Page 44 of Tempting the Earl
“Your Majesty, this is the young lady I was telling you about earlier, the woman who has been companion to my mother. As it turns out, it would seem she has an interesting tale for us.”
The king was beginning to look amused by the goings on before him, realizing that there was to be no crisis, he began to enjoy himself freely. Lord Yorkleigh was always much too serious, in his royal opinion, and it was good to see that a slip of a girl could lead him on a merry chase. The king sat back to enjoy the byplay that was to unfold before him. He gestured discreetly with the crook of his finger to one of his guards to keep a restraining hand on Ridley, who was trying in vain to slink away. The king nearly guffawed at the crestfallen look on the viscount’s face. He acknowledged his understanding of what Philip was trying to explain and turned to Emily.
“Let us say for the moment that you are the Lady Emmaline that we have been searching for. Where have you been? This maidservant was just trying to accuse your guardian here, Lord Ridley, of having you locked up somewhere, is this true?” The King would like to believe that all his loyal subjects were good and honourable and was hoping Emily would have a reasonable explanation for the viscount’s actions.
Emily hesitated to answer, afraid Philip would be repulsed that she had been confined in the asylum, but she could not avoid the truth and faced her monarch. “Yes, your Highness, she is correct. My dear father had trusted that his distant cousin, Edwin, would be happy with the inheritance he received and would fulfil my father’s wishes as my guardian. Unfortunately, Lord Ridley was disappointed by the size of his estate and the income it generated. He coveted all that was to become mine upon my marriage or my twenty-first birthday. He had made an arrangement with a friend of his, I only ever knew him as Lord Max. Edwin demanded that I marry Max, and then he and Max would divide my wealth between them.
“I refused, knowing my parents would never have consented to such a match. I would have gladly given Edwin all my money if he would have just left me alone. Unfortunately, a lot of my inheritance is entailed and cannot be broken up, it must be inherited, not given away. I did everything I could to reason with him but instead of accepting my offers and arguments, he had me committed to the insane asylum, Bethlem Royal Hospital.”
The King turned incredulous eyes upon Edwin, who was now cowering under the heavy hand of the guard. “You had this beautiful young creature thrown into Bedlam?” he demanded in disbelief.
Edwin saw he might have a chance of dissuading the king from punishment. “The girl is mistaken, it wasn't me. She was very confused, and it was for her own good.” He stumbled to a stop at the dual fierce expressions on the King and Philip’s faces.
"Actually, your Highness, he is right, it was not he who actually took me to the asylum. My cousin Edwin drugged me and then had his friend Max take me there. I guess they decided that if they could not force me into marriage, they would gain control over my parents' wealth by getting rid of me. Neither they nor I realized that anyone would even notice my absence. I apologize for putting you to the trouble of searching for me, your Majesty and your lordship."
"None of this is your fault, my dear child," answered King George kindly.
Philip turned to Emily, and he could see the strain she was suffering having to relive the experience through the recounting. He questioned her gently, “How long were you in this place and how did you escape?”
Emily looked him in the eye and replied truthfully. “I’m not actually sure how long I was there, milord. I wasn’t able to keep track of the days despite my best efforts. I was very frightened at first, but we were kept drugged a good bit of the time, which took the edge off the fear. It was only when one of my doses was missed that I came to a realization of what was going on around me. After that I was able to avoid swallowing most of the drugs they forced upon us. Once I had recovered some of my strength, I waited for an opportunity to escape. One night, one of the other so-called patients tried to escape and was caught. When everyone was celebrating her capture, I was able to run. The guards thought we were all drugged and that no one would be brave enough to try after what happened to Collette. That was the night I hid in the boot of your carriage, milord, and you know the rest from there.”
Emily had managed to keep her composure throughout the tale. Mary wasn’t so successful and was weeping openly and loudly over the terrible ordeal her young mistress had been put through. Emily tried to comfort her, bringing a soft smile to Philip’s stern face that she would be able to comfort others when she herself so obviously needed consolation. He knew there were no doubt many details Emily had chosen to leave out of the recounting, and he didn’t press her. Hopefully in time she would feel able to unburden herself to him. He still wondered why she hadn’t told him when she knew he was searching for the missing heiress, and he asked her as much.
“But my lord, I didn’t know. It was only this morning I found out, remember? At Rosemount, when you must have been telling everyone else, I was too busy with the guests to be present for every conversation. And I thought the gossip quite hurtful, to be honest, so I tried not to pay it any heed when the subject arose. And when I overheard you telling the countess that you were going to see the viscount, I suspected you were in league with Edwin and therefore I couldn’t trust you. I’m so sorry Lord Philip, and you, too, your Majesty, for all the trouble I’ve put you through.” By the end of this speech Emily was holding onto her control by her fingernails and Philip could see she was near her limit; he didn’t press her for more. The King seemed to sense this as well. He turned to Edwin.
“You have disgraced yourself and the House of Ridley. You are not fit to fill this position. You shall be sent to the colonies to repent of your sins, and you are no longer welcome on English soil. All the property and entails attached to the viscountcy shall pass to Philip, Earl of Yorkleigh for his fine service in this matter.”
Edwin sputtered a vehemently angry protest in defiance of the guards holding him on each side. He let fly with every obscene word and thought he could muster (and given his history, it was quite colourful) as he released his vitriol on his cousin, the earl, the king, and the old nurse. As he was being hauled from the room, he concluded his diatribe with a final utterance against Mary.
“I should have let Max kill you when we had a chance, you stupid old cow,” he bellowed as he was dragged away from the Royal Presence chamber.
Philip, for radically different reasons, also made as if to protest the transfer of Ridley to himself, not wanting to profit from the ordeal his poor Emily had been put through. But the king paid him as little heed as he had to Edwin and proceeded with his pronouncements.
"Lord Maximillian Woolfe is to be located and brought before me to be dealt with appropriately. He may join Edwin in the colonies since they seem so fond of one another."
After making this announcement in a harsh voice the king softened his approach and turned to Emily and Philip.
"As for you, Lady Emmaline, your father was a dear friend of Ours and loyal to his country. He would be proud of the courage you have displayed, and We shall see that his wishes are carried out over the dispensation of his property and titles. We are now your guardian until such time as you wed, you shall receive all that your father had to pass down to you and your offspring.”
The king now turned teasing. “On the matter of your marriage, Lord Yorkleigh was telling Us that he had made you a proposal but had not as yet received an answer. We would be pleased with that outcome, as We’re sure would be your parents.”
Now Philip really did object, “Your Majesty, I can make my own proposals, thank you.”
Emily had nothing to say and had flushed scarlet.
The King took mercy on them and excused them; he had other matters to deal with and theirs seemed to be more or less satisfactorily concluded. His Majesty was surprised at the growing crowd in his chambers.
There was a commotion at the door as Ladies Eastwick and Merrivale bustled in full of their news. Before they could approach the throne, they saw that Emily and Philip were already there. They were highly disappointed to realize they were late with their discovery as they overheard the buzz in the room solving the mystery of the missing marchioness. The news would be all over Town within hours and no one would realize how very clever they had been to figure it out.
Emily and Philip bowed themselves out of the audience chamber while Edwin was hustled out another door, and other suppliants took their places before the monarch.
Philip guided Emily to a private library within the palace. There was a table with a decanter and glasses. He sat her in a comfortable chair and pressed a glass into her hand. She seemed to be almost in shock over the sudden turn of events, and Philip worried for her health. “Are you feeling quite the thing, Emily? Should I fetch a doctor?” he questioned gently.
Emily visibly shook herself as she looked at him with tears threatening to spill over. “I can’t believe I can be me again. It has been so awful to keep so many secrets from you and the countess. You have been so good to me, and I didn’t trust you. I’m so sorry, my lord.” She stumbled to a stop as the tears tumbled down her pale cheeks.
“Aw, Em, not tears; you know I hate tears.” And he gathered her into his arms for a comforting embrace. Of course, in such matters, it doesn’t stay comforting for long and the embrace soon intensified. Philip realized where things were headed and pulled back slightly, still holding Emily in his arms.
“So, my lady. I had thought I would be elevating you to a nice position in Society, and here it turns out you will be marrying down the social scale. You will marry me, though, won’t you?” he questioned with some concern; she still hadn’t actually accepted his proposal.
