Page 40 of A Duke's Wicked Secret
Oh, if only she had not fallen!Theo thought, not for the first time, and this caused the question to arise in his mind: what had been the reason for her fall? In all the times Theo had ridden with Penelope, including from the very first moment they had met, Penelope had always been more than capable of keeping her seat on her mare.
Something must have been amiss, so Theo set out to go back to where she had fallen and retrieve her saddle where it still lay in the dirt. Theo had been so completely preoccupied that he had not given her saddle the slightest thought. Theo rode General at a full gallop the entire way back and jumped off when they pulled to a halt outside the meadow.
At first, he did not see her saddle anywhere, but finally he spotted it amongst some heather. Theo strode over to it and picked it up. The saddle looked completely normal until he flipped it over and saw that the girth was torn in two.
Theo examined the girth more closely and saw that its first section had been cut. There was no question about it. The difference between the severance was clear, for it started straight and precisely and continued in a random ripping pattern. Some vile person had cut her girth so that she would fall from Phoenix that morning.
Theo took the saddle, returned to the viscount’s estate, and requested that he have an audience with him, if he could be spared for a moment. The viscount came down, and Theo informed him of his finding.
“I just cannot believe that anyone would attempt such a horrific thing.”
“I cannot either, but the evidence is undeniable,” Theo said, “and I am determined to learn how this happened.”
The viscount looked as though he was going to say something else, but just then the doctor came down the stairs.
“Good sir … What have you found? Is my Penelope all right?” the viscount asked.
“Yes, yes, she will be OK. Just a sprained ankle and a bump on the back of her head. Nothing she will not recover from. She is incredibly fortunate, though, that could have been the death of her if she had hit her head on a rock.”
“Thank you so much for coming so quickly and for all your help, Doctor!”
“Please do not mention it, My Lord. Keep her calm and resting for the next few weeks and make sure she takes the medication I have given her for the pain if it gets to be more than she can handle. Call for me if anything changes.”
“Yes, of course. Thank you again. I will have a carriage take you home. Good night, Doctor.”
Theo felt as though he could breathe after being in a deep dark pool, having finally reached its icy cold surface again. He would not let himself acknowledge it, but his heart dreaded that Penelope’s injury would be much more serious and long-lasting. He would never have been able to forgive himself if that had been the case. Theo bid the viscount goodbye and headed home.
***
Theo had been home for only a few hours, and during that time he had told Alexander about Penelope’s fall and that it had been a planned attack on her. They spent much time discussing this and who the culprit might be when it was announced that Mr Lancaster was there and requesting a moment with His Grace. Theo let him enter so that he could see what the snake had to say.
Rupert bowed low and greeted both Theo and Alexander with all the respect they were entirely unaccustomed to when dealing with Mr Lancaster.
“Your Grace, I was in town this afternoon, heard of Ms Ainsworth’s terrible fall, and came to find you straight away. I did not want anything to be twisted if I let any time pass.”
“What is it that you have to tell me?” Theo asked curtly.
“I wanted to inform you that I know how Ms Ainsworth came to have her fall from her horse this morning. It was Mr Carlton’s doing, Your Grace. He came to me recently and told me of his plan to see that you were caught for your affair with the lady and wanted to make it look as though you were responsible for her fall.”
Theo jumped up, walked over to Rupert, and took a swing at the villain, but Alexander stopped him.
“You bastard! How could you let him do such an evil thing?” Theo yelled. Rupert cowered down and sat on the sofa further away from Theo before he answered.
“I told him not to. That it was wrong and could hurt the woman he claimed to want to marry, and it took hours of convincing, and I thought that I had at last done so, for Mr Carlton had promised me that he would not do it. But when I heard about it, I knew he had lied to me.”
“Why would you not inform the authorities of his desires? Or her family?” Theo asked indignantly.
Mr Lancaster hung his head in shame and said, “I was in cahoots with him to find a way to bring you to ruin. I was outraged at you for not choosing to work with me once more, but I would never have been all right with anyone actually being physically hurt, especially that poor innocent girl.”
“Well, you did, and now you are going to make it right! You go and find this worm of a man and tell him that come tomorrow morning at dawn, outside the old mill, I am challenging him to a duel. You will stand as his second and ensure that he is there, or I will see you prosecuted for your part in all this!” Theo declared.
Mr Lancaster bowed and said that he would bring him to the place and quickly left before Theo lost his control again. Theo raked his hands through his dark brown hair and pounded his fists on the table in front of him.
“I will be your second, of course,” Alexander said with certainty.
“I should not allow you to do so. It is illegal, but I cannot think of anyone I trust more to stand second for me. Thank you.” They both talked about this for hours and finally they agreed the best thing to do would be to go back to the viscount and inform him of what they had learned.
They swiftly rode over, and when they were in front of Viscount Ainsworth, they told him of all that Mr Lancaster had revealed to them. The viscount bellowed that he would find that wretch and have him pay for what he had done, but Theo told him that it had already been taken care of, and that he was going to deal with the pair tomorrow morning.
