Page 85 of To Resist a Scandalous Rogue
“I’m off to retrieve my wife, but I will ensure everything is neat and tidy, for I want the whore gone.”
The voices disappeared down the corridor, and Charlotte pressed a fist to her mouth.
Mr. Townsend wanted her to be transported? Her mind struggled to comprehend the kind of hatred he possessed that would fuel such a request. Surely there was more to the root of his animosity than her marriage to Roderick. Would she ever be able to escape his toxic reach?
Perhaps she’d find relief in Australia, she thought with a dry chuckle. Cor, but the Townsends might just travel to the other side of the world to kick her into the mud again.
Several long minutes or hours—she had begun to lose track of time in the blackened cell—the light from a lantern pierced her eyelids. Blinking furiously against the harsh glare, she was able to make out a familiar feminine form.
“Faith, Charlotte, you’re frozen through,” Flora said, crouching by her side and assisting her to stand. With a flourish, she draped a wool blanket about her shoulders, and Charlotte sank into the warm folds with a sigh of relief.
Lady Flora ushered her through the narrow cell gate and down a series of paths, preceded by a guard carrying a lantern. Thrusting open a door, the woman led her into a cramped office and deposited her in a chair near a roaring grate.
Her fingers were stiff. Her dress was damp. Her bones ached from being curled on the hard stone floor in her cell. And she was exhausted. The cries, coughs, and bouts of laughter had made sleep miserable. She still wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not.
“Niall, she can’t stay here a moment longer. I refuse to countenance it.” Flora spoke to the marquess, but her eyes were fixed on the warden.
The older man sighed, as if he had just waged a lengthy battle. He probably had with the Campbell siblings as adversaries. “As I told you before, your ladyship, I can’t just release Mrs. Taylor because you say so. She has been accused of theft and all but confessed as much to a magistrate.”
Charlotte blinked.“I did not confess to theft! I confessed to selling a ring that was rightfully mine.”
The man snorted. “Likely story.”
“The magistrate did not give me an opportunity to explain the situation properly,” Charlotte declared, her hands balling into fists around the cloak.
“And what, pray tell, was the situation?”
Mr. Townsend stood just inside the door, his wife peering around him. With their arrival, the room felt that much smaller. And infinitely more hostile. Still, she was not fighting this battle alone. Lady Flora and the marquess had come to help her, and that knowledge caused her to square her shoulders.
“I admit to selling it. However, it was my ring.” To the warden she said, “Did he tell you that? It was my wedding band that their son had given me. It was mine to do with as I saw fit.”
She stated this truth firmly, meeting first her father-in-law’s gaze and then her mother-in-law’s. Whether they had approved or not, Roderick had married her. No machinations on their part now could change that fact.
“Ah, but see, when he died it was no longer your property. A woman is not allowed to own property outright—her possessions are her husband’s. Thus, when Roderick died, and it became clear he had not made provisions for you in his will, his property diverted to his beneficiaries.” Townsend’s grin was predatory. “My wife and me.”
“That’s a rather predatory viewpoint, don’t you think?” Lady Flora’s voice dripped with contempt. “Mrs. Taylor’s husband died in India, and you immediately turned her out. Not only did she lose her husband, she lost everything else. And in a foreign land. Disgracefully heartless, if you ask me.”
The marquess grunted in approval, the glare he directed at the Townsends filled with disdain.
“I would say it was heartless of her to marry our son against our wishes,” Mrs. Townsend said, speaking for the first time. “If it wasn’t for you, he never would have left for India.”
Charlotte tried to keep her voice calm, but the Townsends’ determination to paint her as some dime novel villain was infuriating. “Roderick was already scheduled to report to Bombay when I met him. Perhaps he would have considered requesting a transfer had you been more accepting of our engagement.”
A scowl overtook the older woman’s lined face. “You poisoned him against us. I know you did. Your kind is sneaky and underhanded.”
Charlotte bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep from responding to the woman’s wrath-filled words. Lord Inverray had no such compunction.
“You’d do well to remember in whose presence you’re uttering such disgusting prejudice.” The marquess didn’t move, and yet his presence seemed to dominate the space. “There are many Jews in my acquaintance who work hard and strive to make England a better place for all. It’s grossly unfair to reduce them all to a cliché.”
If Mrs. Townsend intended to argue Inverray’s point, she quickly snapped her mouth closed when she caught her husband’s eye.
“I’m sure my wife is just upset. This whole situation has been very vexing.” He turned to the warden, spreading his hand before him. “That ring has been in the Townsend family for six generations. For it to be sold, for no doubt a fraction of its worth, in some dusty, dirty Bombay market is insulting. She has to pay for this transgression.”
The warden wiped a hand across his brow. His gaze kept flitting between Lord Inverray and Mr. Townsend, deep grooves etched into his forehead. It was apparent he was not keen to thwart Lord Inverray, and yet his eyes kept returning to Townsend, his pupils wide, as if seeking guidance. In that moment, Charlotte was certain the man had received a handsome compensation to see her locked up, and he didn’t want to forfeit it.
The warden cleared his throat. “I think it would be best if Mrs. Taylor was brought before a magistrate for him to sort out the details. I’m not qualified to make such a judgment.”
The marquess slapped his hand against his thigh. “Grand idea. Until such a hearing is convened, her ladyship and I will take Mrs. Taylor to Campbell House. We will ensure she arrives at the hearing at the appointed time.”
