Page 64 of Taken By the Dangerous Duke

“They might,” sighed the duke. “I really don’t know what to do about this, but my money is your money, and I am happy to give them what they want in exchange for your freedom, and for Cynthia’s freedom.”

“You are a good man,” said Margaret. She leaned in and pressed herself to the duke. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

“I spoke to my lawyer today, and he passed me on to a criminal lawyer friend who knows all about this. He does not know much about the case, but from the little I was able to tell him, he is sure that we would be able to get Cynthia out on bail at least until the trial.”

“Well, that is good news,” said Margaret. She held herself to the duke, taking comfort in his strength and familiar musk. She was torn about a lot of things, not least her relationship with the duke, but that was the slightest of her worries once again. She could not do anything about her and the duke until she had done something about her friend.

“They want money for her release,” said Margaret. “That much has been made clear, no matter how much my mother denies it. And, that is an option, but not an option I want to take. If the money is suddenly recovered and all charges are dropped, she will be let out of prison instantly. But, what about getting her out on bail? How long would that take?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that it would happen reasonably quickly,” answered the duke.

“And how long would it take for the case to go to trial?” asked Margaret.

“Again, I am not sure, but I can find out. I would assume two weeks, perhaps more. It could be quicker, depending on if there is no backlog of cases.”

“All right. So, if we pay my parents the money, Cynthia gets out of jail. But, if we bail her out, then she will also be free, and we will have two weeks to figure out how to fix this. And, the worst-case scenario is we can pay my parents the money at the end of that time.”

“Or, we can fight it in court,” said Arthur. “Getting her out is the first stage, and I am sure that your family has no intention of having this being long and drawn out.”

“So, if we do bail her out, we could take it to trial and win the case?”

“It is possible,” said Arthur. “I don’t know how much money they are claiming was stolen, but I would bet that it is not as much as it will cost us to hire a good lawyer. There is a chance that we might not win in trial, but we will know closer to the time the evidence they have and the evidence we can provide in support of Cynthia.”

“You are brilliant!” exclaimed Margaret. “I don’t want to give them any money, and I would rather fight tooth and nail to make them pay for what they have done.”

“That might be the case if we can take it to trial and prove that they fabricated the events.”

“And they could go to jail!” screamed Margaret. She released herself from Arthur’s arms and hopped up and down in excitement. “They could be the ones to pay for what they have done.”

Margaret could not contain her excitement, and she lunged for Arthur, planting a kiss on his lips.

“I love you, you brilliant, brilliant man,” she said when they came apart.

CHAPTER31

The News Everyone Has Been Waiting For

Margaret sprung from the coach without waiting for the footman to open the door. She ran across the street without lifting her long dress, the bottom of the fabric trailing through the dry dirt. Margaret wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling her in tight for a hug.

“Thank you so much,” whispered Cynthia. “If it were not for you, I would still be locked up in there.”

“Don’t thank me. This was all the duke’s doing.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” countered Cynthia. “You had a hand in this too. You saved me from that place.”

“I hope,” said Margaret. “We have you out for now, and we just have to hope that you are not put back in there. Arthur is doing all that he can to get you a good lawyer to mount your defense. In fact, last I heard from him, he was speaking to three lawyers and was thinking of hiring them all. If my parents know we mean business, they will back down—I’m sure of that.”

“I am sorry that I got you caught up in all of this,” said Cynthia. “I don’t want you to hate your parents because of me.”

“Oh, it is not because of you,” replied Margaret. “They have never truly loved me. I can see that now. But they have gone too far with this. I don’t have parents anymore, Cynthia. I had not had parents for a long time, so you don’t have to worry about what comes next. I am going to make sure that you don’t get put back in there, and I am going to make sure they pay for what they have done.”

“I just—”

“No, I will not have you feeling bad about this. I would make the same decision a hundred times over, so we can put this to bed. Now, I have a coach waiting, and you only need to tell me where you would like to go.”

“I certainly don’t want to face my parents, and I don’t want to be alone at home right now. I don’t know where I want to go—I’m just glad to be out of that place.”

“Come back with me for now,” said Margaret. “You are welcome to stay with the duke and me for as long as you need. It will be nice to have you around too. I have missed you, Cynthia. Everything has been so complicated recently, and I could do with someone to talk to.”

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