Page 92 of Her Duke in Shining Armor
Going back to his carriage, Aaron made a circle with his hand to tell his driver to spin around and went back inside. As the vehicle turned, Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose in relief, “At least one thing is going right.”
* * *
Thank God Eleanor had the foresight to keep money on her wherever she went. The food she had carried from Lady Darcy had run out four days ago and she had sent Maria off to buy some bread and some smoked meat. How she wished she knew how to cook and decided that the moment she was free from all this trouble, she was going to spend as much time with Darcy in the kitchen as she could.
It was getting late and Eleanor was growing concerned that Maria had not returned yet. Time was ticking away and she feared that Maria was in trouble. It had taken her a few days to get accustomed to the one-bedroom house and using a single chamber pot or a bucket to relieve oneself. Baths—and here she used the term lightly—were taken by a rag, a sliver of soap, and a cup full of water.
“She knows these streets, Lady Eleanor,” Sarah assured her. “She will come home safely.”
“I hope so,” Eleanor prayed as the dusk grew deeper.
Her vigil was kept at the window when the streets became too dark, and when a carriage ran at breakneck speed down the road, Eleanor’s worry ramped up to a level of panic.
“She’s not here,” Eleanor panicked. “I need to go find her.”
As she went to get her firearm and tug on her breeches, someone knocked on the door. Anxiously, Eleanor ran and tugged the door open an inch to see Maria there. Her breath left her and she tugged the door open to admit the child.
“Oh, thank God,” Eleanor breathed out.
She barely moved off when the door was banged on again. Who was that? This time she did take her pistol and went to the door. “Who is it?”
“It’s me, Eleanor,” Aaron’s long-missed voice was the one she heard.
She did not hesitate to open the door and tug him in. Instantly, she hugged him and felt the tenseness in her chest start to melt away. “Eleanor, my God, what happened to yourhair?”
Eleanor giggled at his appalled tone, “It’s not that bad, my hair will grow back.”
Aaron snorted, “I may get used to it but that is not what I came here for. I must thank Maria and her mother for keeping you but we need to go. Your grandfather is here.”
“You found him?” she whispered in awe.
“Yes, and we need to go—”
A slew of bullets slammed into the door and the horrendous crash of the door falling into the room jarred everyone inside. Maria ran to her mother’s side as Duke Brisdane came in.
Eleanor felt her blood freeze in her body, “Father.”
“You,” Fenton snarled at Aaron. “I knew you had something to do with this.”
“Father!” Eleanor called in desperation. “Stop this madness! Leave Aaron alone.”
“I will not,” Fenton grated. “You will hang at Tyburn if it takes the last breath in my body.”
The Duke advanced on Aaron and Eleanor’s pistol was up in heartbeat, stopping the older man in his tracks.
“Stop Father,” she ordered. “Do not force me to do this.”
Fenton regrouped and growled, “Put that away, Eleanor and stop playing games.”
“I warn you—it’s loaded.”
“You don’t have the strength to pull that trigger,” Fenton mocked. “Now get out of my way, Eleanor.”
“But I do,” Another voice was added to the mix and Eleanor saw her grandfather, come around with a pistol in his hand. The second Fenton had glanced at the older man, Aaron had his own pistol out and had pushed Eleanor behind him.
Two guns were now trained on the Duke whose jaw had dropped momentarily before his face had hardened. Eleanor, from her place behind Aaron, glanced over her shoulder to see Maria and Sarah huddled in a corner, flush against a wall and both of them were ashen.
She turned back to the standoff between her father, Aaron and her grandfather who she had not seen in almost eight years. She knew that Aaron had vowed to get him back but she had anticipated months.
