Page 61 of Choosing Her Earl at Last
“Very well, Emmeline. You should call me Ezra,” he advised.
To do such a thing seemed so unnatural to Emmeline, but she agreed for the sake of their protection. “I am ready.” Taking a deep breath, she stepped from the protective boundaries of her family property and followed Ezra down the street toward the worst parts of London’s underbelly.
The deeper that they went into the bowels of the poverty-riddled streets, the closer to Ezra that Emmeline walked, until she was practically holding his arm for comfort. She had not anticipated how bad some of London’s inhabitants lived just to survive.
As they walked, she witnessed everything from chamber pots being emptied into the streets at her feet to prostitution being practiced in the side alleyways. When at long last they reached the Green Dragon Tavern, Ezra paused at the door.
“Are you certain? Once we are inside, there is no turning back.”
“I am certain.” Emmeline nodded, taking a bold step forward. Crossing over the threshold into the tavern, she paused for a brief moment to allow her eyes to adjust to the dark, smoky interior. Once her eyes had adjusted, she walked over to the woman behind the bar. “I have an appointment with Mr. G. Could you please inform him of my arrival?”
“And who might you be?” the woman asked, her eyes assessing Emmeline’s disguise. Apparently, she disapproved, as she gave Emmeline a sneer of derision.
“My name is Emmeline, and he is expecting me,” Emmeline answered, attempting to keep her calm. She was not accustomed to being addressed with such disrespect.
The woman jutted her chin toward a door to the side of the bar. “He is in the alley out back.”
Emmeline nodded in thanks, then turned toward the door. She reached for the latch and hesitated for a brief moment, her hand hovering in midair.
“We need not continue,” Ezra reminded her, giving her one last opportunity to change her mind.
Emmeline shook her head. “I must.” She reached out and opened the door, stepping over the threshold, out into thealley beyond. No sooner had her feet hit the cobblestones than she stopped, deep shock reverberating through her body. No number of suspicions could have prepared her for the sight of her supposedly deceased husband standing before her.
“Norman,” she breathed, all of the air rushing out of her lungs.
“Emmeline,” Norman replied with a nod, his standard cold gaze taking in her measure with efficient detachment.
“How? Why?” Her dazed mind seemed to only be able to speak in staggered monosyllabic words. “The fire…”
Norman chuckled. “That was a fortuitous turn of events. The fire allowed me to leave behind a life that I detested for one that suits me much better. The running of an estate was a tiresome and tedious affair, with social responsibilities that I could have well done without. The fire allowed me to leave behind the voracious creditors and step into my true vocation.”
“Rebecca?” Emmeline’s eyes were filled with tears as she uttered her sister’s name in more of a prayer-like plea than an actual question.
Norman shrugged. “I had never intended to speak to you again. We both know what our marriage was: a business arrangement with your father and my family’s need for an heir. While we did not produce an heir, we both benefited from the business aspect of the arrangement. There was no love lost between us.”
Emmeline could not argue with anything that he said, but it did not explain why he had taken her sister.
“Why did you take Rebecca? You could have asked me for anything that I possessed, and I would have given it to you when we were wed to one another. Why go through all of this simply to ask for something you already had access to?”
“I did not realize that you still had value to me,” Norman admitted bluntly. “You had not produced an heir, my brother had come of an age to do so, and he was better suited to the title of marquess than I. I thought that I would simply disappear, never to have the truth revealed, but then I discovered that the very thing that I had been seeking for years had been in your father’s possession all along.
I had already faked my death, and to emerge now as the Marquess of Worthington would have resulted in legal attention being drawn to my activities. I knew that you were too honorable to keep my secret without leverage, so I took your sister to ensure that you would do as I commanded and honor my anonymity while giving me everything that I asked for.”
“My father had acquired everything that you have asked for before our marriage ended with your purported death. What among his possessions was so important that you would cause my family such suffering?” A sob caught at the back ofEmmeline’s throat, but she held her emotions in check with a sheer, desperate iron will.
“There is a painting with a map to a treasure that is among your father’s possessions. As I went about my own business affairs concerning stolen art, I learned of a commission that your father had hired an artist for the painting of a map to be done where he had concealed his most precious treasures.
The artist reported that your father had spoken of a treasure of immeasurable value, the most priceless acquisitions of his entire life. As your father was one of the best antiquarians that I have ever met, I knew that this treasure would be extraordinary. I knew that it would be the answer to all of my difficulties. With such a treasure, I would never be forced to concern myself with financial matters ever again.”
Emmeline stared at him agape, her heart and mind racing.He is speaking of the treasure that lies between the Frampton and Ravenshollow estates!
“I originally thought that he would have shared this information with your sister, as she was the only one of the two of you living under his roof at the time of the map’s commission, but I have since learned that your sister is completely ignorant of your father’s dealings. I knew that he had not spoken of the matter to you, as I was present for every interaction that the two of you shared.
I read every letter that you sent and that was sent to you to ensure that you had not discovered anything about my criminal activities and shared that information with others. In my absence, I had you watched and followed for the same reason. Now I wonder if I would have been wiser to have taken your mother instead.”
At this admittance, Emmeline’s blood ran cold. “How did you learn that Rebecca knew nothing of the matter?” Emmeline asked, momentarily ignoring the rest of his admission. If you have harmed her in any way…”
Norman raised his hand to cut off any threat that she might make against him. “She is unharmed. I simply used intoxicating spirits to create a drunken state so that I might question her without resistance.”
