Page 51 of The Colonel's Ungovernable Governess
“I am assured my cousin has explained that a man thought to prevent Lord Vincent’s entering his lawful home. Miss Lambert was walking beside the young lord. She moved to protect him,” Darcy explained.
Harwell glanced to the child. “I am glad to see a person who elicits such devotion return to Babbington Hall. In my humble opinion, such is what has been missing from this household since your father’s passing. I am pleased to serve you, my lord.”
The child’s shoulders lifted as if his whole self had accepted the man’s words as the boy’s new truth. Harwell returned his attention to Darcy. “Would you assist me, sir?” He opened his bag and set out several items onto a tray. “Are you Pemberley’s master?” he asked as he sat beside Miss Lambert’s passive form and removed the cloth Darcy had placed over the wound to stifle the bleeding.
“Yes,” Darcy responded. “Have we met previously?”
“No . . . not at all. But your father made a substantial donation to the medical school I attended in Scotland. The money presented several dozen students, including me, an easier living situation so we might continue our studies. Later, he found us apprenticeships with well-placed surgeons. I am greatly appreciative.”
“If my father’s generosity provided you the skills to assist in saving Miss Lambert’s life, then every pence donated will be well worth the effort,” Darcy stated humbly.
Meanwhile, Edward knelt beside the boy to whisper, “Darcy’s father taught his son to change the world. Every act of kindness, no matter how insignificant it might seem at the moment it unfolds has ramifications. We each have choices to make a difference in the lives of others. Power can corrupt or it can build a future. As an earl, you must choose to ‘build’ devotion and respect, rather than to ‘lead’ with an iron hand.”
The boy slid one arm about Edward’s neck and moved closer for comfort. “I want to be the earl my father was.”
“You will be that and more. Each small step you take now will create the path you will walk and the legacy you will leave behind for your son and their sons, just as your father did for you. You have nothing to fear, even if you sometimes stumble.”
“Did your father say such things to you?” the boy asked.
Edward considered his sometimes contentious relationship with the Earl of Matlock, a man he truly admired and sometimes greatly disliked, especially when it came to such issues as an engagement to the unknown Miss Romfield and especially when looking upon a woman who would be his true choice. “I believe my father would move mountains to clear a steady path for my future,” he chose to say, for the words were the truth. “His lordship wants only the best for me, as did your late father for you.”
Chapter Nineteen
Edward despised leaving the room where the surgeon attended to Miss Lambert, but he could not bear to view the man cut into her skin or to face the possibility the world would lose her. He had already lost her no matter whether she lived or died, for he was to marry another, but he could not imagine a world where the lady did not exist.
He entered the room where Mr. Jessie stood watch over Marksham. “Thank you, Jessie.”
“The young lady, sir?” the man asked.
“The surgeon is with her now. I do not expect we will know her fate with any confidence for several more days.”
“And the young master?” the stable master inquired.
Edward noted when Marksham’s interest in the matter piqued. “The surgeon will examine the child’s arm to know if it requires more than a regular change of his bandage. The boy is alert and watching over Miss Lambert, along with Mr. Darcy.”
Mr. Jessie nodded his acceptance of Edward’s words. “The young lady takes his lordship under her care right quick. She not accept excuses. The boy heps her tilt that stubborn stallion your brother purchased last year so it not be harming itself. Lord Vincent be mighty fond of horses. Since she came to the estate, the lady and his lordship have called daily at the stables. She and some of the grooms taught the young earl how to clean out the stalls and perform other care of the animals. The boy appeared interested in talkin’ to the stable lads, not ignorin’ them. Miss Lambert, she told the boy that a good earl be knowin’ more than jist sittin’ in his manor and expectin’ others to tend him.”
“I am beginning to think Lady Lindale will know a surprise when she views her younger children again,” Edward remarked as he pulled a chair close to where Jessie had tied Marksham to a straight-back chair. “It is time you and I hold an honest conversation. You have set yourself against an earl of the realm. Before more than a half dozen witnesses, you attempted to take the life of the current Lord Babcock. Though Vincent Jennings is but a child, the earldom will pass through him and, eventually, will be the right of the young lord’s son.” Marksham sat with his head down and did not respond. “This next part is my personal warrant: If Miss Lambert dies, any days you have remaining on this earth will be haunted by me. You will not be able to turn around without encountering me. I will permit the law to execute you, but, if our system of justice fails to do it properly, I will not fail to claim my own justice. Every day, as part of my duties to our King, I teach other men how to kill our country’s enemies. What might I do to those who harm my family or those we cherish?”
Edward leaned forward and asked in a rough whisper, “What did Philip Jennings offer you and your mother to assist him in this matter?”
“Who said my actions had anything to do with my uncle?” the young man said defiantly. “What if I was fighting for Lady Annabelle?”
“Have you even held my niece’s hand? Spoken words of affection? Lady Annabelle’s innocence is intact, but you did play with her affections and her fear for her scattered family. I do admire the girl’s concern for her brother’s future, but I am appalled by her manipulations, which placed many in danger. She has her own reckoning at my hands, which has yet to come, but will occur in due time.”
“I told her what she wished to hear,” Marksham reluctantly admitted.
“Did Jennings send you to Bath to encounter Lady Annabelle ‘upon accident’?”
“I did not know what was required of me,” Marksham said on a heavy sigh. “My father has gone away with another woman. Did you know of my mother’s shame? Of my shame?”
Edward had overheard a few conjectures from a number of the staff employed at the manor house, but he had not known what to make of them until this moment. When they thought no one was listening, the servants spoke quite casually of the relationship between Jennings and his sister in marriage. Realizing the blocks had fallen into place, Edward told the truth, just not the whole truth. “I have heard the whispers.”
“Uncle Philip is not my father,” Marksham declared in harsh tones. “My mother has sworn on the Blessed Mother’s name that there is no truth in my father’s accusation. My own father has started the rumor to be rid of us both, so he might take up with his mistress. He never affected my mother or me, just himself.”
“Would not your mother’s turning to Jennings for assistance and comfort serve as proof of the rumors?” Edward asked in confusion.
“Where else might she go? She has no male relatives, except me. Only my uncle offered us a hand. Father has ordered us from his manor. Our only home. He means to petition the Lords to grant him a divorce. My mother and I will soon be society’s version of a leech. I promised her I would protect her.”
