her cheek at the thought that had it not been for Strap she would not have had a chance to say goodbye.
“Hang him today?” she exclaimed, and her father nodded.
“But fear not, all will be well,” he said, calling for his coat and hat.
“But what of Nox’s uncle and aunt?” Nicholas said.
“It only seems right that Nox himself should confront them, but we must tell him the truth first,” Samantha said, and now they hurried to depart from Hampton Manor, joined by Samantha’s father and Regina, the latter insisting that she be allowed to accompany them for fear of missing the excitement.
* * *
Nox was pacing excitedly up and down his cell. In his delirious sorrow he had remembered it all, the trauma of this ordeal bringing to the fore memories long forgotten. The fog was lifted, and he could now picture everything as clear as the day. But what he had remembered was almost too shocking to believe. On board his parent’s ship he had met his sad fate at the hands of the one man his father had trusted above all others, a man who should have been his loyal guardian but was in fact his judge and executioner.
It all made sense now, the constant attempts by his uncle to persuade Nox as to a different set of memories, one which painted his uncle and aunt as tragic bystanders in the death of his parents. But now the memory was crystal clear and Nox could feel the hand of his uncle upon him, as he had pushed him mercilessly from the deck of the ship into the waves below. It was the icy chill of the water, the blackout of his memory, the fog descending. That had been Nox’s final memory – until now.
He saw it clearly, and in his excitement, he had cried out, causing the guards to come running. Nox had begged with them to let him go, but to no avail. He could only imagine that it was his uncle and aunt who had staged the robbery at Hampton Manor, knowing that they could frame him and be rid of him forever. Nox had had no inkling of this wicked plan, his uncle and aunt welcoming him with open arms, while secretly plotting to stab him in the back.
“You are for the noose today,” one of the guards had told him, the others laughing as they mocked him.
When the noose was tightened around his neck, his uncle would have won. He must have been shocked to learn that the nephew he thought dead was alive and that the lands and titles he had taken were now forfeit. Nox wondered who it was – his uncle or aunt – that had been so desirous of his death once again, panic rising in him at the thought that the truth would never be known. Or had they both been party to it, knowing the fortune which was in their grasp? And what of Samantha? Would they see her disposed of, too?
He was caught up in these thoughts, lost in the possibility of all that might have been, when a commotion in the passageway caused him to pause. He could hear voices, running footsteps, and the shout of the guards. Moans and groans went up from the other prisoners, the inmates calling for mercy, begging to be set free, just as Nox himself had done, so desperate was his plight. He could only pity himself, imagining that perhaps even now his executioners were approaching.
“Nox, are you there?” Samantha’s voice called out, and in astonishment, Nox rushed forward to the cell door.
The sight which met him was quite astonishing. Samantha was there, accompanied by her father, Regina, Rebecca, Nicholas, and Duchess Sinclair, and to his even greater astonishment, Strap. He stared at them in disbelief, as the guard now rushed to unlock the cell door, flinging it open, as Samantha flung her arms around him.
“Oh, Nox, everything is all right, my father has renounced the charges, you are free,” she cried, smothering him with a kiss.
“But… how? I am to face the hangman’s noose, I am charged with treason,” he exclaimed, but Samantha’s father shook his head.
“Allow your friend Mr. Strap to explain,” he said, and Nox turned to his old shipmate, who smiled at him.
“I suppose you thought the crew had fled, Captain,” he said, and Nox nodded.
“I am sorry, Strap. I did not know where to begin looking for you. I prayed you had all escaped back to the Caribbean, but I feared the worst. Tell me, please, what is all this about?” he said.
Strap now explained how he and the others had sought refuge afterThe Rosa Mysticawas raided in port. Strap and several of the men had made it their business to keep an eye on Nox, hoping eventually to reveal themselves when things had quietened down.
“But what we saw was more than you did, Captain. We knew your uncle was up to something, but we could not be certain of it. At the Duke’s ball we disguised ourselves as servants and kept watch. It was I who saw your uncle slip into the Duke’s study and steal the papers, but still I needed proof – no one would believe a pirate, after all, and so we made our plans to break into your uncle’s house. Well, we discovered more than even we had imagined,” Strap said, and Samantha’s father handed Nox the letters incriminating his uncle and aunt.
He read them through with amazement, before turning to Samantha with a smile.
“Then I am not mad,” he exclaimed, and she shook her head.
