Page 63 of Her Heart's Rightful Earl
Arabella returned her gaze to the window, watching her innocent sister, whom she loved more than anything. At that moment, she felt a visceral pang of sympathy for Alexander, as she realized this protective love of a sibling was exactly the wayhe had felt about Marcus and why accepting his brother’s altered status as a manipulative killer felt so utterly mortifying.
‘I promise I will do my utmost to protect her,’ Arabella said and turned away so that Margaret did not see the tears that crept into her eyes.
Chapter 22
Captain Morrison sat at the wobbly wooden desk, which was thick with a layer of dust. He had cleared off a clean patch on which to rest the journal and read the last three pages as directed by Alexander, who stood at his shoulder, re-reading passages in Edmund’s hand that had become so familiar to him in the past days yet still sent shivers down his spine.
The captain exhaled heavily as he finished reading the final journal entry and leaned back in his chair.
‘So our suspicions are confirmed.’ He raised an eyebrow as he considered Alexander.
Alexander nodded regretfully and scuffed his feet at a piece of fallen timber on the floor of the old mill.
‘You will no longer need to fight me as I deny reality and defend my brother.’ Alexander looked up and fixed Captain Morrison with a sombre stare. ‘I believe your accusation now. It is irrefutable that Marcus killed my father and framed me. Then, once my cousin investigated and discovered the truth, Marcus poisoned him upon a visit the afternoon following Edmund’s final journal entry.’
Captain Morrison’s agitated habit returned, and Alexander patiently waited for his tremors to aggressively play out and die down before the captain felt able to speak.
‘It is a tragic course of events,’ the captain summarized.
‘Yes. And it is my life, so we need to act.’ The risk to his loved ones galvanized Alexander.
‘I have wasted too much time worrying that Marcus was a victim and fretting over how I could better protect him. Now I realize it is Marcus himself who is the villain, I am cognizant of the very valid threat to my family and anybody who is conspiring to uncover the truth.’
The captain cleared his throat. ‘The servant from within the Wellwood estate, who has been helping—bringing me evidence and feeding me information—they have become so afraid they want to leave. Many of the household staff members have left.
Lord Wellwood was said to have thrown a plate at the head of a valet just the other day, and they all tiptoe around so as not to provoke his temper. My source stated they would not stay, and so I had to increase the money I was paying them.’
‘He is that bad?’ Alexander asked in awe. Despite his newfound knowledge that his brother was a fiend, the development of behaving so atrociously in public still shocked him.
‘Worse. He is liquidating all the estate’s assets to honour his debts. But the men he owes are impatient and threatening imminent violence. I would not be surprised if some harm came to him at home.’
‘But all my loved ones reside there!’ Alexander protested. ‘My mother and Arabella! Her sister, Charlotte, of whom Thomas is very fond …they are all staying at Wellwood! Are they, too, in imminent danger? Should they leave?’
‘If they leave, Lord Wellwood would be instantly suspicious. No, they must remain at the estate until our mission is complete.’
‘Then, please, we must report to the magistrate with the truth, before any further damage can be done.’
‘Do you feel ready to incriminate your brother?’
Alexander drew breath to answer and found that he could not.
***
It was with a sense of relief that Arabella found she could walk up to Alexander without worrying about keeping a formal distance from him. After weeks of withholding her emotions, acting reserved and combating what she considered to be her weakness, the flood of compassion and love she felt for Alexander now came forth and dominated over all other emotions.
Alexander squeezed her hand as she looked into his eyes and told him she nearly became lost on her way to the old stone chapel.
‘Why are we meeting here? It is so deep in the woods …’
‘We must increase our caution. This is the safest place to meet since I feel all previous meeting points have now been compromised.’
‘It didn’t feel particularly safe–’ Arabella countered.
‘This ruin provides better concealment than the boat house, and there are multiple escape routes through the forest that offer us security, should we have to make haste.’
Arabella lifted her shoulders to her ears in self-comfort as she looked around the gloomy, damp space.
‘How have you been coping since the revelation of Edmund’s journals?’ Arabella asked.
