Page 52 of A Countess Captured for the Captain
“No, why would you think you were?” she asked, and he smiled.
“Because I remember it all now, I remember my uncle pushing me over the side of the ship. He meant to kill me that day, and now it is clear that he meant to kill me by the hand of another. Murder is easy when it appears as justice,” he said, holding the letters triumphantly in hand.
“Then we must pay a visit to your uncle and aunt, I think,” Samantha’s father said.
Nox held out his hand to the Duke, grateful to him for finally realizing the truth.
“May we have peace between us?” he asked, and the Duke nodded.
“We may,” he replied.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Samantha could not have been happier to have Nox back at her side. It felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her, and the fact of his innocence was enough to make her heart leap for joy. She clung to him as they hurried from the prison, desperate to throw her arms around him and hold him – never to let him go. She had come so close to losing him, and now that so much else made sense, she wanted only to be at his side.
“Your uncle and aunt can surely not deny their wickedness,” she said, as the party rode together from the prison toward the home of Nox’s uncle and aunt.
“They can try, but there is no doubting their guilt. I remember it all,” Nox said, and he began to tell her more of his life before the fateful day of the shipwreck, remembering every detail as clearly as if it were yesterday.
The others listened in astonishment, even Regina, who seemed strangely quiet at these revelations, shooting the occasional glance at Samantha, who was pleased to simply ignore her. When they arrived at the house, Samantha’s father climbed out, hiding the papers in his pocket, ready for a flourishing reveal.
“Come now, we must take them by surprise,” he said, helping Regina and the others onto the street.
Nox raced up the steps, hammering on the door which was opened by one of the servants.
“Your Lordship,” the man gasped.
“Uncle? Where are you?” Nox called out, pushing past the servant and into the hallway, followed closely by Samantha and the others.
“What is zee meaning of this?” his aunt said, appearing from the drawing room, looking in horror at Nox, who pointed angrily at her.
“You wicked woman,” he declared, and his aunt stared at him wide-eyed and incredulous.
“Norman?” Nox’s uncle cried, appearing from another door, and staring in astonishment at the scene which now confronted him.
“Yes, Uncle, you were not expecting me, were you? Was it the hangman’s noose you were hoping to see? My poor, limp head hanging there?” he asked, as his uncle tried to bluster his way out of the confrontation.
“You are quite mad. I demand to know what is going on. Your Grace, explain yourself!” Nox’s uncle demanded, turning to Samantha’s father, who shook his head.
“I know just what you are, Albert Osmond, you are nothing but a thief and a liar,” he said, and Nox’s uncle turned a nasty shade of red.
“How dare you come bursting into this house and accuse me of such a thing? On what grounds do you speak? I myself have been a victim of theft, just as you yourself were, and I demand an explanation,” he said, clenching his fists angrily together.
“This,” Samantha’s father said, pulling the letters from his pocket.
Now, Nox’s uncle went from red to white, his face ashen and pale, as he raised a trembling hand.
“Give those to me, no one must know of this. How did you come by these?” he demanded, and now it was Strap’s turn to step forward.
“It was I, Sir. I who stole these letters from you, and I would gladly do it again to see the Captain’s name cleared.”
“I shall have you arrested and hanged for this. Footman, call the Constable, there is a thief among us,” Nox’s uncle exclaimed, but Samantha’s father shook his head.
“The only thief among us is you, and add to that a murderer, for that is what you intended,” he said, and Nox’s uncle stepped backward, shaking his head.
“It proves nothing–” he began, but Nox laughed.
“It proves everything, Uncle, and besides, I remember it all now. I remember how you pushed me overboard on that fateful night and how she,” he said, pointing at his aunt, “did nothing to stop you.”
