Page 54 of The Trials of Alaric
“I should say not,” Alaric admitted. “You did the right thing. And you do not need to keep apologizing, Eloise. You would have told the truth if you had been able. It has weighed on your conscience all this time, you said. If you feel you need punishment, you have had enough.”
It was true, he realized, the last of his grudge dissolving. Eloise had done her best in a bad situation he was blithelyunaware of at the time, though surely the signs had been there. Neither he nor Tarquin were the least surprised when they guessed, after all. Had he desired Eloise? He supposed he had, but what he remembered feeling for her was only a shadow of what he felt for Bea.
Mostly, he had wanted to protect and shield Eloise, dimly sensing she needed a defender, like a half-fledged bird with a damaged wing and predators lurking.
Come to think of it, that had been part of Delphine’s attraction too. She had seemed to need rescuing when he met her, though in her case, it was a calculated ploy.
Not Bea. He could stand side by side with Bea, and what a marvelous thing that was!
“I shall tell Lady Beatrice myself,” Eloise announced. “I need to do that, Tarquin, so do not argue. Alaric says she can be trusted, and I trust Alaric. Alaric, will you let me tell Lady Beatrice? She won’t think me a disgusting wanton, will she?”
Ah, poor Eloise. Among her stepbrother’s sins had been convincing her that his abuse was her fault for tempting him, and he was only giving her something that, deep down, she really wanted. Alaric was glad it was Tarquin and not him who had had to deal with the aftermath of Bebbington’s appalling actions.
“Bea will understand that Bebbington is a twisted, cruel monster who preyed on an innocent he was bound to treat with kindness and respect by family loyalty and gentlemanly duty,” Alaric insisted. If she was the lady he believed her to be. “She will be on your side, Eloise, as are we.”
“Then I shall come to the meeting with Lord Claddach,” Eloise decided.
“Are you sure, my love?” said Tarquin. “We can do it, Alaric, Versey, and I. None of us will mention Bebbington’s unspeakable motives.”
Eloise was sitting up, toeing her feet into her slippers, and reaching for her shawl, which was draped over the arm of the sofa. “I am sure, Tarquin,” she insisted.
The three of them met Luke on their way to Claddach’s study, and inside, they found Bea was with her father.
“My dear,” said Claddach to Bea, “this is Lord Stavely, Redhaven’s brother. And, I take it, Lady Stavely?”
Eloise and Bea dropped curtseys to one another. “Welcome toCashtal Vaaich,” Bea said.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Eloise replied. “And thank you, Lord Claddach, for allowing my husband and brother, and their friend, to use your yacht when they came to my rescue.”
“I am pleased to welcome you to Claddach, Lady Stavely,” said Claddach. “Unharmed, I trust?”
“Unharmed,” Eloise confirmed, with her gentle smile. “My stepbrother did not hurt me, but he declared his intention of turning Tarquin away, and keeping me imprisoned.” Her eyes filled.
“They were not going to prevent me from reaching my wife,” Tarquin declared.
Luke chuckled. “Tarquin walked right past the butler and up the stairs, and Alaric and I followed.”
“Then Alaric blocked the door, and we climbed out the window,” said Eloise. “Tarquin had the carriage waiting. Fortunately, my brother had turned my maid out of the house, and Tarquin and Alaric had already found her.”
“So, we left for Birkenhead,” Alaric commented. “So far, so good.”
Claddach turned his attention to Alaric. “My yacht is back in Dara, I suppose?”
Alaric grimaced. “No, sir. While we were at Bebbington’s estate, your nephew Lord Beverley commandeered your yachtand its crew. His declared destination was Brighton. I cannot tell you where your yacht is now.”
“Beverley!” Claddach’s eyebrows had shot up at Alaric’s words, and they now dropped again, drawing together fiercely over his eyes. “Lewiston needs to do something about that son of his, and so I will tell him. That was one of the obstacles you mentioned, I must suppose, Redhaven.”
“Yes, my lord. Beverley had sailed to Birkenhead with Gorry, who had stolen a fishing smack, so we thought we’d bring it back to its owner at Bailecashtel. A townsman we met at the harbor helped us find a captain and crew, but before we could set sail, Bebbington turned up with a justice of the peace.”
“The swine,” said Tarquin. “But Eloise was very brave. She stood up to him and told the justice she wanted to come with me, and that Bebbington had been holding her against her will.”
Luke took up the tale. “But by the time we set sail, we had already missed your six o’clock deadline. We would have made it to Bailecashtel before full dark if the storm had not come up. It blew us off course, and so we sailed to Dara instead.”
“Pursued by Bebbington and Gorry,” Alaric added. “Or, at least, so we believe. The fishing smack following us did not make it to Dara, but they may have come ashore somewhere else.”
“Then this morning, several of the roads we wanted to use were closed with floods or slips, so it took us a long time to cross the island,” Luke explained. “I was wondering what else could possibly go wrong, but here we are, my lord. Returned as promised, and with Lady Stavely. Late, it is true, but my lord, we did try!”
“Well, Bea?” Claddach asked his daughter. “What do you say? Are they forgiven?”
