Page 39 of The Captain of Betrayal
"The banns were published," Everleigh spoke up, surprising James who had not thought of the banns and canon law. "I checked with Mr Wilpole; the vicar who preceded him was meticulous about those sorts of things and kept most accurate records. I think you'll find that, despite your best efforts, the paperwork for the marriage is quite in order."
"Pah," Livingstone spat on the ground with anger. "Be that as it may, once Horace thought there was an escape route, he quickly took it, and after that it was easy to persuade him to marry Audra, despite her lack of a dowry."
"And she was already carrying your child," Everleigh finished, a look of disgust on his face. "So all this, all this hurt and murder was so that your child would inherit?"
"I would not cast any child of mine into the role of poor cousin to Horace's offspring," Arthur spat angrily. "I would not consign them to a life of poor prospects and scraping and bowing to bloody Horace, of all people. Judge me if you will, but I would do it again in a heartbeat."
"I have no intention of judging you," James said, almost unable to look at his Uncle, he was so filled with revulsion. "Though this man might; John did you hear all that?"
John Fielding, the magistrate in charge of the Bow Street Runners Magistrate's office, stepped forward from the shadows. He had followed behind James, Everleigh and Keyford, as the three men knew that they would find it difficult to get Livingstone to confess with a Lord Justice present.
"I'm sorry to say that I heard every word of that awful tale," Fielding said, his face grave. The magistrate cast a look of disgust at Livingstone, who had begun to sob in the corner. "It's Newgate for you, if you're lucky, or the end of a rope, if you're not."
"I wouldn't like to see him hang," James interjected softly, "It's rather an easy way out. Let him rot in Newgate, if at all possible."
"Duly noted," Fielding replied, "Let me get my men and we'll remove this piece of filth from your home...my Lord."
Keyford and Everleigh stood guard over Livingstone, until Fielding returned with four of his Runners. James' uncle did not put up a fight as he was taken away; his face was ashen and he still clutched at his chest. James rather thought that his uncle might not survive the night, though he felt little sympathy for the man.
"That went rather smoothly," Keyford remarked, as the door closed behind Fielding and his men. "Though I fear having you declared as the rightful Earl of Ludlow may take some time. Your father's estate will have to go to Chancery, it may take many years, if anyone contests it."
"I shan't contest James' right to the title," Edward said quietly. The young man leaned against the wall for support and he looked as though a gust of wind might knock him over. James remembered the rumours that Edward was addicted to opium and he certainly had the look of a man with many troubles.
"You won't?" James asked in confusion. To give up a title and all the wealth and power that went with it, without so much as a mild objection, was insanity. Even if Edward contested the estate and lost, he might still be awarded some compensation by the courts of Chancery.
"All the misery that my father created, was so that I could inherit," Edward shrugged, his eyes a little glazed. "It would give me some amount of satisfaction to tell him that it was all for nothing."
"You hate him that much?"
"Look at me," Edward grimaced, as though the mere act of standing brought him pain. "A few years ago, I had a carriage accident and I was brought here to recuperate. My father had become worried that I would blab his secret to the world and he used my incapacitation as an opportunity to bring me to heel."
"He drugged you?"
"Laudanum for breakfast, laudanum for lunch; he made me into a well-fed Opium Eater" Edward replied with a soft laugh. "He drove my poor mother to an early grave with his actions and I will surely join her there soon."
Silence filled the hallway as each man reflected sadly on what Arthur Livingstone had done to his family.
"I looked for you," Edward said suddenly, his eyes meeting James' sadly. "After you left, after I found out what Mama and Arthur had done, I looked for you, but you had disappeared. You never wrote."
"I did not think to," James replied stupidly; he had shared but one summer of congeniality with Edward, he had not thought that the boy would have formed any strong attachment to him.
"So, what happens next?" Edward asked, glancing from James to Everleigh and Keyford.
"Courts for your father, Chancery for the Estate, and a trip to Cornwall for you, lad," Keyford replied firmly, with a stern look at Edward. "The sea-air will blow the cobwebs out of you, make no mistake, and there's no opium eating under my roof, just hard work and exercise."
James knew that Keyford acted out of loyalty to the late Earl and that he felt it was his duty to repair the damage done to Horace's nephew. He was rather touched by the older man's words, but had a few of his own to add.
"Then once you are well again," he said quietly, "You'll come back to London, so that you are near family."
He had not realised that he was abandoning Edward, when he had left, but now that he and his cousin were reunited, James would not break the tie again. Edward had suffered even more than James had, and he would try to make amends for the past as best as he could.
"I don't know about you," Keyford said with a smile, his jovial tone breaking the melancholic air of the room. "But I could do with a tankard of ale right now."
"I could do with a barrel of the stuff," James quipped, "Though first I must return to St James' Square and tell my good, lady wife that she is, in fact, a lady."
And heaven only knew how Polly would react to that piece of news.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
