Page 64 of The Marquess' Disguised Heiress
She had stopped coming out for her morning and afternoon strolls in the woods, and none of the servants in the house were talking to him.
In fact, he was no longer welcomed inside the grounds of the Russel Estate as if everyone had been instructed to keep away from him.
What made matters even worse was how Alexander, or more appropriately, the earl, had not even received an invitation to the summer masquerade thrown by the Russels, which was the very next day.
He had happened to hear about it from other people and was hoping this was a simple mistake. He was still waiting for his invitation, but the wait seemed futile now.
This only meant it would be impossible for him to get inside the house to both find the documents and see Eliza. He was certain she was still inside; he simply needed a way to find her.
Even Lara was afraid to speak to him and simply asked him to stay away. Although, he could simply no longer go on without doing something about it. He needed to speak to Ralph.
Alexander found Ralph standing in the stall of a little pony in the stables, filling up the feeding bowls. Noticing how the other stalls seemed empty, Alexander quickly made his way inside, closing the door behind him. He was dressed as George since he knew Ralph had no idea about his true identity.
“You!” Ralph seemed angry to see him, making Alexander even more confused about what could have gone so wrong.
“Ralph, I must speak with you immediately. Where is Beth?”
“Why do you care? You are the reason she is caught up in so much trouble!”
“I am the reason?” His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean? What have I done?”
“What have you done!?” Ralph shouted in a whisper, growing angrier with every passing minute. “The countess is convinced that Beth is seeing you and some masked man and even accused the poor girl of theft.
She is keeping her locked indoors so she cannot meet you or that other man. Everyone knows Beth would never steal, but there is no way for her to prove her innocence, and she has to suffer. You and that other man are the troublemakers behind this whole thing!”
Alexander was stunned.
He could have never imagined that Lady Leicester would be able to find out about Eliza meeting with him and the masked man.
The gifts he had sent her must have been what she had been accused of stealing, but he knew no one went into her room. This only meant someone had betrayed Eliza, and someone had been following her on her visits to the woods.
“How did they find out about these things?”
“That horrible girl Amelia betrayed poor Beth. She told the countess everything.”
He had known it. Amelia had been causing trouble for them since the beginning, and there she was again. Now, he understood not receiving an invitation had been intentional, but it was still unclear to him since the Russels were angry with him, not with the earl.
His head was spinning.
All he knew was that he needed to save Eliza one way or another.
“Thank you for telling me the truth, Ralph. I appreciate it. I will leave before anyone finds out I was here, and you get in trouble too. Beth won’t be happy about that.”
“I do not care about these things, George. But you must remember the Russels will not let you come near Beth again, so it is best you stay away and not cause any more problems for her.”
“I won’t cause any other problems for her, Ralph. I promise.”
He quickly left the stall after glancing left and right and exited through the way he had come. His mind was still on Eliza, making him wonder if she could be mad at him for putting her into this mess.
He was not sure about her feelings for him already, and now, with all of this, he wouldn’t blame her for being a little more upset with him. He deserved it.
Alexander quickly made his way back to his house, continuing to think about ways to somehow get inside the Russel Estate tomorrow to extract the documents. This little glitch in the plan did not deter him one bit; in fact, it only made him more determined. Alexander had to do something or another.
But what?
He walked inside the hall, his eyes falling on Lady Margaret, who stood up from the sofa when he entered. She was the last person he had expected to see in his house, and she definitely did not look shocked to see him. What was happening?
“I need your help, My Lord.”
